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.
To some, SCRABBLE is just a board game to play during family game night or during a casual get-together. Others think of SCRABBLE as a mere hobby. But with any activity, there will always be fanatics—the ones who would rather sell their soul than stop—the ones with a constant yearning for self-improvement—the merciless.
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.
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.
Now that you have your two-letter words down and have practiced your skills, it's time to move on to another important part of Scrabble gameplay—the opening move. There's a well known adage that states, “The player going first will win 54% of the time—all other things being equal."
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.
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.
He may be the oldest person to have invented an app for Apple devices, but 84-year-old George Weiss didn't originally intend on marketing his Dabble word game to the mobile crowd. He first came up Dabble back in 1958 when he was just 31. “A lot has changed since 1958, but people still love a good game,” said Weiss on his introduction into the iTunes App Store last month.
You're currently playing a heated game of Scrabble or Words with Friends. The game is close, too close for comfort. But you're not sweating because you're confident. You play a huge word that puts you in the lead, but then when your letter tiles are drawn...
You're either part of a Scrabble family, or you're not. If you're looking to transform your family, then before you can play Scrabble, you need to know all about it, the history and everything. Just don't be stuck being the Scrabble jackass.
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.
SCRABBLE was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts, an architect in New York, in an attempt to make a word game that combined anagrams and crosswords, which involved chance, luck and a great degree of skill. Together, Butts and game-loving entrepreneur James Brunot, refined the game and made the games by hand, stamping letters on wooden tiles on at a time. They eventually came up with the name SCRABBLE, which means "to grope frantically."
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.
Despite the controversy over Scrabble Trickster across the word world, Mattel's modern take on the classic crossword board game is out in stores— but not in the United States. It's only available in and around the UK, but you can snag your copy just in time for Christmas from Amazon UK. You can also visit the official Scrabble Trickster website. I imagine this is going to be a hot item in the United Kingdom this holiday season, but as for me— it's the one Scrabble game I refuse to add to my c...
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.
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:
In a previous post, I wrote about how controversy changed SCRABBLE, about how the SCRABBLE Dictionary evolved thanks to Judith Grad and her crusade to rid the world of derogatory and racist words. She won, at least in some manner, but the fact still remains, racist or not—words are words, and they're here to stay.
Watch and learn how to play "oxyphenbutazone" in Scrabble Blitz. Now, some might call you a cheater for this, but who cares what they think? Maybe you are cheating. Just don't try this is any tournament play, and you'll be fine. Unless Scrabulous or whoever kicks you off, which they might do, so beware!
Two-letter words are one of the most important parts of playing Scrabble. If you don't know all of the small ones, then you're missing out on one of the easiest ways to score big. Check out How to Score Big with 2-Letter Words in Scrabble and memorize all that you can. Definitions are optional, but you won't need them for this challenge.
What's a good way to learn the English language? Scrabble! What's a fun and irresistible word board game the whole family can enjoy? Scrabble! What's the best way to show off your smarts to your friends? Scrabble!
If you get annoyed playing Scrabble with your kids, because you get frustrated with "the" and "cat" and "ice", then learn how to play it fast, so you can get it over with, so you don't regret slamming the board on the ground in defeat, crying like a baby, while you're kids stare at you and laugh. Avoid it. Watch this, and sleep well at night.
Anne Hathaway appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote her new movie, One Day. But before that, she proclaimed herself a Scrabble fiend. She likes to play the board game with family and friends, as well as local play on the iPhone and solo play against her computer. And Jon reveals his son's strategy for using "Best Word" on EA's Scrabble version (something I'm not to keen on)...
Confessions of an Online Scrabble Cheat This article from back in the days Scrabulous was rocking Facebook is a poignant exposé on the ethical dilemma bad Scrabblers face whilst using WORD GENERATORS!!!
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:
Many new players wonder how one actually gets a rating in SCRABBLE. Now, we're talking about an official rating, not one you would get on SCRABBLE Beta or with the ISC WordBiz player — I mean an "Official SCRABBLE Rating". A rating that allows you to play in the National SCRABBLE Championship (NSC), which is held once every year (sometimes two).
We all remember the controversy of SCRABBLE Trickster back in April. SCRABBLE + Mattel + Proper Nouns = BLASPHEMY!
Scrabble has invaded just about every medium out there. It started as a mere board game, but has since spawned numerous board game spinoffs and variations, an electronic version, mobile apps for just about anything (Android, iPhone, iPhone, iPad and Kindle), games for both PC and Facebook, and video games for handheld consoles like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Heck, it's even on the PlayStation and Xbox 360 gaming consoles. And it hasn't forgotten about film. You can see Scrabble featured in...
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…
'Tis the season for Christmas tree decorations and everybody's favorite board game— SCRABBLE! Okay, that was too ebullient on my part.
Attention all National SCRABBLE Association members: You know that newsletter that you get in your mailbox every month or two? That SCRABBLE News mailing from the NSA? Well, they're axing it. No more printed SCRABBLE News. No more ink on your fingertips. No more surprises in your mailbox. It's done for... kinda...
Scrabble Cooking Scrabble Gardening
Could Nigeria add SCRABBLE to the list of games at their National Sports Festival in 2011? No one knows for sure, but it's definitely a possibility since SCRABBLE was among the competitions of the biennial 10-day sports fiesta in the past. In 2009, at the 16th Nigerian National Sports Festival (NNSF) in Kaduna, SCRABBLE was finally scrapped from the list of games, but some wish for its
If you've checked out my SCRABBLE World, you may have read "How Controversy Changed SCRABBLE". In that case, you know that the word JEW is not allowed in regular play, because it was deemed an offensive and obscene word.
Everybody loves Oprah Winfrey. Maybe it's because of her philanthropy. Maybe it's her onscreen personality. Maybe it's the fact that it was a rags to riches story. Or maybe it's because she likes SCRABBLE...
The 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship is almost here. Only a few days left now. And one resident from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina is ready to go.
The SCRABBLE Brand trademark has been around since 1948, but video advertisements for the popular board game didn't appear until the start of this millennium. Although there may be a few SCRABBLE video spots out there that predate 2000, I haven't come across them.
The game has undergone many transitions over the years, since its days as LEXIKO (1931) to its briefness as CRISS CROSS WORDS to its current and amalgamated, renowned brand of SCRABBLE. There has been many editions of the word board game along that historic metamorphosis, and SCRABBLE has even given in to pop culture, sports memorabilia, and fanaticism.
If you've read my blog "How Controversy Changed SCRABBLE", then you know that the word JEW is not allowed in regular play, because it was deemed an offensive and obscene word.
Bluffing is one of the key components of poker. You may have a horrible hand, but if you can play it cool and raise the bet, you might just be able to convince your opponents otherwise and induce a few folds. But if you can't handle a little subterfuge, then you shouldn't be playing the game. Even the slightest tell could give you away. You have to maintain a poker face, no matter what.
With the 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship coming up next weekend, I figured it would be good to show leisurely players and SCRABBLE neophytes what rules competitive Scrabblers have to follow.