SCRABBLE Features
The Octopus Conundrum: Octopuses vs. Octopi vs. Octopodes
A couple of days ago, I had some questions regarding the mighty tentacled beast of our oceans— the octopus. Actually, I was just curious as to what an octopus was, and I found the answer, which was a cephalopod mollusk in the order Octopoda.
News: Scrabble Finally Hits Android Devices... But Does It Beat Words with Friends?
Three years ago, Scrabble was one of the very first 500 mobile applications to appear on the new iTunes App Store, allowing iPhone users the chance to kill their Scrabble cravings on the go. It was a smart move for Hasbro and Electronic Arts (EA), but it's been two years and eight months since the Android Market opened for business, and they've just now released an official app for Android smartphones—Scrabble Free.
Scramble with Friends: Zynga's Newly Released Word Game for iOS
Zynga just added another game to their Zynga with Friends series called Scramble with Friends. If you've ever played Boggle, it's basically the same thing, but is dedicated to playing your buddies just like Words with Friends or Hanging with Friends.
How To: Play the classic word board game Scrabble
Yes, this is how to play play the classic word board game Scrabble. If you hate reading instructions and like videos tutorials, this is for you, but somehow I don't think you hate reading instructions, because they're words, and words are your friend.
Scrabble Bingo Weekly Roundup: Creepy, Deadly Words for Halloween
Pumpkins, murderers, vampires, zombies, ghosts, witches, death… these are all the subjects of last week's Scrabble Bingo of the Days, which focused on words associated with Halloween and horror movies. Did you know there was actually a name for someone who suffocated another person? Did you know that Frankenstein, vampires, and ghosts can all be considered one thing? Did you know that there was actually a word for rotten dead flesh?
"Pi" meets SCRABBLE: A Metaphysical Religious Journey of Words & Numbers (CRAZIEST)
For as long as I've loved SCRABBLE, I can't believe I've never come across this before. "CRAZIEST" - A short story by Liz Dubelman about words
Word Nerds Unite: Planning a SCRABBLE-Themed Wedding
Wedding themes are no rarity, but a SCRABBLE wedding? I never would have guessed, until I came across "10 Ways to Incorporate Scrabble Into Your Wedding" at CasaSugar. Now, I'm one of the biggest SCRABBLE nerds out there, but I could never see myself getting hitched amongst SCRABBLE tiles and SCRABBLE cakes and SCRABBLE cuff links. I'd also be afraid that none of my guests would actually come if they knew SCRABBLE was the theme. Hell, it's hard enough to get any of my friends to play a simple...
News: W.E.L.D.E.R. Blends Bejeweled, Boggle and Scrabble into Word-Building Addiction
There are tons of mobile apps out there for the gaming logophile, but there's a new word building game taking over iPhones and iPads, and it not only wants you to have fun, it wants you to fight back in the "war against words". It's the Word Examination Laboratory for Dynamic Extraction and Reassessment. But you can just call it W.E.L.D.E.R. Since its release earlier this month, W.E.L.D.E.R. has developed quite a following with its addicting mesh of Bejeweled, Boggle and Scrabble gameplay. It...
Scrabble Challenge #18: Can You Win at Scrabble Rack Attack?
As touched upon in the past, knowing all of the possible words you can play is key to being a better Scrabble player. If you don't have the vocabulary, then you can't compete against the best of the best, and you'll never even get the chance to spar against professionals such as Nigel Richards, Joe Edley, Andrew Fisher, and Wayne Kelly.
News: $(r4BBL3 = SCRABBLE in L33tsp34k
JUAREZ. PH33R. SUX0R. If you know what these mean, then you probably spend way too much time on the internet. If you're as bewildered as I was, these words actually mean something in leetspeak.
Scrabble Bingo of the Day: CUCURBIT
CUCURBIT n pl. -S a gourd 64 points (14 points without the bingo)
News: How SCRABBLE (& 2 Men) Created Trivial Pursuit — RIP Chris Haney
Chris Haney, one of the creators of the Trivial Pursuit board game, died Monday, May 31st. But what does Chris Haney and Trivial Pursuit have to do with SCRABBLE?
Scrabble Bingo of the Day: APOLOGUE
APOLOGUE n pl. -S an allegory 61 points (11 points without the bingo)
News: Kids Kill Jimmy Kimmel at SCRABBLE
It's no secret that Jimmy Kimmel is a SCRABBLE man. He hosted and won the SCRABBLE 60th Anniversary Celebrity Doubles Tournament (SCRABBLE Under the Stars), and for the last couple of years, featured the National School SCRABBLE Champs on his late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".
News: Ogilvy & Mather's Mattel SCRABBLE Prints
Aside from the popular television commercials Ogilvy & Mather did for Mattel's Scrabble back in 2000 and 2001, they also have a large history in print with Mattel. From 1998 until the present, they've been designing graceful, risible and salacious Scrabble and Junior Scrabble adverts, winning prizes for advertising prints at the Cristal Awards, Golden Hammer, Loerie Awards, Cannes Lions, Epica Awards and FIAP. Without further ado…
News: The Many Ways to Play SCRABBLE
If you're like me, you want to play Scrabble all the time. But you can't drag your Scrabble board everywhere, without drawing attention. Not to mention bringing it to work's probably a bad idea.
News: SCRABBLE Expert Breaks Record
What's the highest score you ever achieved in one SCRABBLE game? 500? 600? 700?
Scrabble Challenge #15: What Would Be Your First Move in Words with Friends?
The concept of Scrabble and Words with Friends is the same—play words, score points, win. But the games require different strategy in terms of letter placement, premium squares, tile point values and word choices. Here's the main differences between the two games.
Scrabble Bingo of the Day: WENDIGO
WENDIGO n pl. -GOS windigo 62 points (12 points without the bingo)
Scrabble Challenge #4: How Fast Are You at Building Words? Find Out…
A recent study in Canada concluded that competitive Scrabble players are twenty percent faster than non-Scrabble players at identifying real words on a Scrabble rack. In light of this news, this week's challenge is actually just a game of Scrabble Sprint from Pogo.com.
News: 10 Peculiar Game Rules for Competitive Scrabble Tournaments
The 2011 Toronto International Scrabble Open (TOSI) took place last weekend, with former World Champion Adam Logan beating out all of the human competition for the $3,000 grand prize. But when it came time to take on the Quackle program in the Human vs. Computer Showdown, he lost his first two games and won the last two, ultimately losing with a measly 28-point differential of the combined total scores. But he still came out three grand happier.
Scrabble Challenge #16: Finding 6-Letter Words in 7-Letter Words
Being able to spell a seven-letter word on the board is one of the most enjoyable things about playing Scrabble. It's even better when those seven letters are all from your rack, giving you a bingo—those 50 bonus points in addition to your regular score.
News: All of the Other SCRABBLE Prints & Posters
This is my fourth (and final) installment on SCRABBLE adverts. I'm sure there's a lot I haven't found, but that's for another day. But this post features all of the remaining SCRABBLE advertisements (prints and posters) that haven't already been listed in my previous posts:
Scrabble Challenge #2: Can You Find the Highest Scoring Move?
Get ready to rack your brains, because it's time for another Scrabble Challenge! I may have gone a little overboard on last week's challenge (there was over 25 anagrams to solve), so I'm slimming things down this week. This time, there's only one puzzle.
Scrabble Challenge #3: Can You Find the Game Killing Triple-Triple?
There are two types of Scrabble players in the world—those who enjoy it and those who love it. I definitely fall into the latter category. Unfortunately, most of my friends don't. I'm lucky to have a few who simply enjoy it from time to time—some are even standing on the edge of Scrabble geekdom, afraid to take that last step. Maybe someday.
Scrabble Challenge #11: Would You Pass Up the Opening Move?
In these weekly Scrabble Challenges, so far we've covered two-letter words, double bingos, high scoring moves, triple-triples, last moves, parallel plays, phoneys and opening moves. For this week's puzzle, we're revisiting the strategy for opening moves.
News: Scrabble Dumbs Down Its Game with 3,000 New Words
Remember the firestorm SCRABBLE Trickster caused nine months ago? SCRABBLE enthusiasts across the world were outraged when Mattel created a game that would allow proper nouns to be acceptable words of play. Essentially, it was a dumbed down, youth-friendly version of the classic game they've all come to love. Luckily, it was just a spinoff game—not a replacement. The same can't be said of the new edition of Collins Official SCRABBLE Words.
SCRABBLE Evolution: From Boards & Brew to Pockets & Programs to Cheats & Cheating
SCRABBLE. I miss it.
Scrabble Bingo of the Day: SHAITAN
SHAITAN n pl. -S an evil spirit 60 points (10 points without the bingo)
News: Nigel Richards Wins $20,000, Becomes First Ever Two-Time World Scrabble Champion
Last weekend the 2011 World Scrabble Championship was held at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland. There were 106 players competing from 44 countries for the $20,000 first place prize and title of World Scrabble Champion.
Scrabble Challenge #14: Which Variant Word Wins the Game (And Which Doesn't)?
Nearly every game takes strategy to win, but when it comes to games like Scrabble and Words with Friends, you've also got to have a lexically inclined mind full of wonderful and weird words. Most start out by learning all of the two-letter words in the Scrabble dictionary, then work their way up to three-letter words. But where do you go from there?
Words With Friends Rules: BTW It Ain't Scrabble!
Check out the rules from Words With Friends creator NewToy
Scrabble Challenge #17: How Many Words Can You Find in TURKEY?
The big day may be over, but the weekend is still full of Thanksgiving spirit. And so is this week's puzzle. But let's keep it short this time, because we should all be taking this time to play a real game of Scrabble with friends and family. I was thinking of making a puzzle about edible birds in general, but practically every bird is edible, meaning there's a lot of avian-related words. Since the turkey is such a big part of Thanksgiving, let's just stick to that...
News: Craftsters Resuscitate Old SCRABBLE Boards Back to Life
Who could resist a retro SCRABBLE board game for two bucks? Suereal definitely couldn't, especially with the challenge of totally revamping a board game into something genuine and creative. Craftster's Craft Challenge #51 last June was meant to bring life back to an old board game with the following expectations:
News: Scrabble and Graffiti Join Forces for the Perfect Marriage Proposal
SCRABBLE: 14 points; GRAFFITI: 15 points; MARRIAGE: 11 points; YES: 6 points. When playing a game of Scrabble, those are the minimal amount of points for each of the given words (not including blank tiles). But for 28-year-old Jeff Gurwin, it's more than just 46 points on the board, it's a lifetime of happiness.
SCRABBLE the Christmas Tree: Joyful DIY Scrabble Tile Ornaments
'Tis the season for Christmas tree decorations and everybody's favorite board game— SCRABBLE! Okay, that was too ebullient on my part.
News: SCRABBLE Furniture
Have a few old junk SCRABBLE boards, but don't want to throw them away? Recycle them!
News: NFC-Equipped Sifteo Cubes One Up Hasbro's Scrabble Flash Word Game (But Costs 5X More)
Last year, Hasbro unveiled Scrabble Flash, an electronic version of the popular word game which consists of five SmartLink letter tiles that can communicate with one another using near field communication (NFC) to spell and score words. It's an interesting (and fun) way to build your Scrabble vocabulary for words ranging from two to five letters, but that's about it.
News Alert: Scrabble Makes You Smarter
Listen up Scrabblers... you finally have something to brag about besides knowing what MUZJIK is, and if you think it's elevator music, put those tiles back in the bag and pack up your Scrabble board because this doesn't apply to you.
Scrabble Challenge #12: Can You Unscramble the Derivative Words?
Last week's challenge brought up a good question (thanks Lisa) regarding the functionality of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, both online and in print form. The word TACTICAL was the answer to the first puzzle in that challenge, but when you search for the word directly in the print version, it can't be found. Likewise, when you search the online dictionary on Hasbro's site, you won't find it either. Go ahead, try it. You won't find it looking for TACTICAL specifically.