tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148734892011-12-14T22:06:56.545-05:00Talk on Scrabble -- Stories, Great Plays, and Words of the Day.Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-30336082915864140262008-03-09T23:24:00.008-04:002008-03-09T23:50:30.977-04:00

My Scrabble board is talking to me, and I have proof of sorts. Now I know, this is a little like that "Beautiful Mind" thing where the fella, as I recall, was seeing messages in everything. I'm aware of the lunacy. I really am. But at this stage of my lunacy, at least I'm thinking it a fun coincidence.The other day, I was speaking with a fellow Scrabble lover, and answered his question. He asked

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-53249540366562766122008-03-03T23:26:00.004-05:002008-03-03T23:28:28.652-05:00

Just a great example why you can never assume you've won. Maven played DRIZZLES for 131 points to end the game.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-7432098528378282432008-01-06T12:45:00.000-05:002008-01-06T13:04:22.291-05:00

This is just a good anecdote for why we like to keep certain letters on our racks when trying to build a Bingo (but not at the expense of other good turns, of course). These are low-point letters specifically because they can be used in so many ways, especially with one another.The letters usually saved up are RETAINS (a good way to remember them), and of course the Blank tile. Today I was able

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-42577500324646158152008-01-06T12:40:00.001-05:002008-03-03T23:31:49.295-05:00

A few games after my last post's game, I ran into a similar situation where I had a Bingo that I wanted to play and Maven got in the way. Maven played ALIT next to the Triple Word on the right side. Now, my Scrabble vocab isn't impeccable, and it's possible I could've played an ING word off the G in the center/top of the board. But once again, I was able to play where I originally planned because

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-61690114496744089582008-01-06T12:13:00.000-05:002008-01-06T12:20:35.486-05:00

The other day I had collected the right tiles for a Bingo, but Maven played EPITOME (for its own Bingo) in the only available spot.I checked the whole board and, in the very end, realized that there was only one chance to still play a Bingo -- I had to merge letters from my Bingo with letters from Maven's. Here's what I eventually came up with (if you'll pardon the poor screen capture):Lesson

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1155499029804647822006-08-13T15:51:00.000-04:002006-08-30T10:00:19.166-04:00

I recently created a new profile for playing Scrabble against the computer, and started playing against a 1400 ranking. After that, I always play the computer set at the lowest ranking possible ABOVE MINE. Since the computer goes in increments of 50, if I have a 1437 ranking, I play against 1450.Well, that first game I made the "error" of scoring nearly 500 points, and was ranked accordingly --

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1153351826399462622006-07-19T18:59:00.000-04:002006-07-19T19:30:26.513-04:00

Well, someone flattered me by asking why this blog was inactive and including a frown face with the message. So it inspired me to try posting again. As always, it's a matter of priorities, and these days, I have spent my free writing time developing my new blog to encourage completion of my novel: Ol' Steve's Blog.Check it out if you like sci-fi and want a chance at some nifty prizes in

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1136416172074786562006-01-04T17:59:00.000-05:002006-01-04T18:09:32.093-05:00

You're looking for a hook on the Scrabble board and there are a few 2-letter words on the board that you can add to. Here they are:ITENARATYEAssuming that you're unhindered on both sides of the word, which of these can yield more hooks than any other two-letter word in Scrabble?Total hooks for each word (including letters added before and after the word) are as follows:IT = 15EN = 15AR = 22 --

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1134494869170178012005-12-13T12:22:00.000-05:002005-12-13T12:27:49.206-05:00

Well, the Xerox company probably isn't too happy about this, but did you know that you can use "XEROX" as a Scrabble word, even though it's technically a trademarked name?Words, 4 letters or less, that begin with X:XIXUXYSTAnd another fun one at 5 letters:XYLYL -- Def: a univalent radical

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1134440926150777422005-12-12T21:24:00.000-05:002005-12-12T21:28:46.166-05:00

Heavens to Betsy it's been a long time since I've written here. But I think that's the nature of blogs that aren't strictly used as part of a business.Anyway, just a quick tip for today: bingos are great, but don't wait for them at the expense of other good turns.I played against the computer today (1600 rating for the maven in the "Scrabble Complete" software) and scored 3 bingos to maven's 1.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1129861932240915032005-10-20T22:25:00.000-04:002005-10-20T22:32:12.246-04:00

Well, it's got to happen sometimes, doesn't it? Despite the fact that my uncle and I are roughly equals in terms of general vocabulary and the fact that I vastly outrank him in terms of obscure Scrabble words (because I'm a fanatic and he's merely a fan) and the fact that I know a few more tricks of the trade than he does because of playing so often ...... he absolutely walloped me tonight, 472

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1128513834900693002005-10-05T07:58:00.000-04:002005-10-05T08:03:54.906-04:00

Got an "X" and "I" on your Scrabble rack? You don't have to just play "XI" (although that's a great way of duplicating the value of X of course). Here are a number of words you can play with IX (in that order), including a number of hooks.3-letter words ending in IX include:FIXMIXNIXPIX (and, by the way, you can also go with PYX)SIXHere are the hooks to those by adding letters at the end:

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1128047616693554872005-09-29T22:32:00.000-04:002005-09-29T22:33:36.703-04:00

Here's another word for getting rid of those "V" tiles ... but watch out. It's NOT in the OSPD 3rd Edition. You've got to have the 4th edition, and if you're playing in tourneys and clubs, make sure to wait until they've started using the new dictionary (2nd edition for clubs).Anyway, the word is PERV -- one who has been perverted.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1127751990060498202005-09-26T12:21:00.000-04:002005-09-26T12:26:30.066-04:00

If you ever want to learn something with a lot of words or names, using different memory tools can help. For instance, you might have used My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines (or something along those lines) for the order of the planets when you were young. (First letter of each is the first letter of each planet, in order.)I came up with one such tool for memorizing 3-letter SI+

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1127741308047346872005-09-26T09:25:00.000-04:002005-09-26T09:28:28.046-04:00

Ok, sometimes I have ideas for a Scrabble Babble entry and I don't want to risk losing it by waiting till the next day. This is one of those days, so here's a bonus entry.When you're got Z on your rack, you want plenty of ways to play it to improve your odds of scoring big. Almost anyone who's been playing with a Scrabble dictionary for a while knows the word ADZ. But did you know that you can

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1127740719086552942005-09-26T09:16:00.000-04:002005-09-26T09:18:39.093-04:00

When a J is played in a Scrabble game, it can often clog the board if you don't know plenty of words using J. So while I'm more into learning words by playing a lot rather than by memorizing lists, I think certain lists ARE useful to know.There are 3 words of 3 letters each that END in J, making this a useful list to know. The 3 words are:HAJRAJTAJAn easy list to remember.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1127250290406524762005-09-20T17:02:00.000-04:002005-09-20T17:04:50.413-04:00

One of the great ways to rack up points in Scrabble is to use the tiles F, H, and W on Double and Triple Letter (or Word) tiles. Play them in two directions and you easily score 20+ points.As a result, certain words show up a lot on the Scrabble board, and one of them is "OH". So today's word of the day is POH -- in other words, you can play off OH in another direction by adding P to the

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1126103739073432652005-09-07T10:29:00.000-04:002005-09-07T10:35:39.076-04:00

Boy did I make a booboo in a Scrabble game yesterday, and I had to fight hard to come back and take the game. It's one of those somewhat obvious things, but at the same time, I thought I'd mention a couple of specifics that made my move particularly bad.The generally bad choice I made was to run a word up vertically to the top left of the board so that my top tile lay between the 2

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1125856523274458682005-09-04T13:52:00.000-04:002005-09-04T13:55:23.280-04:00

It's always a good idea to know words that you can hook off the short, more common words, mainly to open up your options and also to score in two directions, especially if you've got a bonus tile available. So here are a few words you can play off the simple word "PER" by just adding a single letter:PERI -- (and you can hook off this with PERIL)PERK -- (and you can hook off this with PERKY)

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1125333437045311732005-08-29T12:25:00.000-04:002005-08-29T12:37:18.116-04:00

Got "OO" on your rack? Of course there are tons of words where you can use that in the middle of the word, and some where you can use it at the end (i.e., tattoo). And of course you can break them up.But here are a few short words you can spell that start with "OO":OOHOOMPHOOPSOOTOOTIDOOZEOOZYThe 4th Ed. Player's Dictionary also adds:OORIE

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1124805382844876992005-08-23T09:52:00.000-04:002005-08-23T09:56:22.850-04:00

SUQ is an obvious Scrabble word for people who play in clubs and tourneys, but for others, it might be a surprise that you can use this word. Yet, it's an important word because it's the only SHORT "Q" word where Q comes at the end.It's a noun, so you can also play SUQS.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1124590466226161882005-08-20T22:11:00.000-04:002005-08-20T22:14:26.230-04:00

Ok, I'm always after very practical plays for Scrabble, but I came across a couple of useless words today that I thought were fun to share.The first is fun because it's just such an impossible word. I mean, who would have ever thought to make this a word? The word is "DIRNDL" -- a woman's dress.The second is fun because it's, well ... "FUNEST." You know how you sometimes catch people saying "

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1124507548842238182005-08-19T23:11:00.000-04:002005-08-19T23:14:15.970-04:00

Once upon a time, you couldn't use the word "FAB" (i.e., "Fabulous"), but now, in the 4th edition player's dictionary, you sure can. And that'll probably follow soon in the club and tourney dictionary.As always, wait till the new words are approved for club and tourney play but, if you've got the 4th edition on hand for general play, go ahead and use this on an opponent!("FABS" is ok too -- FAB

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1124242118258631382005-08-16T21:24:00.000-04:002005-08-16T21:28:38.266-04:00

In the Player's Dictionary, 4th Edition, you can now play the word QI -- and I expect you'll be able to in the 2nd Edition of the Club/Tourney dictionary as well. This is going to make an enormous difference in games. Make sure you know it, then zap any players unfamiliar with the change. (Don't use it in tournament or club play until the new words are accepted, though.)I truly believe that QI

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1124113779823692152005-08-15T09:47:00.000-04:002005-08-15T09:49:39.830-04:00

Someone has played DUN on your Scrabble board (def: to make demands upon for payment of a debt). You want ways to play new words off the end? No problem -- here are the hooks:DUNEDUNGDUNKYou probably knew those. But you've also got:DUNT (def: to strike with a heavy blow)

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123870981251329622005-08-12T14:15:00.000-04:002005-08-12T14:23:01.256-04:00

A simple one for today, because another J word is always nice to know in Scrabble. Looking for a "J" play? Try JATO or, plural, JATOS.You can try keeping it in mind with its definition: a takeoff aided by jet propulsion.Get it? Jet. Jato.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123769278248452222005-08-11T10:04:00.000-04:002005-08-11T10:07:58.253-04:00

L and E tiles in Scrabble are very common, and of course you can use LEE (if you really had to) as a word in Scrabble. But while you may want to hold onto one E in your rack for your next turn, here are some extensions to LEE that might help you to make words:LEEBOARDLEECHLEEKLEERLEERYLEETLEEWARDLEEWAY

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123682387309291782005-08-10T09:56:00.000-04:002005-08-10T09:59:47.313-04:00

Today's words play off of COS. You can easily hook off of COS with the following words:COSHCOSSCOSTCOSYHowever, you can also add to the word with a mere 2 letters more, which you do to catch a triple-word score, for instance; or you might even extend the initial word COS when you're first playing it. Here are words you can build by adding just 2 tiles to COS:COSECCOSETCOSEYCOSIECOSTA

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123638542676978752005-08-09T21:46:00.000-04:002005-08-09T21:49:02.680-04:00

If you've played much Scrabble, you've probably either used the word "NAZI" or have seen it used, simply because it's an easy Z word to play. (A I and N are all very common letters.)But did you know you could build on that and play "NAZIFY" -- to cause to be a Nazi! It's true.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123513234785130122005-08-08T10:56:00.000-04:002005-08-08T11:00:34.790-04:00

A very commonly played word in Scrabble: "FA". From there, it's no stretch to see "FAR". So let's take a look at the words you can play off of "FAR":FARDFAREFARLFARMFAROFARTYou will NOT see "FART" in the players dictionary, but it's in the club and tournament dictionary, so play it only in those settings.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123445891761451962005-08-07T16:15:00.000-04:002005-08-07T16:18:11.766-04:00

Ok, back to a "Z" word ... but why not? They score big points, and I try to stick with words that are really practicle, rather than just the outlandish ones that you'll almost never use.So ... one of the easy and common words spelled with Z is "ZIT". That means it's important to know that you can add an I and get "ZITI." If you've got "ING" sitting in your rack, it's a good way of having another

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123254644270904962005-08-05T11:09:00.000-04:002005-08-05T11:10:44.273-04:00

Here's an easy one for today. One of the common words spelled with the J tile is "JOT". Keep in mind that you can use "JOTA" and you got an extra way to add tiles to the board.

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123167131108208892005-08-04T10:47:00.000-04:002005-08-04T10:52:11.113-04:00

If you see NG on your rack, your first thought is probably to look for an I so that you've got an ING ending to the other four tiles.But just so that we're not too blinded by habit, keep in mind a couple other uses of NG.First, you can always swap them. SING can become SIGN. You can also spell words like IGNITION this way.Second, NG can actually start a word. In fact, two words. The first of

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1123075589353772462005-08-03T09:20:00.000-04:002005-08-03T09:26:29.356-04:00

So you've got the letters S L A and P on your rack and you know you can at least play PA, PAS, PAL, PALS, LAP, LAPS, SAP, SLAP ... and any more I'm not thinking of at the moment.Of course this assumes that you're willing to use an "S" without scoring big, or that you're playing a triple-word in two directions or something along those lines. But let's take a look at one more thing.With those

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122822027522161352005-07-31T10:56:00.000-04:002005-07-31T11:00:27.526-04:00

This is another little-known word that can actually be useful. While not a frequently-played word, "DIM" is obviously an easy word for anyone to play, and it's not a stretch for "DIME" to be played from there.If "DIME" is played in one direction (i.e., DIM is horizontal and some plays a word ending with E down, turning DIM to DIME), you can always add an R to head yet another word in another

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122779117966430432005-07-30T22:58:00.000-04:002005-07-30T23:05:17.970-04:00

Ok ... enough all ready with the "Z" words. I know. But this is an important one to actively keep in mind when playing Scrabble. Why?Because one of the easiest words for a person to play with the Z tile is "ZIN" -- and that leaves you a great spot for "ZINC". But that's not the only reason to know ZINC.Once ZINC is on the board, you'll want to know just how much you can still do with it. Here are

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122683541014239152005-07-29T20:26:00.000-04:002005-07-29T20:32:21.020-04:00

Tonight I broke a cardinal Scrabble rule and deserved to lose, even though I squeezed out a win.Among my tiles, I had the letters Z I P and, on seeing the chance to use these on a double word score by playing the P on YA for "YAP", I went ahead and played, scoring 36 points.Stupid me -- my opponent then played LIP at the top of the board with the P playing in two directions on the triple-word

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122681505431601342005-07-29T19:55:00.000-04:002005-07-29T19:59:29.700-04:00

If you're a Scrabble zealot, you probably have all of the possible 3-letter words memorized. If not, here's one I ran into the other day (since I'm still learning them).There was actually an opportunity to use HET in one spot, and it would have done me a lot of good to do so, but I later found that both my opponent and I wanted to look it up after the game to see if it was legit. It is. It's a

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122577474411176032005-07-28T15:00:00.000-04:002005-07-28T15:04:34.416-04:00

Today's word of the day is another new one I found in the 4th edition of the recreational dictionary ... so potentially this will soon be available for club and tournament use as well. The word is "ZZZ" -- as in the noise a cartoon makes when he's sleeping.This one isn't nearly so useful as yesterday's word, "ZA," because it requires the use of the Z tile as well as both blanks, and I can't see

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122495821087810912005-07-27T16:16:00.000-04:002005-07-27T16:23:41.086-04:00

If you're a Scrabble enthusiast -- and by that, I mean someone whose a member of the National Scrabble Association -- then you know that the Scrabble dictionary sold in bookstores is for recreational use only. But you also know that this dictionary has similarities to the official one used for clubs and tournaments.While we're waiting for the 2nd edition of the official dictionary to come out,

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14873489.post-1122495383419873562005-07-27T16:10:00.000-04:002005-07-27T16:16:23.420-04:00

If you're into Scrabble, whether you're an expert or beginner, I hope you'll find this the blog you want to visit every day.I've been playing Scrabble on my own for a number of years, but have just started attending a club and am looking forward to my first tournament. So I'm not going to sit here and make myself out to be an expert -- in fact, I haven't got a ranking right now at all.BUT ... I

Steve M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15633027958553133655noreply@blogger.com0