September 29, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
One ‘WINNERS’ CIRCLE’ method tried and true is to take 2 or more words that are anagrams and learn them as sets. You’ll be surprised at how many times you have these combinations on your rack.
Again, you must stop and do it. You have to be curious enough to slow down, take an action, recode your word/s on paper. Later in the quiet of your home with your computer bring up a word search program.
- Tonight I almost gave up on the set A-D-E-I-S-T-V, After more than a minute I found ‘VISTAED’ I wasn’t 100% sure but I played it, it was challenged, it was acceptable.
- Later at home I searched it and learned VISTAED=AVIDEST.
Earlier I had A-E-E-I-L-S-N I was certain that I missed something. Into the file at home and I learned I didn’t miss a thing. Then I added a blank to the mix.
+B = BASELINE; +C = SALIENCE; +D – DELAINES; +E = ALIENEES
+G = ENSILAGE -and- LINEAGES
+P = PENALOSE -AND- SPALINE
+R = ALIENERS; +V = VASELINE; +X = ALEXINES
- Here’s a silly and fun one. The first half is the word POOPING it equals POGONIP. You can remember is one.
All the above are 7 & 8 letter words. They make bingos and bingos earn a 50-point bonus.
However, you can use this same technique with shorter words.
Ex: CLEAR = CARLE – LACER which would you play? WHY?
ALIEN = ALINE = ANILE = ELAIN = LIANE
- On another rack tonight I had a combination with ‘OVER’, I know that there is a long, long list of words beginning and ending with; OVER. I had:
A-E-E-L-N-O-R (the V was on the board and available at both ends.) After checking I found that I had nothing. Curiosity was gripping me, so I added in a blank.
+C = OVERCLEAN; D+ = OVERLADEN +R = OVERLEARN
- The turn before the same V was open on the board. I had A-C-D-E-E-R-N
I immediately saw CAVERN, leaving me with an E-D. Then I considered playing CAVERNED for about 3 minute and dismissed the urge. CAVERN earned 24 pt.
CAVERNED would have earned 78 points, may have been challenged and it is an acceptable word
Two Basic Rule Questions:
#1 Your opponent makes the play EELPOUT on you board, announces his score and is starting to reach for the tile bag to replenish his tiles. You’re not sure if his word is a good one. You may want to challenge. What do you do? If you said aloud, “I don’t think that word is good” He may or may not acknowledge what you said and keep on finishing his turn. WHEN ANY PLAYER COMPLETES THEIR TURN, THE GAME CANNOT BE TURNED BACK.
THERE ARE TWO WORDS THAT CAN SLOW DOWN OR STOP THE GAME.
WHAT ARE THEY and HOW ARE THEY USED?
“HOLD” the game come to a complete halt. The player who called hold is doing so he/she can consider if he/she wants to challenge the play. His/her clock continues to run toward zero. The opponent just sits calmly waiting until HOLD is released -OR- The Holder can choose to CHALLENGE by calling CHALLENGE and stopping the clock. After the challenge is adjudicated the clock is restarted and the game goes on.
The word STOP does not stop the game. The Word HOLD spoken loud enough for it to be heard is the legal requirement. If unspoken or unheard the game proceeds and there is no going back.
#2 You want to Challenge a play. What Do You Do? You say CHALLENGE loud enough, so your opponent hears you and you push the button on the time device to neutralize it. Once you’ve said challenge there is no going back.
September 26, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
THE OFFICIAL RULES
The purpose of rules is to keep a level playing field holding players accountable to the same standards. HOWEVER, while the game is going on at your table the director is usually sitting at a different table paying LITTLE to NO attention to your specific game. Therefore if and when you believe a rule has been broken you should call “DIRECTOR” and he-or-she will come and adjudicate your question.
That means that you and your opponent need to know the rules and hold one another accountable to play fairly.
I highly recommend that persons who play competitively contact NASPA and arrange to take the DIRECTORS’ TEST. In the process you will learn all the rules of the game. You’ll be amazed at the minutiae that governs the game.
Did you know that if there are ever 6 consecutive turns with ZERO POINTS scored that the game is automatically over. A ZERO turn could be a ‘PASS’, a play CHALLENGED OFF the board or EXCHANGING TILES.
When a player is replenishing their rack and mistakenly overdraws tiles there is a penalty.
Example #1: Player A, played a 5-Letter Word on the board but when he/she replenished his/her rack drew 6 tiles and placed them face down on the table. Since none of the new tiles was mixed with the two tiles remaining on the rack, Opponent B gets to turn over 3 tiles on the table and choose which tile is returned to the bag. Example #2: If 1 or more of the new tiles was placed on the rack then all 8 tiles would be placed face down and Opponent B turns over 3 of the 8 and returns one to the bag.
Example #3: If there were less than 7 tiles in the bag when the overdraw occurred, Opponent B turns all the tiles face up and chooses the tile/tiles that return to the bag.
BEWARE! DON’T OVERDRAW. It can be very costly. When replenishing your rack draw tile out of the bag one at a time and place them face down on the table. You cannot take a Mulligan or an Ooooops in scrabble.
There are several steps that a player does to legally complete their turn. Do you know the proper sequence to complete your turn.
Players who do not use a timing device (a clock -or- sand timers) often fall into disputes relating to if and when someone’s turn ended. Without the use of a time device there is no definitive answer. Suck it up and use a timer.
Can you spell F-A-I-R-N-E-S-S ?
September 25, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
According to the statistics, the scrabble player who plays first in the game has a slight advantage. But there a few things to consider that can give you an even greater advantage when you play first.
The very first play is required to have one of its letters placed on the center star at H8.
Try very hard to avoid placing a vowel between the DLS hot spots. That will deny your opponent the opportunity to earn double points in two directions on those hot spots.
Note that by playing a first play of 5 or more letters long you can reach the DLS at D8 and stretch to H8 which is a DWS. The higher the point value of the letter placed on D8, the higher your initial score.
Next, notice that if you play an opening play from H4 – H9 there will be 3 spaces in front of your play to the TWS at A8.
With that in mind, whenever you open with a 5 letter word in that position try to play a word that takes a 3 letter front-extension.
EX: PRO + BATED; NON + FACTS; TRI + PEDAL
BIO + WASTE; MID + RANGE; BIG + STICK; DIS + PATCH
If your first play goes from H8 – H12 you’d be setting up yourself for a 3 letter end extension.
EX: CRASH + ING; CHEAT + ERS; HANDS + FUL
FREAK + ILY; CROSS + BAR; SAINT + DOM LATCH + KEY
The best strategies are those that your opponents won’t expect. In my opinion it is more difficult to anticipate FRONT EXTENSION than END EXTENSIONS.
When you go first in a game consider playing your first play vertically instead of horizontally. That will sometimes disorient your opponent. Look for every small advantage that might carry you to VICTORY.
September 23, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Is there anything especially SUPER about the word SUPER?
That all depends on what IS is. (that’s a CLINTON thing)
There are only 30 words from 5 to 8 letters long that begin with SUPER. But if you are playing SUPERSCRABBLE™ you might be interested to know that words with ‘SUPER’ at the beginning number as many as 638.
Can you spell S-U-P-E-R-A-B-S-O-R-B-E-N-T-S. Sponge that one up.
There so much to know and so very little TIME. ‘Very Little’ may or may not be an accurate depiction according to your slant. There are as many -or- as few as 228 words in the OWL that include *TIME*:
BEDTIME DAYTIME PASTIME CENTIME HALFTIME
A-N-T-I-M-E-T-A-S-T-A-T-I-C
Some wannabes in the scrabble™ world make TIME to ingest thousands of words using flashcards and lists. Others use spaced repetition to review anagrams and stems. Some mavins have been known to curse Daylight Savings Time in the fall when they are forced ‘FALL BACK’, having one less hour to prepare for some scheduled tournament.
When some people are approached and invite to join the community of word game lover they flat out tell you that they “DON’T HAVE THE TIME”. Do they have less time than you or me? No, it’s obvious. they believe that scrabble™ mavens are frittering their time away, squandering it. The truth is that when we go to our final reward and arrive at the Golden Gates some Beefeater in a tall furry hat will greet us and simply ask, “Do you have a good word for me”? I picture myself replying with something like ‘SMARAGD’ or ‘USUFRUCT’.
What good word will you respond with?
One of the greatest pleasures I look forward to every day is knowing that I will most likely stumble across a word that has been around for a very long time that will appear new to me. I welcome it into my awareness and share it with others. And in no time at all I know more.
September 22, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Have you heard about the book I compiled made up of words on the OWL that have ‘STRANGE BEGINNINGS’?
I’ll list a few and you’ll see what I mean.
BDELLIUM
BHADJI BHARAL BHOOT
CNIDA
CTENOID
DHAK DHURNA DHUTI
DJEBEL
FJORD
FYTTE
GJETOST
GWEDUC
Put a few of these up your sleeve and watch you opponents’ eyes roll.
The book is designed as a workbook. First there’s a page with a letter combination like ‘UA’ with a set of ‘ ______ ‘ to indicate the number of words to fit that combination. The next page gives the answers. There are about 90 sets of strange beginnings. It can be your for $15 + $5 shipping. It’s a great gift for a word freak. Order at
[email protected]
September 21, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
The Autumnal Equinox (All things ‘Q’ and/or ‘X’)
Scrabble Club #350 will celebrate the Autumnal Equinox with category prizes in all four games going to the High Play in eluding a ‘Q’ or an ‘X’. The exception to the rule is that any word with both a ‘Q’ and an ‘X’ beats a lower scoring play with only one of the two letters.
EXEQUY EQUINOX QUIXOTE QUADPLEX EXEQUIAL
QUIXOTIC QUINCUNX EXEQUIES QUIXOTES QUIXOTRY
QIBLA NIQAB QUARE QAPIK MAQUI COQUI QUANT
AXONE TEXAS FLAXY XERIC VARIX TAXOL EXINE
Play a word that may bring on a challenge.
September 20, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
BALANCE vs OBSESSION
We each have a choice. There are practitioners of both. There are tomes on bookshelves in the SELF-HELP isles that summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the WORKAHOLIC, the GENERALIST, the INTENTIONALIST and those of us who simply throw our options into the air and see how they land.
We all know people who take on the identity of their profession, their job, their company. I am probably one of those guys. There can be both good things and bad things in store for this group of individuals. In 1968 when I co-found a private school, I became a headmaster and grew blinders. My project consumed me. I ate, dreamt, and lived every moment connected to achieving success. That went on for me for more than a decade. Others saw the change that overtook me. Some even began calling me Mr. Bloomfield (the name of the school was Bloomfield Nursery School & Kindergarten). While most people had jobs which required 40 hours per week, I was Mr. Bloomfield 24/7. I loved what I did so much that I never considered it to be a JOB or WORK.
The COSTS for workaholics come in a variety of devastations: abandonment of family and friends; giving up travel and recreation; becoming boring to friends and neighbors; and even neglecting one’s own health and well-being.
The BENEFITS for workaholics may include: control; doing what you like to do, how you like to do it and when you like to do it; Compensation; building a dynasty; recognition, community celebrity and pride.
The reality is that the fruits of such labors don’t guarantee perpetuity for their businesses and organizations. Many factors from Divorce to Economics to Natural Disasters can take anyone or anything down.
People like me can’t sit idly by when change snatches away their identity. It was during such a time in my life that I found Club Scrabble™. Scrabble™ offered me an opportunity to reimagine myself; it supplied me with a whole new community of friends; it taught me words I would have never known and introduced me to a world community I would have never met.
I have met scrabble™ players who are OBSESSED and many others who BALANCE scrabble™ play with hundreds of other activities. Twenty of the thirty regular players at the Laguna Woods Scrabble Club enjoy playing on Monday afternoons and sharing community, cookies, and coffee. Those 20 have no ambition to work at growing their word power. Meanwhile the players in my circle are always looking in the OWL to find some word that will draw a challenge from their opponents.
CAN YOU SPELL ‘MENHIRS’?
September 18, 2022
Check this out- Yes I am Tooting My Own Horn
September 18, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Last Thursday I found myself playing SUPER SCRABBLE™ with a dedicated group of scrabble™ friends who meet monthly to carry on a tradition.
If you don’t know about the SUPER SCRABBLE™ tradition then you most likely have no idea about the 3 M’s: Maliha Mendoza Mahmood (see pic below).
I was one of the lucky ones who new Maliha and called her ‘FRIEND’. She appeared into my life like so many casual acquaintance due to our mutual interest and obsession with the game of scrabble™.
You see, as a young girl growing up in the Philippines her parents sent her to the Catholic nuns for her education and when it came to learning English one of their teaching tools was the game of scrabble. She never abandoned her love of the game. Skip forward some 40+ years when I received a phone call from a total stranger who heard about me and my scrabble™ connection. His name was Arshud. He told me about his wife Maliha and how she loved scrabble™ but had no one to play with. He asked if she could attend my scrabble™ club. What do you think I answered?
Now Arshud was an observant Muslim man and wouldn’t even think about placing his beloved wife remotely in harms’ way. So the first time we met in person was when he came to my club and sat silently on the sideline watching the players intently. Between games Arshud mingled and talked with the players to get a sense of who these word buffs were and if the club was a safe place to bring his wife.
I guess we passed the test because at the next club meeting he brought Maliha to meet us. She was so excited about everything: our unique personalized boards, protiles, and timers. She brought her own dog-eared scrabble dictionary but it was an ancient copy, lacking many of the current legal lexicon. I invited her to play against me. As we played I introduced her to the subtlety of club play: how to use the timer; how we count and register our plays; how to use the hot spots effectively to achieve bigger scores. Maliha was like a sponge taking it all in and glowing like she found heaven.
My past experience has been that when an individual comes to club for the first time they expect to do well and win. Then they witness the high level of play of even the lowest ranked players. The newbies will most often return another time or two and if they don’t win they become frustrated and come no more.
Maliha was from a different gene pool. She focused on the many new words she learned each week. Her attitude was always positive. In spite of losing game after game, week after week, Maliha was determined to figure it out.
Once things clicked Maliha’s skills continued to grow. She played in tournaments and was a member of two champion teams. Maliha compiled and published word lists and and books.
At some point in the early 2000’s Maliha became attracted to Loooooooong words. At that point she began to compile a lexicon with words up to 3-letters long. Eventually this list was acknowledged by both NASPA and WGPO. At the same time she organized a club which played SUPER SCRABBLE™. She invited more than 20 players to her home every month over several years where she promoted playing the long words during the super scrabble™ sessions. I was privileged to direct two sanctioned super scrabble™ tournaments for her.
After Maliha’s untimely passing two of her dear friends, Evelyn Davis and Yukiko Loritz picked up the ball and to this day continue to host the monthly gathering.
Can you spell L-A-C-K-A-D-A-S-I-C-A-L-L-Y ?
September 17, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
I love a good pattern. When I really get into it I can often develop a brain freeze which holds a mental screen in my head, visualizing a revolving loop of words with that pattern.
Think of the common 5-Letter Words that you know that end with ‘I-C’
|
CUBIC |
MUSIC |
OPTIC |
PUBIC |
Which of the above did you not know?
Which of the above might you remember when you have an ‘I – C’ ?
Which other patterns tickle your fancy?
When you go to bed tonight try not to think about words ending with ‘I – C’.
September 15, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
IMAGINE playing Scrabble™, no vowels too. Remember all the weird words; I know there are a few. Strange looks and faces greeting every play.
Can’t pronounce these strange words; how would you say?
BRRR
BYRLS
CRWTH
CRYPT
CWM
DRYLY
FLYSCH
GHYLI
GLYPH
GRRRLS
GYPSY
HMM
HWYL
LYNCH
MYC
MYRRH
NYMPH
PHT
PSYCH
RHYTHM
TSKTSK
Just because you don’t know a word does not mean that it isn’t real. And remember while Scrabble™ uses words . . . it is really a MEMORY game.
People frequently ask me why a specific word exists in the Scrabble™ dictionary? There is no answer other than ‘The Dictionary Committee’ agreed to put it there.
Knowing some of these can be helpful managing the contents of your rack and scaring your opponents who will think you are a genius.
Do you know any of the words with a lot of vowels?
ABOULIA
AERADIO
AIRIER
ALEXIA
AMOEBAE
AUDITEE
BOOBOO
EAU
EAUX
ELUVIA
EUGENIA
EVACUEE
FOOTIE
GUINEA
OIDIOID
OUGUIYA
SEQUOIA
ZOOECIA
OUGUIYA
JUST IMAGINE.
September 14, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Stay alert. Keep moving forward. When the music stops be the first person to sit down upon the empty chair or you’ll be eliminated. I’m a bit confused. That’s a whole different game.
When playing Scrabble™, you also must be alert. Some opponents play their turns so slowly that while waiting for your turn you could become bored or even doze off. There’s a bit of Scrabble™ folklore about a player we’ll call Harry who was playing at a tournament in Boston in the early 1980s. Harry was about 85 years young, still had all his faculties but was experiencing a touch of narcolepsy. Harry’s opponent was a slow and deliberate player, often using several minutes on a single turn. As his opponent struggled to find her best play Harry nodded off. The lady across from Harry finally made her play, announced her score and hit her clock to end her turn. Harry’s clock began to tick down and Harry sat there sound asleep. The kind, considerate lady just sat there quietly so as not to disturb Harry’s nap. Minutes passed. Then Harry lurched up abruptly, looked around to get his bearings, looked down at his clock and recognized he had barely 3 minutes remaining until he would go into penalty time.
Harry sat up straight in his chair, gave his opponent an evil stare and quickly took his turn. Harry did all his thinking and planning for successive plays while his opponent was on her clock. Each of Harry’s turns took less than 10 seconds. He was lucky to have several easy racks with high probability sets of tiles. When the dust cleared Harry was victorious despite his nap.
Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Remember the 3 Cs: Competitiveness, Clarity, and Creativity. Develop and use a KILLER INSTINCT. Don’t use alcohol, drugs, or voodoo until the tournament is over. Give yourself permission to play those words that will trick your opponents into losing their challenges (words like GJETOST, TSKTSKS and UNMEW).
September 13, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
How does anyone become THE BEST?
Only about 2% of all people set their aim at being The Best. The greater part of the majority will settle for being Good and spend a lot of time trying to become Better.
Just look at athletes. While they are learning their skills to make the team, they are always competing to survive the final cut. When they can’t achieve making the Big Leagues there is usually some Minor League that is looking for good players. But does making the 1st String make you the Best? Far from it. What quantifies the BEST? Earning the biggest paycheck? Being voted as the most valuable player? Being elected to the Hall Of Fame? What percent of all players attain those designations? Less than a small percent of 1%.
Consider doctors or professors. Who among them are the BEST?
Are the BEST guaranteed Happiness and Fulfillment?
No matter how much you have there are usually others who have even more.
How much is enough? Do you know people who have enough? What do they know or have that allows them to feel it is Enough? Do you have enough?
The Monday Scrabble™ Club at Laguna Woods Village is one of the first scrabble clubs created in the US (early 1970s). This club caters to senior citizens (over 55) who live in and around Laguna Woods, CA. 92637. Attendance at this club average 30 or more players every Monday at 1PM. While the activity is playing scrabble, the greater majority are NOT INTERESTED in learning volumes of words or developing winning strategies. Most players come to enjoy a social afternoon with others who enjoy the game. They are satisfied to find everyday words on their rack and play them on the board. Very few are consumed with learning the 2s or STEMS or HOOKS.
These folks are for the most-part content being the BEST that they can be within the framework of the Laguna Woods Village Scrabble Club. And that’s ENOUGH.
Can you spell C-A-T? I wish you ENOUGH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyzqk0thcec
September 12, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Keeping Track. Being Aware. Be in the NOW.
Most driving instructors give their students a list of tasks to attend to before beginning to drive adjust your seat; put on your seatbelt; adjust the mirrors; keep your attention on the vehicles around you; keep your hands at 10 and 3 on the steering wheel, etc. (My wife drives me crazy when after she begins driving, she reaches for a Kleenex, fumbles for a breath mint or reaches for something in her purse.)
There is a checklist for scrabble players too. Most important of all for word mavens is keeping track of what letters have been play and which letters are still unseen. Most players use a tracking sheet during play; some players even customize their tracking sheets.
The most important tiles to track are the BIG 10: J-Q-X-Z-S-S-S-S & 2 blanks. With that being said . . . every tile is important, especially at the end of the game. Knowing what is likely to still be in the bag will influence a decision to exchange tiles or how many to play off on a turn. There are many variables. The more you know, the LUCKIER you become.
Most people who track do so during the game. Make your play; count and announce your score; hit your clock (ending your turn); replenish the tiles on your rack; track tiles if you choose.
Personally, I often become distracted when tracking after each play. Some time I’ll forget to track. IF YOU DON’T. HAVE 100% INFORMATION THEN THE INFO YOU HAVE IS USELESS AND CAN CAUSE HARM.
I happen to play quickly. I typically have 10 minutes left on my clock after most games. Therefore, I choose to track only if and when it is crucial to winning the game (usually at or near the end of the game). I have practiced and trained myself to track 85 – 90 tiles in under 3 minutes. I usually have plenty of time on my clock to accomplish this. REMEMBER: If you are not accurate,100% of this information is not useful.
People who do not track at all are playing blind.
Minimally you should track the BIG 10.
September 11, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Category Lists are interesting but are time consuming and difficult to create. I created my first such list quite by accident. It was 1990ish at I was a regular player at Jeremy Boyd’s club in Livonia, Michigan. Most of the players there were much better than me. The crowd included Chuck Armstrong, Paul Epstein, Rodney Nivison, Karol Foss and about a dozen others. We played every Tuesday evening at 7PM in a local fire station.
During the rest of the week, I devoted a lot of time to studying the STEMS. I was pretty good at creating flashcards on my computer then printing and selling the to other budding players. I was so proud of my work that I’d bring them to club and show them off.
One evening back then, I was approached by Edna Miller who was originally from th UK (not that it matters in this story). Edna was a competitive scrabbler and her other passion was coin collecting. After thoroughly examining my flashcards Edna asked me if she could commission me to create a set of flashcards including the words in the OWL that were monetary units. She asked me what I’d charge. I shrugged my shoulders. She came back quickly and asked if I’d do the job for $25? It sounded interesting. I said yes.
I had no idea what I had just agreed to do.
How does one find the words on the OWL that are monetary units? One at a time by scanning your pointer finger down every page of the Official Scrabble Players’ Dictionary (by Merriam Webster). After a scanning a few pages my eyes became blurry and I’d often have to double back, looking st the definitions to be certain I didn’t miss something. It took me days, weeks, and more than a month. I spent about nearly 170 hours in all making that list, earning just short of $ .15 per hour. Edna was thrilled and gave me a $10 tip.
But there was a happy ending to this story. Along the way I became a local legend and the master of all scrabble words relating to monetary units. I still remember and play those words drawing strange looks and a few challenges too.
Can you spell??
N-G-U-L-T-R-U-M;
N-G-W-E-E;
E-K-P-W-E-L-E;
S-H-E-Q-E-L;
P-F-E-N-N-I-G;
TWOPENCE;
ECU;
MARKA
September 10, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
While many people look for a predictable formula to get from here to there it’s not the only route. These days everyone has a Garmin or Google Maps. We drive down roads turning left and right like robots. If we ever lost power most people would never get home. Most people, if asked for directions to LAX, would give a blank stare. What’s up?
Many people have no idea about the concept of smelling the roses along the trip.
Just saying, there are many possibilities for how to get from here to there. About 30+ years ago, before people had a phone in their pocket or a computer program to anagram letter combinations we had hard copy, paper with lists of words. I was just starting out on my scrabble adventure back then, when I visited scrabble champion Chuck Armstrong I was amazed by the decor in his home. The perimeter of the living room was lined with 4 drawer file cabinets. The contents of those files were flashcards with words from the Official Scrabble Dictionary.
Another odd but helpful tool I found was a BACKWARDS LIST. This was a list of the OWL but alphabetize right-to-left. What’s so special about that, you ask? Just think about it. Using a normal word list and if you wanted a list of all the words ending with ‘ING’ that take a final ’S’ = ‘…INGS’ you’d have to look up each ‘ING’ word for the answer. With the BACKWARDS DICTIONARY all the ‘INGS’ words would be together. So would all the words that end with ‘FUL’, ‘ABLE’, ‘ISM’, ‘WAY’ etc.
I recreated the BACKWARDS LIST updated to 2020 (NASPA version). Hard copy is available for $40 + shipping. It is also for sale in PDF format for $25 at [email protected]
Follow your own drummer.
September 9, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
The name of our dictionary used at Scrabble Club #350 is OWL (Official Word List) and I’m sure I shared that in 2020 the word committee at NASPA eliminated a long list of racial slurs from their lexicon (see below). At the same time, the other scrabble organization in the US (WGPO) decided to continue to permit those slurs to be legally played at their clubs and tournaments. That make memory more complicated for any of us who play in both circles.
With more than 170,000 words on the OWL, learning all that is a daunting task. Let’s say that you commit to learning 10 words every day. If you began that regimen today, you’d finish in 40 years + 120 days. No wonder Debbie Bloom says she’s finished competing at scrabble tournaments.
May I suggest that if you choose to learn more words on the Owl you pick a system that has worked for others. One such system is STEMS which was developed by scrabble players, for scrabble players. STEMS focuses on words with a high probability of appearing on your rack. There are 100 designated STEMS, each with 6 letters. When you begin with the stem and then add a variable letter (A – Z) you will be pleasantly surprised by the result. The #1 STEM is the letters S-A-T-I-N-E.
SATINE + A = ENTASIA – TAENIAS
SATINE + B = BANTIES – BASINET
SATINE + C = ACETINS – CINEAST
etc.
SATINE A – Z will produce a total of 73 bingos. Of course, you’ll still have to do the heavy lifting by learning them. May I suggest that you make up a set of hard copy flashcards. For an easy alternative I will sell you electronic flashcards in a PDF format that you can use on your computer.
September 8, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
Hookers have been around throughout all of history, but scrabble hookers were first held in esteem sometime in the 1960s.
You know how when there is roadkill the scavengers somehow know and show up for a feast. Well, that’s what happened in the 60s when scrabble clubs began to form. Word mavens came out of the woodwork showing up at clubs and tournaments. If you know anything at all about mavins then you know that they are a different breed; they have a killer instinct. They look at the board and words uniquely; they develop strategies.
One very important strategy recognized and brought to the front by serious players is about studying and learning the HOOKS that work with words. Not just the words that we know that a ending ’S’ Hook.
Did you know that only 20% of the words ending with ‘ING’ will take an ’S’ making ’….INGS’.
How about all the end HOOKS other than ’S’? The word ‘HOW’ takes an ‘F’ making ‘HOWF’.
How about the front HOOKS. The word ‘HERO’ take a front ’S’ = ‘SHERO’.
The word ‘HOLE’ take a front ‘D’= ‘DHOLE’ – or – ’T’ = ‘THOLE’
‘QUARE’ takes a front ’S’ = ‘SQUARE’ but not a ending ’S’.
‘JEBEL’ takes a front ‘D’ = ‘DJEBEL’
‘HOOT’ take a front ’S’ = ‘SHOOT’ and also a ‘B’ = ‘BHOOT’
There are many, many, many HOOKS which you do not know. Your opponents don’t know most of those Hooks. If you learn some of those first and play them you will win many challenge and leave your opponents in the dust.
SET YOURSELF UP.
On this play make ‘WORD; on the next play create ‘SWORD’. They’ll never see it coming.
On this play make ‘WAN; on the next play create ‘HWAN’
On this play make ‘WORD; on the next play create ‘SWORD’.
On this play make ‘NOW’; on the next play create ‘ENOW’ or ‘KNOW’ or ‘SNOW’ or ‘NOWS’ or ‘NOWT’
LEARN SOMETHING NEW TO YOU EVERY DAY.
September 7, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
In the world of scrabble there is a door that has been there since Alfred Butts created a word game called Kriss-Kross in the late 1930s. Since then, if you were a word person you were not alone; you have never been alone.
I remember playing scrabble with my mother at the dining room table when I was 8 and 9 years old (early 1950s). I was completely oblivious to the reality in thousands of households, other families were being hooked on word fun that was being shared in private cells across the country and around the world. At first the official word lists were determined by whichever dictionary lived on a shelf in your home: Websters; World Book; Funk & Wagnalls™ . . .
Now 70+ years later with organized scrabble clubs and tournaments having been on the scene for more than 50 years, I still meet people, receive emails and phone calls from clueless people who stumbled upon a link on the web that highlights a story about me, my clubs or my blogs. Excited emails and voices want to know MORE and WHERE and WHEN.
Language is something that lives, grows, shrinks, becomes arcane and sometimes dies. The one thing that is certain about language and the game of scrabble is they are in constant states of change. To know the rules is not enough. Knowing the NEW CURRENT RULES whenever they change is a must for wannabe champions. The same is true for the Official Word Lists.
It was August 2019 when my good friend and co-worker Derek Fleming asked me how I intended to celebrate my upcoming 77th birthday. I didn’t have a firm plan for the day. Derek suggested that since I love scrabble so much, I should take an extended ’77 Sunset Trip’. My face beamed and I could not shake the idea out of my mind. Being the spontaneous creature that most others do not know, I went online and designed a 5-week road trip going east on a northern route and returning to California on a southern route. I played at 23 scrabble clubs along the route and 3 scheduled tournaments. One week later I was out the door driving north on US15 toward Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Thank you, Derek.
Scrabble players are the most welcoming group of people I’ve ever known. They open their doors to strangers, share their tables and provide them lodging. All they ever ask in return is a good game of scrabble or ten.
Simply plan and promote a scrabble get together at any location and THEY will come. To date I’ve hosted scrabble events at my home, at book stores, at fast food restaurants, on cruise ships, in campgrounds, in clubhouses, at the famous Caffe’ Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, at resort properties, on trains, at a stagecoach stop, at Casinos and and in a hospital waiting room.
If you’ve never played in Washington Square Park in NYC it is a MUST. When you are next in my neighborhood (Laguna Woods, CA.) call me (949) 510-1673.
September 6, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
I remember being 4 years old and walking up Gladstone from the apartment where my family lived with my Baubee and Zaydee. Zaydee was taking me for an ice cream at Zukins on 12th Street. There I was standing in front of the display case, on my tiptoes so I could see all the amazing flavors. “Which one would you like,” Mr. Zukin asked? My eyes darted back and forth across the flavors. I could imagine all the wonderful flavors, but I couldn’t decide. TOO MANY GOOD POTENTIAL CHOICES CAN CAUSE ONE TO FREEZE, SHUT DOWN, LOSE IT.
Something similar happens to me when I’m playing Scrabble™. Most often when it is your turn to play you will have many possibilities. You’ll likely see several possible words as well as several different places to play words on the board. You must be able to weigh all the options without getting bogged down and allowing your time from evaporating off your clock.
One thing is for certain. Every game is different from the last and the next. There will be times when you will see the board clearly and there will be other times when every rack will have 5 or 6 vowels. You will feel urges to act or react based on past experiences with similar situations. You’ll quickly learn that there is a huge ‘luck factor’ that influences the game in spite of your word knowledge and word power. Scrabble players are wise to remember that they are always playing both offense and defense. The placement of every word onto the board scores valuable points while creating or denying openings for your opponents.
Eventually I picked chocolate.
Can you spell S-E-N-A-R-I-I?
September 5, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
These are a few of my favorite words. The thing that make these favorite to me relates to the circumstances surrounding my encountering them.
While playing against Stu Goldman during a tournament in Reno, Nevada he played ‘STRIGIL’. I had never seem it before but it struck a chord with me. It was fun to say and since that day I have played it many times. Others have challenged it. It is a scraping tool used by dentists.
After having lost to Chuck Armstrong time after time over several years I found myself ahead in our game with the tile bag empty and down to Chuck’s final play. He had 7 tiles on his rack and there was only one bingo line open. The word ‘PACIFIED’ was on the board vertically from A2-A9. I had tracked the board accurately and knew that Chuck rack was A-B-E-I-O-T-V. I took a deep breath anticipating my victory at last. BUT the Chuck began laying down his tiles on the board. He began with an ‘O’ over ‘PACIFIED’ at A1 followed by
B-V-I-A-T-E then announcing 140 points and out. My jaw dropped. I called CHALLENGE but both words were acceptable.
Last week I came across a word that I had never seen before: ‘BYRE’ The next day when I was with a group of my scrabble friends I decided to share my find, assuming that no one would know this simple word. Before I finished recounting my discovery Debbie Bloom piped up and said, “Yeah, that’s a cow shed.”
Here’s a short list of other favorites. They’re not all bingos but they all tickle my fancy. FILARIID – COQUI – GWEDUC – ACHENIAL – AALII – QIBLA COLZA – NIHIL – MENHIRS – GJETOST – DJEBEL – ETESIAN
If you haven’t already done so, start a notebook with a list of your favorite words. One of the best ways to cement them into your memory is to play them whenever possible.
4 SEPTEMER 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
“But I can’t remember all that!” I hear that outcry a lot, especially when players new to the scrabble club scene learn that there are 107 legal two-letter words.
How many words can you learn in a day? a month? a year? in the rest of your lifetime? Just to let you know, there are more than 170,000 legal words in the official scrabble dictionary used in north America and other selected countries around the world. To make it a little more confusing . . . there are several different lexicons that are used by different scrabble organizations. Don’t make the mistake thinking that the words you play on ‘WORDS WITH FRIENDS’ will give you an advantage when playing at your local scrabble club. WWF uses a different list. Is your local club affiliated with NASPA (North American Scrabble Players Association) or WGPO (Word Game Players Organization)? In 2020 NASPA eliminated many words relating to racial slurs.
A little bit of knowledge and a whole lot of luck can make you a champion some day. It was the end of May 1997. I lived in L.A. at the time and played scrabble every Tuesday evening at the West Los Angeles Scrabble Club. At the end of the fiscal year the club held their annual club tournament. It was mostly for bragging rights, but the winner also received free weekly admission for the entire next year (value $250). The club had so many scrabble champions that they called themselves The Killer Club. At the time I was a very dedicated student of the game, an 8-year devotee. In the group of 22 players I ranked about 16th. The format of the competition was simple. A total of 8 games over 2 consecutive weeks, the director, Alan Stern, paired players using Swiss Pairing. No eliminations: every player played all eight games. The first round was random pairing. Right off the bat I played Ira Cohen. Ira usually beat me 19 out of every 20 times we played. However, this time I got all the good stuff and won. Next, I played Judy Levitt. The last time I had played Judy she played the word ‘USUFRUCT’ against me but on this day I had much better good fortune and prevailed. Third I played Mohan Chakra from India. I had never beaten Mohan during the year until that night. And then came Bruce D’Ambrosio who was sometime known as my ‘scrabble daddy’ because he usually had my number; and still my win streak continued. I was 4W / 0 losses.
Do you think I got any sleep the entire week? I dreamed scrabble racks. A week of days seemed more like a month of days. And then week #2 arrived. I had experienced one or two previous win streaks but never against players at this level. Luck continued to smile upon me, I won games 5, 6 and 7.
Now there was only 1 game to go. As chance would have it my final opponent was Rita Norr. Rita was the highest rated female player in North America. Rita was preparing to play in the upcoming World Scrabble Champion Tournament. The lexicon used in the world completion was called SOWPODS.
I was playing so far over my head that I was not totally shocked that I was keeping up with Rita. It was like a tennis match where we volley back in forth with bingos and other high scoring words. As the number of tiles in the bag were being played our scores were nearly even. Rita had a 5-point lead when she played her last two tiles and declared “8 points and out”.
One should always challenge the final play do I called “CHALLENGE”. Rita’s out play was the two-letter word ‘OI’. At the time, in May 1997, that word was legal in SOWPODS but was not acceptable on our official word list. The director adjudicated as NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The rest is history. I played out to win the game and the tournament. Who’d of thunk?
**P.S. In the early 2000s our lexicon was updated including the word ‘OI’.
September 3, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
What motivates you? When people find something to be FUN, they will go miles and miles just for the fun of it. Scrabble aficionados may all be obsessed by words, but their learning tools and approaches are varied. It was more than 20 years ago when I first learned about MNEMONICS. It is systematic approach to coach your memory. Some of my scrabble friends were using the system to memorize 8 letter long, high probability bingos (In scrabble a bingo is playing all 7 tiles). Why bingos? Because a scrabble player earns a 50-point bonus when they play all 7 tiles from their rack in a single turn.
So, here is how it works. There are scrabble books that list words with the highest probability of showing up on your rack. The word ‘NASTIER’ has the highest probability among 7-letter words.
Using an anagrammer, enter NASTIER + a blank. That will produce a list of 8 letter words including the letters N-A-S-T-I-E-R-?
NASTIER + A = ANTISERA; ARTESIAN; RATANIES; SANTERIA; SEATRAIN
NASTIER + B = BANISTER; BARNIEST
NASTIER + C = VANISTER; CREATINS; CISTERNA; CERITANS; SCANTIER ;TACRINES
NASTIER + D = DETRAINS; TANDIEST; STRAINED
NASTIER + E = ARENITES; ARSENITE; RESINATE; STEARINE; TRAINEES
NASTIER + F = FAINTERS
NASTIER + G = ANGRIEST; ANGSTIER; ASTRINGE; GANISTER; GANTRIES; GRANITES; INGRATES; TANGIEST
NASTIER + H = HAIRNETS; INEARTHS; THERIANS
NASTIER + I = INERTIAS; RAINIEST; SATINIER
NASTIER + K = KERATINS; NARKIEST
NASTIER + L = ENTRAILS; LATRINES; RATLINES; RETINALS; SLANTIER; TRENAILS
NASTIER + M = MINARETS; RAIMENTS
NASTIER + N = ENTRAINS; TRANNIES
NASTIER + O = NOTARIES; NOTARISE; SENORITA
NASTIER + P = PAINTERS; PANTRIES; PERTAINS; PINASTER; PRISTANE; REPAINTS
NASTIER + R = RESTRAIN; RETRAINS; STRAINER; TERRAINS; TRSINERS
NASTIER + S = ARTINESS; RETSINAS; STAINERS; STEARINS
NASTIER + T = INTREATS; NITRATES; STRAITEN; TERTIANS
NASTIER + U = TUINATES; TAURINES; URANITES; URINATES
NASTIER + W = TINWARES
NOW, using only the add-on letters create a nonsense sentence.
“HORRIBLE WICKED FANG STUMP”
Each of these letters + NASTIER creates a legal 8 letter word.
Memorize the and you’ll know 75 bingos.
As easy as that.
September 2, 2022
MARGINAL SCRABBLE ADVICE
“But I can’t remember all that!” I hear that outcry a lot, especially when players new to the scrabble club scene learn that there are 107 legal two-letter words.
How many words can you learn in a day? a month? a year? in the rest of your lifetime? Just to let you know, there are more than 170,000 legal words in the official scrabble dictionary used in north America and other selected countries around the world. To make it a little more confusing . . . there are several different lexicons that are used by different scrabble organizations. Don’t make the mistake thinking that the words you play on ‘WORDS WITH FRIENDS’ will give you an advantage when playing at your local scrabble club. WWF uses a different list. Is your local club affiliated with NASPA (North American Scrabble Players Association) or WGPO (Word Game Players Organization)? In 2020 NASPA eliminated many words relating to racial slurs.
A little bit of knowledge and a whole lot of luck can make you a champion some day. It was the end of May 1997. I lived in L.A. at the time and played scrabble every Tuesday evening at the West Los Angeles Scrabble Club. At the end of the fiscal year the club held their annual club tournament. It was mostly for bragging rights, but the winner also received free weekly admission for the entire next year (value $250). The club had so many scrabble champions that they called themselves The Killer Club. At the time I was a very dedicated student of the game, an 8-year devotee. In the group of 22 players I ranked about 16th. The format of the competition was simple. A total of 8 games over 2 consecutive weeks, the director, Alan Stern, paired players using Swiss Pairing. No eliminations: every player played all eight games. The first round was random pairing. Right off the bat I played Ira Cohen. Ira usually beat me 19 out of every 20 times we played. However, this time I got all the good stuff and won. Next, I played Judy Levitt. The last time I had played Judy she played the word ‘USUFRUCT’ against me but on this day I had much better good fortune and prevailed. Third I played Mohan Chakra from India. I had never beaten Mohan during the year until that night. And then came Bruce D’Ambrosio who was sometime known as my ‘scrabble daddy’ because he usually had my number; and still my win streak continued. I was 4W / 0 losses.
Do you think I got any sleep the entire week? I dreamed scrabble racks. A week of days seemed more like a month of days. And then week #2 arrived.
I had experienced one or two previous win streaks but never against players at this level. Luck continued to smile upon me, I won games 5, 6 and 7.
Now there was only 1 game to go. As chance would have it my final opponent was Rita Norr. Rita was the highest rated female player in North America. Rita was preparing to play in the upcoming World Scrabble Champion Tournament. The lexicon used in the world completion was called SOWPODS.
I was playing so far over my head that I was not totally shocked that I was keeping up with Rita. It was like a tennis match where we volley back in forth with bingos and other high scoring words. As the number of tiles in the bag were being played our scores were nearly even. Rita had a 5-point lead when she played her last two tiles and declared “8 points and out”.
One should always challenge the final play do I called “CHALLENGE”. Rita’s out play was the two-letter word ‘OI’. At the time, in May 1997, that word was legal in SOWPODS but was not acceptable on our official word list. The director adjudicated as NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The rest is history. I played out to win the game and the tournament. Who’d of thunk?
**P.S. In the early 2000s our lexicon was updated including the word ‘OI’.
1 September 2022
I guess I’m the forever teacher. I am continually creating word lists and puzzles. All my effort focuses on Scrabble word lists. If you’re looking to build your scrabble word knowledge just drop me a line at [email protected]. With the increases in the cost of just about everything . . . most of my study tools are in the form of PDF files ( easy to use and easy to store). If you want hard copies the files are printable too.
21 August 2022
Thank you to all of you for the many birthday wishes you bestowed upon me. I feel very lucky to enjoy your friendship and I always look forward to being with you and hearing from you.
At midnight yesterday when it became August 20 I went to the large mirror in the bathroom and took a good long look at what 80 looks like. Not Too Shabby. A few more scratches and liver-spots but the guy looking back at me didn’t look a day over 79.
I promise to keep on keeping on exploring life’s adventure.
18 July 2022
Been busy in Michigan growing some new hair.
17 July 2022
I won’t turn 80 until August 20 but I’m here now with some of my family, celebrating at The Stage Deli in West Bloomfield, MI. What a wonderful celebration before my trip back west next Tuesday.