March 2012 - The Last Word Newsletter

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The Last Word
The Independent Tournament SCRABBLE® Newsletter
A Monthly Newsletter
Issue 27 - March 2012
Las Vegas Winners
Eastern Championship Winners
App Review
SCRABBLE® & Art
The Last Word is an independent publication for tournament SCRABBLE® players. It is not
affiliated with Hasbro, Mattel, the North American SCRABBLE® Players Association (NASPA),
the Word Game Players’ Organization (WGPO), or the National SCRABBLE® Association (NSA).
Our mission is to provide content of interest to all SCRABBLE® players, so please let us know if
there are topics you would like us to add. We welcome contributions: stories, artwork, etc.
For the time being, we are hoping to provide this Newsletter at no charge; however, since it is a
100% volunteer effort, we would appreciate any donations. Advertisers are encouraged, too. If
you would like to have The Last Word emailed to you, please send a request with your email
address to [email protected] and we will add you to our mailing list.
Editor in Chief: Cornelia Guest
Columnists: Jan Cardia, Timothy Cataldo, Judy Cole, Joe Edley, Stu
Goldman, Jeff Kastner, Joan Mocine, Tony Rasch, Lester Schonbrun,
Larry Sherman, Chris Sinacola, Siri Tillekeratne, Linda Wancel
Editors-at-large: Robin Pollock Daniel, Joe Edley, Stefan Fatsis, Ted Gest
The Last Word is a volunteer
effort. We appreciate your
donations.
(PayPal or snail mail--contact
[email protected])
Photographer-at-large: Betsey Wood
Contributors: Katie Bernardina, Sandee Bloom, Eric D’Souza, Wes
Eddings, Ryan Fischer, Matthew Hodge, Joel Horn, Jason Jones, Jim
Kramer, Sam Kantimathi, Jessica Meller, Sue Miller, Larry Rand, Shaun
Roberts, Adair Salgado, Teresa Schaeffer, Debbie Scholz, Richard
Spence, Geoff Thevenot, Ron Ulicny, Barbara Van Alen, Ian Weinstein
For advertising rates,
please email
[email protected]
Copyright © 2012 GuessWhat! Some data copyright ©1999-2011 NSA; copyright © 2010-2011 NASPA; and copyright © 2005-2011 Seth Lipkin and Keith Smith.
SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.in the USA and Canada. Elsewhere it is the trademark of J.W. Spear & Sons, Ltd.
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Table of Contents
From the Editor 3
Advertising Section: Equipment, Tournaments, Organizations, Books 4
Tournament News 8
Norwalk CT, 2/4 by Cornelia Guest 8
Las Vegas 2012 by Sam Kantimathi 9
Eastern Championship 2012, Charlotte NC by Ryan Fischer 14
Phoenix 2012 by Larry Rand and Barbara Van Alen 18
Saratoga Springs 2012: Off to the Races! by Cornelia Guest 22
Tournament Results 24
New Faces: Jason Jones 26
SCRABBLE® Strategy by Jim Kramer 28
Word Star by Jeff Kastner 31
SCRABBLE® and Scrabblers in the News edited by Judy Cole 34
Historic Moments: SCRABBLE® Through the Years by Stu Goldman 43
SCRABBLE® & Art: Ron Ulicny by Cornelia Guest 44
Joe Edley’s Puzzle Corner by Joe Edley 47
Wow! Games 51
App Review: Wordlist Pro 2.0 for Android phones! reviewed by Jeff Kastner 52
Club News edited by Larry Sherman 55
Manly Words by Tony Rasch 57
Word Trivia Quiz by Siri Tillekeratne 63
The Wordsmith by Chris Sinacola 65
One Up! Cup for March by Timothy Cataldo 68
Linda’s Library by Linda Wancel 69
Scrab-doku by Jeff Kastner 71
SCRABBLE® Resources 74
Tournament Calendar 77
Archives 87
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From the Editor
As spring approaches, so does the annual highlight on the School SCRABBLE® calendar: the
National School SCRABBLE® Championship. Players from across the country--and Canada--will
be flying into Orlando next month for the two-day event on April 13-15.
This year there are some changes. Fourth graders will be permitted to compete for the first time.
Also, player from different states may team up. I applaud both of these changes. In my years of
teaching I’ve had a number of very talented third and fourth graders, and I’m excited to be bringing a
savvy fourth grader to Orlando on one of my teams. In the past I’ve often found it difficult for players
to find partners because of the geographic restriction. With players at my School SCRABBLE®
clubs from both New York and Connecticut, it’s been tough to split up good friends. That is no
longer the case!
Another change for the good is that players will be seeded, which will make team pairings more
logical. I always found it a shame when two good teams were paired in the early rounds and a
legitimate contender was denied a shot at the top prize.
Games have been stretched from 22 minutes per side to the 25 minutes used in NASPA
tournaments. This makes sense. At our club, the late Rita Norr Provost had a rule that players
playing two on a side be given an extra 5 minutes, to allow for the time spent consulting with one
another. I hope that the extra time at this year’s NSSC will encourage more thoughtful play.
Last year an extra game was added to the event, giving every team seven games (and a lucky two
teams a final eighth game). The same is true this year. I’d love to see even more games, as the
more games that are played, the less luck plays a role in determining the champions. Last year
there were seven teams with 6-1 records after game seven; however, only the top two on spread
made it to the final playoff game.
I’d also love to see some consideration given to a championship for kids that is similar to the
National SCRABBLE® Championship: played one on one. While the team concept is fun for new
and younger players, adding a social element and promoting teamwork, for serious young players it
seems wrong. It’s as if Bughouse Chess were used to determine Scholastic Chess champions. I
know that there may be changes for next year’s Nationals, and I’m hoping this may be one of them.
As difficult as it is to encourage parents to send their child to Nationals, it is even more difficult when
two kids are involved. It can be frustrating even to get two kids together to practice. It’s also difficult
to organize a School SCRABBLE® tournament, as numbers must be divisible by four to make the
pairings even.
I think the team concept could still work with one-on-one games. Individuals from the same club
could be called a “team,” and wins by each team member could count toward a team prize. This is
done in chess, and I’ve often seen kids enthusiastically congratulating their teammates for wins.
It would be great to see SCRABBLE® get the kind of youth support there is for chess. If so,
perhaps one day there will be Elementary School, Middle School, and High School championships
in SCRABBLE®--and maybe intercollegiate games, too!
Good luck to all the teams competing at this year’s NSSC!
Cornelia Guest
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Norwalk CT, 2/4
By Cornelia Guest; photos by Jessica Meller
An impressive group of 40 players attended the 2/4 Norwalk Tournament, including 4 there for the
unrated "novice" division. In the group were 10 players coming to Norwalk for the first time--I hope
they'll come again! I opted for a later start time, plus made some other changes in hopes to draw
entries, so I'm very pleased attendance was so strong. Some players commented that lunch lasted
too long, so at the next tournament I'll be shortening that some so that we'll be done a little earlier.
Division 1 went to Jeopardy! star Jason Keller, who
arrived in orange with his lucky orange vuvuzela at
his side. He finished 6-2 +345, with Seth Lipkin
close behind for second (6-2 +181). Jason also won
the tournament prize for High Play (QUOINED, 123).
Evans Clinchy was third (5-3 +330), and Mack
Meller fourth (5-3 +18). Mack won the tournament
prize for High Game: 575 against Andrew Friedman
in the final round.
Nancy Konipol, the last seed in Division 2, went 7-1
+587 to take the division and increase her rating 95
points to 1663. Second was Paul Avrin (5-3 +427).
Ben Harrison and Adam Townsend, each with 4 wins,
were third and fourth.
Winners at Norwalk: (L-R) Division 3 winner Mike
Kapernaros; Division 1 winner Jason Keller;
tournament director Cornelia Guest; Division 4 winner
Kathy Hooper; Division 2 winner Nancy Konipol.
Three players finished with 5 wins in Division 3, with spread determining the winners. First was
Mike Kapernaros, who finished 5-3 +276 over Joan Kelly (5-3 +122) and Brandon Randall (5-3 +72).
Mike also helped between games as a director apprentice--a great help as some late entries
presented re-pairing challenges.
Division 4 was the largest, with 12 players. The winner was Kathy Hooper, with a 7-1 +358 spread,
over Linda Wancel (6-2 +352). Kathy's final 8-point victory over Linda in the KOH round clinched
the win. Third was 7th grader Kyle Imperato, who finished with a 5-3 +134 record.
The Main Event offered a prize for "Best Super Bowl Word." Joan Kelly was
the winner for WIDEOUTS (which Joan hadn't realized had anything to do
with football!) A Patriots fan, she selected a Patriots tile bag as her prize.
The unrated Novice Division had some no-shows, which was unfortunate,
as one adult ended up playing with three youth players. The undefeated
winner was 7th grader Seth Tilliss (3-0 +505), over his brother Jared Tilliss,
who was 2-1 -93. Seth also won the division prizes for High Game (455)
and High Play (VISITOR, 89). Sheng Guo won the division prize for "Best
Super Bowl Word" for FUN--and chose a Giants tile bag for his prize.
Joan Kelly was a winner for
WIDEOUTS; the Patriots
were not as lucky!
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Complete results are at cross-tables.com at http://cross-tables.com/
tourney.php?tourneyid=7517
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Las Vegas 2012
By Sam Kantimathi
Sam Kantimathi, one of the SCRABBLE® world’s top
players and maker of much of the equipment used by
top players, invited Scrabblers to attend his inaugural
Las Vegas Tournament over President’s Day
Weekend. A strong group of players from all over the
country--and from several different countries--took
part in this event. In the end, the top prize went to
Canadian player Robin Pollock Daniel, who prevailed
in one of the most exciting moments in SCRABBLE
history--fit for an opera!
Coming into the final game, Robin was badly trailing
her opponent, Jesse Day. She needed to win the
game by at least 197 points to take the division title.
She won by 228 points and was awarded the $1,000
first prize!
I haven't seen a more exciting finish in a long time in
SCRABBLE. One of the very best. I was privileged to
watch all this unfold in the adjacent board. For a tournament organizer who is organizing his first
multi-day event in the USA in three decades, there is no greater thrill!
It was a fitting win for Robin, as on the Friday of the tournament this Queen of Canadian
SCRABBLE celebrated a landmark birthday at the posh Palms Resort tournament venue.
The incredible moment for Robin captured in film by the alert organizer, who was
playing his own game on the adjacent board. Mike Baker admiring in the
background. Robin celebrated her birthday that weekend with two cakes and a
$1,000 win!
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ROBIN POLLOCK DANIEL’S FANTASTIC VICTORY
I knew I had to win by a bunch (turned out to be 197 -- not bloody likely, as even my brother-in-law opined
downstairs in the Mexican restaurant while he and my husband checked out the scenario on his cell phone). It's
not that he wasn't being supportive; he makes these wonderful board games and understands how difficult it is to
overcome such a huge deficit.
I was very fortunate to start the game with a natural bingo (CARTAGE). I've been in Jesse's position before of not
having to win, but just not having to lose by a set amount. It's not an easy situation, and it throws you off your
normal game. So he tried to muck up the board by making multiple overlaps and limiting bingo opportunities -- all
good. Unfortunately for him, two decisions he made ended up allowing me to score huge points (playing IF at 14E,
which allowed me to play SPIRANT along the bottom triple row; and changing his mind, playing INVOIcE rather
than OLiVINE, which he originally put down and was actually worth a few more points. I eventually was able to
play ZANIER through the I for 70 points.) I never allowed myself to be aware of the score differential throughout
the game. I just figured I had to score as many points as possible, and we'll evaluate the carnage when the last tile
is played. I think this limited my nervousness and just allowed me to play freely. When the dust settled, the final
score was 549-321, certainly my highest game of the tournament, and what fortuitous timing. Jesse was an
absolute gentleman when he realized this almost unbelievable thing had happened, and tolerated my family pulling
me from the board while he recounted the game (bad etiquette on my part, but I think I was in as much shock as he
was). I hadn't played a tournament game since Nationals last August, and had no expectations of doing this well. I
guess all those hours of daily studying really have some benefit after all.
The entire weekend was really magical, and absolutely my best birthday ever. I couldn't imagine spending it
without my family and so we all came down, staying in an incredible suite at the Palms Place. My brother-in-law
Andy and his family also joined us from Palo Alto, and so we were ten people strong all weekend. We hosted a
dessert party in our room on the night of my birthday, and my husband Gary and son Reese arranged for two
incredible cakes from Freed's Bakery in Las Vegas (they've been featured on TLC's "Fabulous Cakes" for their
designs). The SCRABBLE cake was red velvet, and the chocolate one not only looked stunning, but was just the
best cake I've ever eaten. There are so many different kinds of chocolate preparation in there, I can't imagine how
long it must take to make. It's called the Blackout Cake, and it's easy to understand why (more like a knockout
cake!). The gold flowers took it over the top. So I was already in a great mood before the tournament even
started! The win was completely unexpected, and a tremendous gift. I look forward to next year's tournament at
this fabulous location, and props to Sam Kantimathi for bringing SCRABBLE back to Las Vegas.
--Robin Pollock Daniel
The final game can be seen at http://cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10698#0# [NOTE: In the photo above of
the board the S in QIS had been moved to the right of where it was in the game.]
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And there was more!
For the $2000 first prize in Collins, Nathan
Benedict of the USA won the division by a
mere 5 spread points, as the erstwhile
leader Craig Beevers of the UK, a
fantastic player, lost his last game to
Canadian Evan Berofsky by something
like 174 points! The Collins division at
Las Vegas was one of the strongest yet at
a North American event, attracting 23
players from across the globe, including
players from Australia, the United
Kingdom, and Ghana.
Tournament organizer Sam Kantimathi presents the $2,000 first-place
check to Nathan Benedict, winner of the Collins Division Main Event.
Among the other winners that weekend were Bruce
D’Ambrosio and Wilma Swank-Pitzer, who won Divisions 1
and 2 of the Wee Bird on 2/16, both with perfect 6-0
records; Michael Baker, Linda Wancel, and Steve Moniz,
who won Divisions 1, 2, and 3 of the 2/17 TLW Early Bird;
and New Yorker James Curley, who won the 2/17 Collins
Early Bird over Nathan Benedict and Chris Lipe, raising his
rating from 1551 to 1663. James went on to place 12th in
the Collins Main Event, going home with a rating of 1702.
Winners at Vegas!
Clockwise from top right: Sam Kantimathi with
Wee Bird Division 1 winner Bruce
D’Ambrosio; Collins Early Bird winner James
Curley; TWL Early Bird Division 1 winner
Michael Baker; TWL Early Bird Division 2
winner Linda Wancel; TWL Early Bird Division
3 winner Steve Moniz receives a check from
Sam K; Wee Bird Division 2 winner Wilma
Swank-Pitzer.
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In the main event, Las Vegas local Gerry Greenside finished first of 28
players in Division 2 with an impressive 18-5 +1369 spread. Second
was Ed Saunders (17-6 +473) and third Luise Shafritz (16-7 +1036).
Division 3 went to Alan Kait, who finished with a 17-6 +734 record over
Stan Khury (16-7 +898) and Marina Villena (15.5-7.5 +574).
Newcomer Michelle Whitaker, also from Las Vegas, was the runaway
winner of Division 4, winning all but two of her games to end with the
tournament’s best record, 21-2 +2021, which earned her an initial
NASPA rating of 1197. Second and third, both with 13-10 records,
were Julia Scruggs and Tamara Grady.
Division 4 winner, newcomer
Michelle Whitaker, from Vegas,
who won 21 out of 23 games!
Many people helped with the tournament. Thanks to Mark Milan for
superb directorship. Sarah Terry, daughter of Scrabbler Paul Terry,
helped out in many ways. Zana Anderson and Sandy Nang assisted
when they could. Mike Frentz assisted me every single day.
San Francisco Bay Area boasts in my opinion, one of the strongest cores of SCRABBLE players in
the world. Yes, I said the world. Jesse Day, Conrad BB, Cesar del Solar, Mike (words with) Frentz,
and a few other Bay Area friends dazzled us with their wordgame# wizardry in Vegas. Bay Area
legend Jerry Lerman was signed up, but his recent eye surgery prevented him from coming. We
wish you a speedy recovery, Jerry, and hope to see you and Lester, also recuperating from surgery,
in Vegas next February. And then there are Kenji Matsumoto, Jason Katz-Brown, Peter Armstrong,
Noah Walton, Chris Patrick Morgan and a few others we hope to attract with a bigger prize fund
next year.
Leaving Vegas: 2/21/12
It is 3:50 am. In a few hours I will be heading out from Vegas to start a three-month odyssey to
Southern Africa, then Istanbul, Dubai, Shanghai, Sydney, Dunedin, new Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and
Europe. Last night was let us say eventful, and I am probably forgettingsome people I should thank,
among the over hundred people who showed up to support me and enjoy Las Vegas, a city unlike
any other in the world.
Thanks to Chris Lipe, JC Green, and others for loaning their laptops for Zyzzyva. Talking of which,
a thankyou# to Mike Thelen, who donated five sweatshirts for the high Z word in the Collins and the
four TWL divisions. Thanks, too, to his fellow Utahns: Mike Stevens, who carried those heavy shirts
here, and Kent Nelson--welcome back!
Luis Shafritz donated a tilebag for the best Vegas-themed word, PASTIES. Mike Baron kindly
donated a Wordbook for the best word containing my initials, SK, and laminated sheets of wordlists
to the about ten newcomers. All these newcomers were also given their choice of free SmoothTiles
or PermaTiles.
Trip Payne enjoyed his visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame while some others went to an Elton John
concert where he sang praise of some pinball wizard. Of course Palms is rated #1 for nightclubs for
the younger crowd. I spotted Kelly Clarkson, P Diddy, et. al. on the marquee.
There were also a variety of magic shows, the Blue Man Group, Le Reve, O, Absinthe, and tons of
other entertainment.
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Thank you Vegas, for an unbelievable eight days, and thank you SCRABBLE players, for all your
kind words, especially from super winners Robin Pollock Daniel and Nathan Benedict.
The setting for Robin's landmark birthday celebration at Palms Place, with a panoramic view of the
Vegas strip was most memorable.
See you all next February in Las Vegas!
Tournament organizer Sam Kantimathi with 2012 winner Robin Pollock Daniel.
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Eastern Championship 2012, Charlotte NC
By Ryan Fischer; Photos by Adair Salgado, Katie Bernardina, & Teresa Schaeffer
Over Presidents Day Weekend in February, 87 players turned out for the 15th Annual Eastern
SCRABBLE Championship, held for its 4th year in Charlotte, NC. The festivities started at 10 am
Friday morning with 28 people gathering to play the Early Bird for a top prize of $305. That prize
ultimately went to Matthew Bernardina, who went 8-0, knocking out the 2002-rated Ian Weinstein by
finding INTA(G)LIo for 132 points, forming L(OX). (cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10675#22#)
In the final round, Bernardina and Heather Steffy played for first, Steffy needing a blowout to win.
She couldn't quite pull it out and slipped to 3rd. Rachel Knapp, a last-minute entrant all the way
from California, finished 2nd, with Weinstein salvaging 4th and Joey Krafchick sneaking into 5th.
The performance prize went to Charlene White, another last-minute entry, who had a 5-3 -30 record
to finish 9th, 11 seeds over her initial 21 seeding.
This total of 87 players in attendance included 15 players in the Newcomers Tournament, an event
which this time coincided with the main event, helping to legitimize it and boost the number of new
players signing up. Overall, 8 people got first-time ratings.
Local newcomer Becky Armstrong-Helms made a brave last-minute decision to move from the
Newcomers Tournament to the main event and had the time of her life doing so. Andy Hoang, the
2009 National School SCRABBLE® champion with partner Erik Salgado, made a similarly gutsy
move, opting to play up to Division 1 despite his initial 1138 rating. It paid big dividends for him too,
as he won 8 of 24 games in the main event, and between that and the early bird gained 93 rating
points to raise his rating to 1231. Andy also won a $25 bounty for the biggest upset, defeating
Cynthia Seales by scores of 441-338 and 383-360 (their ratings difference was 464 points). Ember
Nelson, who also chose to take on the experts, took the other $25 bounty prize, defeating 1838rated Rachel Knapp 422-415 (a ratings difference of 476).
In the Newcomers Tournament, local player 11year-old Nicholas Miklaucic took the division by
storm, going 5-1 +427 to win the division and
the $100 first prize. He gained 137 rating
points, rocketing from 483 to 620. The
previous day Nicholas had braved the chaos of
the Eastern Championship's Early Bird division,
and though did not win a game there, those
games were invaluable to him in preparing to
take on other players of his ilk. Suraj Rao,
brother of 2011 National SCRABBLE
Championship Division 3 winner Suhas Rao,
took second place, and a mother and decent
SCRABBLE player in her own right, Marla
Newcomers Tournament winners: (L-R) Marla Choslovsky (3rd);
Choslovsky,
took third. Her son Micah
Nicholas Miklaucic (1st); Suraj Rao (2nd).
Greenberg also played in the EB, while his
brother Morris Greenberg played in the Main
Event. Much thanks is due to local Charlotte SCRABBLE Club member and apprentice director
Randy Morrison for running the Newcomers show. Without the efforts of him and Katie Bernardina,
that event would have in no way gone as smoothly, let alone be possible.
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For the second year, the Eastern Championship's main
event featured a Collins division. This time six players
duked it out. Matthew Bernardina, last year's champ, got
off to a rousing start, but David Koenig eventually caught
up to him, making it a respectable nail-biter. Bernardina did
end up repeating his championship, and between his 8-0
record in the Early Bird and his 8-0 start in the Main Event,
he had a 16-game winning streak, and ultimately finished
the weekend 25-7, pocketing another $250 for his CSW
win. Since Bernardina has started playing and attending
the Eastern Championship tournament, he has never failed
to win in the Main Event, first winning Division 2 in 2010,
then winning back-to-back Collins titles in 2011 and 2012!
L-R: Matthew Bernardina, winner of both the
Early Bird and the Main Event Collins Division,
with Erik Salgado, winner of Division 3 of the
Main Event and winner (tied with Will Scott) of
the Tournament High Play for UNHINGED, 176.
In the Under 1200 Division, Erik Salgado of Durham, NC,
the 2009 National School SCRABBLE® champion with
Andy Hoang, started out 3-0 and rarely looked back,
though he often tangled with Lindsey Dimmick and Tom
O'Laughlin. Erik was able to lock up the tournament with
one round to go, but not with a fight. He took home his
division $225 first prize and a free roll to 2013's EC Division
2, and his rating jumped from 989 to 1088.
Looking at the standings after the first evening of play in the
Under 1600 Division, no one could have predicted it would
be Tracy Bowman and David Englehardt vying for all the
marbles at the end. Bowman started 1-2, and Englehardt
started a very uncharacteristic 0-3; however, both of them
rallied on day 2, each going 7-1 to claim spots in the top 4.
By the end of day 3 they had claimed the 1 and 2 spots,
with Connie Creed and Matt P Hopkins and Francis Anum
-- the local favorites -- hot on their tails and Will Scott not
far behind. Bowman's and Engelhardt's final game ended
Division 2 winner Tracy Bowman
with a 316-316 tie. This tie (Engelhardt's 2nd of the
tourney) allowed Engelhardt to get another half game on
Hopkins, just eking him out on spread for 2nd place. And since Bowman was ahead going into the
final game, she finished 1st, pocketing the division's $475 first prize and 2013 EC Division 1 free
roll, catapulting her rating from 1274 to a new peak of 1394!
After the first evening in play in Division 1, it came as surprise to few people that David Gibson was
the only undefeated person, even in a field with many heavy hitters and three national champions.
However, that tide would slowly, gradually change throughout the tournament. If you thought
Bernardina's unlikely 3x3 versus Weinstein was odd, by round 5 in the main event, Weinstein, the
eventual champ, found himself victim to a second 3x3 ending in -LIO, when he dropped an E in the
2nd position of a 3x3 and Fischer held AILORS?. OSC: Fischer could have played one other
3x3 too. And if you're curious, the third -LIO 8-letter-word is CURCULIO. If just -IO, there are 14 8letter-words that fit the bill-io.
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The high-play skins list, a staple of the Eastern
Championship since its move to North Carolina, has
always been a delicious cornucopia of word salad.
Typically, to win the high-play skin for the round
(awarded each round at $5 a pop for the main event,
$5 per session for CSW) in Division 1, your play
needs to score over 100 points. SERAGLIO fit the
bill for Fischer once, and other colorful entries
included Joel Sherman's round 1 natural find of
D(IF)FICULT for 102, a play that Joey Mallick
without skipping a beat noted wasn't all that hard to
Joeys
find. In round 3, Gibson played BACCARAT for 104,
proving that rack balancing isn't always necessary to score big. Joel Sherman also later played
CADUCITY for 102, and in the middle of Day 2, Debbie Stegman made a stunning find of
MiLKMAID for 114! The high play of the whole tournament was a tie: Erik Salgado's UNHINGED
and Will Scott's ECLIPSED, both for 176. Falling just short of that mark was Michael Bassett's
MISGRADE for 167. Michael said this Charlotte tourney had always been kind to him as far as high
games go. He had a previous high score here of 600-something last year, and this year, he had his
career high of 725!
Other notable plays in other divisions include local player Jesse Cromer's DANGLERS for 117.
Cromer recently returned to tourney play after a long hiatus, and was in contention in Division 2 for
a quite a long stretch of time. Hannah Lieberman played GUSTIEST for 122, Rachel Knapp played
SQUINCH (!) for 105, and Doug Szymkowiak, coming all the way from Ohio, made his trip well
worth it, playing DEFENDER for 117. Oddly enough, none of the CSW high plays were CSW-only
words. The most colorful one was Bernardina's CRAPOLAS for 149. Other plays included John
Van Pelt's PRONATED for 131 and Bob Lipton's LIQUATE for 123. The full list is available at http://
www.charlottescrabble.com/ec/2012/ec-2012-skins.xls
Division 1 winners: (L-R) Ian Weinstein (1st), Joel Sherman (3rd),
and David Gibson (2nd).
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After Day 2, Gibson was still on top, his only
early loss to Ryan Fischer, who was in 2nd
place at the time. Four people remained in
3rd place at 7-4, all within striking distance,
but the eventual champion was 4 games off
with 13 to go, going to show anything can
and does happen in a SCRABBLE
tournament. Gibson had a rough day 3,
going 3-5, and Joel Sherman came surging
ahead to move into the lead at13-6 with
1000+ spread. Fischer was the other 13-6,
in 3rd place by spread. Weinstein quietly
maintained his position among leaders,
starting the final day in 4th place. He won
his last 6 games, including the final over Joel
Sherman, to win his first Eastern SCRABBLE
Championship, winning a $750 first prize and
a free roll to the 2013 festivities. Gibson held
on to finish second; Sherman was third; and
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Rachel Knapp, coming all the way from California, turned her
SCRABBLE sojourn into quite a lucrative trip, cashing in at both the
Early Bird and Main Event. The $100 performance prize went to
Ryan Fischer, who came in seeded 10th and finished 5th, gaining
101 ratings points over the event, going from 1701 to 1802.
Lou Cornelis and Lilla Sinanan
Lou Cornelis celebrated a birthday on this auspicious weekend. To
celebrate, Susan Blanchard got the crowd waiting for the awards
ceremony to sing him a rousing round of "Happy Birthday!"
Congratulations to all of the winners, many of whom are pictured in this article. Thanks go out not
only to apprentice director extraordinaire Katie Bernardina for all her help with data entry and
directing, but to Randy Morrison for his help with the Newcomers Event, John Luebkemann and
Katya Lezin for moral support and so much more, and Adair Saldago, for so many random acts of
kindness over the tournament weekend and for being a wonderful chaperone to kids who have
already had such amazing SCRABBLE success stories!
(L-R) Rachel Knapp, a last-minute entry, flew in from California--and flew out with prize money from a 2nd place finish in the
Early Bird and a 4th place Division 1 finish in the Main Event; Tom O’Laughlin finished 2nd in Division 3; Charlotte Scrabblers
Katya Lezin, Noah Lieberman, and Hanna Lieberman competed in the EC and helped in many ways.
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Phoenix 2012
By Larry Rand and Barbara Van Alen
The 28th annual Phoenix tournament is in the record books and we have a new expert champion to
add to the history book: John Karris, who finished 17-3 +1336 to win $850 first prize. Second in the
TWL division went to Lisa Odom (16-4 +1547) and third to Rick Wong (15.5-4.5 +1422).
Arizona’s undisputed SCRABBLE® Queen, Laurie Cohen, was the winner of the Collins Division
(new this year!) over Albert Hahn.
Other division winners were Marcia Wade, the Gibsonized winner of Division 2; Huguette Settle,
Division 3; and Andrea Hatch, Division 4. A list of winners follows at the end of this report; complete
results can be found at http://wordgameplayers.org/tournaments/past-tournaments/
Through the generosity of many players and sponsors, we had 16
items in our raffle this year. The raffle and FOTD netted the 2012
WGPO Word Cup tournament committee $541. Thank you so
much for your support. The two biggest raffle winners were Mary
Parrish, from Las Vegas, who won a framed water color created
by Richard Lauder; and Albert Hahn, from Calgary, won a Gene
Tyszka board, cover and tile racks; and a set of Bob Schoenman
Protiles. Together with a digital clock that he won in the Silent
Auction, Albert now has a complete set of equipment to replace a
bag of equipment that he lost!
Kay Knappmiller and Barbara holding a
SCRABBLE® quilt that was made by
Kay's children.
Jeff Kastner donated four One Up! games for the player in each
division who won by the fewest points. The winners were Miriam
Green (4); Sarah King (2); Polly Moyer (1); and Jeffrey Later (2).
For information on One Up!, please visit http://
www.uppityshirts.com/mr.write.shtml
Thank you to our table sponsors and other supporters! 90% of all entry fees were returned as cash
prizes this year.
Early Bird
The 2012 Phoenix Early Bird attracted 50 players, which was a
small increase over 2011. Some players arrived early, skipped the
Early Bird, and spent the day by the pool. It was warm and sunny
for our northern visitors!
Two new players, Terrell Atkins and Bret Bender, were awarded
an OWL2 for playing in their first tournament.
L-R: Early Bird Division 1 winners Lisa
Odom (1st), John Karris (2nd), and Steve
Pellinen (3rd)
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The 8-game event had 6 divisions, with Division 6 having 10
entrants, and 8 players competing in Divisions 1-5. 91+% of all
entry fees were returned in prizes. In addition, the player with the
High Game in each division was awarded a Zyzzyva t-shirt
produced by Michael Thelen.
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Each division was awarded prizes for 1st thru 3rd places ($120, $80 and $50), and Division 6 had a
Best Over Seed (BOS) prize of $40.
Division winners were Lisa Odom (1); Michael Bradley (2, seeded last in the division!); Fran Galt (3);
Maggie Morley (4); Richard Martin (5); Julia Swaney (6).
Main Event, Day 1
Saturday, February 18th, was the start of the 28th annual Phoenix Main Event, a 3-day, 20-game
tournament. At least you can say we are consistent. For the past three years, the attendance has
been 80, 80 and 79. Considering that this was the first year that another tournament in the Western
States was being held on the same weekend, we are very pleased that players showed their loyalty
to this long-standing tradition of President's Day weekend in Arizona. The weatherman cooperated
with cloudless skies and 70-degree temps. A large contingent spent lunch time by the pool or in the
hot tub.
Rich Moyer started his morning well by being selected in a raffle for his "early entry." Rich (and
Polly) received a four-night gift certificate for the Grace Inn, valid for up to one year. At current hotel
prices, the gift certificate has a value of ~ $350. First-time tournament competitor Satya Mahapatra,
who lives in Ahwatuee, was presented with a copy of the OWL2 as a gift for his participation.
For each of the four-game sessions on Saturday and Sunday, morning and afternoon, we had a
FUN prize ($20) for each of the four divisions. On Saturday morning, the word played had to contain
the letters "A" and "Z." The four winners were Maddy Kamen ZANIES, 50); Cason Lane
BRAZENED, 88); Keith Hagel (ZETA, 66); and Jeffrey Later (ZAX, 52). In the afternoon session, the
word played had to begin with a "W," "G," "P," or "O." The division winners were Joe Gaspard
(OXTAILS,102); Sarah King (WAIVERS, 98); Ron Barker (PATINAE, 77); and Satya Mahapatra
(PASTING, 86).
Following the final game of the evening, about 50 of the players and their family and friends
attended Bennett Jacobstein's "Trivia Contest." The special event was catered by Firehouse Subs.
After the initial 30 questions, the four highest scorers--Peter Dolgenos, John Wiley, Fran Galt and
James Johnson--all vied for the championship honors. Peter kept his undefeated record intact with a
crushing victory and was crowned the Phoenix 2012 Trivia Champ.
Main Event, Day 2
The second tournament day is always smoother sailing as the players get into a rhythm and
directors only tend to data entry and an occasional "director" call. For the morning session, the FUN
prize for each division was for words containing "X" or "Q." The winners ($20 each) were Laura
Scheimberg (QUASI, 51), Bonnie Redland (TOXINES, 77), Maggie Morley (SQUALOR, 100), and
Chora Eilertsen (AFFIXES, 90).
In the afternoon session, the FUN prize was awarded for the best "cruise" word in each division.
Since nearly half of the entrants in the tournament had taken a cruise, this was a knowledgable
group! The points scored did not matter. Some of the submissions were pretty hilarious, and the
final choices were difficult, but the directors settled on four winning words: Roy Kamen (LIDO),
Yvonne Knickerbocker (QUAIS and HELMS in one game), Jo Anne Cohen (CABIN), and Karin
Somerville (SHIP).
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FINAL RESULTS
Collins Division
1. Laurie Cohen 17-3 +1354 $200
2. Albert Hahn 13.5-6.5 +955 $130
Division 1
1. John Karris 17-3 +1336 $850 Congratulations to our new expert champion for the Phoenix tournament's Main
Event!
2. Lisa Odom 16-4 +1547 $450
3. Rick Wong 15.5-4.5 +1422 $250
High Game: Lisa Odom (580) $20
High Loss: Laura Scheimberg (478) $20
Best Upset: Robert Collins (1456) vs. Stan Miranda (1763) $70
Best Overseed: MIriam Green (seeded #18, final rank #5) $200
Division 2
1. Marcia Wade (Gibsonized) 14-6 +465 $750
2. Gary Smart 12-8 +309 $400
3. Max Dwyer 11-9 +487 $200
High Game: Max Dwyer (556) $20
High Loss: Harriet Strasberg (438) $20
Best Upset: Bonnie Redland (1311) vs. Sarah King (1449) $70
Best Overseed: Margie Goron (seeded #19, final rank #5) $200
Division 3
1. Huguette Settle 14-6 +1007 $650
2. Jacqueline Stewart 14-6 +530 $350
3. Susan Hoehn 13.5-6.5 +366 $200
High Game: Carole Miller (538) $20
High Loss: Keith Hagel (441) $20
Best Upset: Ron Barker (1081) vs. Hugette Settle (1300) $70
Best Overseed: Ben Settle (seeded #12, final rank #4) $150
Division 4
1. Andrea Hatch 15-5 +1126 $550
2. Chora Eilertsen 15-5 +523 $300
3. Erik Anderson 14-6 +916 $150
High Game: Satya Mahapatra (485) $20
High Loss: Richard Martin (411) $20
Best Upset: Satya Mahapatra (no rating) vs. Erik Anderson (1042) $70
Best Overseed: Satya Mahapatra (seeded #19, final rank #7) $150
Early Bird Winners
Division 1: Lisa Odom, John Karris, & Steve Pellinen. High Game: Lisa Odom (547)
Division 2: Michael Bradley, Ruth Hamilton, & Andrea Michaels. High Game: Michael Bradley (539)
Division 3: Fran Galt, Huguette Settle, & Richard Lauder. High Game: Barbara Gray (567)
Division 4: Maggie Morley, Bobbi Hendrickson & Susan Hoehn. High Game: Mary Parrish (499)
Division 5: Richard Martin, Kay Knappmiller & Susan Kessler. High Game: Susan Kessler (520)
Division 6: Julia Swaney, Aron Smith & Sara Boykan. High Game: Sara Boykan (543). Best Over Seed: Tony Ludwig
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS, the Phoenix 2013 tournament will be held at the Grace Inn,
Ahwatukee. The Early Bird (8 games) will be on Friday, February 15, and the Main Event (20
games) on Saturday through Monday, February 16-18. A Collins division will be offered again for a
minimum of four players.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored tables and supported the tournament, and to all the players
who attended. We greatly appreciate your loyalty to one of the longest continuous SCRABBLE®
tournaments in North America. --Larry and Barbara
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28+ YEARS OF PHOENIX WINNERS
2012: John Karris
2011, 2010: Conrad
Bassett-Bouchard
2009: Sam Kantimathi 2008: Nathan Benedict
2006, 1999, 1996,
1995: Jim Geary
2005: Jerry Lerman
2004: Michael Baker
2003: Iffy Onyeonwu
2002: Chris Cree
2001: Joey Mallick
2000, 1997: Ira Cohen
1998: Carol Kaplan
1994: Kent Nelson
1993, 1989, 1988:
Brian Cappelletto
2007: Dave Wiegand
Photo unavailable
1992: Mike Baron 1991: Stuart Goldman
1985: Jim Lamerand
1990: Lester Schonbrun
Stan Rubinsky, winner of early
Phoenix tourneys in 1981 and 1979
1987: Frank Hertz
1986: Ron Mikolka
2012--First Collins Winner!
Laurie Cohen
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Saratoga Springs 2012: Off to the Races!
By Cornelia Guest; photographs by Betsey Wood
This year the annual Saratoga Tournament moved to a new venue: the Holiday Inn on Broadway.
Players were treated to a horse-themed environment, and to rooms priced at about a fourth of what
is charged during racing season at the Spa. Organizers Linda Wancel and Annette Tedesco and
deserve praise for a smoothly run event!
Thanks, too, go to Kieran O’Connor, who assisted with
directing and data input. At the beginning of the
tournament Kieran was introduced as an apprentice
director by his mentors Linda Wancel and Cornelia
Guest--then presented with a certificate from Mary
Rhoades announcing that he is now a full NASPA
director!
Twenty players competed in the Friday Early Bird, which
was split into three divisions for five games. In Division
1, Evans Clinchy and Ross Brown, the two top seeds
Kieran O’Connor and Linda Wancel directed with skill (the “heavy favorites”), finished in that order. Director
and good humor.
Linda Wancel (a “late entry,” playing to even divisions)
and Kevin Gauthier came in 1-2 in Division 2. Both had
4-1 records, but Linda beat Kevin in the stretch by 100 spread points. Jane Whitmore won Division
3 handily, finishing with a 4-1 +358 record over Barbara Bordwell McGrew.
The Main Event was run as a 15-game round robin, followed by a KOH final. In all but Division 4,
where there were 21 players, every player got to play each other--almost. Unfortunately, Division 1
player Ed Liebfried was sick the final day and unable to play. This “late scratch” proved important in
the final division placements, as five players had byes that day.
Division 1 featured two brothers running
neck and neck to take the top prizes: Larry
Sherman and Joel Sherman. Larry finished
first with a 12-4 +492 record (with a 50-point
bye win), Joel second with an 11-5 +1141
record, with no bye. Third was Jason
Keller, 11-5 +482 (with a bye), over fourthplace Seth Lipkin, 11-5 +381, with no bye.
Division 1 winner Larry Sherman
receives a congratulatory hug from
Linda Wancel.
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Division 2 was dominated by Terry Kang
Rau, who was Gibsonized. Terry scored a
runaway victory with a 12-4 record, and an
outstanding spread of +1544! Second and
third, with 10.5-5.5 records, were Dave
Engelhardt and Dean Porporo, with Dave
nosing out Dean by 84 spread points.
Fourth was 15th seed (“longshot”)
Samantha Southard, whose rating went up
65 points to 1469.
Gibsonized D2 winner Terry
Kang Rau went 12-4 +1544,
the tournament’s best finish.
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Division 3 was practically a photo finish, with a players all in contention tightly bunched going into
the final game. Lydia Keras won by a nose, finishing 11.5-4.5 +762 over Judy Cole (11-5 +768),
Matt O’Connor (11-5 +366), and Nicholas Vasquez (11-5 +42). Matt and Nicky are both 8th graders,
and they’ll be heading next month to the National School SCRABBLE® Championship in Orlando
for their final year of NSSC competition.
Betsey Wood was the decisive winner of Division 4, finishing 13-3 +468. Betsey also won a Flip
Timer for “Best Saratoga Theme Word” for FARRIER. Trailing Betsey were three players with 12-4
records: Mary Ellen Bergeson, Gerianne Abriano, and Barbara Bordwell McGrew.
Thanks to all who made Saratoga 2012 a most enjoyable event!
Lydia Keras, Division 3 winner by a nose!
Division 4 winner Betsey Wood, who also played FARRIER
to win the prize for “Best Saratoga Theme Word.”
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Results
FEBRUARY 1-29
AKRON OH 2/2
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Chris Cree
Robert Fenske
Paul Hagelstein
Joey Titzman
ARCATA CA 2/12
1. Nigel Peltier
2. Michael Machi
BALTIMORE
(CATONSVILLE) MD 2/4
PHILADELPHIA PA 2/12
Connie Creed
Thomas Ensey
Jason Jones
Andrew Cave
NORWALK CT 2/4
1.
2.
3.
4.
Jason Keller
Nancy Konipol
Michael Kapernaros
Kathy Hooper
NORWALK NOVICE
(UNRATED) 2/4
1. Seth Tilliss
SEVEN HILLS OH 2/4
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SALADO TX 2/11-12
1. Stephen DeBacco
1.
2.
3.
4.
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3.
4.
Joel Sherman
Tobey Roland
David Dlugosz
Ferdinand Addo
LAS VEGAS NV 2/16
1. Bruce D’Ambrosio
2. Wilma Pitzer
CHARLOTTE NC 2/17
1. Matthew Bernardina
CHARLOTTE NC 2/17-20
1. Ian Weinstein
2. Tracy Bowman
3. Erik Salgado
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CHARLOTTE NC 2/18
1. Nicholas Miklaucic
LAS VEGAS NV 2/18-20
1.
2.
3.
4.
Robin Pollock Daniel
Gerry Greenside
Alan Kait
Michelle Whitaker
LAS VEGAS NV (COLLINS)
2/18-20
1. Nathan Benedict
PHOENIX AZ (WGPO)
2/18-20
1.
2.
3.
4.
John Karris
Marcia Wade
Huguette Settle
Andrea Hatch
PHOENIX AZ (WGPO
COLLINS) 2/18-20
1. Laurie Cohen
DALLAS TX 2/18
1. Paul Holser
2. Linda Villarreal
3. Robin Gates
1. Jason Idalski
2. Michael Bassett
3. Eileen Popich
CHARLOTTE NC (COLLINS)
2/17-20
GUELPH ON CAN 2/19
BERKELEY CA 2/5
LAS VEGAS NV 2/17
1. Noah Walton
2. John Karris
3. Andrea Michaels
LAGUNA WOODS CA 2/5
1. Rachel Knapp
LAKE OSWEGO OR
(WGPO) 2/5
1. Dave Johnson
SALADO TX 2/10
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Steve Glass
John Dalton
Jason Randolph
Jan Asuquo
Deborah Gaudier
1. Matthew Bernardina
1. Max Panitch
2. Alex Rodriguez
1. Michael Baker
2. Linda Wancel
3. Steve Moniz
MOUNTAIN VIEW CA
(WGPO) 2/19
LAS VEGAS NV (COLLINS)
2/17
SARATOGA SPRINGS 2/24
1. James Curley
PHOENIX AZ 2/17
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Lisa Odom
Bradley Michael
Fran Galt
Margaret Morley
Richard Martin
Julia Swaney
1. Jeff Widergren
1. Evans Clinchy
2. Linda Wancel
3. Jane Whitmore
SARATOGA SPRINGS
2/24-26
1.
2.
3.
4.
Larry Sherman
Terry Kang Rau
Lydia Keras
Betsey Wood
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AUSTIN TX 2/25
1. Geoff Thevenot
FORT LAUDERDALE FL 2/25
1. Howard Pistol
2. George Rogers
3. Jennifer DeGlopper
COVINA CA 2/26
1. Cesar Del Solar
2. Nick Fraher
3. David Postal
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New Faces
Since our last issue, 31 new faces have competed at NASPA, NSA, and WGPO
tournaments. Four players won their division first time out: Andrew Cave, who won Division
4 at the Baltimore (Catonsville) MD Tournament on 2/4 with a 7-1 +662 record, earning an
initial NASPA rating of 1003; Ferdinand Addo, who won Division 4 at the Philadelphia PA
Tournament on 2/12 with a 6-1 +731, earning an initial NASPA rating of 1308; Michelle
Whitaker, who won Division 4 at the Las Vegas NV Tournament on 2/18-20 with a 21-2
+2021 record, earning an initial NASPA rating of 1197; and our featured “New Face,” Jason
Jones, who won Division 3 at the Baltimore (Catonsville) MD Tournament on 2/4 with a 7-1
+576 record to earn an initial NASPA rating of 1268.
_________________________________________________________________________
Jason Jones
Most newcomers start in the bottom division at their first
tournament--and many finish at the bottom of that division.
However, the organizers of the Baltimore (Catonsville) MD
tournament knew 35-year-old local player Jason Jones from his
games at their club, and they thought he should play up into
Division 3. Jason showed that their faith in him was not
misplaced: He took the division handily, winning every game but
one, heading home with an impressive first rating of 1268.
Jason, a private tutor focusing mainly on mathematics, has
many hobbies. He enjoys reading, classical music (both
listening to it and playing it on the piano), and games such as chess, backgammon, poker, and
“German-style” board games. And SCRABBLE®, of course!
“I’ve been playing SCRABBLE since about the age of six,” said Jason. “However, I didn’t start
seeking out other competitive players till about four years ago.” That was when he started playing
at a casual club in the Baltimore area. About four months ago he started playing at the Baltimore
NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #50, which is more competitive. “I play a lot online, too, mostly on ISC
[the Internet SCRABBLE Club].”
Jason doesn’t study much, but he usually plays at least ten hours a week, and he has a very good
memory for words he’s seen while playing. “I know I’m setting a bad example for new players here,”
he said. “I’ve mainly only studied the words on ‘The Cheat Sheet,’ and I don’t even know everything
on there cold. Embarrassingly, I let two 3-letter phonies get by me at the tournament.”
Jason enjoyed his first tournament. “The tournament was a lot of fun for me. I wasn't very
intimidated by it. Both the SCRABBLE clubs I had attended were frequented by tournament
players, so I was already familiar with most of the tournament procedures such as using a clock,
what happens if you overdraw, holding the bag up high when you draw, etc. The only part of the
tournament protocol that was new to me was the slips where you circle what the blanks represent
and write down challenge words, but that was easy to get used to.”
“I really enjoyed the competition of the tournament and everyone was very helpful.”
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Jason suggests other players study more than he did before playing in a first tournament, and he
recommends Zyzzyva as a great tool. “Also, I would read the tournament rules to make sure you
are familiar with how tournament SCRABBLE differs from kitchen-table SCRABBLE.”
The best moment in the tournament for Jason was in the final game. “I successfully challenged my
opponent’s phony bingo play, and then followed it up with my own bingo, gaining a significant lead. I
realized then there was a very good chance I would win my first tournament, and that was a good
feeling.”
Jason did not have any amazing plays to share. “I just drew very solidly the whole tournament and
was able to use the tiles well. I do remember winning one game despite my opponent getting a
triple-triple. Also, my opponents challenged my words unsuccessfully many times. I was surprised
how aggressive people were with challenging. I'm pretty cautious about challenging because I play
a lot with people better than me who often play unfamiliar words that are legitimate.”
Jason hopes to play in more tournaments. “I'm definitely hooked on tournaments now, so I'm going
to try to attend at least four a year.” He hopes to be at the April Philadelphia tournament. “I plan on
studying a lot more for that tournament so I can maintain or raise my rating.”
Look out, Philadelphia players!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to Jason Jones, Andrew Cave, Fernando Addo, Michelle
Whitaker, and the following other new faces:
AKRON OH 2/2: Tere Akers
BALTIMORE (CATONSVILLE) MD: Laura Petillo, Marla Posey-Moss, Mary Salhorst, Alex
Vratsanos
LAKE OSWEGO OR 2/5: Howard Neal
SALADO TX 2/10: Milissa Mondrik
ARCATA CA 2/12: Ira Blatt
PHILADELPHIA PA 2/12: Nancy Carliner, Rose Gutsche, Jakob Karstens, Nancy Katz, Amy Kelly,
Rachael Silverstein, Jenny Weatherford
CHARLOTTE NC 2/17-20: Becky Armstrong Helms
PHOENIX AZ 2/17: Terrell Atkins, Bret Bender
CHARLOTTE NC 2/18: Joshua Cohen, Micah Greenberg, Matthew Luter, Suraj Rao, Jackson
Santander, Marshall Silverman, Christy Wilhelm
PHOENIX AZ 2/18-20: Satya Mahapatra
COVINA CA 2/26: David Goldsmith
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SCRABBLE® Strategy
By Jim Kramer
Why don't ducks fly upside down? Because they'd quack up.
I managed to lose the game shown below. Can I assure myself of making this duck quack up no
matter what I draw?
Jim: 383
Quackle: 378
Jim's rack: EEMNORS
Unseeen: AADEFRRS
ANSWER on next page
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In the actual game, I played MOREENS and drew the F. Quackle then won with ARRASED.
JK: N4 MOREENS 80, 463 F LEAVE
Q: O1 ARRASED, 89, 467 + 8 pts for F = 475
Final: JK 463, Q 475
What I found interesting is that there are so many promising ways to block ARRASED. You can play
down from EXCELS, or play ERNES/EXCELS, play down from AFGHANS or ZEES, hook an S on
KOJI in a number of ways, play through the I in KOJI, or even make a play like MENSAE, hooking
BOYOS. I've only found one play that seems to always work, and that's Joel Sherman's idea of
SNORE/KOJIS. Kudos, Joel!
[SNORE N3, 23] TOTAL 406
[FARADS or FADERS 07 or A5, 38] TOTAL 416
[(R)EM F8, 22] TOTAL 428
[DREARS or DARERS 07, 27] TOTAL 405
[FEM 14M, 21] TOTAL 427
I haven't fully investigated all the tries, so if you
find another play that works with every draw, let
me know.
After looking at it a bit, I had assumed ERNES
N6 would work, but it actually loses if you draw
the E (at least against a player of Quackle's
stature).
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[ERNES N6, 26] Total 409 MO leave & E pickup
[FARADS A5, 38] Total 416 R leave
[FARAD A5 35] Total 413 RS leave
[MO F10, 22] Total 431 E leave
[(E)R CR 8] Total 424 get 2 points for E = 426 S(ER) M12 17,
total 430 + 2 points for E = 432.
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Word Star
By Jeff Kastner
Play Word Star, a word game with similarities to Boggle, created and presented each month by Phoenix, AZ
expert Jeff Kastner.
The puzzle grid is in the shape of a hexagram…also known as the “Star of David.”
Your object is to find and list as many words as possible, using only the 7 letters contained in the Word Star
puzzle. All words must be OWL2 or Long List acceptable.
There are 3 basic rules to finding words within a Word Star puzzle:
1. Words must be at least 3 or more letters long (with no limit on how long the word can be).
2. Words are formed by using letters that adjoin each other. For example, the words KIN and
RAG are acceptable, but not GIN, because the “G” and the “I” are not neighboring letters.
3. Letters within a word may repeat as many times as possible, as long as such letters are
repeated twice (or thrice) in a row, or as long as Rule 2 is followed. So, for example, ROOK and
GAGA are acceptable. But, NOOK would not be acceptable because the “N” and the “O” are not
adjoining.
Note that the Center Star, located in the white middle portion of the puzzle, is the most important letter. It is
the only letter that adjoins each of the 6 others in the puzzle. In addition, there are bonus points awarded for
using the Center Star as often as possible. The Center Star in this month’s puzzle is the letter “A.”
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Multiple forms of the same word are acceptable (for example, RATE, RATED, RATER, RATERS, and
RATES would all be fine, if they were in the puzzle). No points are awarded (and no penalty points are
assessed) for any entries on your word list that are not in OWL2 or the Long List, or that do not adhere to
the above rules.
Points are scored as follows:
•
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2 Points for each WORD found.
5 Bonus Points for each BINGO (7 or more letters) found.
1 Point for each LETTER of every word found.
1 Bonus Point for each CENTER STAR of every word found.
Example of Points Scored:
Let’s say a Word Star puzzle has an “S” as the Center Star letter, and your list consists of the following
words:
ATTIRE
ATTIRES
SAT
SATE
SATIRE
SATIRES
TIRE
TIRES
Your score would be:
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16 Points for the 8 WORDS found.
10 Bonus Points for the 2 BINGOS (ATTIRES and SATIRES) found.
42 Points for each of the 42 LETTERS used in the 8 words.
7 Bonus Points for each CENTER STAR used (the letter “S” is used 7 times).
TOTAL SCORE in this imaginary example = 75 Points.
Par Scores for this month’s Word Star:
250 points (Novice); 400 points (Intermediate); 500 points (Advanced)
Once you’ve compiled your list, check out my SOLUTION on the next page.
See you next month with another Word Star puzzle! …Jeff Kastner
Jeff Kastner, originally from New York City, has been living in Phoenix, AZ since 1985. Jeff is one of a
handful of players who has ever been ranked in the USA-top-50 in both SCRABBLE® and chess. He is the
2010-2011 Phoenix SCRABBLE® Club champion as well as the 2011 Scottsdale SCRABBLE® Club champ.
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Word Star Solution for: The Last Word March 2012
AGA
AGAIN
AGAR
AGGRO
AIN
AKIN
ANA
ANGA
ANGAKOK
ANI
ANNA
ARAK
GAG
GAGA
GAIN
GAINING
GAN
GANG
GAR
GNAR
GNARR
GRAIN
GRAINING
GRAN
GRANA
GROAN
GROANING
GROK
GROKKING
INGRAIN
INGRAINING
INIA
INN
INNING
KAIAK
KAIN
KAKA
KAKI
KANA
KANAKA
KANGAROO
KAROO
KARROO
KIANG
KIN
KINA
KINARA
KING
KININ
KOA
KOAN
KOOK
KOR
KORA
KORAI
NAAN
NAG
NAGANA
NAN
NANA
OAK
OAR
OKA
ORA
ORANG
ORGAN
ORGANA
ORRA
RAG
RAGA
RAGG
RAI
RAIA
RAIN
RAINING
RAKI
RAKING
RAN
RANG
RANI
ROAN
ROAR
ROOK
ROOKING
PAR SCORES: 250 points (Novice); 400 points (Intermediate);
500 points (Advanced)
BEST SCORE:
2 Points for each WORD found:
84 Words = 168 points.
5 Bonus Points for each BINGO found:
10 Bingos = 50 points.
1 Point for each LETTER of every word found:
380 Letters = 380 points.
1 Bonus Point for each CENTER STAR of every word found:
97 A’s = 97 points.
TOTAL = 695 Points
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SCRABBLE® and Scrabblers in the News
Edited by Judy Cole
See something about SCRABBLE® or a SCRABBLE® player in the news? Let us know! Send your
stories to Judy Cole ([email protected]).
_______________________________________________________________________________
SCRABBLE® Tournaments
SCRABBLE® tournaments are in the news:
• Israeli SCRABBLE® Open – More than 40 players are
expected at the fourth Israeli Open SCRABBLE®
Tournament scheduled for February 10 to 12, 2012, in
Netanya.
FEBRUARY MILESTONES
CESAR DEL SOLAR reached
1900 for the first time at the Las
Vegas (NV) tournament.
MATTHEW BERNARDINA
reached 1900 (Collins) for the first
time at the Charlotte (NC) Eastern
Championship tournament.
JAMES CURLEY reached 1700
(Collins) and 1600 (Collins) for the
first time at the Las Vegas (NV)
tournament.
GEORGE ADDO reached 1600
(Collins) for the first time at the
Las Vegas (NV) tournament.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ reached
1500 for the first time at the
Guelph (ON) tournament.
MARTIN DEMELLO reached
The tournament, organized by Israeli national champion
1500 (Collins) for the first time at
Evan Cohen, is expected to attract at least 18 players
the Las Vegas (NV) tournament.
from outside Israel. Some players, such as Estelle
Matthews of Calgary (AB), combine the tournament with
a family visit while others, such as British expert Mikki Nicholson, welcome the opportunity to
escape a bleak European winter.
The Canadian Jewish News (01/30/2012) http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?q=node/89245
Israel21c (02/07/2012) http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/netanya-set-for-global-word-faceoff
• Charm City SCRABBLE® Tournament - The February 4th tournament at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County, campus drew over 50 players, including a number of School
SCRABBLE® participants and alumni.
Eighth-grader Neal Kewalramani, who plays in the Arbutus (MD) Middle School club led by
tournament organizer Linda Oliva, won the Youth Division at the tournament.
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Eleventh-grader Thomas Ensey, who competed five years ago in
the School SCRABBLE® Championship, won Division B in the
main event with a 7-1 +625 record. His coach at the Our Lady of
Victory school, Sharon Moser, competed in Division A and is trying
to start a club at Notre Dame Prep where she now teaches Latin
and French.
!
The Baltimore Sun (02/06/2012) http://www.baltimoresun.com/
explore/baltimorecounty/news/ph-at-ca-scrabble-umbc-20120206,0,3793003.story?page=1
• DeSoto County (TN) Schools SCRABBLE® Tournament – The 5th annual tournament drew
600 second- and third-graders to the Bank Plus Training Center on February 7 and 8, 2012.
“A lot of children don't feel comfortable with chess, with that
one-on-one,” said Hernando Hills Elementary Spotlight
teacher Kaye Roehm, “where with this, they have a partner.
It's just such a laid-back atmosphere for them that they
don't feel as threatened in taking a chance.”
The Commercial Appeal (02/09/2012) http://
www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/09/boardmeeting/
• Classics SCRABBLE® Invitational – The 12th annual tournament took place at Classics Used
and Rare Books in Trenton (NJ) on February 12, 2012.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/02/photos_trenton_scrabble_tourna.html
Turn Down the Heat
Toronto (ON) SCRABBLE® player Vivienne Muhling stars as the lead granny, Gladys, in a video
promoting National Sweater Day on February 9th.
The campaign, initiated by the World Wildlife Fund
Canada, invites Canadians to put on a sweater and turn
down the thermostat to help take action against climate
change.
http://sweaterday.ca/
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Comedy Tonight
The New Yorker (03/01/2012) chronicles the return of SCRABBLE® player
Matt Graham to the stage as a stand-up comedian.
Matt compares his SCRABBLE® playing to his comedy: ““In Scrabble I pull
randomness and create order, and in comedy I am making observations about
the world and translating them to an audience. Scrabble is a math game,
mostly, and my jokes are very mathematical.”
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/03/a-cult-comedian-getsback-in-the-game.html
Couch Potato
The February 19, 2012, Foxtrot comic illustrates why you want to rack up your tiles before you play
– anything to avoid the dreaded SCRABBLE® victory song!
http://www.foxtrot.com/2012/02/19/
Piano Man
The Washington Post’s review of a recent concert by pianist Trey Wright at
the National Gallery of Art on February 26, 2012, mentioned that his
virtuousity extends to SCRABBLE®. Trey won the National SCRABBLE®
Championship in 2004.
The Washington Post (02/26/2012) http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/
style/roger-wright-brings-freshness-and-subtlety-to-impressionist-pianoworks/2012/02/27/gIQAKYJfeR_story.html
Lido Love
On January 28, 2012, scores of locked to London (UK) Fields’ open air swimming pool for an
extravaganza of performance art, music - and SCRABBLE®.
A game of SCRABBLE® with a twist broke the ice – visitors were
given a key to a locker in which they found a letter to hang around
their necks.
People joined forces to create the longest word, which turned out to
be ACADEMIA. FEZ was the word with the highest word score.
The event, which was first held in 2010, celebrates the alternative
history of London’s only 50-metre heated outdoor swimming pool,
which closed due to funding cuts in 1988. Before it reopened four
years ago, the empty pool hosted squatters and underground raves.
Hackney Gazette (01/30/2012) http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/what-s-on/arts/
lido_love_2012_london_fields_hosts_karaoke_rave_and_scrabble_with_a_twist_1_1192589
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Show Me the Money
The Penny Hoarder (02/02/2012) recommends tournament SCRABBLE® as one of its wacky ways
to make money.
http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/2012/02/make-money-playing-in-scrabble-tournaments
Courage, My Friend
Triangle SCRABBLE® Club director David Klionsky, along with some of the students he coaches in
School SCRABBLE®, appeared on the February 15, 2012, episode of Courage Cocktail, a radio
show on WCOM 103.5 FM. You can download the show at http://wcomfm.org/index.php/resources/
podcasts/146-courage-cocktail.
Eat Your Words
You can order edible SCRABBLE® tiles and racks from Andie’s
Specialty Sweets - $58 will get you 2 tile racks and 12 tiles of your
choice.
http://technabob.com/blog/2012/02/22/edible-scrabble-tiles/
Love Match
Valentine’s Day provided a suitable occasion to highlight the many
couples who met as random opponents over Words with Friends. While
the game’s co-creator, Paul Bettner, intended for the game to be played
by people who were already friends, he added the Random Opponent
option just in case someone did not have enough friends. As it turns out,
more than 30% of the players use the option to find their opponent and
in some cases, their future spouse.
Stephen Monahan, who goes by “Hotdog Phingers” in the game, met
fellow Texan Britney Hilbun by clicking random opponent last year and
proposed this past Christmas by constructing a proposal on the game
board.
While Charles Briggs has never won a game against Kyla Smith, he
knew that he was making a love connection when Kyla played SEXY.
The couple continue to play online every day and now see each other in
person every three weeks.
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Even for people who have met in the real world, Words With Friends is a low-pressure tool for
breaking the ice. Some 24% of the 118,000 respondents to a recent survey about flirting said they
had given out their user name instead of a phone number.
The Wall Street Journal (02/14/2012) http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052970204883304577219302405394344.html?mod=WSJ_hps_editorsPicks_1
SCRABBLE® Fundraisers
SCRABBLE® tournaments and events as fundraisers are in the news:
•Yankton (NE) Area Literacy Council (YALC) – About 30 players attended
the second annual “Spellebrate for a Good Cause” SCRABBLE® tournament
and fundraiser to benefit YALC on January 29, 2012.
Players, who competed in Youth, Student, and Adult divisions, ranged from 8year old novice Jack Kuchta whose first play was ROAD for 8 points to rabid
fans such as Kay Adam who loves the challenge of the game.
Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan (01/30/2012) http://www.yankton.net/articles/
2012/01/30/community/doc4f261ad194dfb413915367.txt
•Literacy Council of Benton County (AR) – On February 4,
2012, the Literacy Council marked its 40th anniversary with the
annual SCRABBLE® Wars fund raiser, which was expected to raise
$20,000 this year.
Teams such as “As the Word Turns” and “Scrabbadabbadoos” had
the option to play with standard rules or to go the dubious route.
Most chose the latter option where players could buy letters, bribe
the judges, or pay cash for extra points.
The City Wire (02/05/2012) http://www.thecitywire.com/node/20234
•Skyline Literacy – On February 9, 2012, the James
Madison University Honors Program hosted the Play
For Literacy SCRABBLE® Tournament to benefit
Skyline Literacy, a nonprofit organization that benefits
illiterate adults in the Harrisonburg (VA) community.
The 40 participants competed individually or in teams
to win the $100 top prize or other prizes donated by
local businesses. To gain a competitive edge and
contribute to the cause, players could purchase Peek
tickets for $5 to check the validity of words or cheat
sheets with the 2- and 3-letter words for $10.
The Breeze (02/12/2012) http://www.breezejmu.org/life/article_0780cf96-55e8-11e1b4cb-001a4bcf6878.html
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• Letters for Literacy – The Evansville (IN) Literacy Center held the ninth annual Letters for
Literacy SCRABBLE® tournament on February 25, 2012. The fundraiser attracted 28 teams who
paid $50 to compete in the event.
Jane Bradley teamed up with her friend for 52 years,
Barbara Helfrich, and Barbara’s grandson, Jacob
Helfrich, as Team Hex Kex Lex.
Evansville Courier & Press (02/25/2012) http://
www.courierpress.com/news/2012/feb/25/no-headline--ev_scrabble/
• Thunder Bay (ON) Literacy Group – The 14th annual SCRABBLE® tournament took place on
February 26, 2012, to raise literacy awareness and promote the free literacy programs offered by the
Literacy Group.
More than 50 players, including 84-year old Bella Slator, competed and were expected to raise
at least $11,000 to support the efforts of the Literacy Group.
Thunder Bay News Watch (02/26/2012) http://
www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/192001/War-with-words
The Chronicle Bay Journal (02/26/2012) http://
www.chroniclejournal.com/content/news/local/2012/02/26/cashrolls-literacy
• Buffalo (NY) Literacy Volunteers – March 4, 2012,
marked the conclusion of the 2-month SCRABBLE®
Fest. Almost 400 players participated in the events
leading up to the championship and raised over $7,000 to
support the efforts of the Literacy Volunteers.
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?
storyid=158895
Words With Hasbro
On February 9, 2012, Hasbro announced a global partnership
with Zynga, the creator of Words With Friends and other social
games. The first toys and board games resulting from the
partnership are expected in the fall.
Fast Company (02/09/2012)
http://www.fastcompany.com/1815230/zynga-hasbro-scrabblewords-with-friends?partner=gnews
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Tile Talk
The Costa Rica office of advertising giant Ogilvy and Mather has
created a series of SCRABBLE® ads that restate famous quotes
into high-scoring plays.
Creative Type (02/07/2012) http://boston.com/community/blogs/
creative_type/2012/02/scrabble_ads_re-tile_famous_qu.html
Book Smart
Random House sales rep Michael Kindness laid down his tiles as Aerbook's
Nick Ruffilo used a game of SCRABBLE® to illustrate a point about the
experiential differences between playing a board game and playing an
electronic version of a board game.
This concept was applied to the difference between print and electronic books
at the Book^2 Camp held in New York City (NY) on February 12, 2012.
Shelf Awareness (02/13/2012) http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?
issue=1664#m15003
Jamboree
On February 2, 2012, Lancaster (MA) SCRABBLE® player
Norma Marshall appeared on Inside Leominster to promote the
Crockett Family Jamboree.
Norma directed and performed in the annual cabaret dinner
theatre production by the New Players Theatre Guild.
Inside Leominster (02/02/2012) http://wwww.leominster.tv/
publicweb/SitePages/video.aspx?id0=Inside%20Leominster
%202-2-12
SCRABBLE® Celebrities
Celebrities share our love of the game.
• New Girl Zooey Deschanel poses with her iPad and SCRABBLE® triple
word score.
http://instagr.am/p/kTtj9/
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•Indian actors Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu
are like the proverbial chalk and cheese. She loves
him but loves SCRABBLE® a little more. He
accepts the fact that he can’t beat her at it but puts
up a fight just to antagonize her.
Hindustan Times (02/11/2012) http://
www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/
Two-faces-of-love/Article1-809976.aspx
• Homeland actress Claire Danes passed time on the set by playing Words
With Friends and in the process, recruiting half of the crew to play as well.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/
ALeqM5ijWE7XUPiUcJJVhp6Wz_YoVsB3QQ?
docId=N0526161329235680156A
•Costars Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, who
compete for the affections of Reese
Witherspoon in This Means War, joked that
their on-screen rivalry extended to games of
Go Fish, SCRABBLE®, and other games off
set.
On the Red Carpet (02/18/2012) http://
www.ontheredcarpet.com/ReeseWitherspoon--Tom-Hardy-and-Chris-Pinetalk-This-Means-War-and-their-real-lifecompetition-Q-and-A/8549326
• Soccer player Gerard Pique may have thought
playing for Barcelona and dating the singer Shakira
would give him a glamorous lifestyle, but it seems he
now spends his evenings playing SCRABBLE®.
Metro (02/26/2012) http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/
oddballs/891426-gerard-pique-and-shakirasglamorous-lifestyle-has-room-for-scrabble
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• Electronic Arts, the Hasbro-endorsed publisher of online SCRABBLE® games, honored the
biggest words used at the Oscars on February 26, 2012. The top word came from Best Actress
winner Meryl Streep – INEXPLICABLY.
http://perezhilton.com/2012-02-28-scrabble-and-electronic-arts-honor-the-biggest-words-at-theoscars#.T1z3TYGvKSo
Judy Cole is co-director of the Lexington (MA) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #108 and solves
crossword puzzles when not playing SCRABBLE®.
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Historic Moments: SCRABBLE® Through the Years
The Pre-Computerized Slippery Slope of Challenge Lookups
By Stu Goldman
The recent thread of favorite phony challenges on cgp made me think of some problems with
challenge lookups before the computer programs did it for us. For starters, the word UNFREE
appeared on a list of UN- words in Funk & Wagnalls, before the OSPD; the list contained both
adjectives and verbs. I played in two tournaments from those days in which UNFREES was
challenged. In one it was allowed, and in the other it was ruled unacceptable.
Even the most careful challenge judge could err. In one tournament a wrong judgment on LANITAL
changed the outcome of the tournament. It was played by the late, great Bob Felt on a much less
accomplished expert. The challenge judge looked at it upside down and looked up LATINAL*,
which was ruled unacceptable. Felt was not sure of it, so did not ask for a second opinion. That
caused Bob to lose.
The format for that tournament was round robin, with a king-of the-hill final round. As I recall it, the
game to determine the tournament winner was between him and Joe Edley, each with the same
number of wins, but Bob with a higher cume. Edley won, giving him the tournament; if Felt had had
one more win, he would have won the event.
But probably the wrong challenge opinion with the most dramatic result occurred in the UK in a
WSC. The challenges were delivered by runners to a central location. RADDING was challenged
by someone who thought a rad was only a unit of radiation. It was ruled unacceptable, and, the
challenge judge, when he got the slip for a second opinion, thought it came from a different game
and ruled it unacceptable again. That also probably caused a game to be lost, and the player of the
word eventually came in fifth. If the judgment had been correct, the RADDING player would have
played in the final four, and would have had a chance to become the world champ.
So let us be grateful for the high-tech settlement of challenges. Even the best human judgements
are capable of error.
Stu Goldman lives in California and has been playing tournament SCRABBLE® for 38 years.
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SCRABBLE® & Art: Ron Ulicny
Sometimes a sculpture just makes you stop
and say, “Wow!” With the work of Ron Ulicny,
a 38-year-old artist from Portland, Oregon,
that happens a lot. Over the past 20+ years,
Ron has been creating what he calls
“Viscurrealistic Fabrications,” amazing
sculptures that use ordinary objects in
extraordinary ways. “I have always loved
making ‘things,’ whether it’s a sculpture, a
painting, a photograph, a piece of furniture, or
a song. My biggest influences are life,
experiences, memories, and happenstance.”
“Spew,” a sculpture depicting a faucet pouring
SCRABBLE tiles, is just one of Ron’s
imaginative works. The piece, mounted on
canvas and measuring 9.25” x 7.75” x 10.75”,
was created in 2011 and featured in a show at
the Grand Central Art Center in Orange
County, California, where it was purchased by
a collector.
Ron has played SCRABBLE since he was a
child, and he still enjoys a game on his old
board or on his iPhone. “It has always been
one of my favorite games, along with Yahtzee
and Jenga. I guess that’s why I was drawn to
make ‘Spew’--I like to use familiar things that
people can identify with yet see and experience in a different way or context. It’s amazing how
many people connected or responded to that piece.”
Ron does not plan to create more works with SCRABBLE tiles, however. “I absolutely try NOT to
reuse or redo the same idea, medium, or technique. I feel it cheapens the original piece and is too
easy. I will, however, probably use a game again at some point in my work, as games have always
been a huge part of my life.”
How does Ron’s work develop? “I keep a sketchbook, but I also just start putting things together
sometimes. It’s really hard to see what the piece will look like without just forging ahead and making
it. Some of my pieces end up in scraps or the trash. I’m a perfectionist for sure.”
Ron is represented by Spoke Art in San Francisco, where his current exhibition, “New Works,” is
running until March 22nd. The gallery, located at 816 Sutter St., has regular hours from
Wednesday-Sunday, 12-7 pm (contact Ken Harman @[email protected] or 415-796-3774).
Most of Ron’s pieces in the show have already been sold; however, it is well worth a trip to the
gallery to see them (or to buy any that are still available).
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L-R: Spoke Art Gallery owner Ken Harman and Ron Ulicny putting the finishing
touches on a piece for the “New Works” show March 1-22. Photo courtesy of
Shaun Roberts.
Y
"Keepsake: An Archival Deconstruction
Of One Heroic Day From The Past”
17” x 9.25” x 14”
(Actually a game-winning home run ball
from when Ron was in Little League)
“Skates No. 2 (Well Aren’t You a Big Girl Now?!)” 2011
13.5” x 11.75” x 8.25”
“Murder Ballad” (2011)
36.25″ x 4.5″ x 2.5″
Ron has shown his work numerous times on the West Coast, including last summer at Cal State’s
Grand Central Art Center. This summer he will be part of a group show at the Chautauqua Institute
in New York in June and July, and he will have a hometown show in northeast Portland at the
Guardino Gallery at the end of August/early September. “I am constantly working in my studio as I
don’t really have much of a life outside of artwork and making ‘stuff.’”
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“Painting No. 1 (Circles)” 2012
36" x 36" x 5.75"
Ron is interested in commissions, too, and has done a few smaller ones. “I would really love to do
something permanent outdoors or indoors somewhere. Being poor and making artwork out of
‘things’ is kinda limiting. I obviously use a lot of cheap stuff to make my work, because it’s what I
can afford to use. Know what I mean!?”
To learn more about Ron Ulicny, visit the following links:
http://www.ronulicny.com
http://www.facebook.com/RonUlicny
http://ronulicny.tumblr.com/
http://spoke-art.com/
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Joe Edley’s Puzzle Corner
By Joe Edley
Word Screens
A word screen is a rectangle of letters such that all of the letters of the rectangle can be rearranged to spell a
word.
For instance, in the grid below:
a b c d e
1
2
3
4
5
A
N
S
P
M
T
O
C
R
L
E
D
L
B
E
R
I
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K
The words CANTOS, GIRDLE, BELONG, BOILER and LURING are all wordscreens, or “screens” for short,
in the above grid, found in 2x3 rectangles, designated by their diagonally opposite corners as: a1-b3, c1-d3,
c3-e4, b4-d5 and d1-e3. BLEED is at c1-5, down the third column. GLOB, GONE, GILD, COLD and DIRE
are all found in 2x2s, while BORE, LIKE and RATE are in 1x4s.
The numbers in parenthesis represent: (a)number of wordscreens (b) total number of words, including all
anagrams (c) number of common words.
Find all six-letter screens. There are 24 screens, 32 total TWL words and 19 common words.
R
O
G
E
T
E
A
P
L
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D
E
O
V
L
K
N
O
L
E
O
A
A
W
N
E
T
D
A
L
V
E
A
D
R
M
O
V
E
O
B
A
O
M
S
T
R
H
I
A
D
U
U
N
R
I
O
T
H
I
N
N
E
(24, 32, 19)
ANSWERS at end of puzzles.
Blanagram Phrases
Insert the letter in parenthesis into the word immediately next to it and remove a different letter of that word.
After doing that with both words, rearrange the letters of each new combination, as necessary, to form a
familiar phrase. The “theme” represents the subject of the phrase.
1. (Y) INTO DRAMA (W)
theme: Broadway
2. (M) DARKEN WOOD (N) theme: retail
3. (T) SPRAY FLORA (V)
4. (S) LEAF CREEP (I)
theme: take it with you
theme: retail
ANSWERS at end of puzzles.
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Wordlocked
The object of Wordlocked is to fill in the blank spaces with the correct letters so that the words
accompanying the grid can all be found in screens on the grid. You may choose ONLY from the pool of the
following TEN letters to add to the grid:
AEIOULNRST
Add as many or as few of these letters (with repeats) as required. You may notice that these are all of the
one-point tiles in that very popular crossword game. The consonants are all of the letters given in the last
puzzle at the end of that popular major network tv word game show.
Example (with complete solution):
A B C
1 D _ _
2 _ H _
3 P _ _
HALO HEED
HEAL HELP
Solution: Since you cannot add any extra D, H or Ps, we can use those letters already in the grid to help
deduce what letters to add where. The H and P must be used to create HELP, and so must outline the 2x2
HELP defined with opposite vertices at A2-B3, So we know where an E and L must be placed (A2 and B3)
though not yet which specific square. Since the D and H outline HEED, the A2 and B1 squares must both
have Es, which means the L of HELP must be at B3. So, now we have:
D E _
E H _
P L _
HALO
HEAL
Since HALO doesn’t have an E, the A and O of HALO must be placed at C2 and C3 to complete it with the H
and L of B2 and B3. And since HEAL doesn’t have an O, the O of HALO must be at C3, the A at C2 and the
remaining letter, the L of HEAL, must then be at C1. And so the completed grid is:
D E L
E H A
P L O
Add only as many of the one point tiles (AEIOULNRST, repeating as needed) that you need to ensure that
all words show up in screens.
1.
_
_
_
_
C
_
_
_
M
_
_
_
_
_
B
_
TROMBONE
MOTORCAR
BANNER
ANTS
_
_
_
_
_
_
M
C
_
_
D
_
ATONED
MODICA
RANDOM
AWOL
BOOR
MORN
NEAT
ROAN
2.
W
D
_
_
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COMA
DEAN
DOWN
ORAL
RAID
J
O
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E
D
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’
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U
Z
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3.
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
P
_
_
_
_
_
D
_
Y
H
_
_
M
_
B
_
_
ALPINE
ARDENT
OPENER
OYSTER
THEORY
PIETA
PREEN
RUMBA
STRUM
LEND
LURE
Not showing as a wordscreen: SYNTH
ANSWERS on next page.
Joe Edley is a three-time National SCRABBLE® Champion and the author of numerous books, including the
bestselling Everything SCRABBLE®.
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ANSWERS
WORDSCREENS: MEDIUM, GEODIC, ORATED, DEEWAN, WEANED, LOVATS, VOICED, RADOME,
ROAMED, VALVAL, CONINE, DENTAL, AMADOU, ABOARD, ABROAD, CODLIN, RETOLD, COOING,
WANTED, COILED, DOCILE, GOATEE, DOOLEE, DELETE, STOVER, STROVE, TROVES, VOTERS,
REAVER, STROMA, ARDENT, RANTED
BLANAGRAM PHRASES:
PRICE
WORDLOCKED:
1.
R
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T
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A
N
A
M
O
R
N
T
O
B
E
O
N
A
O
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A
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D
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E
S
O
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E
D
T
Y
H
T
N
2.
W
D
E
T
3.
U
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50
M
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1. TONY AWARD
2. MARKED DOWN
3. PARTY FAVOR
4. SALE
W
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G
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Wow! Games
Some games are so impressive they must be shared. If you have games you’d like other
Scrabblers to see, send them to [email protected].
_______________________________________________________________________________
Geoff Thevenot vs. Wes Eddings (Austin TX Tournament 2/25)
From Wes Eddings: “Geoff Thevenot and I played
a remarkable game in Saturday's tournament in
Austin [2/25], with Geoff winning 685 to 408. I
opened with WREcKED for 88 and then
TRACHEA for 78, but Geoff replied with
(c)LAFOUtI for 68. Two turns later he played a
natural D(I)VINIZE for 248 points! Later, with
eight in the bag Geoff exchanged five, and I
played TERCETS for 87. Geoff replied with
PERORAL for 74, drew a challenge, and then
went out the next turn. Add on 14 points for my
final rack of AAAEIII, and Geoff finishes with 685!
Geoff went 5-1 to win the ten-player open by a
full game. Thanks to the Austin club for another
fun tournament.” (Photo Credit: Matt Canik)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Richard Spence on ISC
My third 5-bingo game...and my highest Scrabble
game score (Richard Spence, 2/17-- or wee hours
of 2/18)
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App Review: Wordlist Pro 2.0 for Android phones!
Reviewed by Jeff Kastner
I’ve owned a Motorola Droid X cell phone for over a year now, and during this time I
have been avidly searching for a word-finder app that comes close to Zyzzyva in
features, speed and accuracy. Owners of iPhones and iPads have access to great
programs like Zyzzyva and Zarf; but when, I kept asking, will someone fill the
‘Droid void’?
Like many of you, I once spent $50 on one of those slower-than-molasses Franklin
SCR-228 electronic SCRABBLE® dictionaries. I suppose in its day, the Franklin
was considered state-of-the-art by the SCRABBLE world; but that was decades
ago. I also have a Palm device that has LAMPwords (for basic word searches), and
RoadLingua (for definitions) downloaded. It’s a big improvement over the Franklin in terms of speed,
performance, and portability, but still lacks some important features. And neither of these devices has the
Collins word list (CSW12).
As a perennial TWL (namely, The Word List, which is OWL + The Long List) Club and Tournament player
who is just starting to learn Collins, I needed an app that would cover both dictionaries thoroughly and help
me learn those thousands of new words. What I found was that many of the current Droid word-finder apps
(those that have Collins, because unfortunately, most don’t) haven’t even updated their dictionaries to the
Jan 1, 2012 CSW12 list yet. Even for those players who only play TWL06 (which is the 2006 update of TWL
+ The Long List), most of the Droid apps are seriously lacking. Believe me, I’ve downloaded almost all of
them…and even a few off-market ones that developers have sent me.
Fast forward to March 7th, when an incredible word-finder program called Wordlist Pro 2.0 made its debut in
the Android/Google market. And I’m happy to report, after assisting with its development and subjecting it to
extensive testing, that Worldlist Pro is every bit the app I had been hoping for.
Oddly, the developer of Wordlist Pro, Robert Andersson of Sweden, isn’t even a SCRABBLE player. I had
never met him before, but somehow in January, separated by thousands of miles of land and ocean, our
paths crossed in cyberspace. He asked me my opinion about what features I’d like to see in an ideal wordfinder app, and I gave him my very long “wish list” of features. Plus, I insisted that to improve on what’s
already available, it had to be fast, error-free, easy to use, stable, device compatible, SD card installable,
and either free or very inexpensive. The bar was set pretty high, so I fully expected that I’d never hear from
him again.
How wrong I was, because Rob is one tireless and determined programmer! And so…a couple of months
and many email exchanges later…mission accomplished! I recruited my friend Laurie Cohen to do some
beta testing before release, worked out a few minor glitches and bugs, and I have to say: the end result
turned out to be pretty awesome. So, whether you play exclusively TWL06, exclusively CSW, or a little of
both, I encourage all of you Droid users out there to check it out.
You can download the Wordlist Pro ‘Lite’ version for free directly from the Android marketplace. It’s ad
supported (after all, programmers do have to feed their families!), but the banner is not too obtrusive or
annoying. Every acceptable TWL06 word (all 178,691 of them), and every CSW12 word (all 270,163 of
them), are in the app’s database, completely sortable and searchable to your preferences. All of the usual
and useful functions that you’ve grown accustomed to from online programs like Zyzzyva (or the old
LeXpert) are contained at no charge. For instance, you can search for front and back hooks; patterns with
any number of blanks; anagrams; builds; extensions, etc. Also included are some neat bonus features, like:
‘wildcard’ searches; ‘Words With Friends’ and ‘Wordfeud’ scoring; ability to tweak settings to further enhance
performance; and a menu of 10 font styles to choose from.
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Aside from Wordlist Pro ‘Lite’ there is a ‘Paid’ version too, which essentially means: “no ads / no limitations.”
My strong recommendation for anyone reading this who owns a Droid phone (Version 2.2 or higher): sell
that obsolete Franklin on eBay, and then invest $2.98 for this ‘Paid’ version. For less than the price of a
Starbuck’s latte, you get lots of valuable extras, such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Expands “listsize maximum” from the default maximum of 1024 words to more than16,000+ words
(so, if you want to see every CSW12 word beginning with ‘A’, it will list all 15,835 of them.)
A Word Judge feature for both TWL and CSW games.
All lists will have the option of displaying CSW12 unique words identified with #.
There is a separate dictionary just for the 91,000+ CSW12 Unique words. This is an invaluable tool
for those, like me, who are studying the differences between the two dictionaries
“In app definitions” (saved to your SD card, therefore not requiring Wi-Fi) for all TWL and CSW words
up thru 8 letters, and many longer ones too. Plus, parts of speech and alternate spellings are given.
This is a very worthwhile feature for those looking to expand their word knowledge in either TWL or
CSW lexicons.
A ‘Build’ search (anagrams +
subanagrams) of the rack CHINE?
T, sorted by descending point
values (for this purpose, app
assumes full point values for the
blank tiles). Note the speed: 921
matches in less than a second.
Y* is a ‘Wildcard’ search for all
words in CSW12 starting with ‘Y’,
and sorted by descending point
values. The # symbol represents
words acceptable only in CSW12
(A ‘Paid’ version feature only).
Six different methods for sorting
lists. My favorite for ‘Build’ searches
is ‘Descending wordlength’ (longest
words on top; words of equal length
sorted alphabetically).
A few of the many user options. Displaying
CSW unique words and ‘In app’ definitions
are for ‘Paid’ version only. The ‘Lite’
version has 3 online definition sources.
The ‘Word Judge”
feature. Once all words
of a challenged play are
entered (using the
‘Add’ button), pressing
the ‘Judge’ button will
determine if the play is
acceptable or not.
All words in CSW12 starting with
BASE, and sorted alphabetically.
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Finally, Rob Andersson promises that development is ongoing, so expect even more features to be added in
the future to the Paid version. Rumor has it that the next update will include a separate OSPD4 dictionary for
the school and home user market. Your suggestions are welcome, of course, but I’m nagging him to create a
Quiz section next!
Next month: An interview with Wordlist Pro creator, Robert Andersson of Sweden
To get Wordlist Pro 2.0 for Android phones go to the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/
details?id=com.ernell.wordpro
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Club News
Larry Sherman, Editor
If you'd like your club to be considered for an article or if a newsworthy event has taken place at
your club in the last month, please submit material to [email protected].
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sue Miller’s 10-letter Bingo
On February 20th at the Oklahoma City (OK) NASPA SCRABBLE®
Club #673 Sue Miller, who is rated in the 500s, played a 10-letter
bingo! When she made the play, it was neck-and-neck, and her
opponent had the other blank.
Oklahoma City (OK) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #673 meets on
Thursdays from 5:00-9:00 p.m. at Game HQ, 160 Southwest 89th
Street, Oklahoma City, OK. Contact: Matthew Hodge, 405-388-8867,
[email protected]
_______________________________________________________________________________
Joel Horn’s scores 126--saving the blank!
On February 16 at the Lexington (MA) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #108, Joel Horn made an
amazing play in a game against Rebecca Lambert. “On just the third play of the game, Rebecca
played an E at 15E. I had QU and blank but didn't have a blockbuster play, so I played QUIN
somewhere else. Rebecca then played a blocking play to put another E at 15G. With my rack ?
ADELMN, I then played ENAMELED at 15A for 126 points and saved my blank! Has anyone scored
this many points and saved the blank?”
Note: There were no other triple-triple bingos playable. The
sequence of plays from the beginning, Rebecca going first, was:
RL
ZORIL, 8D, 48
MAVIE, E11, 31 (79)
TOGAE, G11, 17 (96)
JH
OUTRAGED, F5, 66 (saw, but didn't
play OUTGAZED)
QUIN, E2, 30 (96)
ENAMELED, 15A, 126 (222) (kept the
blank)
Lexington (MA) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #108 meets on
Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. at the First Parish Unitarian Church, 7
Harrington Road, Lexington, MA. Contact: Judy Horn,
781-942-7471, [email protected] . Club website: http://
www.wolfberg.net/scrabble/lexington/ (Club Statistician and
Webmaster: Mike Wolfberg).
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Oscar-themed SCRABBLE® Board
Debbie Scholz, a member of Houston (TX) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #359, created this Oscarsthemed SCRABBLE® Board on the big night: 2/26. Debbbie invited fellow Scrabblers Cindi Hughes
and Carolyn Boyd over that night for an Oscar party and served Hawaiian chicken Salad (The
Descendants), French Brie (Midnight in Paris) and Minnie’s Chocolate Pie (The Help)!
Houston (TX) NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #359 meets on Sundays at 3:00 p.m. at IHOP, 2940 W.
Sam Houston Pkwy. S, Houston, TX. Contact: Judy Newhouse, 281-379-1601, [email protected]
Club website: http://debbiewebbie.com/
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Manly Words
By Tony Rasch
There are 352 “MAN” words and 54 “WOMAN” words acceptable for SCRABBLE® play. By a “MAN” or
“WOMAN” word, I mean a noun that ends in “MAN” or “WOMAN” and whose plural ends in “MEN” or “WOMEN”.
This column considers those 406 words plus selected words that have “MAN” at the beginning or middle. Plus it
considers all words containing “WOMAN”, “BOY” or “GIRL”.
Nouns Ending in MAN Whose Plural Ends in MEN
5-Letter
ADMAN
AXMAN
6-Letter
AIDMAN
AIRMAN
ASHMAN
AXEMAN
BADMAN
BAGMAN
BARMAN
BATMAN
BAYMAN
BOWMAN
BUSMAN
CABMAN
CARMAN
COWMAN
DOLMAN
FLYMAN
FOEMAN
GAGMAN
GASMAN
GUNMAN
HITMAN
ICEMAN
LAWMAN
LAYMAN
LEGMAN
MADMAN
MERMAN
NONMAN
OILMAN
PENMAN
PITMAN
POTMAN
CLUBMAN
CREWMAN
DAYSMAN
DEADMAN
DESKMAN
DOORMAN
DRAYMAN
DUSTMAN
FIREMAN
FLAGMAN
FOOTMAN
FOREMAN
FREEMAN
FROGMAN
GATEMAN
GLEEMAN
GOODMAN
GRIPMAN
HACKMAN
HANGMAN
HEADMAN
HERDMAN
IRONMAN
JAZZMAN
JUNKMAN
JURYMAN
KINSMAN
KIRKMAN
LANDMAN
LEADMAN
LENSMAN
LIFTMAN
LINEMAN
LINKMAN
MAILMAN
MEATMAN
MESSMAN
MILKMAN
NEWSMAN
OARSMAN
OVERMAN
PACKMAN
PIKEMAN
PLOWMAN
POSTMAN
CHOREMAN
CLANSMAN
COACHMAN
COLORMAN
CORPSMAN
CRAGSMAN
DAIRYMAN
DALESMAN
DRAGOMAN
DUTCHMAN
EARTHMAN
EVERYMAN
FERRYMAN
FOILSMAN
FREEDMAN
FRESHMAN
FRONTMAN
FUGLEMAN
FUNNYMAN
GAMESMAN
GLASSMAN
GOWNSMAN
HANDYMAN
HEADSMAN
HELMSMAN
HENCHMAN
HERDSMAN
HORSEMAN
HOTELMAN
HOUSEMAN
HUNTSMAN
LANDSMAN
PREMAN
RAGMAN
RODMAN
SEAMAN
SKYMAN
SOCMAN
TAXMAN
TINMAN
TITMAN
VANMAN
YEOMAN
PROPMAN
REEDMAN
RODSMAN
SAGAMAN
SANDMAN
SEEDMAN
SHIPMAN
SHOPMAN
SHOWMAN
SIDEMAN
SHOWMAN
SOCKMAN
SOKEMAN
SURFMAN
SWAGMAN
TAXIMAN
TELEMAN
TOLLMAN
TONGMAN
TURFMAN
WINGMAN
WIREMAN
WOODMAN
WOOLMAN
WORKMAN
YARDMAN
YEGGMAN
REINSMAN
RIFLEMAN
ROUTEMAN
SALESMAN
SEEDSMAN
SHEEPMAN
SONARMAN
SOUNDMAN
SPACEMAN
SPEARMAN
STICKMAN
STILLMAN
STOCKMAN
STUNTMAN
SUPERMAN
SWINGMAN
SWORDMAN
TALESMAN
TALLYMAN
TOWNSMAN
TRACKMAN
TRAINMAN
TRASHMAN
TRUCKMAN
VERSEMAN
WATCHMAN
WATERMAN
WEIGHMAN
WHALEMAN
WHEELMAN
WOODSMAN
YACHTMAN
7-Letter
ALMSMAN
AUTOMAN
BASEMAN
BATSMAN
BEADMAN
BEDEMAN
BELLMAN
BIRDMAN
BOATMAN
BOGYMAN
BONDMAN
BOOKMAN
BUSHMAN
CAVEMAN
CHAPMAN
8-Letter
ALDERMAN
BAILSMAN
BANDSMAN
BARGEMAN
BEADSMAN
BEDESMAN
BLUESMAN
BOARDMAN
BOATSMAN
BOGEYMAN
BONDSMAN
BOOGYMAN
BRAKEMAN
CHAINMAN
CHAIRMAN
CHESSMAN
LEADSMAN
LIEGEMAN
LINESMAN
LINKSMAN
MARKSMAN
MONEYMAN
MOTORMAN
NOBLEMAN
PITCHMAN
PIVOTMAN
PLACEMAN
POINTMAN
PRESSMAN
RADIOMAN
RAFTSMAN
RANCHMAN
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9-Letter
ANCHORMAN
ATTACKMAN
BOOGERMAN
BOOGEYMAN
BOOGIEMAN
BUSHELMAN
CAMERAMAN
CATTLEMAN
CHURCHMAN
CLERGYMAN
CORNERMAN
CRACKSMAN
CRAFTSMAN
DEATHSMAN
DRAFTSMAN
EALDORMAN
EXCISEMAN
FELLOWMAN
FIELDSMAN
FISHERMAN
GARAGEMAN
GENTLEMAN
GRANTSMAN
GROOMSMAN
GUARDSMAN
GUILDSMAN
LETTERMAN
LIVERYMAN
LUMBERMAN
MIDDLEMAN
MINUTEMAN
MORTARMAN
MUSCLEMAN
OMBUDSMAN
OYSTERMAN
PANTRYMAN
PATROLMAN
PLAINSMAN
PLANTSMAN
POLICEMAN
QUARRYMAN
REPAIRMAN
ROUNDSMAN
RUDDLEMAN
SAFETYMAN
SALARYMAN
SCHOOLMAN
SELECTMAN
SHANTYMAN
SIGNALMAN
SPOILSMAN
SPOKESMAN
SPORTSMAN
STABLEMAN
STATESMAN
STEERSMAN
STRONGMAN
SWITCHMAN
SWORDSMAN
TILLERMAN
TIMBERMAN
TRADESMAN
TRIBESMAN
VENIREMAN
VESTRYMAN
WASHERMAN
WHEELSMAN
YACHTSMAN
10-Letter
CAVALRYMAN
COCHAIRMAN
COUNCILMAN
COUNTERMAN
COUNTRYMAN
DEFENCEMAN
DEFENSEMAN
EXPRESSMAN
FORETOPMAN
GARBAGEMAN
GROUNDSMAN
HARVESTMAN
HIGHWAYMAN
HUSBANDMAN
JOURNEYMAN
LAUNDRYMAN
LOBSTERMAN
LONGBOWMAN
MIDSHIPMAN
MILITIAMAN
MISSILEMAN
NURSERYMAN
POULTRYMAN
SERVICEMAN
TRAWLERMAN
TRIGGERMAN
WEATHERMAN
WORKINGMAN
COASTGUARDSMAN
COMMITTEEMAN
CONGRESSMAN
CROSSBOWMAN
DELIVERYMAN
DRAUGHTSMAN
FRONTIERSMAN
HANDCRAFTSMAN
HANDICRAFTSMAN
INFANTRYMAN
LONGSHOREMAN
MERCHANTMAN
NEWSPAPERMAN
OUTDOORSMAN
Long
AGRIBUSINESSMAN
ARTILLERYMAN
ASSEMBLYMAN
BACKCOURTMAN
BACKWOODSMAN
BUSINESSMAN
COASTGUARDMAN
PLAINCLOTHESMAN
SPORTFISHERMAN
SUPERSALESMAN
TRENCHERMAN
UNDERCLASSMAN
UPPERCLASSMAN
WAREHOUSEMAN
Nouns Ending in “MAN” Whose Plural Ends in “S”
ATMAN
DAMAN
HUMAN
LEMAN
LIMAN
ROMAN
SOMAN
TOMAN
ATAMAN
CAIMAN
CAYMAN
DESMAN
FIRMAN
GERMAN*
HETMAN
SHAMAN
DECUMAN
HANUMAN
OTTOMAN
PULLMAN
TALISMAN
BILDUNGSROMAN
*GERMEN and GERMENS are words, but they are not related to GERMAN.
Nouns Ending in “MANSHIP”
AIRMANSHIP
BRINKMANSHIP
BRINKSMANSHIP
CHAIRMANSHIP
CHURCHMANSHIP
CRAFTSMANSHIP
DRAFTSMANSHIP
FOREMANSHIP
GAMESMANSHIP
GRANTSMANSHIP
HELMSMANSHIP
HORSEMANSHIP
LIFEMANSHIP
MARKSMANSHIP
OARSMANSHIP
OMBUDSMANSHIP
OUTDOORSMANSHIP
PENMANSHIP
SALESMANSHIP
SEAMANSHIP
SHOWMANSHIP
SPOKESMANSHIP
SPORTSMANSHIP
STATESMANSHIP
SWORDSMANSHIP
UPMANSHIP
WATERMANSHIP
WORKMANSHIP
“MAN” Nouns Ending in “NESS”
GENTLEMANLINESS
HUMANENESS
HUMANNESS
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INHUMANNESS
MANFULNESS
MANLINESS
MANNISHNESS
SUPERHUMANNESS
UNMANLINESS
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Compound* Nouns Beginning with “MAN”
(“Compound Noun” is defined as MAN + a word acceptable in the OWL)
MANAT
MANGO
MANANA
MANGEL
MANNAN
MANTEL
MANAGER
MANAKIN
MANDATE
MANGABY
MANGOLD
MANHOLE
MANHOOD
MANHUNT
MANKIND
MANNITE
MANNOSE
MANROPE
MANSARD
MANTRAM
MANTRAP
MANDRAKE
MANDRILL
MANGROVE
MANPOWER
MANSLAYER
MANSERVANT
MANSLAUGHTER
Selected* Nouns with “MAN” in the Middle
(*Those that are semantically related to “MAN” as an adult human male)
HUMANISM
HUMANIST
HUMANITY
HUMANOID
YEOMANRY
HUMANHOOD
HUMANIZER
HUMANKIND*
INHUMANITY
ANTIHUMANISM
HUMANITARIAN
HUMANIZATION
DEHUMANIZATION
SUPERHUMANITY
HUMANITARIANISM
*HUMANKIND cannot be pluralized.
Selected* Verbs Containing “MAN”
(*Those that are semantically related to “MAN” as an adult human male)
MAN
REMAN
UNMAN
OUTMAN
OVERMAN
CHAIRMAN
MANHANDLE
HUMANISE
HUMANIZE
DEHUMANIZE
REHUMANIZE
All of the verbs can be declined in a normal matter except for CHAIRMAN for which it is okay to either double or not
double the ending “N”.
CHAIRMANED, CHAIRMANNED, CHAIRMANING, and CHAIRMANNING are all good.
Declinable Adjectives
MANLY
UNMANLY
HUMANE
MANLIER
UNMANLIER
HUMANER
MANLIEST
UNMANLIEST
HUMANEST
“MANLIKE” Adjectives
MANLIKE
HUMANLIKE
SEAMANLIKE
WORKMANLIKE
CRAFTSMANLIKE
GENTLEMANLIKE
SPORTSMANLIKE
STATESMANLIKE
UNSPORTSMANLIKE
Other Non-Declinable Adjectives Containing “MAN”
MANFUL
MANLESS
MANMADE
MANNISH
MANPACK
MANWARD
MANWISE
ANTIMAN
UNMANLY
UNMANFUL
UNMANNISH
PREFRESHMAN
MULTIMANNED
INHUMAN
UNHUMAN
INHUMANE
NONHUMAN
PANHUMAN
PREHUMAN
SUBHUMAN
ANTIHUMAN
INFRAHUMAN
PROTOHUMAN
SUPERHUMAN
ULTRAHUMAN
HUMANISTIC
ANTIHUMANISTIC
HUMANISTICALLY
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Selected* Adverbs Containing “MAN”
(*Those that are semantically related to “MAN” as an adult human male)
HUMANLY
MANLILY
HUMANELY
MANFULLY
SEAMANLY
YEOMANLY
INHUMANLY
MANLIKELY
MANNISHLY
SHOWMANLY
UNHUMANLY
WORKMANLY
INHUMANELY
CRAFTSMANLY
GENTLEMANLY
SPORTSMANLY
STATESMANLY
SUPERHUMANLY
UNGENTLEMANLY
Nouns Ending in WOMAN
(All plurals end in “WOMEN)
7-Letter
ADWOMAN
8-Letter
AIRWOMAN
LAYWOMAN
MADWOMAN
FOREWOMAN
IRONWOMAN
JURYWOMAN
KINSWOMAN
NEWSWOMAN
OARSWOMAN
TIREWOMAN
WASHWOMAN
WISEWOMAN
WORKWOMAN
HORSEWOMAN
MARKSWOMAN
NOBLEWOMAN
PITCHWOMAN
SALESWOMAN
SCRUBWOMAN
STUNTWOMAN
SUPERWOMAN
TOWNSWOMAN
CLERGYWOMAN
CRAFTSWOMAN
FISHERWOMAN
GENTLEWOMAN
NEEDLEWOMAN
POLICEWOMAN
SPOKESWOMAN
SPORTSWOMAN
WASHERWOMAN
9-Letter
BONDWOMAN
CHARWOMAN
CLUBWOMAN
DOORWOMAN
10-Letter
ALDERWOMAN
CHAIRWOMAN
EVERYWOMAN
FREEDWOMAN
11-Letter
ANCHORWOMAN
CAMERAWOMAN
CHURCHWOMAN
Long
COCHAIRWOMAN
COUNCILWOMAN
COUNTRYWOMAN
SERVICEWOMAN
WORKINGWOMAN
ASSEMBLYWOMAN
BUSINESSWOMAN
CONGRESSWOMAN
WOMANISM
WOMANIST
WOMANHOOD
WOMANKIND
WOMANIZER
WOMANNESS
COMMITTEEWOMAN
NEWSPAPERWOMAN
Nouns Beginning with “WOMAN”
WOMANPOWER
WOMANISHNESS
WOMANLINESS
(The plural of WOMANKIND is WOMENKIND. All the other words take an “S” or “ES”)
Verbs Beginning with “WOMAN”
WOMAN
WOMANISE
WOMANIZE
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WOMANED
WOMANISED
WOMANIZED
WOMANING
WOMANISING
WOMANIZING
WOMANS
WOMANISES
WOMANIZES
M
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Adjectives Containing “WOMAN”
WOMANLY
WOMANISH
ANTIWOMAN
WOMANLESS
WOMANLIKE
WOMANLIER
WOMANLIEST
Adverbs Containing “WOMAN”
UNWOMANLY
WOMANISHLY
Nouns Ending with “BOY”
5-Letter
POBOY
6-Letter
BATBOY
BUSBOY
CARBOY
COWBOY
FLYBOY
LOWBOY
POTBOY
TOMBOY
HAUTBOY
HIGHBOY
HOMEBOY
LINKBOY
NEWSBOY
PAGEBOY
PLAYBOY
PLOWBOY
POSTBOY
SHOPBOY
TALLBOY
CHOIRBOY
DOUGHBOY
HOUSEBOY
MACCABOY
MACCOBOY
PAPERBOY
7-Letter
BELLBOY
CALLBOY
COPYBOY
FOOTBOY
8-Letter
BEACHBOY
BLACKBOY
BULLYBOY
9-Letter
SCHOOLBOY
STABLEBOY
Nouns Beginning with “BOY”
BOYO
BOYAR
BOYLA
BOYARD
BOYCHIK
BOYHOOD
BOYARISM
BOYCHICK
BOYCOTTER
BOYFRIEND
BOYISHNESS
BOYSENBERRY
Nouns with “BOY” in the Middle
AMBOYNA
FLAMBOYANCE
FLAMBOYANCY
FLAMBOYANT
TOMBOYISHNESS
Verbs Containing “BOY”
COWBOY
BOYCOTT
COWBOYED
BOYCOTTED
COWBOYING
BOYCOTTING
COWBOYS
BOYCOTTS
Other Words Containing “BOY”
BOYISH
ATTABOY
CARBOYED
BOYISHLY
TOMBOYISH
ANTIBOYCOTT
SCHOOLBOYISH
UNFLAMBOYANT
FLAMBOYANTLY
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Nouns Ending with “GIRL”
BATGIRL
BUSGIRL
COWGIRL
HOMEGIRL
NEWSGIRL
PLAYGIRL
SHOPGIRL
SHOWGIRL
CHOIRGIRL
PAPERGIRL
SALESGIRL
SCHOOLGIRL
Nouns Beginning with “GIRL”
GIRLIE
GIRLHOOD
GIRLFRIEND
GIRLISHNESS
Other Words Containing “GIRL”
GIRLY
ATTAGIRL
GIRLISH
GIRLISHLY
GIRLIER
GIRLIEST
Tony Rasch is the author of Brow-Raisers, an excellent study guide for beginning and intermediate players who want to
move up in the standings. Tony lives in Montana and spends most of his summer in the mountains, far away from any
hard-drive. During the winter he loves to put a log on the fire and then dig into the intricacies of SCRABBLE® words.
His website, www.BrowRaisers.com, is worth checking out.
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Word Trivia Quiz
By Siri Tillekeratne
The following unique meanings are of words which became legal in the 2006 dictionary update.
What are those words?
1. A fabric contraption resembling a parachute
2. A small park
3. Distortion of the sense of smell
4. A wool from Himalayan goats
5. To transfer power to an independent country
6. A cross between a Pekingese and a poodle
7. The main body of cyclists in a race
8. A theology expert
9. Inflammation of hands and feet due to exposure to the cold
10. A criminal
ANSWERS on next page.
Siri Tillekeratne is a director of the Calgary NASPA SCRABBLE® Club #374 and a former Director
of the Year.
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ANSWERS
1. A fabric contraption resembling a parachute PARAFOIL/S
2. A small park
PARKETTE/S
3. Distortion of the sense of smell
4. A wool from Himalayan goats
PAROSMIA/S
PASHMINA/S
5. To transfer power to an independent country
PATRIATE/S/D/TING
6. A cross between a Pekingese and a poodle PEKEPOO/S = PEEKAPOO/S
7. The main body of cyclists in a race
PELOTON/S
8. A theology expert PERITUS/TI
9. Inflammation of hands and feet due to exposure to the cold
10. A criminal PERP/S
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The Wordsmith
A Partridge in a language tree
By Chris Sinacola
Born on New Zealand’s North Island in 1894, Eric Honeywood Partridge seems to have enjoyed just
about every advantage that a lexicographer could hope to enjoy. He was educated in Australia,
served in World War I in Egypt, Turkey and the Western Front, studied at Balliot College, Oxford,
and eventually settled in to a half-century of study at the British Museum Library.
Anyone with a deep love of words could do much worse than that.
Partridge wrote some 40 works on language, and was perhaps best known for A Dictionary of Slang
and Unconventional English, first published in London in 1937. Subsequent editions were enriched
– if that’s the right way to put it – with generous helpings of “underground” English, particularly slang
drawn from his experiences with the Army Education Corps and Royal Air Force during World War
II.
My wife rescued a concise, paperback edition of Partridge’s dictionary of slang from her school
library, which was dismantled in one of those paroxysms of misguided trendiness that sweep
through education from time to time.
“A surprise that emerged for me in editing Partridge’s work,” writes editor Paul Beale in the 1984
edition, “was to find how old some of our everyday slang really is.”
Some early 20th century terms, or even slang from the 1960s, Beale points out, already seemed
dated in 1984, whereas others “more vivid, familiar, and still in curent use,” were coined in the 17th
century.
And Beale is right to point out that a “disturbingly high proportion of the new terms that have come
to light” since the 1983 edition “concern narcotics and the drug trade.”
Much of the slang found in Partridge is unacceptable in SCRABBLE® simply because it consists of
phrases. Many of the more colorful terms are acceptable only in Collins – hardly a surprise given his
roots in the British Commonwealth.
What follows is simply a selection of some of the interesting and delightful finds in Partridge’s book,
largely excluding the drug and sexual references. As interesting as some of them are, there are
abundant Internet sources that will provide plenty of similar fare.
- “Cigarettes bought ‘individually’ are called loosies because they are bought loose, or at least [they]
were when I was not much younger.”
So wrote one Peter Holt in a letter to the Guardian in 1978.
LOOSIES# anagrams to nothing in OWL2, but add an F and you have FLOOSIES, acceptable
throughout SCRABBLE-dom.
- A LORRY, as we all know, is a truck or other vehicle. But Partridge notes that the word was more
specifically “motoring enthusiasts’ pejorative term for a dull car.”
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- LONGHAIR, a term for an intellectual or highbrow, is a nice example of a word that has traveled a
good deal, modifying its meaning somewhat through time and travels. It seems to have originated
about 1920 in the U.S., and Partridge states it was adapted by Australians in about 1944. Later,
when the Beatles brought their music to America, the word found still another application, to
describe young people who imitated the hair styles of the Fab Four.
- BUCKSHEE, a noun meaning something obtained free, derives from baksheesh, which means a
tip or gratuity. The word, in one spelling variation or another, can be found in Turkish, Arabic and
Urdu. Partridge gives it one more twist, a usage found during WWII: “To a clerk in the army, one
might say ‘Can I have a spot of that bumf?’ ‘Sure, it’s buckshees – be my guest.’”
- Ah, BUMF. We’re met that word before. It means paperwork, and can be spelled BUMPH.
Partridge adds to that tale, as well, noting that BUMF is “a schoolboys’ and soldiers’ abbreviation of
bum-fodder, which since mid-C.17 has meant toilet paper.” Eventually, the word came to be used for
any kind of paper, and then particularly for military orders, paperwork and the blizzard of paper that
accompanies bureaucracies everywhere.
- SOOGAN*, a word meaning a cowboy’s bedroll, originated in the American Southwest and came
into use in Canada about 1930 to mean any transient’s bedroll. It was used from about 1930 in
Canada, according to Partridge, yet does not appear anywhere in the Oxford English Dictionary or
Mitford Mathews’ A Dictionary of Americanisms.
That such an interesting word, with roots in both American and Canadian English, can manage to
have escaped inclusion in so many important dictionaries only proves that language as it evolves
through time truly cannot be contained by any single lexicon.
Let’s take a quick timeout from Partridge to stay with that point for a moment, and look at the word
pokelogan, which, while rooted in North America, both does and does not appear in the OWL2.
I found this word while reading Thoreau’s The Maine Woods. It means an inlet along a shore or river
that, in spite of appearances, does not lead anywhere.
Since it appears in Thoreau, a quintessentially American writer, I figured the word must be good in
OWL2. But POKELOGAN# is acceptable only in Collins.
However, the word comes the Ojibwa pokenogun, and is shortened in English to BOGAN, which is
an uncommon but perfectly acceptable five in OWL2, meaning a backwater.
As Paul Harvey used to say, “now you know the rest of the story.” (Or perhaps some of the rest of
the story, for I surmise one could follow this thread a good ways further.)
Partridge’s book is almost inexhaustible, at least given the time and leisure available to most
readers.
- There’s KYBO#, meaning a temporary lavatory. Zyzzyva claims the word is essentially an acronym
for Keep Your Bowels Open, but Partridge claims it is a reference to the Khyber Pass (connecting
Pakistan and Afghanistan) and dates to the 19th century. Who knows?
- GOLDFISH, anyone? Sure, it’s a popular pet fish, often targeted by cats. But Partridge defines it
as “A chorister who opens her mouth but does not sing,” and dates that meaning to 1935.
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- And PEARLING? In OWL2, it is a verb meaning to adorn with pearls. It can become PEARLINGS#
in CSW12, meaning a lace made from silk. But who knew that PEARLING has been used by
Australian surfers since the early 1960s to mean “allowing the nose of the surfboard to slip under”
the surface of the water.
Having explored in recent columns words that are good in both OWL2 and Collins, others that are
Collins-only, and a few that are good in neither – and tossing in a bit of Latin SCRABBLE – I’ve
begun to toy with the idea of pioneering a new version of our favorite word game.
In this version, we’d simply do away with word judges and just pile stacks of dictionaries on a large
table, put two hours on the clock, and let word mavens do battle with ANY word they can find in any
dictionary on the table.
It wouldn’t exactly be SCRABBLE, I suppose. Not sure what I’d call it, but give me time, and I might
find a good name for it somewhere in Partridge’s book!
Chris Sinacola is director of the Worcester Massachusetts SCRABBLE® Club #600, and can be
reached at [email protected]
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One Up! Cup for March
By Timothy Cataldo
Calling all vocabularians! Just like last year, we'll post a One Up!® “game situation” every month so
all you doubledomes out there can show everyone how brilliant and quick you are.
Here's all you need to know now to play: Take one or more letters from the center and add them to
an existing word to make a new word.
Since there won't be a 'right' answer, we'll be looking for originality, wit and wow! The winner will
receive a One Up!® and have his or her name put in the drawing for the Grand Prize at the end of
the year.
FEBRUARY’S WINNER
For the February 2012 One Up! Contest, we had a tough decision since there were so many great
entries, but we finally picked Linda Stephens, who sent this beaut in:
Hi Timothy,
It’s your only three-time winner, Linda Stephens, once again.
I was hoping last month’s contest would have added more
championships to my resume, but I’m glad to see that the
prizes went to a worthy cause instead. So here’s my
attempt to become a four-time victor with this month’s
contest.
The inspiration for my February entry is the rainy weather
I’ve experienced during my travels over the past few weeks. I’ll start with R_LES and make the
Uppity Tile into an L. With the aid of A BUM from the tile pool, I make the word UMBRELLAS.
Hope you don’t “rain on my parade,” and make me a four-time winner!
Sincerely,
Linda “3-Time” Stephens
Editor’s Note: Guess Linda’ll have to change her business card again!
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Linda’s Library
By Linda Wancel
As an avid reader and book lover, I have found that many other Scrabblers also share my passion
for books and for reading. So I am happy to have this opportunity to share some of my favorite
books with you. These reviews, for the most part, were written for Amazon.com, where I have been
writing reviews under a pseudonym for over ten years. I hope that the book lovers among you may
find your interest piqued by some of these books.
______________________________________________________________________________
Fiction:
Warden of the Queen’s March
By Nigel Tranter
This is historical fiction at its best. A marvelously written book, it captures
the essence of a most intriguing part of Scottish history. The narrative is
peppered with three-dimensional historical figures, brought vividly to life
by a master storyteller, and the progression of historical events is well
crafted, keeping the reader turning the pages.
This is the story of Thomas Kerr, a young Scottish border lord, who from
the time he first met Mary, Queen of Scots, became her most devoted
and loyal subject. It was to be a lifelong devotion. It is through his eyes
that the reader sees the unfolding of events and intrigues surrounding
the tragic and tumultuous reign of Queen Mary, a young ruler
beleaguered on all sides by the coldly implacable ambitions of the men
surrounding her. The reader sees Scottish history in the making from the
time of Mary's return to Scottish shores at the age of eighteen, after a
fifteen-year sojourn in France, until the time of her ignominious
departure for England seven years later.
The paths of Thomas and Mary were to cross many times throughout those turbulent years of her
reign, as men's ambitions would seek to wreak havoc. Thomas Kerr could always be counted upon
to provide whatever service would be of assistance to Mary, as well as whatever protection was at
his disposal to keep her--and her devoted ladies-in-waiting--safe. In the end, however, even he, her
most loyal subject, could not stem the tide of the inevitable tragedy that was to befall Mary, some of
which was of her own making. His last sight of her was when he bid goodbye to her as she sailed
away from her native Scotland to England, hoping to find safe harbor and help from the wily Queen
Elizabeth I.
This novel is so steeped in Scottish history and rich detail so as to leave the reader with a distinct
feeling for the period. If you are a lover of historical fiction, with a penchant for Mary, Queen of
Scots, then you will really enjoy this book.
Warden of the Queen’s March is available at Amazon.com.
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Nonfiction:
The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest
Avalanche
By Gary Krist
This is a riveting account of the Great Northern Railway disaster of
1910, in which a passenger train and a mail train on their way to Seattle
were trapped high up on a steep ridge in the Cascade Mountains in
Washington State during a blizzard. Although a battalion of men were
engaged in trying to clear the tracks so that the trains could proceed to
their destination, they were fighting a losing battle with snow drifts as
high as thirty feet.
Day after day, the passengers and crews nervously waited, the
rumblings of avalanches all around them. Six nights later, with the onset
of a freak thunderstorm, the inevitable happened and a huge avalanche
engulfed the trains and sent them plummeting down the mountainside.
The author sets the tragedy into a historical context, giving the reader
an idea of the place that railways had in the national economy. He also
makes the account eminently interesting because of the human
perspective he able to provide, drawing upon the writings and letters some of the passengers left
behind, as well as the court transcripts of ensuing lawsuits. It is a most poignant account of a
tragedy, and one that will keep the reader turning the pages.
The book also includes sixteen pages of archival photographs that add to the reader's enjoyment of
this wonderfully written, well-researched book.
The White Cascade is available at Amazon.com.
Linda Wancel loves reading, writing, watching films, traveling, and Scrabbling. She is the mother of
28-year-old twins and has recently retired after having been a criminal prosecutor for nearly 25
years.
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Scrab-doku
By Jeff Kastner
In a standard Sudoku, your object is to fill in every square of the grid so that all nine rows across, all
nine columns down, and all nine 3-by-3 boxes contain the numbers 1 through 9, with no repeats.
Same rules apply to this Scrab-doku, but I’ve added a few twists to help you solve it. First of all, I
use letters to replace the numbers. These letters are part of a “Keyword” which I’ve scrambled
below. I’ve also provided a clue to help you find the correct anagram. Once you’ve unscrambled the
Keyword, one of the rows or columns will contain all of its 9 letters in the proper order.
This week’s “Scrambled” Keyword: UP CENTRAL
Clue:
It means: feeling sick from too much food or drink;
The word’s first few letters suggest a link.
SOLUTION on the page after next.
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Word-Finder Challenge:
Here’s an additional test of your anagramming ability. Your object is to find as many words as possible
of 6 or more letters, using only the 9 letters of this month’s (Scrambled) Keyword: UP CENTRAL.
Words must be at least 6 letters long (or longer), and must be OWL2 acceptable. Each letter of the Keyword
may be used only once within any word you find. So, for instance, PARENT is acceptable, but not
APPARENT.
Par Scores for this month’s Word-Finder Challenge:
28 Words (Novice); 40 Words (Intermediate); 58 Words (Advanced)
Once you’ve compiled your list, check out my SOLUTION on the next page.
See you next month with another Scrab-doku puzzle and Word-Finder Challenge! …Jeff Kastner
Jeff Kastner, originally from New York City, has been living in Phoenix, AZ since 1985. Jeff is one of
a handful of players who has ever been ranked in the USA-top-50 in both SCRABBLE® and chess.
He is the 2010-2011 Phoenix SCRABBLE® Club champion as well as the 2011 Scottsdale
SCRABBLE® Club champ.
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SOLUTION
Keyword (Unscrambled): CRAPULENT (76 Words Total)
ACUTER
ANTLER
APERCU
ARPENT
CANTER
CANTLE
CAPLET
CAPTURE
CARNET
CARPEL
CARPET
CARTEL
CENTAL
CENTAUR
CENTRA
CENTRAL
CLARET
CLEANUP
CRAPULENT
CULPAE
CUNEAL
CURATE
CURTAL
CUTLER
ELUANT
ENRAPT
ENTRAP
LACUNE
LANCER
LANCET
LAUNCE
LEARNT
LUCARNE
LUCENT
LUCERN
LUNATE
NATURE
NECTAR
NEURAL
NEUTRAL
NUCLEAR
PALTER
PARCEL
PARENT
PEANUT
PENULT
PLACER
PLACET
PLANER
PLANET
PLANTER
PLATEN
PLATER
PLECTRA
PLEURA
PRANCE
PREACT
PRECUT
PUNTER
RECANT
RECTAL
RELUCT
RENTAL
REPLAN
REPLANT
RUNLET
TANREC
TEACUP
TRANCE
TREPAN
UNCLEAR
UNCRATE
UNLACE
UNREAL
UPRATE
UPTEAR
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SCRABBLE®
Resources
Has SCRABBLE®
tournament aides.
There are many study tools to
help SCRABBLE® players
hone their skills, including a
number of programs that can
be downloaded for free. This
section will offer suggestions
and links for both players and
directors.
Lists clubs throughout North
America with their meeting
times and locations.
Play Online
SCRABBLE®
POGO SCRABBLE®
The official SCRABBLE®
online game. Created under
agreement with Hasbro in
2008.
SCRABBLE® ON
FACEBOOK
Select the SCRABBLE®
application on the Facebook
home page to play the official
SCRABBLE® game. Various
groups hold tournaments at
this site, including a group
called “Mad Scrabblers”.
INTERNET
SCRABBLE® CLUB
A Romanian-based site and
application for interactive
games. A favorite site for
many of the top players.
Play Live
SCRABBLE®
CROSS-TABLES
Lists all upcoming
tournaments, as well as
results of past tournaments.
74
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NASPA CLUB LISTINGS
NSA CLUB LISTINGS
Lists casual clubs throughout
North America with their
meeting times and locations.
WGPO CLUB LISTINGS
Lists clubs throughout North
America with their meeting
times and locations.
Apps for Scrabblers
ZARF
A free multipurpose iPhone/
iPad utility for SCRABBLE®
players in any language. It
provides word list lookup,
pattern matching,
tournament-style adjudication
and a timer customized for
tournament SCRABBLE®
play.
ZYZZYVA/ZYZZYVA
LITE
iPhone app for practicing
anagramming skills and
learning words. Zyzzyva
includes Quiz, Search, and
Judge functions; Cardbox
Managment; Dropbox Sync;
Custom Lexicon Support; and
Lexicon Symbols. Zyzzva
Lite (free) includes Search
and Judge functions; Custom
Lexicon Import; and Lexicon
Symbols. You can sync quiz
data between the iPhone app
and the desktop program.
R
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WORDLIST PRO 2.0
Android 2.2+ app for
practicing anagramming skills
and learning words. Also
functions as Word Judge.
Lightning fast word searches.
Supports TWL06, OSPD4,
CSW12, and CSW12 unique
words. Reviewed in this
issue.
CROSSWORD GAME
SCORESHEET
This app keeps track of
scoring in crossword games
such as SCRABBLE®.
SCRABBLE®
Play SCRABBLE® on your
iPhone/iPad. Teacher feature
allows you to see what your
best word could have been
after every turn. Now also
available for Android devices:
click here.
SCRABBLE® TILE
RACK
Turns your iPhone or iPad
Touch into a SCRABBLE® tile
rack. For use with an iPad.
WORDS WITH FRIENDS
The popular SCRABBLE®
variant for your iPhone/iPad.
Anagramming/
Practice Tools
JUMBLETIME
A free web site for practicing
anagramming skills.
MAC USERS: After you do a
Jumbletime quiz on a Mac,
the scroll bar to view the
results is missing. To make it
S
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appear, go to the lower right
corner and grab the striped
triangle and shrink the window
all the way to the top left corner.
When you pull it back, the scroll
bar to the right of the answers
to the quiz appears. (Make sure
you do this before you check
your score against other
players.)
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FRANKLIN SCRABBLE®
PLAYERS DICTIONARY
An electronic handheld
dictionary and anagrammer,
with many helpful options and
games. Includes the latest
word lists, and can be adjusted
from OSPD4 to OWL2 lists with
a code.
AEROLITH
A free application for practicing
anagramming skills and
learning words.
QUACKLE
CLICK HERE TO HELP
END WORD HUNGER AS
YOU LEARN WORDS
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OSPD ([email protected]
om)
This group, dedicated to players
using The Official SCRABBLE®
Players’ Dictionary, offers lighthearted humor, daily word lists,
and more. Admission is to all
SCRABBLE® lovers. Details
can be found in the NASPA
Tournament SCRABBLE®
Newsletter #1.
WGPO Listserv
([email protected]
m)
A free application for practicing
anagramming skills and
learning words. Also has Word
Judge capabilities.
This group, open to all
members of the tournament
community, is a forum for issues
of interest to SCRABBLE®
A free vocabulary testing site.
players. No approval of any
For every correct word, grains
of rice are donated through the kind is needed to join, and
readers need not be members
United Nations World Food
of the Word Game Player’s
Program. Feed hungry people
as you expand your vocabulary! Organization (WGPO).
SCRABBLE®
DICTIONARY
Online SCRABBLE®
Discussion Groups
A free application for playing,
simulating, and analyzing
games.
ZYZZYVA
Type a word to check for
acceptability. OSPD4 words.
CGP ([email protected])
This group, for NASPA
tournament players and
directors only, has the largest
membership of any online
tournament SCRABBLE®
A full-board SCRABBLE® worddiscussion group. Most
finder program that shows you
important events and changes
every word that can possibly be
in the SCRABBLE® world are
made on an entire
discussed on cgp. Admission is
SCRABBLE® board, and
by approval only. Details can be
continuously updates its results
found at http://sasj.com/cgp/
as you type letters onto the
join.html.
board or into the rack. Full
version available at http://bit.ly/
ecwHPt
LEXIFIND SCRABBLE®
HELPER AND WORD GAME
WIZARD WORDFINDER
FOR GOOGLE CHROME
SCRABBLE® Blogs
THE BADQOPH
DIRECTORY
This is a database of blogs by
known SCRABBLE® bloggers,
primarily tournament players.
As of March 29th there were
196 blogs in the directory.
Cheat Sheets
MIKE BARON’S CHEAT
SHEET
A great cheat sheet with 2s, 3s,
vowel dumps, short high-pointtile words, and good bingo
stems. Includes useful front
and back hook letters to make
3s from 2s. Adapted from Mike
Barron’s SCRABBLE®
Wordbook and the Official
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Tournament and Club Word
List, 2nd Edition.
has a Yahoo user group you
can join as a support option.
MIKE BARON’S CHEAT
SHEET (for School
SCRABBLE® and home
play)
TOURNEYMAN
A great cheat sheet with 2s, 3s,
vowel dumps, short high-pointtile words, and good bingo
stems. Includes useful front
and back hook letters to make
3s from 2s. Adapted from Mike
Barron’s SCRABBLE®
Wordbook and the Official
SCRABBLE® Players
Dictionary, 4th Edition.
COOL WORDS TO KNOW
A terrific cheat sheet from the
National SCRABBLE®
Association for School
SCRABBLE® and home play.
Gives useful information on how
to find bingos, plus the 2s, 3s,
vowel dumps, and short highpoint-tile plays.
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Jeff Widergren’s software for
managing tournaments.
TSH
John Chew’s software for
managing tournaments.
Books
BOB’S BIBLE
A terrific book to build word
power for tournaments.
BOB’S BIBLE, SCHOOL
EDITION
For School SCRABBLE® and
home play.
BROW-RAISERS II
A brilliantly organized study
guide geared towards the
success of beginning and
intermediate players.
HOW TO PLAY
SCRABBLE® LIKE A
Useful links to Collins word lists
CHAMPION
COLLINS WORD LISTS
can be found at the following
websites: http://
www.absp.org.uk/words/
words.html; http://
www.math.utoronto.ca/jjchew/
scrabble/lists/; http://
www.scrabble.org.au/words/
index.htm; http://
members.ozemail.com.au/
~rjackman/.
Tournament
Management Software
DIRECTOR!
Marc Levesque’s software for
managing tournaments. Also
76
A new guide to winning
SCRABBLE® from World
SCRABBLE® Champion Joel
Wapnick. Fantastic insights into
expert playing techniques. (See
review in the October issue of
The Last Word.)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
WORD BUILDER
Bob Jackman’s guide to
building a strong Collins
vocabulary, organized by word
length, familiarity, and part of
speech.
R
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EVERYTHING
SCRABBLE®, THIRD
EDITION
The ultimate guide to winning at
SCRABBLE@ by 3-time
National Champion Joe Edley
and John D. Williams, Jr.
Completely updated to include
all new words. (See review in
the January issue of The Last
word.)
THE OFFICIAL
SCRABBLE® PLAYERS
DICTIONARY, FOURTH
EDITION
The official word source for
School SCRABBLE® and
casual play.
THE OFFICIAL
TOURNAMENT AND
CLUB WORD LIST, 2ND
EDITION
The official word source for
NASPA tournament and club
play.
SCRABBLE®
TOURNAMENT & CLUB
WORD LIST (COLLINS)
The official word list for
international tournament play.
(Available at SamTimer.com.)
SCRABBLE®
WORDBOOK
A great word book for
SCRABBLE® players by Mike
Baron. OSPD4 words. (POO
Lists available with words
excluded from the OWL2.)
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Tournament Calendar
Our new calendar format addresses two concerns: 1) Readers wanted as complete a list as
possible of tournament dates, not just two months worth of dates; 2) Readers wanted to know easily
whether a tournament was sanctioned by NASPA, WGPO, or the NSA (or was unrated).
However, because new tournaments are constantly being added to the schedule, it is difficult to be
all-inclusive. Please be sure to refer to the Websites of the organization sanctioning the tournament
for a complete list. Click NASPA, WGPO, or NSA for the most up-to-date calendars. Links to
NASPA and some NSA tournaments are also posted at cross-tables.com.
Thanks to Henry Leong, who permitted The Last Word to adapt his calendar from the WGPO
Website.
Dates
Organization
Tournament/Location
MARCH
3/2-4
NASPA
VANCOUVER BC CAN
3/3
NASPA
PITTSBURGH PA
3/3
NSA (School) BURLINGTON MA SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
3/3
NSA (School) INDIANA STATE SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
CHAMPIONSHIP, INDIANAPOLIS IN
3/3
NSA (School) TEXAS SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
CHAMPIONSHIP, NORTH RIDGELAND HILLS
TX
3/4
NASPA
3/10
NSA (School) NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
CHAMPIONSHIP, CHAPEL HILL NC
3/10
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
3/11
NASPA
BERKELEY CA
3/11
NASPA
GUELPH ON CAN
3/13
NASPA
INDEPENDENCE, OH - LCT
3/16-18
NASPA
DALLAS TX
3/16-18
WGPO
INDIATLANTIC FL
3/17
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
LAGUNA WOODS CA
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3/17-18
NASPA
3/17
NSA (School) PHILDELPHIA PA SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
3/18
NASPA
BRATTLEBORO VT
3/18
WGPO
MOUNTAIN VIEW CA
3/18
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
3/24-25
NASPA
CALGARY AB CAN
3/24
NASPA
CAMBRIDGE ON CAN
3/24
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
3/24-25
WGPO
HOMER AL
3/24
NASPA
PALM HARBOR FL
3/25
NASPA
LONG BEACH CA
3/25
WGPO
PORTLAND OR
3/30-4/1
NASPA
LINDEN MI
3/30-4/1
NASPA
MYRTLE BEACH SC
3/30-4/1
NASPA
PRINCETON NJ
3/31
NASPA
AUSTIN TX (TWL & COLLINS)
3/31
NASPA
DANVILLE IL
3/31
NSA (School) NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
CHAMPIONSHIP, STAMFORD CT
3/31-4/1
NASPA
ROCHESTER (WEBSTER) NY
APRIL
4/1
NASPA
BERKELEY CA
4/1
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
4/7
NASPA
HUDSON NY
4/7
NASPA
MOORESTOWN NJ
4/8
NASPA
GUELPH ON CAN
4/13-15
NASPA
BAT (BOSTON AREA) MA
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4/13-14
NSA (School) NATIONAL SCHOOL SCRABBLE®
CHAMPIONSHIP, ORLANDO FL
4/14-15
WGPO
BLOOMINGTON MN
4/14-15
NASPA
EDMONTON AB CAN
4/14-15
NASPA
LUBBOCK TX
4/15
WGPO
MOUNTAIN VIEW CA
4/21
NASPA
BATON ROUGE LA
4/21-22
NASPA
CUYAHOGA FALLS OH
4/21
NASPA
DALLAS TX
4/21
NASPA
LCT - MILLBURN NJ
4/21
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
4/21
WGPO
PHOENIX AZ
4/22
WGPO
FITCHBURG WI
4/22
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA - TWL & COLLINS
4/22
WGPO
PORTLAND OR
4/27-29
NASPA
SAN DIEGO CA
4/28
NASPA
AUSTIN TX (TWL & COLLINS)
4/28
NASPA
BERLIN NJ
4/28
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
4/28
NASPA
TCC- OLIVE HILL KY
4/28-29
NASPA
SIOUX FALLS SD
4/28-29
NASPA
WINNIPEG MB CAN
4/28
NASPA
SOUTH LYON MI
5/4-6
NASPA
GATLINBURG TN (TWL & COLLINS
5/4-6
NASPA
PORTLAND OR (TWL & COLLINS)
MAY
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5/5
NASPA
STRONGSVILLE OH
5/6
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
5/6-13
NASPA
BERMUDA TREASURES SCRABBLE CRUISE
5/8
NASPA
INDEPENDENCE OH - LCT
5/12
NASPA
BALTIMORE (CATONSVILLE) MD
5/12
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
5/12-13
NASPA
SASKATOON SK CAN
5/13
NASPA
BERKELEY CA
5/18-19
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
5/19
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
5/19
NASPA
DALLAS TX
5/19
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
5/19-20
NASPA
ROMULUS MI
5/20
WGPO
PORTLAND OR
5/20
NASPA
WILMINGTON DE
5/25-28
NASPA
TARRYTOWN NY
5/26-28
NASPA
COLLEGE PARK GA
5/26-27
NASPA
COTE ST. LUC QC CAN
5/26-28
NASPA
ARDENCUP, ELMHURST IL
5/26-28
WGPO
CAMPBELL CA
5/26-28
WGPO
DURANGO CO
JUNE
6/2-3
NASPA
CALGARY AB CA
6/2-3
NASPA
CORAOPOLIS (PITTSBURGH) PA
6/2
NASPA
MEADOWLANDS AREA, NJ
6/3
NASPA
BERKELEY CA
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6/3
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
6/3
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
6/6-20
NASPA
TORONTO ON CAN (TCC, LCT)
6/7-10
NASPA
HANCOCK MA
6/9-10
NASPA
CHARLOTTE NC
6/9-10
NASPA
SWILLLNS, CORRALES NM
6/9
NASPA
HUDSON OH
6/9-10
NASPA
KANSAS CITY MO
6/9
NASPA
TUCSON AZ
6/16
NASPA
DALLAS TX
6/16
NASPA
EDMONTON AB CAN
6/16-17
NASPA
KNOXVILLE TN
6/17
WGPO
MOUNTAIN VIEW CA
6/16
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
6/20-7/2
WGPO
NORWAY / ICELAND CRUISE (TWL &
COLLINS)
6/23
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
6/23-24
NASPA
DETROIT MI
6/23
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
6/23-24
NASPA
WASHINGTON DC
6/28-7/4
NASPA
ALBANY NY (TWL & COLLINS)
JULY
7/1
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
7/6-8
NASPA
WILMINGTON DE (TWL & COLLINS)
7/7-8
NASPA
OMAHA NE
7/10
NASPA
INDEPENDENCE, OH - LCT
7/15
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
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7/21
NASPA
TCC-CLARKSBURG WV
7/21
NASPA
DALLAS TX
7/27-29
NASPA
OLD GREENWICH CT
7/28
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
AUGUST
8/5
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
8/3-8
WGPO
WGPO WORD CUP - BLOOMINGTON MN
8/11-15
NASPA
NATIONAL SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP ORLANDO FL (TWL & COLLINS)
8/18
NASPA
DALLAS TX
8/18
NASPA
EDMONTON AB CAN
8/18-26
NASPA
IRELAND TOUR AND TOURNAMENT
8/18-19
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
8/25
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
8/25
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
8/25
NASPA
STRATFORD ON CAN
SEPTEMBER
9/1-3
NASPA
ALPHARETTA GA
9/1-3
NASPA
IRVING TX
9/1-3
NASPA
NEW YORK NY
9/2
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
9/9
NASPA
NEWARK DE
9/11
NASPA
INDEPENDENCE, OH - LCT
9/15
NASPA
DALLAS TX
9/15
NASPA
HUDSON OH
9/15
NASPA
MILLBURN NJ
9/19-26
NASPA
BAHAMAS CRUISE
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9/22
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
9/22
NASPA
REGINA SK CAN
9/23
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
9/24-10/3
NASPA
TENTATIVE - EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
CRUISE
9/27-30
WGPO
GRITS III, SAVANNAH GA
9/27-30
WGPO
GRUNTS, BENZONIA MI
9/29
NASPA
CHARLESTON WV
9/29
WGPO
PHOENIX AZ
9/29
NASPA
ASBURY PARK NJ
9/29
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
OCTOBER
10/6-20
WGPO
NEW ENGLAND & CANADA CRUISE (TWL &
COLLINS)
10/6
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
10/7
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
10/10-14
NASPA
CALGARY AB CAN
10/12-14
WGPO
WISCONSIN DELLS WI
10/13
NASPA
BERLIN NJ
10/13
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
10/14
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
10/18-21
NASPA
LAKE GEORGE NY (TWL & COLLINS)
10/20
NASPA
DALLAS TX
10/27
NASPA
BERLIN NJ
10/27-28
NASPA
TCC - CAN-AM CHALLENGE, MILLBURN NJ
10/27
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
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NOVEMBER
11/2-4
NASPA
CAMBRIDGE MD
11/3
NASPA
EDMONTON AB CAN
11/4
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
11/10
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
11/13
NASPA
INDEPENDENCE, OH - LCT
11/17
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
11/17
NASPA
DALLAS TX
11/17
NASPA
FORT LAUDERDALE FL
11/23-25
NASPA
TARRYTOWN NY
DECEMBER
12/1
NASPA
CALGARY AB CA
12/1-8
WGPO
RESTRICTED - CABO SAN LUCAS MEXICO
12/2
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
12/2-18
WGPO
MALAGA TO RIO DE JANEIRO CRUISE
12/9
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
12/9
NASPA
STRONGSVILLE OH
12/15
NASPA
DALLAS TX
12/15-16
NASPA
LAGUNA WOODS CA
12/22-25
NASPA
WILMINGTON DE (TWL & COLLINS)
12/27-1/1
NASPA
ALBANY NY (TWL & COLLINS)
JANUARY ’13
1/16-28
WGPO
AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND CRUISE
1/12
NASPA
BAYSIDE NY
1/26-28
NASPA
ATLANTIC CITY NJ
FEBRUARY ’13
2/10
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
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2/13-18
NASPA
LAS VEGAS NV (TWL & COLLINS)
2/15-18
NASPA
TENTATIVE - EASTERN CHAMPIONSHIP,
CHARLOTTE NC
2/15
WGPO
PHOENIX AZ EARLY BIRD
2/16-18
WGPO
PHOENIX AZ (TWL & COLLINS)
2/23
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
MARCH ’13
3/10
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
3/15-17
NASPA
POUGHKEEPSIE NY
3/29-31
NASPA
PRINCETON NJ
APRIL ’13
4/20
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
4/21
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
MAY ’13
5/3-5
NASPA
NEW YORK NY
5/19
NASPA
PHILADELPHIA PA (TWL & COLLINS)
5/23-27
NASPA
SACRAMENTO CA
5/23-27
NASPA
TARRYTOWN NY
JUNE ’13
6/8
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
JULY ’13
7/2-7
NASPA
ALBANY NY (TWL & COLLINS)
7/19-21
NASPA
OLD GREENWICH CT
AUGUST ’13
8/31-9/2
NASPA
WILMINGTON DE
85
T
O
U
R
N
A
M
E
N
T
C
A
L
E
N
D
A
R
SEPT. ’13
9/21
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REGULAR & YOUTH
DIVISIONS)
OCT. ’13
10/17-20
NASPA
LAKE GEORGE NY
NOV. ’13
11/16
NASPA
NORWALK CT (REG. & YOUTH DIVISIONS)
11/29-12/1
NASPA
TARRYTOWN NY
MARCH ’14
3/21-23
NASPA
POUGHKEEPSIE NY
MAY ’14
5/22-26
NASPA
SACRAMENTO CA
5/23-26
NASPA
TARRYTOWN NY
JULY ’14
7/18-20
NASPA
OLD GREENWICH CT
AUGUST ’14
8/30-9/1
NASPA
NEW YORK NY
NOVEMBER ’14
11/28-30
NASPA
86
TARRYTOWN NY
A
R
C
H
I
V
E
S
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