At present I advise new players against using dashes and letters before drawing. If they say that their word was too difficult or they didn't know what to draw, I remind them that they're at complete liberty to skip their word. I don't warn, though, as it's not currently a violation.

Given the absence of set-in-stone rules, it has been necessary on a few occasions for us to discuss the rules and clarify them as a community to decide what's best for the game. This was the case back when I, buaka and whoever else it was rallied against the use of drawings to represent individual letters (an apple for a, etc.). This was previously allowed within the rules but it is now regarded as a violation. If the common consensus is that this too should be an infraction, then I'm sure a similar course of action could be pursued. It gets my vote, for the record. Until such a time, continuing to advise against it seems like the best compromise.

Maffers? Maffers.

That was not a contradiction at all

i didn't read most of this thread, just wanted to give my 2 cents.

1. some words just need dashes.
2. early dashes help cheaters.