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.
Designer Andrew Clifford Capener has made an alternative to the classic Scrabble board that celebrates the expression of typeface. It isn't in production yet, but Capener's set would offer tiles in a variety of different fonts:
If you think you're a Scrabble genius because you have all the two-letter words memorized, you're sorely wrong. To be a Scrabble genius, you have to know practically "every" word acceptable in Scrabble, so I'm guessing there's not too many Scrabble geniuses out there, because it's an impossible feat.
The end game is a very important aspect of playing Scrabble. If you have just a few letters left on your rack and there are none left in the draw bag, but you're currently losing the game, you still might have a chance to win if you play your cards (er… tiles) right. No matter if you're playing a casual game at home with a friend or competing against diehards in club or tournament games, the scoring process at the end provides the same results.
When I heard that a man wearing a pink wig and matching PVC dress won the 2010 National Scrabble Championship yesterday, I wasn't that shocked. After all, it was Halloween. But it turns out that it wasn't just a Halloween costume. In fact, it's a way of life for this champion scrabbler.
An odd game of Scrabble between my two cats. I think they're dyslexic. And chaotic. "I think I found a word."
Just came across this image in Google, and thought it was cool. It's from what was apparently the first ever Human vs. Computer Showdown in Toronto back in 2006. Former world Scrabble Champion David Boys, of Montreal, was defeated by computer super brain "Quackle".
Let's face it, not every logophile is addicted to Scrabble. Without the use of a timer, Scrabble can be a pretty slow game. Even in clubs and tournaments where the standard time limit is 25 minutes per person for a two-player game. Now, take away time restrictions and add two other players and you've got a game that could take up to 2 hours! It all really depends on who the competition is.
What are the odds of drawing the same seven letters, e.g. JANITOR, twice during a lifetime of playing Scrabble—in two separate games. Michael Thelen, who runs Zyzzyva, breaks down the numbers.
This isn't your ordinary Scrabble fiend, but relax... Scrabble was not the reason behind the death of this Pennsylvania woman's baby. But nonetheless, it's a horrible story of parents who'd rather neglect their own flesh and blood, rather than their pets.
This Blender graphic shows my idea of an Egyptian style Scrabble board, inspired by the ancient board game Senet. It features the Nefertiti (Latin) font, so you don't have to read hieroglyphs to make words. The white hieroglyphs on the black granite tiles was inspired by inscriptions on Egyptian statuary of the same material.
Thanks to the advent of smartphones and mobile apps, Scrabble has spread like wildfire across the globe, whether it be Scrabble or one of its many popular word game spinoffs, such as Words with Friends, WordWise and Kalimat.
Has anyone played Words With Friends? I'm curious to see how it compares to Scrabble.
Oooh...looks like Amazon's having a sale on their word games for Kindle. Of which Scrabble is one of them. If you've got a Kindle, you should not miss out on this!
Now this is a perfect gift for a SCRABBLE addict.
Who knew playing SCRABBLE could lead to something like this?!? Nearly four years after he was convicted of seven counts of Internet luring, a Winnipeg man's online activities have landed him back in court.
MGMT, more commonly and colloquially referred to as "Management," broke into the indie music scene with their 2008 debut album Oracular Spectacular. The most popular song on that album is "Electric Feel" — the original music video is often considered to be an acid trip. Some even think it's a depiction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the two cities destroyed by God. Check out the original music video for "Electric Feel" below.
In an interview with the Telegraph on May 17th, Kate Hudson divulged that she is, in fact, a keen SCRABBLE player, despite her West Coast blonde stigma. The list of celebrities enthralled by SCRABBLE keeps getting bigger!
Slogan: "In Scrabble anything is possible. Grand National Tournament September 23, 2006." Beautiful young women are portrayed as rivals, hateful and violent. Ready to injure, kill to outweigh the other, a board game!
Joshua Glenn posted an article on Brainiac, where he researched anything related to Scrabble in American literature ranging from 1954-2003. Check it out.
If you thought playing Scrabble in your grandparents' kitsch and musty old house was your most dangerous gaming experience, you haven't heard of Extreme Scrabble yet.
If you're not into making your own Scrabble coasters out of Scrabble tiles, these are the next best thing (though a little more complicated). And better than having tons of tiles on the same coaster is just being one tile itself, so you can make words out of the coasters! Though these are undeniably cool, Pete Prodoehl of RasterWeb!, the mastermind behind these coasters, is calling this his beta versions. Why? Some minor problems with sanding, cork, and staining. I still think they look prett...
My JO was watching The Simpsons on FOX the other day, like she wholeheartedly does every evening, and I joined her, much like I always do— though I must admit, I'm not as obsessed with the cartoon family as much as she is. Just like she isn't as obsessed with SCRABBLE as I am.
From Fred Flare, a Scrabble refrigerator magnet set.
DYVOUR n pl. -S one who is bankrupt Nigel Richards played this word in his very first game in the 2010 National SCRABBLE Championship (NSC) held in Texas, which ended today. Richards won that first game against Lucas Freeman with a 462 to 392 score, but "DYVOUR" was no forewarning for Richards — not at all.
Original picture appears on the ONION.
If you look up the word SAWBUCK in the SCRABBLE Dictionary, you'd see that it was a sawhorse, but there's another definition that we're all probably more familiar with:
Scrabble Cookies.
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.
What happens when a struggling writer cannot finish the screenplay to her second film? She writes a book.
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...
Cheating. It happens everywhere. From scientists faking human ears on mice, to Hollywood thirty-somethings cheating on their quadragenarian wives, to chess players accusing supercomputers of fraud. There's no game or profession out there that doesn't have a cheater or two, but the bigger nuisance is probably those people who accuse others of cheating.
A phoney word in a game of Scrabble is basically a non-valid word, either played or considered being played. Why? To fool the other player and go from losing to winning. It's perfectly acceptable in Scrabble play, but only if you don't get caught. If the other player challenges your play, then you'll be forced to remove it and your turn will be skipped. That right there—not fun.
QI and ZA. QI n pl. -S the vital force that in Chinese thought is inherent in all things
