TLW66 - Nomads Results

The AGM will take place at 8pm In Hugh Stewart Hall, Nottingham University, on Sunday 29"August 1999. Members wishing to submit motions should do so to the Secretary, GarethWilliams, IS Melbourne Road, Uantshen, Cardiff, CF14 5NH, by 17* July 1999. The Committeewill be proffering a motion on the adoption of a new word list, but the exact wording is not yetknown.Members who are unable to attend the meeting may submit proxy votes through the Chairman.Details of that will be given in the August newsletter.MIND SPORTS OLVMPIHD NEWSHot off the press ... latest news on the Mind Sports Olympiad. As TLW was going to press therewere rumours that there would be OSW and SOWPODS divisions this year.We are delighted to announce that the venue for the 3rd Mind Sports Olympiad will be theConference Centre at Olympia, one of London's premier exhibition and conference sites.The dates, as announced at the end of last year's event, are August 21st-29th. By extending theevent to nine days we have made it possible to accommodate more players and toorganise more tournaments.We plan to have events for most games throughout the Olympiad. Typically, for each game,there will be some tournaments on the first weekend, then some 5-day events on the middleMonday-Friday (August 23-27) and finally some more tournaments on the final weekend. Butevery game will have its own requirements and at this stage we are still flexible in ourtournament planning. For example, we are organising a very strong chess tournament with 9rounds, extending throughout the Olympiad, in which players will be able to obtain normstowards international titles. This tournament is in addition to the quickplay and 5-minute chesstournaments which we have held in the past.This year there will be a substantial prize fund. We will be dramatically upgrading our web siteover the next few months. We are also opening a Ml time central London officeon May 14th.Further details will follow during May. In the meantime will all organisers please contact me withsuggestions as to how they would like to see the tournaments for their particulargamefs) to be scheduled.NSC FILLINGUP FRSTAt the time of going to press the available places for this year's National Scrabble Championshipsare beginning to run out (contrary to reports that they have run out already!). If you've thoughtof entering this once-in-a-lifeOme event (okay, once a year event) then please get in touch withPC as soon as possible. Contact details are on the back page.CENTENRRV QUIZBLOWOUTWe were overwhelmed with the response for the teaser on the back page of the last issue.(Okay, so no-one got it!) As every good Scrabbter kno, 23 April 1889 is the 100* anniversary ofthe birth of Alfred Mosher Butts.

Paul OaMar117 Pasaingham Avonuo(Any opinions expressed by ABSP Committee members are made in a personal capacity and donot represent the views of We Committee unless otherwise stated.)Last time round I asked for more pros and cons on the great SOWPODS debate which, onewouldsuspect is nearing a conclusion if we are to adopt a combined list from next January, or stickwith 0SW4 without OSPD words. To start with, our former editor chips In with a lot of theanswers to last time's questions...I noticed that there were some anti-Sowpods tetters in your last issue. In my opinion, theplayers who will benefit most are the beginners who have reached the stage of actually lookingfor bonuses.There is nothing more annoying than to have words disallowed which seem perfectly reasonable.Even an ex-NSC winner, Richard Sharp, who was familiar with paper sizes, was annoyed to haveSEXTO disallowed in postal Scrabble; the equivalent SIMTO is also missing.Nearly 140 7-letter words are listed as useful additions. Of these, 19 are in the Shorter Oxford; afurther 23 are In Hamlyn's. Of the remainder, some have hyphens removed like DOGEARS andSEAGIRT. Others are plurals of familiar words like AREOLAS and HERNIAE. In addition there are5 RE- words, 3 OUT- words and 2 UN- words. What new player hasnt tried words like JEEP,LEANERS, LOANERS, RELOANS, DIALERS, OUTSEEN or even NEGATOR? Computer users willwelcome READOUT.Sometimes players try words which sound reasonable. With AEEGNRT one might try "rentage",but though the word exists it hasnt reached Chambers' I remember Bob Violett tryingPARGETER successfully because he knew it was someone's name. It takes a player In theThailand final to come up with FATWAING!Finally, we can reclaim some of the words we were deprived of in 1995 - BOONIES, CHEEROS,GUANINS, GUIMPES, MORULAS, REDEYES, SEMILOG, SHAWING, SIDEWAY, SOLANDS,SORDINE, SPINAGE, SUPERED, THERMOS, TORULAS and UNDREST.Peter Dean, Peterborough, CambsI was disappointed to read the letters by Moya Dewar, Mary Jones, Peter Sime, JohnHowell, and Janet Braund on the subject of SOWPODS. They, like the letterspublished in the previous edition, reveal a deep misunderstanding of the problem.Moya and Mary "fail to understand your claim that the majority of ABSP membersvoted for [SOWPODS]". That, at least, is easy to deal with. The ABSP and PhilipNelkon, for Mattel, each conducted a survey, and in each the majority voted forSOWPODS. The ABSP survey also asked for rating information, and the results

From the 7-letter list, I see:ASSUMER, DEICERS, FATLESS, HARDIES, JOSTLER, LUNIEST, MATINGS,NERDISH, REPLEAD, SALTINE, SUNKED, STRIDER, TEARILY, VERITAS.Hmm! Some pretty far-out words, there! Perhaps the 8's are more way-put.From the 8-letter list, I see:ASSIGNER, DETAILER, ENLISTEE, ENUSTER, FRUGGING, GANDERED, INSISTER,UTTERER, SENORITA, STINGRAY, TOMMYROT, TOUGHING, UNRESTED, UNSTONED.Heady stuff!Conversely, some of the words in OSW only are pretty weird! We all know there aremany examples of words occurring in the works of Shakespeare, Milton and Spenser.For example, DISMAYL, GIMMORS, LYNAGES, PHEAZAR, TOAZING and YGLAUNST. Icould go on.Of course, many of the OSPD-only words are no more than hyphenated words ortwo-word terms from Chambers spelled solidly - for example, ANTIROLL, ARCSINE,DOESKIN, PRESELL, REENUST and WATERDOG.But the real reason for promoting Sowpods play is nothing to do with admitting someadditional ordinary-looking words. It's to do with ensuring that English-languageplayers around the world - whether they're in the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia,Malta, South Africa, Kenya, New Zealand, Singapore, wherever - are playing on alevel playing-field. That is, they're using the same stock of words. Which means thatplayers can move from one country to another, and find that the words they knowand use back home are just as valid away from home.Can you imagine how weird it would be if other games, like cricket, chess, bridge andso on, had different ways of playing in different countries?!Roll on the move to Sowpods, I say!Darryl Francis, Carshalton, SurreyMay I just add my opinions on the great SOWPODS debate? Unlike your reader from Hampshire,who seems to think that the SOWPODS proponents inhabit the top 20 places of the ratings table,my ranking is a lowly 118°\ Furthermore, without meaning to cause offence, I wouldurge people who have a view one way or the other not to enter frivolous ideas suchas 'adopting OSPD only' or to 'split the movement into ABSP (OSW) and APSP(Sowpods)' however humorous these Ideas may appear at the time.Phil Appleby's letter said most of the things I'd like to say so I won't go over old ground.However I have to admit that I do not understand the reluctance shown by some of yourreaders to Sowpods. I recently played In the Sowpods Division at Durham andenjoyed the experience albeit I finished gloriously and expectedly last. Although Iwas able to play some of the top players whom I haven't been able to play for a longtime, I was also surprised to see so few OSPD (only) words played. Most current'Sowpoders' are on a learning curve at present so the number of weird and wonderful'American' words played is actually quite low. Instead, those 'strange' words that

Whilst watching the World Snooker Championships I've noticed that all the playersnow sprout a sponsor's name or two on their waistcoats, and it set me thinking ...how about a few sponsor's names on the T-shirts of our WSC players? OK, maybe abit late for this year but, daft as it sounds now, with a rapidly increasing likelihood ofa Sowpods breakaway (and perhaps a world ratings system) it's a thought for thenew millennium!Robert Richland, Pinner, MiddxAny suggestions for potential sponsors? On second thoughts, let's not drag the goodname of the ABSP through the courts again....' PGLucy White complained, quite rightly, about the number of unrated players who endup winning prizes in low divisions. I suspect that part of the problem is that unratedplayers are usually shown with a rating of zero, and this leads organisers to thinkthat they should be in the lowest division. The Committee has repeatedly tried to getorganisers to place people in the correct divisions, without much success. Inorganisers' defence, though, it is often hard to find out how good such unratedplayers are.Tournaments like Swindon present a particular problem, as they attract a largenumber of beginners. It's almost Impossible to get those decisions correct. Therewere many unrated players in Divisions E, 0, and C there.Graeme Thomas, Hatfield, Herts-o-Here's two Scrabble articles that appeared in the world wide press since we last met.The following snippet was picked from the Associated Press's website during April:A year ago John "Knuckles" Connolly was facing the sack after some disappointing results at theend of his 10-year reign as Queensland's rugby union coach.Now a reprieved Connolly has revitalised the Reds, leading them to the top of the Super 12qualifying and two wins from their first title since the competition expanded from 10 teams...Connolly's players say his intense will to win goes beyond the rugby field. "We played a game ofScrabble in Christchurch In March and Knuckles showed that he was one of the best cheats ever,"rookie Reds fly-half Nathan Spooner said."He was amazing. He was coming up with all these words - Greek letters and printer's measures- and they were all In the dictionary. Then he came up with the word 'fong', which he reckonedwas a musical instrument."Connolly opened the dictionary and Spooner took his word for it, giving the coach enough pointsfor a narrow win."Then he came to me the next day and told me not to be so gullible", Spooner said. "There wasno such word. I guess 'Knuckles' just fbnged us..."

iovEJayrnavgDavid Acton31 Harrogalo TorrocoMurlonSEAHAMCounty DurhamSR7 SPQGame 1 - Sowpods at ExeterThe ABSP Exeter event never falls to disappoint, providing a wealth of Scrabbleentertainment. This year was no exception. In this issue you can relive the highdrama as the OSW A division found its eventual winner, and first, watch a couple ofveterans knocking each other about in the Sowpods section. The knockers inquestion are GMs Phil Appleby and Mark Nyman. It was the two Andrews currentlyenjoying a spell in the ratings stratosphere who finished top of the Exeter Sowpodspile, so who better than one of them - Expert and recent ABSP Masters championAndy Davis - to take you through the game. Occasional comments from theplayers themselves are scattered sparingly throughout.PA 1: EGHLORXHOX g8a 26 26AD: Not much else worth doing here.MN 1:DEEEUPJEEP h7a 33 33AD: JEEPED fits nicely from D7a.PA 2: EGLR HOZ -9RHO i6a 41 67PA: Bad play to miss ZHO in the samespot for 59AD: Indeed!AD: Phil is lucky to be able to score sowell with the Z this turn, after missingZHO on the previous turn. Only onepossible eight with this rack [1].PA: Thought long and hard abouttrying ELEGIZER* at elOa; glad Ididn'tMN 3: IV BESSY -37BEVY jlOd 31 112AD: Again, no arguments with Mark'smove.PA 4: EGL AAMN +6AGNAME C9a 33 151MN 2: DEI LPTVTOPPLEDAD: Best move.PA 3: EGLZ EIR-34kSd 48 81-14AD: Nowhere to play the bonus [2].Phil finds the best move for score andturnover, not worrying too much aboutopening up the board - this is good,positive scrabble.MN4: ISSAF1S -39PRIZEk8a 51 118\0

MN: saw LUnGWORTAD: LUnGWORT possibly better thanOUTGReW, which allows a high-scoringresponse from H2. NB If Phil hadplayed DEEDY, then the bonuseswould not have gone in, and the gamewould have been as good as over.AD: ETIC scores more in the sameplace as CITE, and CITED at Midscores more still.MN 11: QSTU AEI -73457EQUISETA o8d 104PA 10: DDEE! EW+42PA 12: DEN ACII -31DREWhid 36 405AD: DREW has to be the right play,despite the vowel-heavy leave.MN 10: BFQSTUU -78AD: With the game situation asoutlined below, can you spot Phil'sbest play? [3]CYANIDE458113a 32FLUB a4a 26 353AD: With the OOT-S spot and the 08 Estill available, there is still a glimmerof hope for Mark.PA 11: DEEI CNT+52CITEm2d 21 426PA: Coutd see several dangers with theremaining tiles, Including the E at 08and the OOT-S hook. Decided to blockbig Q plays such as ACQUIT at jla,while keeping my own score tickingover in the hope that I could win evenif Mark played a bonus.PA: Gives Mark something to thinkabout, but he can block my IDE or DIEout-plays and score enough to win.MN 12: AAOR -1ODA nl2d 14MN: blocking DIE etc.471PA 13: ElSTIEFinal scores:PA+2 466MN -2 469-13cl4a 6 46412

Game 2 - Exeter 'A' titlewinnerAnd it would have been a crime not tofeature this nailbiter from the sametourney. This is the game that settledwhich seasoned Scrabbler would walkaway with the A division trophy. Thepair in the final showndown were GaryPolhill and Andrew Perry. I alwaysthink that to get a full appreciation ofan annotated game, and to understandwhy a player made a particular play(or not!), you must take it in context.The four-day Exeter event is averitable marathon with many playersnotching up 25 games in all. So, thiswas the 25", and Messrs Polhill &Perry summoned up what bruised andbatter grey-matter they could for thislast push for the line. Completing ashort, but perfectly formed series ofnorth-of-the-border annotators is yourhost for this game, Expert (soon to beGM) Neil Scott.MID c9a 19 37Again not a great deal to choose frombut MUID (B9a/18) might be betterthan MID as the IU combination can beawkward.GP 3: AAS EEGU +5VAGUE g5a 18 60VAGUE balances the rack leaving AES.An alternative is GUAVA (D5a/18)which leaves EES and keeps the boardtighter.AP 3: IUZ? INR -23ZIG i3d 23 60I would prefer ZIG marginally over RIZ(K4a/26).GP 1: AAMORSWGP4: AESADIP +0MOWRA d8a 2626SPAED i6a 40100Good play! [MOWRA = a kind ofbutter-tree]AP 1: ADGHIM? -26Computer analysis reveals DIAPASE(B2d/82) here as well as a lovely 4-timer: PAGODAS (E5d/44). Otherwise,SPAED is a good play.HAG c7a 18 18AP4:INRU7CH-40Not that much available here, butthere is slightly better score andturnover from OGHAM (E8d/22).GP 2: AS AAIVY +8VAIRY g5d 16 42HUNCH86C3d 26Another missed bonus opportunityhere: URCHINs (Bld/83). There isalso EUCHRINg (L6d/80).GP5: AI DFNOU +14AVIARY (G4d/17) uses an extra A butgives away more. I wouldn't have anyproblems about using the S here forAS WAY (F6d/29).AP 2: DIM? IUZ -24ZONDA130i3a 30As well as ZONDA there is FOIN(Dld/31) leaving ADU, but both ofthese are surpassed by UNDEAF(L3d/39) also forming VAGUED.

AP 5: IR? BESTBaRITES162-44b8d 76As well as BaTTERS and BaRITES(B8d/76) there is DRIBIETS (M6d/78),DEBITORS (M6d/74) and SoRBITE(I8d/70). I would go for DEBITORS asit perhaps gives least away.Not as easy to fit a bonus down hereas it might at first look. There areonly six available: SETUNE, SLENTErand STELENe hooking MOWRA-S andSELENaTE, SELENITE and ELEmENTSthrough the E of SPAED.AP8:BDrTEFlRID234-16blOaISGP 6: FIU EOQT -32QUOIF alld 72202QUOIF Is a great play, scoring almostas much as Andrew's bonus.BEDIDE is still by far the highestscore. My next choice would be FIB(M2a/21): not really worried about thenine-timer risk even given theopponent's last play.GP9: ELST7CL + 1AP6:EIPRRTXREX196-40b2d 34Andrew sets up a P-REX hook for nexttime, although personally I might betempted to take the six extra pointsfor PREX now, as It could be trickygetting a suitable word with P insecond position.GP7: ETELLNO +6LENO a5d 24226ELL249dlla 14No bonuses will fit on the board thistime and there doesn't seem to be anyrespectable scores available. I wouldgo along with ELL but prefer ELT(Dlla/14) as there are four Ts andonly one L unseen. LAC (M2d/5) is apossibility leaving ELST? But there isno guarantee that a bonus will fit nextturn even if there is one. Or howabout CAT (M2d/5) to set up SCAT -risky as there's still one S unseen.AP 9: BEFIT LT-15The main alternative to LENO is EXULT(A4a/26) leaving ELNO.FLIT249flOd 15AP 7:IPRT BDEPER219-30aid 23No easy way to make use of PREX.The highest score is BEDIDE (Lld/37)which also retains the P for PREX.I didn't know FLJTT (F10d/18) but thismakes a good trap as It doesn't takeany extensions.GP10:CST?EGW +0Change CGW 0249GP8:ELTENS?YEN235+7g9aGary's nightmare continues with thenasty CGW combination and he'sforced to change. WEST (Nld/30) is afairly bold scoring move that openstwo triple word squares although It

does still leave the awkward C and Gon the rack. Like the CAT suggestionlast time CAW or WAG (M2d) settingup SCAW and SWAG are possibilitiesfor gamblers.AP 10: BELT IOSBETOILS322+0el4a 73BETOILS is also possible at 014a andthis position arguably gives less away.GPll:EST?AOY -73OY281gl5a 32There are two tricky bonuses possible:TEApOYS (J13a/77) and ASYSTOLE(J8d/75). Other than that it might bebetter to take the extra 12 points fromSOY (F15a/44) rather than keep the Sespecially as the bonus positions arerapidly vanishing. SOY would leaveGary 29 points behind.AP11:AEGOTUW +41WAGES340klOd 1841 points ahead and the unseen tilesare: AAEEIO CJKNNRRSTTV?Andrew needs to keep scoring andremove the opponent's scoringpositions where possible. WAGESblocks the floating S, E and I and the110a bonus position but also creates Aand G floaters. TOWAGES (K8d/22)offers slightly better score andturnover but WAGES does mean theopponent would pick the last seventiles in the event that he does get abonus. There Is also a major risk of theopponent scoring heavily with the J2position, a word like JEANS wouldscore 88, but it's tricky to block thiseffectively: OW (L4a/21) partiallyblocks it.GP 12:AEST?IV -59DEVIATeS357m6d 76Gary finds a bonus at long last. Themain thing to note here is he will pickup the last 7 letters - taken fromAEOOU CJKNNRRTT. The choices areDEVIATeS / DEVIAnTS (M6d/76) to go17 ahead or VIrGATES (H12a/82) togo 23 ahead. This last play has theadvantage of opening a second scoringposition, - the other being the J/K riskat J2. A lot will depend on who getsthe J. Anyone want to do simulations?AP 12: OUT KORTKO374-17]2a 34Andrew can work out that Gary's rackis ACEJNNR and there is a threat ofJEAN (J2a/59). KO Is the highestscoringplay not only blocking JEANbut also setting up TROUT or TUTOR atKla. KO does give Gary JADE (Lld/47)but Andrew can reply with JOUR...Here it starts to get a bit morecomplicated! Is there a play thatblocks both JEAN and JADE? TOOK(J2a/25) looks good but loses toCRAVEN (J8a/36) as sufficient scorecan't be gained from the remainingletters RTU. It looks like it has to beKO.GP 13: ACEJNNRJADE404-17lid 47CRAVEN (J8a/36) is no use as It losesto TROUT/TUTOR (Kla). CRANE(Kla/29) blocks the TROUT/TUTORspace but relies on the opponent notblocking JOY (H13d) which is the onlyplace for the J. It might work If theopponent hasn't tile-tracked. Theactual play of JADE gives away JOUR(Lla/33). At this point both playerswould be left with consonant-onlyracks: CNNR for Gary and TT forAndrew.

AP 13: ORTTUJOUR407•30lla 33TA415h4d6 points and out - win by 2!30 points behind but Gary now has theawkward CNNR. JOUR Is by far thehighest score and leaves two places toplay out: TIT (L9a/3) and TATT(Jlla/4)!GP14:CNRRRIN407-319aThree points behind and unfortunatelyno way of blocking both TIT and TATT.The highest scoring plays GREN(K12a/8), COY (H13d/8) and CANT(Jl la/6) all lose. I don't see any wayof winning unless you gamble thatAndrew doesn't know TATT - Icertainly didn't know It! So assumingAndrew doesn't know TATT what arethe moves which block TIT?SummaryA great game with a very complexfinish, just as befits the deciding gameof the tournament. You often getgames where there are lots of obviousmoves that leap out at you. Thiswasn't one of them; there were a lot oftricky decisions to be made by bothplayers and these eat up your time.And of course you don't know duringthe game that you're going to need tosave up your time for such aconvoluted endgame. Althoughbonuses were missed both playersperformed well under the conditionsbut it was Andrew's well-thought-outendgame play that just clinched thegame.ARC (M10a/7) loses because Andrewcan block INN (F12a) with TOY (Hl3d).ANN (M10a/5) or INN (M9a/3) winsbecause Andrew can't block both REC(J7a) and CART (JUa)RIN (M9a/3) loses because Andrewcan block CANT (Jlla) with TA (311a).AP 14: TTTA409+0jlla 2Apart from TATT this Innocent-lookingplay of TA Is the only other move thatwins.ai3i41P,J. [oJulR.1E. R.KJO A.R. E. H.z. O.|N. D.*•X. U.T. 1.E.L NV A 0 II EE. C.A. s. P, A. E. 0.it. H. A. 0. T"E.o. B. M. 0 W. RA M. 1. 0, V. e|nR ~ElR. 1. 0. F.W. a"Q. 1, E. L L. T A1 ~u. T.6"T.0e" S!B E TIO 1 |L sF.O.|Y.GP 15: CNCOY415-2hl3d8Nothing else to do but play the highestscore.AP15:T16

acrossboardinsPosition 1 - TSP Teaser (OSW)In keeping with tradition, here is aposition from a recent game betweenyours truly and the inimitable TSP.Actually, this was a Sowpods game,but all words are in OSW too. (AndOSW three). No fancy endgame poserthis - just a "find the best play".David Acton31 Harrogata TorrocoMurtonSEAHAMOourrty DurhamSR7 SPQMartin has just made life very difficultwith the play of LAD j5a. This leavesonly the F at C2 and the T at K15 asfloaters for 8-letter plays, and themore remote possibly of a nine-letterplay through AM or DI. Otherimportant considerations are thatthere are four tiles in the bag, andvery few vowels to come. What'sAllan's best option?tc. i0.G. S.u TTIi.Ia.I6J pr"of L|E|A|M.|ljE RB G E V. 0e~0 i N K.0. V. A u0.E.z. 0, A.H. L, o.Au. U A N 0T E FRUvv.IeB,lljoj1P,Va"~1"s"53 foJf i.E|R|T|A|l JNJSJAllan's rack:Position 2 - last minute bonusrequired (OSW)Unseen tiles (4 in bag):This position is another endgame fromthe 1999 Richmond tournament. GMAllan Simmons is trailing theirrepressible Martin Reed severely 286- 365, and badly needs a decent lastminute bonus to catch up.

Position 3 - late 3 (Sowpods)This endgame position occurred in aSowpods League match betweenmyself and GM Andrew Fisher. Itrailed 336 to 344 and, with three tilesleft In the bag, my task was to makeappropriate use of the J - a task whichI singularly failed to do on the day!tournament. The bag is empty andRaymond is to play. Neil has six tileson has rack and trails Raymond 342-351. Simply find a winning line.dMEThere appear to be at least two waysof giving me a good chance of winningthe game - a simple one and a slightlymore subtle one.Raymond's rack:My rack:And finallyPosition 4 - Lothian endgame(OSW)I am most grateful to Raymond Tatefor supplying this endgame from hisgame against Neil Scott in the LothianOnce again, a big thank you to all whohave contributed material to this issueand to this month's annotators. Doplease keep those interesting positionsand games coming in. I'm very keento start including more games from'middle" rated players, but as always,I can only use what I get, so recordthose racks and send them in! Ta.18

Slavonic Scrabble baron and ex Skoda test driver Ivan Oddcat continues hisalternative Scrabble A to Z.C.ls for CharismaWell, some say you've got it or you haven't. (I had it once, but a good doctor in Kievsorted it out and I haven't had any trouble since). But what happens when you had itbut lost it. How do you put the zing back in your game? I feel some reminiscencescoming on....Estonia, 1978. My mail-order Scrabble accessory business had run into a spot oftrouble. The Estonian Chief Trading Standards Officer had kicked up a fuss over mynovelty glow-in-the-dark tournament tiles - some nonsense about radiation levelsand the odd extra finger or two - you know how these official types like to nitpick.Anyway, I was at a loose end for a business opportunity and I'd noticed that a lot ofmy Scrabble-playlng friends were, well, a couple of blanks short of a bonus shall wesay. I figured that the therapy game might be a good line to move into for a while.So I sign up for one of those postal courses, send off my twenty krooni and a coupleof weeks later, what do you know - I'm qualified. Certificate and everything. I rent asmall office, get a good deal on a couple of those reclining leatherette analyst chairs.(One for the client, one for me - a precaution in case I get one of those whining "mylife's so depressing, I keep picking Vs and Is" merchants). Hey presto - I'm yourlocal Scrabble shrink.Well, word soon gets around the Scrabble circuit about my new line of work andpretty soon I've got a queue of washed-up tile-pushers at my door desperate forsome psychoanalysis.I get the expected bunch of obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferers. Some had wornholes in the bags from continually recounting the tiles. Most kept going over timetoo, the ones that hadn't broken their clocks by stopping them every two seconds tocheck the score. Fortunately I had some stock left over from a previous businessventure. The Oddcat Industrial Chess-Clock (constructed from recycled Russian tankparts) was ideal and I threw in a free Oddcat Indestructible Tile Bag too. These weremade from the same material used for Latvian trawlermen's underpants and asidefrom a slight aroma of haddock, were tailor-made for the most compulsive ofrummagers.Another case on my books was a multiple-personality sufferer. (For professionalreasons, I shall refer to him as player X, Y and Z.) He proved more of a challenge,

ut after many months of therapy, we managed to control his disorder. Indeed, heeven won two ratings prizes at the Latvian Masters after enrolling in all threedivisions. I lost contact with him when I moved to England in the 80s, but I heard hehad a severe relapse after one of him switched to Sowpods, and now spent most ofhis time at tournaments arguing with himself in the toilets.And then there was my trickiest case. We'll call him Player A. I could tell he hadserious problems when he first entered the room. He was muttering anagrams tohimself and wore one of those custom-printed T-shirts. It read "you don't have to bemad to play Scrabble but I certainly am. Flubalubalub." (When you're a trainedpsychoanalyst, you learn to pick up on these small details.)We start with some word-association. "Charisma" I said. "Archaism" he replies in thetwinkle of an I. I'm impressed, but can't resist asking "what about machairs?""Comfy" he replies - "leatherette if I'm not mistaken?" I nod. "Anyway" he continues,"you don't pronounce it like that - it's Gaelic you know." I glare at him and write"smart-arse" in the margin of my notes."So what's the score doc? Have I lost my bottle?" I explain that this Is a verycommon problem. Scrabblism is still quite rife and the constant taunts of family andcolleagues can have a devastating effect on ones Scrabble self-esteem. Irecommend that he fashions for himself an 'alter-Scrabble-ego'."Sure, It's all the rage now. A lot of players choose a new name - often it's Just ananagram of their real name. Nothing too stupid of course - It has to be believable.""I see" he says, "and then what?""Well", I explain, "once you've got your new Identity the sky's the limit. You can sayand do things your old real self would never dare. So even if, like you, the realScrabbler underneath Is just a spineless word-nerd with all the charisma of a sweatytile-bag, your new Scrabble self can charm the birds from the trees. Or, In your case,perhaps birds might be too ambitious. Maybe a couple of wasps and a fewmosquitoes. We can build up to birds.""Talking of which, will the new me be a hit with the ladles at tournaments too?" heenquired with that desperately hopeful air of a dog eyeing up your last chocolateHobnob."Let's be realistic", I said. "A pair of sunglasses and a new name is one thing butthere's still your body odour problem and that interesting skin complaint. We have towalk before we run, and In your case, I think we may have to shower before we evenwalk, if you know what I mean."But, player A heeded my advice. We worked hard on his new image - and giventime, and some Oddcat Industrial Deodorant (as endorsed by the 1972 LatvianOlympic Triathlon team) he found his form again. Last I heard he even had his ownScrabble show on Estonian cable TV.And the moral of the tale? Well, if you feel your Scrabble charisma is flagging, justget out the tiles, rearrange your name into something with a bit more pzazz, buysome heavy-duty deodorant if required, and just reinvent yourself. I've heard itworks wonders.

True Tales from the Tournament RoomI am most grateful to player T for this true tale of Scrabblers scrabbling on in theface of adversity. The adversity in this case was a sudden power cut which hadplunged the venue of a London League match into darkness..."One of the players had a torch in his car, and with its aid the players were able tofind their way about the house. The hostess and her husband are both wheelchairbound,and the emergency candles were at the back of the topmost cupboard (asusual), but the able-bodied members of the party were able to rescue them. (In myexperience you need the athleticism of an Olympic gymnast to be able to get to mostpacks of emergency candles.)"So, our heroes were playing with a candle in the middle of the table. At this pointthey found out just how deaf one of the players was, and how much she relies on lipreading.The torch was brought into play, to light up the face of anyone who wishedto speak."Naturally no one suggested that the games be abandoned."OpeningRacksWe've all been faced with those "nearly but not quite" opening racks ... what wouldyou do with the following?RackiRack 2Rack 3Rack 4Rack 5Please send your suggestions and comments to PG at the usual adresses.

war.tplayNicK Dollor17 Windsor RoadQOOMANOHESTEROambHdgostiiropei a bodAUGUST 1997 REVISITEDIn which your sub-editor continues a list he started a surprisingly long time ago..I'm amazed. No, really, I am. I was thinkingabout what list I should do for this edition,and I thought - "Aha! How about goingback to that list I started a couple of monthsago?". This was the one of probable sevenswith no anagram, and I am - as I say -amazed to discover that I did part 1 (themost probable 50) back In August 1997. It'sdefinitely overdue for a continuation piece -so here goes with numbers 51-100.Any tangents at which I go off may not beunrelated to the loop of 1999 Eurovisionentries presently emanating from my PCspeakers - you have been warned!AENEOUS: As seems to be happening a lotlately, I open up with something I've donebefore - in this Instance, a description ofthings which are a shining bronze colour.AEONIAN: Another timeless word, meaningtimeless. I think these must be coming upbecause I've done things with lots of vowelsbefore.ALIENEE: The person to whom a propertyis transferred (an AUENOR being the personwho does the transferring).AREOLAE: The correct plural of AREOLA,which is a little sunken spot of varioustypes.AREOLES: The plural of AREOLE, which isan AREOLA. Is it just me, or is this not reallyfunny yet?ATEBRIN: Hmm. If you don't know theword at the top of the list of 7s fromRETAIN, why not? Still, I could excuse younot knowing it's a yellow medidny powderstuff (even though I said it was in my debutarticle two and a half years ago...)AUREOLE: Humph. This is a holy crown, orhalo, or similar. And I've done it before. I'mfrustrated.BETAINE: Sweet-tasting crystals that occurin sugar beet and elsewhere. You would beforgiven for thinking It's sugar, but I thinkit's not Qutfethe same thing.CINEREA: Ah, the old grey matter. I'mcertain that that's never been in evidence inprevious articles...DOURINE: A contagious horse illnesscaused by something unpronounceable.EBRIATE: A curiosity here. Just as"flammabte" and "innammabte" mean thesame thing, so too do EBRIATE andINEBRIATE - sort of drunk.21

ELOINED: Conveyed to a distance; perhapsvaguely like Eurovision Broadcasting Unionjoint broadcasts of... things.ERODENT: Something that erodes things,like caustic soda and that sort of generaldoodah.EROSION: In similar vein, the end resultsof an ERODENT.ETALONS: Oh dear, oh dear. Umm... OK.An ETALON is an incredibly clever gadget formeasuring wavelengths, which I suppose isquite helpful since Ken Bruce and his likesonly deal in frequenaes these days. I couldbe wrong. [You're wrong - Ed]ET1OLJN: If you leave a plant in the darkfor ages, it'll go all yellowed and wimpy. Andwhen you've etiolated it in that fashion, thesubstance that colours it yellow is ETIOLIN.I feel like Alan Coren on a bad day!EUGENIA: The clove plant - well, one ofmany - of the myrtle family. I know themwell.EVIRATE: A tiny, tiny Middle Easterncountry under the rule of a guy named Ev.Well, perhaps not! Actually it's to makeunmanly, amongst other things - which Iprobably shouldn't go into here.ISOTONE: An A-Level Chemistry-ey typething with the same number of neutrons asanother one and a different number ofprotons. Or something. I would haveunderstood that 10 years ago.LADRONE: A robber, from the Spanishladron meaning ... erm ... "robber",presumably.LENTOID: After a reasonably long trawlthrough cross-references, it actually justmeans "lens-shaped".LINEAGE: Either ancestry or the number oflines in a piece of printed textLOONIER: Prowadz mnie gdy swiatlo drzy ipada den. Przytul mnie i polam I6(o-acute)dw oplatki kry. Any arguments7 [Yes. That'slooniEST. By quite some distance ■ Ed]MATINEE: An afternoon performance of amovie or show, like the wonderful "MammaMia" currently playing in London, a musicalwoven around the important, nay seminalworks of... [Shut up - Ed]NAIVETE: The belief that I'm going to getaway with the previous two definitions.NEONATE: Newly bom, or a newborn child.So it takes an -S. Hmm, I bet I forget thatfact at a significant moment in the next sixmonths or so.NEROUS: NEROLI is an oil that comesfrom orange flowers, or - I suspect - theflower itself. So NEROLJS, much to mysurprise, is actually a plural.NORTENA: Let me take a run up here - afemale European North American, asdescribed by a Mexican. If it were a bloke,it would be a NORTENO.ODORATE: Past tense of odoreat, backformedfrom odor-eater. Oh, If only! It'sreally just a description of something smelly.Generally pleasant smelling, but needn't be.OE5TRAL: To do with a particularly strongfrenzy of (guess what?) one kind or another.I'm just too coy for my own good, me.OLEATES: OLEATE is another of thesechemically things that I have so manyproblems with these days - a salt of an oilyacid. Sounds like what I put on my chips,but I'm sure it isn't.ORATION: A speech, after-dinner orotherwise, but powerful with it. I've alwaysthought that spoken English is at Its mostpowerful when it has rhythm, and rhyme -which I'm afraid can only be leading in onedirection...'While waiting at Peterborough StationI admired the announcer's orationHe Doomed "There's no seatsOn the 5:10 to Leeds'So I gave him a standing ovation'

OREADES: A plural of OREAD, which is myabsolute favourite kind of mountain nymph.ORLEANS: A sort of cotton/worsted blendfabric.ORNATER: More ornate. Like my articlesused to be when I wrote them before thedeadline instead of after it.OUTDARE: To be even more daring, andbe in defiance of pretty much everything.Hence "You've won it once, now get outdareand win it again".OUTLIER: A bit of something that lies awayfrom the rest of itself. If that makes sense.And it doesn't to me.PEATIER: More like peat. Though not asmuch like peat as peat, which would be thepeatiest....are about my limit!SOUTANE: "No, no quiero escuchar...",sang the overworked author quietly tohimself as he cheerfully wondered if hecould get away with the single word"cassock" as a definition. "No, no quieroescuchar" he repeated. Quickly yetcautiously he continued to type: "Well, it's asort of churchman's robe type affair". Hethen moved quickly to the next paragraph,as the sounds of Doris Dragovic trickledmenacingly from his loudspeakers...TALONED: Having talons. Straightforwardenough.TEARIER: More tearful. I would havethought that you would either be tearful ornot, and I'm surethe looming end of this article will have youall tear/. With joy, probably.PERINEA: Oh dear. Umm, how do I phrasethis one? Well, the PERINEUM is the part ofyour... midriff, between your... umm, frontnaughty bits, and your... umm... bum. AndPERINEA are several of them, and I'mmoving swiftly on...REMANIE: An old fossil stuck inside anewer fossil. "New fossils" in Croatian is novifosili, but I won't bore you with the detailsof how I know that.RIOTISE: If you take nothing else from thisarticle (and that IS looking likely), take thefact that RIOTISE and its cousin RIOTIZEare not - repeat NOT - verbs! A RIOTISE is athing - specifically a riot.The next person to put -D on the end ofeither of them (unless it's me • which itprobably will be) should hang their head inshame.RONDEAU: A type of poem, but it's awfullycomplicated and not the sort of thing Iwould want to be writing. Limericks andMaikus:(Scrabble is my gameBut you wouldn't guess as muchRecent form is poor)TEENIER: More teeny? Itsier, bitsier. Tinier.Smaller.TORULAE: Plural of TORULA, which is, toall intents and purposes, yeast.TRTTONE: The slogan under which ouresteemed Prime Minister (I'm on safeground here - he esteems himself even ifno-one else does...) successfullycampaigned for his first council seat. Thatand a musical term of which (naturally!) Ihave not the remotest comprehension.TROOLJE: The bussu palm, which isfamous for being a TROEUE and a TROELYas well (though not a TROOLY, oddlyenough)URINOSE: And finally, as if I hadn't enoughthings to be coy about, a word which I canonly define as "pee-like".Oh, I've had enough of this for one month.I'm just damed well going to plonk myselfdown in front of my TV with some popcornand some candy floss and wail Turkishly,funk Norwegianly and (most likely) votestrangely. Back in whatever two monthsfrom now is by the time this reaches you!

20 QUESTIONS: STEVE BALMENTSteve attends many tournaments and generally plays hundreds of games throughout theyear so I managed to catch him between games to find out why.1. What do you do for a living?I'm a Computer Programmer/Analyst for an Insurance Friendly Society in Leicester.2. Who are your favourite and least favourite opponents, and why?My favourite may be Noel Turner as I've never lost to him in a tournament (yet), and myleast favourite is anyone (thankfully few) who doesnt lose in the right spirit.3. How did you get into playing Scrabble?My first set was bought in a toyshop in Ryde whilst on a rather wet holiday in the Isle ofWight. A few years later (1976) I saw an advert for the Leicester club in the local paperand have been playing ever since.4. Tell us one thing that no one knows about you.I used to be a speedway supporter and organised a supporters club trip to the worldfinal in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1974. We took a 52 seater coach across on the NorthSea ferry and about 40 supporters! The 24 hour return crossing was eventful - we hadto contend with a force 8 gale!5. Away from Scrabble, what is your greatest claim to fame?I set the record score (83) for the normal half hour edition of Countdown in series 12,and so far it still stands (although Allan Saldanha equalled it in the Supreme Champs).6. Do you keep the fact that you play Scrabble secret from your workcolleagues/other friends?No, we're a nosy lot at work and we all keep up with each other's leisure interests.7. If you could change one thing about Scrabble what would it be?Now that the "Premier" has gone from the Association's name, I would get rid of theelitist and somewhat pointless titles Grand master and Expert.8. What other hobbies/pastimes do you indulge in?I live alone, so washing, ironing, gardening, hoovering, dusting etc!!! I do like to seeGreat Britain though and often add extra days around tournaments to visit the localarea.9. Have you ever appeared on television?Yes. Celebrity Scrabble (my celebrity partner was Sylvia Syms who is very good at thegame), Countdown (I won series 12), Catchword and Turnabout.10. What is your current ABSP rating and what do you think it should be?After Exeter it's 155, and I think 150-160 is about right, though the new system is

obviously creating a lot more movement than before so I'm not really sure.11. How far would you travel to play in a one-day tournament?I'd travel about two and a half hours each way. I figure its worth 5 hours travel for 5hours of Scrabble. Living in the Midlands makes many places more easily accessible.12. What was your greatest moment in Scrabble?Beating Noel Turner, Clive Spate and Phil Appleby in successive games in my A divisiondebut at the BMSC13. On average how many games of Scrabble do you play in a week?Between 6 and 20 depending if there's a tournament included.14. What football team do you support?Armchair support only. I support Stenhousemuir in Scotland because years ago theyalways finished bottom and I felt sorry for them. In England I support Watford, but Idont really know why, although I did see them beat Man Utd at Old Trafford in the Cupin the days of Luther Blissett.15. What do you think is the best word you have ever played?Possibly SQUADRON for 212 in a Midlands Final in the 80's when aggregate scores stillruled the roost, and I remember stealing a game with FAHLERZ some time ago.16. Would life be better if you stopped playing Scrabble?No, but my bank balance probably would be!! I've made a lot of friends on the Scrabblescene and I'd miss the social side of it.17. What's the best place you have ever visited?We often used to go on family holidays to the Isle of Wight when I was a child and I stilllook forward to seeing the island when I go to the tournament each year.18. Who do you think is the best Scrabble player of all?Not an easy question to answer, but I'd put Mark Nyman near the top as he's won theWorld title. So much depends on the luck of the tiles ifs quite easy to be top one weekand bottom the next (I speak from experience!!).19. Whafs your favourite book, film and TV programme?I'm not really a novels reader but I do enjoy finding things out from reference books.No real favourite film but I enjoy historical films such as Mrs Brown (with Judy Dench asQueen Victoria) and Elizabeth (with Cate Blanchett). TV programmes - Last of theSummer Wine and Ballykissangel.20. Have you ever lied about your age?No, though I once got into Kings Lynn Speedway through the children's entrance -1 was24 at the time!!!!26

RATINGS AT 1 JUNE 1999Taken just after the Coventry tournament. Congratulations to ANDY DAVIS whosemasterful performance at the, er, Masters gets him on top of the pile for the first timewith a current rating of 205, six points dear of former No 1 Andrew Fisher. By specialrequest this time, an alphabetical listing of all players with 15 games under their belts.David Acton. Newcastle SC. 197Mary Adams, Gloucester SC, 96Oluyemi Adesiyan, Unattached. 1S3Adebowale Ajose, Unattached. 167Philip Aldous, Norwich SC, 146Etta Alexander, Inverness SC. 136Paul Allan, Glasgow SC. 187Barbara Allen, LSL. 149Elizabeth Allen, Newport (IOW). 122Gail Allen, Newport SC, 99Karen Allen, Cardiff SC, 103Liz Allen. Leicester SC. 134Mary Allen, Cardiff SC, 142Vera Allen. Woking SC. 99Alice Atlwood, Woking SC, 115Cathy Anderson. Newcastle SC. 149Eileen Anderson. LSL. 147Oeen2 Anderson, Reading SC. 105Sheila Anderson. Penh SC. 142Shei!a2 Anderson, Romford SC, 96Ted Anderson, Reading SC, 87Peter Andrews. Gorseinon SC, 107Shirley Angeil. Hailsham SC. 136Phil Appleby. Southampton, 196Amy Armstrong. Cowal SC, 98Margaret Armstrong, Elgin SC, 124Carol Arthurton, Rugby SC. 129Peter Ashurst. Preston SC. 136Brenda Ashwin, Unattached, 126Caroline Atkins, Lang Toun SC, 156Maureen Austin, Havering SC. 13SPauline Aves, Sunderland SC, 114Femi Awowade, Unattached. 189Alan Bailey, Southampton, 141Tony Bailey, Billericay SC, 156Nora Bain, Bon Accord SC. 133AGstair Baker, Aylesbury SC, 130Jack Baker. Mapperley SC, 97Madelaine Baker. Gloucester SC. 119Jean Bakewell, Norwich SC, 127Betty Balding, Richmond SC. 113Janice BaP, Basingstoke SC. 113John Ball. Newport SC, 93Nicholas Ball. New Sheffield. 169Sue Bad, Havering SC, 108Amie Ballantyne. Glasgow SC, 149John Balloch, Glasgow SC, 149Steve Balment. Melton SC, 155Liz Barber, U3A Sheffield, 147Eryl Barker, Cardiff SC. 154Kathleen Barnes. Wrexham SC. 12SLee Barnes, Newport (IOW), 60Maureen Barr, Riverside SC, 115Kate Ban-art, Mapperley SC. 140Linda Barratt. Lincoln SC, 121Audrey Banington. Croydon SC, 119Eileen Basham. Newport SC. 125Peter Basham, Newport SC, 97Michael Baxcndale, Southsea SC, 132Janice Bease, Lang Toun SC, 135Diana Beasley, Exeter SC, 154Don Beavis, Canterbury SC. 119Vivien Becknann. Newcastle SC. 144Samantha Beckwith, Petertee SC. 124Danny Bekhor, LSL, 171Irene Bell, Luton SC, 162Bobbie Bennett, Letchworth SC, 125Marion Bennie, Crieff SC. 111Trevor Bently. Newport SC, 143Betty Benton, Bourne SC, 111Adrienne Berger. Whilefield SC. 1 $7Syd Berger. Whitefield SC. 132Jake Berliner. LSL. 85Bob Berry. LSL. 167Ian Betteridge, Southsea SC, 145Mirai Bhattacharya, Belmont SC, 115Margaret Bigg, Kingston St M, 110Linda Bad. LSL. 134Hilary Biidsall, Harrogate SC, 125Dorothy Black, Unattached, 96Millie Black. LSL. 89Doreen Blake, Salisbury SC, 140Martin Bloomberg, LSL, 155Helen BIyth, Aylesbury SC, 109Janet Bonham, Aylesbury SC, 121Sheila Booth-Millard. Southampton SC. 116Dorothy Boreham, Winscombe SC, 105Kale Boutinot. Sale SC. 114Sue Bowman, Dorian SC, 14$Vincent Boyle, LSL. 12SLinda Bradford. Dunfermline. 150Mary Bradley, Coventry SC, B427

Been Bradshaw. Southua SC. 121Janet Braund. Kingston St M. 1J7Eddy Breed. S Downs SC, 142Ross Brennan. Bon Accord SC. 134Jean Bridge. Wmscomba SC, 139J3 Bright. Warrfngten SC. 130Margaret Bright, Bournemouth. 149Mary Broadhead. East Berts SC, 103Lyn Brookes. Carsh&tten SC. 93Richard Brookes. CarehaBon SC. 88RDa Brookes. Uapperloy SC. 127Maureen Brcugti. Crierl SC. 133Beryl Brown. Belmont SC. 132Doug Brown, Romford SC, 148Jacqui Brown. Penh SC, 147Jessie Brown, Cleveland SC. 129John Brown, Belmont SC, 112Maurice Brown. Mapperley SC. 119Pamela Brawn, Exeter SC, 60Stella Brawn. Bon Accord SC, 131Margaret Browne. Luton SC. 152&cry» Browner, ndttconnnofi, 106Louise BrundeU. LSL. 148Graham Buckingham. Luton SC. 142Pru Buckingham. Unattached. 88Alan Buckley. Lydney SC. 133Jean Buckley, Newport SC, 118Karen Buckley, Lydney SC, 125Mike Buckley, Newport SC. 128Winnie Buik. Dundee SC. 133Brian BuB. Carshatton SC, 146Katfiy BuSen. Stroud SC. 135Sue Buaock. Aylesbury SC, 119Margaret Burdon, Newcatlte SC, 150Fred Burford. Bourne SC, 100Beverley Burgess, Bournemouth, 106Jenny Burgess, Highwerlh SC, 125JiU Burgess, Highworth SC, 117Pat Burgess. LSL, 100Ian Burn. West Berks SC. 150SteOa Bumham. Unanached. 89Letty Burrei. Cambridge SC. 80Susan Bury. Hartegats SC. 95Nxhobseuaer.LSL.118Russell Byers. Mapperley SC. 169Amy Byrne. E

Tony Davis, Cleveland SC, 141Chris Davison. Lydney SC, 157David Dowson. Cleveland SC, 159Wanda Do Poitiers. Swansea SC. 132Dorothy Dean. Ryde (IOVU) SC. 129Pelei Dean, Peterborough. 163Barbara Dein. LSL. 139Nick Oeller. Unattached. 156OiOennis. LSL. 176Moya Dewar. Glasgow SC. 142Ivy Dixon-Baird, Nott& Nomad3.163Eleanor Oobson. PSC. 117Agnes Dodds. Billericay SC. 78Joseph Doku. Leicester SC. 129Bernard Golan. Medway SC. 93Carmen Dotan, Romford SC. 123Olive Oclin. Medway SC. 123Chris Dotsett. Unattached. 138B9y Don. Glasgow SC. 155Eileen Douglas. S Downs SC. 117Atotair Oowbng, Inverness SC. 141Penny Downer. Newport (IOW). 180Rob Dowse. New Sheffield. 169Elizabeth Draper. Psalter SC. 133Vemon Draper. Psalter SC. 110Rona Dryden, Oundeo SC. 101John Dunlop. Doncaster SC. 150Ui Dunlop. Doncaster SC. 143Marts Dunoire, Ounfermline SC, 141Eve Owyer. Billericay SC. 107Jill Dyer, WestonSC, 126Jean Dymock, Inverness SC. 132Yvonno Eade, Lowestoft SC, 150Ann Edwards. Woolwich SC. 136Dorothy Edwards. Romford SC, 83June Edwards. Luton SC. 142Peter Edwards. Horndean SC. 119Ratph Edwards, Horndean SC, 87David Ellis. Richmond SC. 152Joan Ellis. Brentwood SC. 103Carolyn Emery. Lincoln SC, 103PrisciUa Encamacion, LSL. 142Mane English. Bristol SC. 145Mavis Ernest. Richmond SC. 92Peter Ernest. Richmond SC. 115Barbara Etheridge. Gloucester SC. 116Angela Evans. LSL. 155Richard Evans. LSL. 180Alan Everitt. Ryde (IOW) SC. 10SPom Fallots. Ryde (IOW) SC. 149Rona Falconer, Newcastle SC. 102Paul Famworth. Lowestofl SC. 113June Faulkner. East Berks SC, 107Florence Fellows. Cleveland SC. 108Patricia Form. S Downs SC. 147Chra Femvick. Lydney SC. 136PhytSs Fernandez. Brenlwood SC. 120Christopher Finlay. Southampton. 154Laura Finley. Tyne & Wear, 141Peter Finley. Tyne & Wear, 179Andrew Fisher, UK-Scrabble, 199Jill Fisher. StroudSC. 133SaIlyFrsiman.LSL.13lB£l Fleming. Inverness SC, 143Daphne Fletcher. Hove SC, 115Marjory Flight. Dundee SC. 146Ruby Flood, Nottingham SC. 114Veta Flood. Wokmg SC. 133Joan Flynn. Horndean SC. 97Rose Ford. Billericay SC. 66Eileen Foster. Melton SC. 117Alan FothergA Hereford SC. 67Jean FothergO. Hereford SC. 94Martin Fowkes. Unattached. 174Gary Foi. LSL. 154Darryl Francis, Carshatton SC, 182Heather Frankland, Aiieborough. 141Loma Franks, Clevedon SC, 125Peggy Frawtey. Edinburgh SC. 106Christina French, Havering SC. 166David French. Havering SC. 128Pat Friend. Bourne SC, 107Joyce Frost. Romford SC, 69Perry Fung, Billericay SC, 105Jean Gallacher, Inverness SC. 137Norma Galley. LSL, 131Jdty Garnett. Leith SC, 140Angela Qarrard, Unattached. 110Marjorie Garrett, Penarth SC, 115Edward GarretUJones, Cambridge SC, 163Jean Gelry, Restarts SC, 106Alan Georgeson, Edinburgh SC, 159Enid Genard, Elgin SC. 102Joyce Gershon. Romford SC, 125Kathy Gibbons. Bournemouth. 118Wdf Gibbons, Bournemouth, 109Ralph Gibbs. Bournemouth, 151Jane Gibson, Ashton SC, 167Lynn Giles. East Berks SC. 114Simon Gillam. Edinburgh SC, 162Christine GWespte, Mopperley SC, 107Marjorie Gfllotl. Psalter SC. 122Helen Gipson. East Berks SC. 186Lena Glass, Edinburgh SC. 122Julia Glen. Perth SC. 107Fay Goble. Southsea SC. 99Paul Colder. BtOericay SC. 175Sharon Golder. Bifieticay SC. 124Am Gotding. Hocktey SC. 105Kenneth Gordon. Elgin SC. 127Lorraine Gordon. Elgin SC. 148Irene Gower, Coventry SC. 86Marilyn Graham. Perth SC. 70Barbara Grant. Edinburgh SC, 119Carol Grant, E Sutherland. 129EtBh Grant. Bon Accord SC. 9529

Agnes Gray. Glasgow SC, 104Louisa Gray, Bon Accord SC. 120May Gray, Nottingham SC, 99Rhoda Gray, Bon Accord SC, 114Helen Grayson. Aireborcugh. 17SJohn Grayson, UK-Scrabble, 181Dick Green. East Berks SC, 184Sheila Green, LSL. 153Helen Greenaway, Leicester SC, 167Maureen Greening-Steer, Reading SC, 140Jean Greenland, Newcastle SC, 928arry Grossman. LSL. 175Peter Groves. Cardiff SC, 108George Gruner, LSL, 156Steven Gru2d. Unattached, 174MaryGrytls, Melton SC, 177lanGucklhom. LSL, 177Agnes Gunn, Dunfermline, 132Norman Haddow. Crieff SC, 135Borne Had. Slanley SC, 96Colin Hall. Northcommon SC. 150Peter Hall, Rustington SC, 123Christine Hamilton. Leilh SC, 167Graham Harding, East Berks SC, 167Mavis Harding, East Berks SC. 120Paul Harding. Exeter SC. 110Margaret Harkrtess, Edinburgh SC, 119lain Harley. Bingoes SC, 152Michael Harley. Bon Accord SC. 137Jayne Harrison, Unattached, 60Jill Harrison. Cirencester, 111John Harrison. Newcastle SC. 12SAnn Harvey. Ryde (IOW) SC, 79Audrey Harvey, Leicester SC. 119Winnie Hasten. Edinburgh SC, 97Chris Hawkins. Peterborough. 167James Kay, Unattached, 80Teresa Haycock, Dcncaster SC, 105Keith Haynes, Havering SC. 115Straley Heal, Melton SC, 114Debbie Heaton, Verbigerators, 165Ken Heaton. Verbigerators. 161Ron Hendra, LSL. 143Dorothy Henry, Cleveland SC, 83Michael Herraghty. Elgin SC. 61JoyHewgill. Croydon SC. 120Anne Hidden, Harrogate SC, 153Kathleen Higgtns, Cirencester. 103Joanne Hiley. Coventry SC. 146Barbara Hill. Preston SC. 127Doug Hil. Lincoln SC, 128June Hill, New Sheffield. 136Teresa Hill, Lincoln SC, 119Unda Hillard, Cardiff SC, 139Sheila Hlnett. Dorian SC. 140Maijone Hislop, Bon Accord SC, 119Joy Hodge, Aiieborough, 121Sandra HofDand. Lang Toun SC, 144David Holland. Aireborough SC, 155Jo Holland, Romford SC, 91Mike Holland. Lincoln SC, 137Terry Hollington. Southampton. 159Roma Hollirtfjworth, Canterbury SC. 137Oebbie Holloway. Ryde (IOvV) SC. 135Cindy Hollyer. Brentwocd SC. 101Patricia Holmes, Bournemouth SC, 84Olive Holroyd. Kingston St M. 103Steven Hopper, Coventry SC, 144James Horsfall, Aireborough SC, 145Val Hoskings. Derby SC, 130Lionel Howard, Romford SC, 92Eric Howarth, Pudsey SC. 129Norma Howarth, Pudsey SC. 134John Howell, Romford SC, 168Hilda Hudspeth, Petenee SC. 121Ann Hughes, Cleveland SC. 125Joan Hughes, Belmont SC, 90Peter Hunt, Southsea SC. 139Peter Hunting. BillericaySC, 102Heather llott, Luton SC. 118Margaret Irons, Dundee SC, 116Marian Izatl Glasgow SC, 97Jake Jacobs, Cambridge SC, 171Jenny Jaques, Cowal SC, 101Elisabeth Jardine, Bournemouth, 158Joyce Jarvis. Unattached, 100Nicholas Jenkins, Havering SC, 128Kath Jennings, Unattached, 94Joan Johns, Salisbury SC. 99Pauline Johnson. Cleveland SC, 142Trish Johnson, Cleveland SC. 114Kay Johnston, Leith SC, 139Robert Johnston, Swansea SC, 155Sheila Johnston. AIness SC, 72Jean Johnstone, Lang Toun SC, 94Sheila Jctliffe. Newport (IOW). 126Adele Jones, Canterbury SC, 100Angie Jones, Southampton. 102Brian Jones, Southampton, 159Helen Jones, Newport SC, 144John Jones, Basingstoke. 121Mary Jones, Glasgow SC, 162Rosemary Jones, Southsea SC, 94Terry Jones, Newport SC, 144Christine Jukes, Shrewsbury SC, 106Marion Keatings. Lang Toun SC, 161Brian Keegan. Richmond SC, 112Luke Keegan, Richmond SC, 122Chris Keeley. LSL. 150Mary Keevey. Shrewsbury SC, 101Peter KeDy, Exeter SC, 127Wayne Kelly. Warrington SC, 158Andrew Kempley-Smrth, Unattached, ISODavid Kendix. LSL, 173Barbara Kent. Newport (IOW). 119Karl Khoshnaw, Richmond SC, 160

Ann Kingham, Coventry SC. 120Terry Kirk, LSL. 165Lilly Laker, Salisbury SC. 126Harshan Lamabadusuriya, BrightonfHove. 174Sharon Landau. LSL. 137Stella Lander. Doncaster SC, 152Molly Lane, Bournemouth, 110Davina Latham, Unattached, 140Peggy Lavender, Unattached, 62Joan Lawrence, Canterbury SC, 129Timothy Lawrence, Brighton SC, 164Anne Lawton. Woking SC. 109David Lawton. Guildford SC. 162Kathryn Le Grove, Southsea SC, 144Kate Leckie, Inverness SC, 145Marjcrle Lefley. Edinburgh SC. 117Martin Levenon. LSL, 129Sally Lewis. Bury SC. 138Peter Liggett. Lydney SC, 148Edna Undeck, Doncasler SC. 66Peter Lindeck, Doncaster SC. 114June Lindridge, Andover SC, 116Wendy Lindridse, Andover SC. 148Irene Lindsay, Lang Toun SC, 112Mary Lindsay. Romford SC, 129Gwen Linfoet, Cleveland SC. 86Bob Lipton, Unattached, 177Rosalyn Lishak. Unattached, 95Violettc Little, LSL. 102Lorna Llewellyn, WWtchurch SC, 99Chris Lloyd, Cardiff SC. 160Dale Lloyd. Southsea SC, 118Joy Lloyd, Cirencester, 1S7Dennis Lockwood, Leeds SC, 102David Longley, Aireborough SC. ISOJane Lowndes, Cirencester, 137Elsie Lucas, Penkridge SC, 115Jim Lyes. B& Hove SC. 107Bob Lynn. Salisbury SC, 155Pat MacBean. LSL. 155John Macdonald, AIness SC. 71Margaret Macdonald. Inverness SC, 94May Macdonald. AIness SC. 124Ruth Maclnerney. LSL. 162Lewis Mackay. New Sheffield, 158Jayne Mackenzie, New Sheffield, 164Donald MacLeod, Edinburgh SC. 163Brian Macmillan. Unattached, 144Fay Madeley, S Coldfield, 131Stella Magnus, LSL, 137Fiankia Mairey. Solon SC, 164Graham Maker, Chichester SC. 138Carol Malkin. Lang Toun SC, 140Kay Malpass, Woolwich SC, 110Mary Manson, Bourne SC. 103Freda Marcus, LSL, 117Brenda Margereson, Southampton, 141Ruth Marsden, Bournemouth, 106Ooreen Marsh. LSL, 149Joe Marsh, Cowal SC, 121Olive Matthew, Bon Accord SC, 87Ken Matthews, Cleveland SC, 151Stuart May, Romford SC, 115Tess McCarthy, Cardiff SC. 121Eddie McKeown. Glasgow SC, 136Isabelle McLean. LSL. 112John McLean, Unattached, 110Margaret McLean, Unattached. 121Jackie McLeod, LSL. 176Lois McLeod. Luton SC. 136Lou McMeeken, Burton SC, 138Kate McNulty. Newcastle SC. 144David Meadows. Oerby SC. 158Betty Meazey. WWtchurch SC, 84Audrey Medhuret. West Berks SC. 77Shanker Menon, Richmond SC, 169Thomas Mensah. Unattached. 144Moira Metcalf. Unattached. 87Sylvia Meyrick, Southampton SC, 137Janet Mttford, Southampton, 122Eve Mittington. WWtchureh SC. 114Margaret Mills, Ounfermline, 93Helen Mitchell. Bon Accord SC. 145John Mitchell. Wyro Fcrest SC. 146Martha Mitchell, Wyre Forest SC. 130Judy Monger, Cirencester, 102Sheila Moore. Leicester SC. 112Hartley Mocrhouse, Richmond SC, 173Mollie Moran, Bournemouth. 107Huw Morgan, Swansea SC, 155Ruth Morgan-Th, LSL. 183Doreen Morris, Bristol SC, 109Helen Morris, Carshalton SC, 112Philippa Morris. LSL. 124Stan Morris. Carshatton SC. 97Miriam Moss, Edinburgh SC, 101Peter Munt, Stewartry SC. 85Russell Murch, Devon Dimwits, 160Joan Murphy, Harrogate SC, 122Michael Murray. Newcastle SC, 72Cecil Muscat, Billericay SC. 172Bizabeth Mustard, Restalrig SC, 68Alice Nadin, Bournemouth. 118Esther Nayior, Steel City SC, 129Julie Nelkon, Unattached. 135Philip Nelkon. UK-Scrabble, 185Dennis Nelson, Gorseinon SC, 112Christine Nicholson. Sunderland SC. 110Paul Nind, New Sheffield. 156Esme Norris. Gloucester SC, 107Brenda Northcott. Unattached, 100David Nunn. Unattached, 159LesNyman, LSL. 160Mark Nyman. Unattached, 194Adesanmi Odelana, LSL. 139Kenneth Oliver. Crieff SC. 156

Mary Oratn. Truro SC, 130Mike CRourke. Cambridge SC, 159Nuala OTJourke. Leicester SC, 161CeGa Osborn. Coventry SC. 120Gwynfof Owen, Uandudno SC, 13dBryn Packet. Newport SC. 146Marigold Page, Canterbury SC, 122Eva Patne. Billerieoy SC, 113Hazel Parkef. Newport (IOW). 117Jill Paiker. Ooncastn SC, 100Michael Partner, Croydon SC, 138Patricia Potion, Hythe SC, 107Olivia Potion. Cowal SC. 113Trieia Pay. Unattached. 136Gerry Pearee. Plymouth SC. 94Dorothy Pearson, Newcastle SC, 104Andrew Perry. Highworth SC, 184Marie Perry. Rending SC. 94Stove Perry. Highworth SC. 163Vanessa Petero, LSL. 124Dorothy Petrle. Bon Accord SC. 11SDavid Phillips. Unattached, 124Janet Philips, Wrocombo SC. 159Adam Philpotto. Sheffield SC. 148Kim PMpps. ISL. 133Down Pierce, Wrexham SC. 115Stuart Pierce, Wrexham SC. 134Matthew Pinner, Preston SC, ISOAnn Pltblado. Dunfermline, 129Gary Polhill. Unattached. 180Helen PoIhlD. Dunfermline, 97Marco Post. Unattached. 162Steve PowcD. Kingston St M. 105Kay Powick. Unattached. 136Diane Protest. Unattached. 162Maura Prates!. LSL. 134Doreon Pratt Bon Accord SC. 110Peter Preston, Bon Accord SC, 167Barbara Prtco. Bury SC. 133Joan Price. HlghwerthSC. 118Alison Pritchard, Crier) SC. 110Margaret Ptttchett. Melton SC, 149MM Purse. Ciiencester. 140Paul Pye. Aahton SC. 123Chris Quartermaine, Aohton SC, 147May Quigley, Glasgow SC, 117Malcolm Qulrie. Edinburgh SC. 146Mary Raits. Dorian SC. 101Anno Ramsay, Lang Toun SC, 150Mina Rao, Edinburgh SC, SOLorrta Ropley. East Midlands. 136Jean Rappltt, Penorth SC, 151Maureen Rayson. Metton SC, 152David Reading, Newport (IOW). 127Martin Reed. UK-Scrabblo. 165Helen Rees, BiHertcay SC, 144Joan Ross. BHtaScoy SC. 126ShsOa Reove. Romford SC. 106Jayne ReiDy. Perth SC, 138Maureen Reynolds. Dorking SC. 132Connie Riach. Inverness SC, 108Robert Richland. LSL, 178Carols Rison. Southampton SC, 150Colin Rhrington. Woking SC. 107Geruo Roberts, Carshalton SC, 140Malcolm Roberts, Melton St M, 148Alec Robertson, Dunfermline, 146Douglas Robinson, Harrogate SC, 103Jared Robinson, MapperteySC, 172Wenna Robinson, Sale SC, 104Pat Rocktey. Mapperley SC, 114Brenda Rodwell, Ryde (ICW) SC. 125Jean Ross. Cleveland SC, 91Sheila Ross. EcSnburgh S SC, SOStuart Ross, Lincoln SC, 101Andrew Roughten. Coventry SC, 169Eric Rowland. Luton SC. 109Neil Rowley. Airebarough. 163Kitty Rugman. Ryde (IOW) SC. 125Alei Sadler. Leicester SC. 88Alison Sadler, Leicester SC, 139Allan Saldanho. Unattached. 188Helen Sandier. LSL. 104Kwaku Sapong. Unattached. 150Roy Sounders, Unattached, 112Neil Scott. Bon Accord SC. 181WiBc Scott. Leith SC. 129Margaret Seabrook, Dorking SC, 106Les Searle. Newport SC. 91Kevin Sellars, Unattached. 143Barbara Shammas, Ickenham SC, 141Fuad Shammas, Ickenham SC, 122Judi Shannon. Unattached. 80Betty Sharp, Coventry SC. 10SJean Shaw. Southsea SC, 116Mdeolm Shaw. Richmond SC, 112David Shenkin. LSL. 140Mary Shielfcj. Newcastle SC. 79Peter Shlilng. Swiss Cottage, 118Austin Shin. Aytesbury SC, 136Yoke Shin. Aylesbury SC. 97Peggy Shortl, Salisbury SC, 83Peter ShutUewood, Havering SC. 87Iris ShuMewerth. S Coldfteld, 116Lon ShutUeworth. S Coldfietd. 136Mary Siggers. B 4 Hove SC. 102Peter Sime, Southsea SC, 121VeraSime. Southsea SC. 113Allan Simmons, UK-Scntbblo, 188Cffll Simmons. Unattached. 132Sandie Simonb. LSL. 167Evan Simpson. Unattached. 176Alan Sinclair, liah SC. 167Hony Sinclair, Cowal SC, 113May Sinclair, Cowal SC. 68Martcne Skinner, Nottingham SC. 12932

Stan Skinner. Haitsham SC. 129Joanna Shifting, Peterlee SC, 113Susan Staving, Patellae SC. 135Maggie Sly. Hlglmoith SC. 104Carol Smith, Norwich SC. 148CaroB Smith. Rydo (IOW) SC, 147Etfth Smith, Pendle SC, 128Eric Smith. Whseombo SC, 124Hazel Smith, Mellon SI M, 117Joyce Smith. Penartti SC, 121Marjorie Smith. Leicester SC. 133Norman Smith, Pendle SC, 147Pearl Smith, Dunfermline, 112Sheila Smith, Newcastle SC, 90Winifred Smith. Whitchurch SC. 104Brett Smitheram, Exeter SC. 194Abraham Scsseh. Bournemouth, 147Joceryn Soutar, Richmond SC, 139CUve Spate. Notts Nomads. 188Sheila Spate. Notts Nomads. 165Rose Spencer, Pendle SC. 143Angela SpiHbury, Horrogato SC, 139Joyce Squire. Cardiff SC. 133Carol Stanley. WoUng SC. 1S9Donna Stanton. Sale SC. 134Sheila Stanton. Unattached. 80Margaret Staunton, Bournemouth, 131Nicola Staunton. Bournemouth, 92Paul Steadman, Milton Keyneo, 118Jean Stevens, Harrogota SC. 108Anne Steward, Lang Toun SC. 146Val Stewart. Reading SC. 107Winifred Still. Cleveland SC. 118Monica StoekweH. Baeingttoka. 125Judy Straughan, Soulhsea SC, 145Doris Street, Southampton, 119Brian Sugar, Nolls Nomads, 184Grace Summers, Highworth SC. 92Ruth Suny. Merton SC, 103Kate Surtees. Inverness SC. 150Margaret Sutherland. Alness SC. 83Angela Swain, Boumemoulh. 151Ivan Swallow. Ryde (IOW) SC. 149Jean SwaDow. Southampton, 110Sylvia Swaney. Edinburgh SC, 138Kevin Synnott. Hockley SC. 138Julie Tate, Glasgow SC, 128Raymond Tate. Glaogow SC. 157Dorothy Taylor. Leicester SC. 136Jo Tebbutt, Newport (IOW). 116Edith Tempest. USA Taunten, 120Sonla Temple, Dortcaotef SC. 105Evan Terrett. Newport (tOW) SC. 130Elzsbeth Terry. WoUng SC. 116Graeme Thomas. LSI. 178Jane Thomas. Kockley SC. 81Martin Thomas, LSL. 161Peter Thomas. Unattached. 119Ran Thompson. Edinburgh S SC, 154Gill Thompson, Kingston St M. 120Helen Thompson, Basingstoke. 77Josef Thompson, Cleveland SC, 147Martin Thompson, Newcastle SC. 172Norah Thompson, Mappeney SC. 94Peter Thompson. Basingstoke, 159Sue Thompson, Cleveland SC. 124Maria Thomson. LSL. 148Derrick Thome. Dorian SC. 135Gladys Tremey, Southsea SC. 131Wendy Tiley. Newport (IOW). 130Mo TiUey. Unattached, 124Pam Tttheradge, Croydon SC, 149Rita Todd. Southsea SC. 137Ann Toft. AshtonSC, 116Jessie Tollick, Lang Toun SC. 119Alice Tozeland. Canterbury SC. 120Beryl Trace, Gloucester SC, 88Cheryl Tracey, Newcastle SC. 102Maria TreadweS. Highworth SC. 127Lesley Trotter. Leicester SC. 143Jon Turner. Ryde (IOW) SC. 136Noel Turner. Newport (IOW). 172MichaeklohnTurp, Lincoln SC, 106Sheila Tutl, S Downs SC, 115Frances Ure, Gcrseinon SC, 138Monica Urquhart, Whltby SC, 100Chris Vicary. Unattached, 163Linda Vickers. Penarth SC, 140Bob Voted. Unattached. 160Claire Vfclett Unattached. 111Amy Vye. Melton SC. 106Graham WakeSeW. Bourne SC. 161Anne Walker. Dundee SC. 108Dennis Walker, DunfermGne SC. 154RooeWaH.Whit6ySC.MSheila Wall, Northcommon, 130Evelyn Wallace. Hockley SC. 122Teena Wans. Dunfermline, 146Henry Walton. Bradfordlan SC. 153Sandra Walton. Bradfordian SC. 124Kathleen Ward. Mapperley SC. 113Nancy Ward, Cleveland SC. 89Mary Warwick. Bournemouth. 84Wdma Warwick. Lecth SC. 171Brian Watson. Newcastle SC, 140Lesley Watson, Luton SC. 141Sadie Watson. Aberdeen SC, 96Malcolm Weam. Southsea SC, 130Alec Webb, Lowestoft SC, 188Dovid Webb. Unattached, 195Joyce WeSon. Hockley SC, 97Alec West. Stewartry SC. 78Pat Wheeler. Ashton SC, 132Daphne White. Safsbury SC. 99Jacsui White. RomfordSC. 110Lucy White. Cardiff SC. 88

Margaret White. Hockley SC. 117Chris Wide. Exeter SC, 113Isla Wdkie. Edinburgh SC. 134Phyllis Wilkins. Reading SC. 109Stanley Wilkinson, Ryde SC. 80Dotothy Wlks. Ryde (IOW) SC. 109David WHiams. Cardiff SC. 146Elizabeth Wiliams. Petettee SC. 65GarethWffliaira. Cardiff SC. 191Jean WiBams. Cardiff SC. 140Jean-Iris WiBiams. Newport SC. 97Margaret WSams, Corseinon SC. 131Karen Wtts. Milton Keynes. ISOMike Wrais. Mflen Keynes. 175June Wteon. SandweD SC. 130Sheena Wilson. Elgin SC. 124Tom Wilson. Glasgow SC. 150Pamela Windsor. Croydon SC, 115RacheOe Winei, LSL. 161Amabel Winter. Bournemouth, 91Bessie Witter. Newcastle SC. 78Lorna Wtshart. Bon Accord SC. 108Simon Wood. Unattached. 123Richard Woodward. LSI.. 1S3IrenoWooSey. LSL. 103Shirley Wright. Ashton SC. 112Val Wright. Bournemouth. 141SonjaWyld. Salisbury SC. 110Margaret Yeadon. Pudsey SC. 127Nancy Yorkston. Edinburgh SC, 81Judy Young. Bastngstoko, 120Ricky Zinger. Glasgow SC. 154Jill Zinzan. S Downs SC, 130Leading positions:1 Andrew Davis. Richmond SC2 Andrew Fisher. UK-Scrabble3 David Acton, Newcastle SC4 PhilAppleby. Southampton5 David Webb, Unattached6 Mark Nyman. Unattached6 Brett Smitheram. Exeter SC8 Andrew Cook, Oxford City9 Gareth Williams, Cardiff SC10 Femi Awowade. Unattached10 Russell Byers. Mapperiey SC12 AOan Saktanha, Unattached12 Allan Simmons. UK-Scrabble12 Ciive Spate. Notts Nomads12 Alec Webb. Lowestoft SC16 Paul Allan, Glasgow SC17 Helen Gipson. East Berks SC18 Terry Kirk. LSL18 Philip Nelkon. UK-Scrabble20 Dick Green. East Berts SC20 Andrew Perry. Highwcrth SC20 Bnan Sugar. Notts Nomads23 Ruth Morgan-Th. LSL24 Da/ryl Francis. Carshatcon SC25 John Graysan. UK-Scrabble25 Ue» Scon. Bon Accord SC27 Penny Downer. Newport (IOW)27 Richard Evans. LSL27 Karl Khoshnaw. Richmond SC27 Gary PottitU. Unattached27 Bob Vwletl. Unattached32 Joyce Cansfteld. AJteborough32 Peter Finley. Tyne & Wear34 EDo Dangoor. LSL34 Robert Richland. LSL34 Graeme Thomas. LSL37 Mary Grytls. Melton SC37 Ian GucMhom. LSL205 37 Bob Upton. Unattached 177199 40 Di Dennis. LSL 176197 40 Jackie McLeod. LSL 176196 40 Evan Simpson. Unattached 176195 43 Paul Golder. Billertcay SC 17S194 43 Helen Grayson, Aireborough 175194 43 Barry Grossman. LSL 175193 43 Mike Willis. Millon Keynos 175191 47 Martin Fowkes. Unattached 174189 47 Steven Gruid, Unattached 174189 47 Harshan Lamabadunuriya, Brighton/Hove 174188 50 David Kendlx. LSL 173188 50 Hartley Moorhouse, Richmond SC 173188 52 Cecil Muscat. Bitaicay SC 172188 52 Jared Robinson. Mappertoy SC 172187 52 Martin Thompson. Newcastle SC 172186 52 Noel Turner. Newport (IOW) 172185 56 Danny Bekhor. LSL 171185 56 Jake Jacobs. Cambridge SC 171184 56 Wima Warwick. Loith SC 171184 59 Nicholas Ban. New Sheffield 169184 59 Rob Dowse. New Sheffield 169183 59 Shanker Menon, Richmond SC 169182 59 Andrew Roughton. Coventry SC 169181 63 Philip Cohen. LSL 168181 63 John HoweU. Romford SC 168180 65 Adebowale Ajooc. Unattached 167180 65 Bob Berry. LSL 167180 65 Simon Carter. Unattached 167180 65 Jane Gibson. Aohton SC 167180 65 Helen Greenoway. Leicester SC 167179 65 Christine Hamilton. Leith SC 167179 65 Graham Harding, East Berks SC 167178 65 Chris Hawkins. Peterborough 167178 65 Peter Preston. Bon Accord SC 167178 65 Sandie Simonis. LSL 167177 65 Alan Sinclair, Lofth SC 167177 76 Christina French. Havering SC 166

Mlko ORourko22 Kestrel RoadOAKHAMRutlandLE1S 6BUBon RecordReport by Neil Scott[Aberdeen]This year's Aberdeen tournament went smoothly enough: 56 entrants with 28 in each group.The A/B rating cut-off was 128 which, though better than last year is still pretty low. The final ofdivision A between Amy Byrne and Marion Keating produced a draw with Amy winning thetournament on spread. Next year I want to play!Division A Division BPosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1AmyByrne4.5+2711Mariorie Hislop5+2242Marion Keatinqs4.5+2082Barbara Grant4+3993Alan Sinclair4+5473Willie Scott4+3554Raymond Tate4+4824Marqaret Harkness4+3135Simon Glllam4+4495Mariorie Leflev4+240The Essex ClassicReport by Paul GolderThis tournament, in its 3rd year, is open exclusively to Essex residents and those in "old Essex"(London boroughs north of the Thames and east of the river Lea). With a record turnout thistime (38 players) it is possibly the UK's biggest "local" tournament. The tournament itself is verymuch an end-of-season event to celebrate the end of the Essex league season; Ruth Morgan-Thomas won the League too, and demolished all the opposition to do the double:Division ADivision BPosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1R.Moroan-Thomas5+4061Garry Clark4+3652Paul Golder3+832Moby Cook4+2203Alan Catherall3+353Thomas Mensah3+3224Rachelle Winer2-1144Mary Lindsay3+17035

Division CPosn1NameCindy HollyerScore4Spread+312234Brenda NorthcottAnn GoldinqDorothy Edwards444+304+218+116ExeterISCHReport by Andy Davis and Mike O'RourkeThe ISCA warm up event held on the Friday and Saturday morning of the Easter weekend hadsome surprises with Martin Reed and Diana Beasley excelling themselves. Ruth Maclnemeyfinished a credible fourth and Captain Terry Kirk finished fifth - four places down from his usualposition.Division A:Posn1234NameB. SmitheramM. ReedD. BeasleyR. MaclnernevScore6544Spread326721265157T. Kirk477In Division B, there were some familiar faces at the top of the leader board but it was JuneWilson who won the event:Division B:Posn12345Ratinq131133134138134NameJ. WilsonL. VickersM. AllenM. PartnerD. ShenkinScore5.554.544Spread17145257160134Exeter Clabbers EuentReport by Mike O'RourkeFurious activity took place in the evenings and at meal times as the second Easter 'Clabbers'event took place in parallel to the main events. As I reported last year, there seems to be apreponderance of 'Andrews' who play Clabbers. It is also unusual to discover Just how manypeople will claim to have a second name of Andrew just to cash in on this odd phenomenon! As

efore this was a straight knockout and was won by Andrew Fisher who beat Brett (Andrew)Smitheram in the final.Exeter Main EuentReport by Andy DavisWell, another Easter weekend has come and gone. Things seem to have gone as smoothly asusual, I haven't received too many complaints. The main non-scrabbling problem seemed to bethe early-morning alarm call for the Chagford block on Sunday Morning.The event filled up much more quickly than in previous years. I had to disappoint a number ofpeople wanting to get in after the event became full. If I run the event in future, I would be quitehappy to reserve individuals a place if they inform me early enough that they are thinking ofcoming.Scrabble-wise, the spacing of the tables was a bit cosier than usual, due to the increased numberof contestants. There were a few minor disputes for the director to sort out, usually Involvingmechanical clocks. I am aware of only one mis-adjudication of a challenge, and this was rechecked,so fortunately did not affect the outcome of the game.I made the decision to keep the SOWPOOS division to 19 players so that the person sitting out ineach round could adjudicate for the group, and I feel that keeping the SOWPODS group separatefrom the OSW groups in this way worked well.My own performance was much better than I expected, as I have been resting on my laurels abit since earlier performances this season. My best words were OUTBEAM ($) and REAGINIC ($).Impressive plays from my opponents were RABBONI (the first word I saw in the tournament, byJohn Grayson), SCRANNEL and FILAREES ($) from Femi, UNDOTTED ($) from the Fisherman,and MALTSTER from Martin. Particular commiserations to Martin, who would most certainly havebeaten me, were it not for an amazingly jammy penultimate rack on my part. The spectre of 0.00was raised when I took 10 points from a player to win the game, when their counter was stoppedon 0.00.The results of the weekend are as follows:Division A: 18 rounds fixed, plus 1 KotH: Division B: Round robin:Posn123NameA. PerryG. PolhillH. GreenawayScore131312Spread706464503Posn123NameJ. PhillipsD. EllisP. MacBeanScore141312.5Spread9411024-5745P. DownerR.Richland11.51133436845S. BalmentN. O'Rourke1211.578498Division C: Round robin:Division D: Round robin:Posn1234SNameM. AllenL. VickersM. OramE. DraperV. WriqhtScore15.513131212Spread608888209456254Posn12345NameM. SkinnerC. OsbornE. TempestJ. MurphyM. LaneScore1616151511Spread105092678412730437

SOWPODS division: Round robin with a dummy player:Posn1234NameA. FisherA. DavisB. SmitheramD.WebbScore14131211Spread663456594544Thanks to Graeme and Vanessa for their part in organising the tourney, and congratulations to alldivisional winners, particularly SOWPODS and OSW A (I always thought the best scrabble playerswere called Andrew).As you may be aware, the fate of next year's Easter Weekend is undecided. I understand that theABSP committee will be discussing this in some depth at the next meeting, and I look forward tohearing the outcome of their deliberations.Sub-Editor's note:From this edition onwards, I have decided to include a match perspective from one of the playersat the bigger events. This month, as we have lauded the talents of ScratibleS-playtng 'Andrews',it seems only appropriate to include the thoughts of Sowpods winner, Andrew Fisher. This mayalso give some of the Sowpods doubters a fresh overview of the game played to that particularword source. All OSPD only words are marked $ all other words are in OSW. MORMy first round was a sit-out. All SOWPODS division players had to experience a bye at somestage, and I was delighted that mine was in game one rather than towards the end of the event.The campaign started in earnest with a tense win over Martin Reed. I had been faced with aninteresting decision on move 3 with the rack DDIPSU? - there was a floating R which would allowme to play SPUDDIeR for 72, but there was also a central ER which provided SPUDDIER for 42,keeping the blank. I opted for the latter and gained a small lead, which I think was the betterplay, although my rack took ages to mature subsequently.Round three saw me defeat my (so-called) bogey player Helen Grayson by one point - a verysatisfying victory after so many losses at her hands in the past.I kept on grinding out the wins, though I struggled early on against Brian Sugar In round 6, andwas fifty behind with the rack HLNPWX? as we reared the endgame. After dumping with HWAN($), I was forced into playing VOX which also set up a MK(Y) hook onto the triple with bothblanks and Vs unseen. Brian ignored the spot, and I pounced with a winning PYLONS for 69.Game ten saw my tenth successive win, this time against Allan SaManha. Allan was somewhatstunned by my victory (by Just two points), and gratfyingly described my endgame choice as'one hell of a move". Another narrow win came in round eleven, this time over young Brett, andmy last three games had generated just 28 spread points.Sadly my run had to come to an end, and my nemesis came in the shape of Helen Glpson. It waspretty dose, but I ended up having to try MUTES(S) as a hook to no avail. I had also missedHANDWRTT ($) on move one of this game, one of eight missed bonus plays during thetournament.I recommend tomato juice with tabasco as a lunchtime starter. I had this prior to my next game,and also the memorable eighteenth against David Acton. I started against Feml Awowade withOXEYE ($), and without doing much that was remarkable, finished by scoring 589 to his 225. Thespread of 364 is comfortably my highest against A division opposition, though I did once exceed450 against Gordon Proctor in an NSC qualifier. Feml was reduced to laughter as I went out withHOARIER, leaving him with the rack DECEASE. Surprisingly, I had no S's in this game.

Things went a bit downhill from this point, with defeats by Mark Nyman, Phil Appleby and AndyDavis In the last five games. One particular point of regret was when Phil placed his bonusSTRAINS in one part of the board, almost hit his dock and then reconsidered - the secondposition he chose blocking my potential play of PTERYGIA.Approaching game 18, Andy Davis was one win behind and could win if there was a swing inspread of about 450. He was playing Martin Reed, while I was paired with Ivan Oddcat.The last game was a stormer. We both started like trains, though I happened to pull ahead withplays of H1NNIED and ALSOONE to his choice REACQUIRE. On the final racks, I realised that hecould either score 64 with ADZ/ZO, or go out with BOZO. I was over 500 by this point, anddecided it would be nice for both of us to reach that figure - so I let him have the former byblocking the latter. I ultimately won by 539/502. David mischievously suggested that he shouldquote his own score to Andy, who had beaten Martin by 70-odd, and then see his reaction whenhe announced "Unfortunately, Andrew scored 539".This was a tremendously enjoyable event and an amazing result for me. I cant believe I willmaintain (his sort of form for too long. I would mention that I am more adventurous than I usedto be, after hearing comments a while back that I was more successful in friendlies than ratedgames. My attitude now is to concentrate more on improving my rack leave, even when thisappears to open up opportunities for my opponent, as I find that more often than not I end upusing the opportunity myself. I am sure that state of mind has a lot to do with winning as well,and I may do an article for the newsletter giving away some of my psychological tips. Thenagain, maybe ifs wisest not to...Durham ... God Help Us Next VearReport by Pete FinleyDid we miss a Durham tournament somewhere? The records say this one was thetwelfth, but long before the end we felt sure it must have been the thirteenth.The run up to the tournament had been smoother than usual. Even the late cancellation of JoanLawrence, who had bronchitis, wasn't a problem for long. It left us with an odd number ofplayers, but that was sorted out almost immediately when Paul Allan rang to ask if he was toolate to enter. Our only worry was that we were a little short-handed in terms of runners.It turned out we were saving all our bad luck for the weekend. One player took exception to acomment made by his opponent and went home after only two games. That freed one player ineach round to act as an extra runner, so that particular doud had a silver lining. But then thingsstarted getting worse. At the end of the first day, Ken and Lorraine Gordon, who had travelled allthe way down from Aberdeenshire, discovered that their car had been stolen. Not surprisingly,they decided not to play on the Sunday and went home by train.Things kept on getting worse. As we were about to start the first game on Sunday, Kate McNultypointed out that her opponent wasn't present She went off to look for her and came backdistraught, having found her in a hypoglycaemic state. As I was about to leave to get help forher, Barrte Hall came up to report that another player had swallowed a Scrabble tile! I decidedthe first patient's need was greater and left Barrie to cope. Fortunately the player hadn'tswallowed the tile and it was found later. Meanwhile an ambulance took the first casualty tohospital and she missed the rest of the tournament. I'm glad to say that my triage andparamedical skills were not called upon again.39

One further mishap, which I didn't observe but which I was informed of later by our esteemedChairperson, involved one highly respected female player and some defective knicker elastic. Thefood, which was particularly good this year, may have been a contributory factor. Apart fromthese problems, the tournament went very well.For the first time ever, we had a SOWPODS division in addition to our usual three. This helpedtake the player total over 100 again after a slight dip last year.It was pleasing to see that the SOWPODS division was not made up exclusively of the veryhighest rated players, which has sometimes been the case elsewhere. On this occasion, the likesof Raymond Tate, Nick Deller and Mike O'Rourke bravely squared up to the big hitters, whoincluded Andy Davis, David Acton, Terry Kirk, Di Dennis and Evan Simpson. Helen Grayson and DiDennis led after rounds one and two, but David Acton took over in round three and was theovernight leader, despite losing to Andy Davis in round six. Terry Kirk was second, also on 5wins, having tost only to David.On Sunday, David charged on relentlessly, while Terry stuttered slightly with a draw against DiDennis. Andy Davis, although holding third place, was effectively out of the running after a roundeight defeat by Peter Preston. Going into the tenth and final round, David was on eight wins,Terry on seven and a half. As the SOWPODS players had earlier voted to make the final roundKing of the Hill, they were paired against each other. The key moment came when David bled topluralise FEW and had It challenged off. Terry took the game by 43 points and with it the title.Meanwhile Andy Davis gained revenge over Peter Preston to dinch third place. Messrs. O'Rourke,Tate and Deller filled the last three places, but were not disgraced, winning two and a half, threeand four games respectively - no mean feat In such Illustrious company.Adjudicating for the SOWPODS division was an interesting experience. I alternated betweenamazement at plays like LAARI, WOOLD, THRAWN, GUIMP, ANANKES and BIVTA (all but LAARIin OSW, incidentally) and astonishment that words like FUTZ, JEON, JINS, MIB, NAW, UTA andVIG were being challenged. Even I can remember these from 1993!Division A was inevitably weakened by the existence of the SOWPODS division but, with playersof the quality of Nell Scott, Paul Allan, Joyce Cansfield, Jackie McLeod and Martin Fowkes at thehead of the list, it could hardly be described as a pushover. Graham Wakefield and WilmaWarwick were the early leaders but Martin Fowkes took over in round three and saw off hisclosest challenger, Rob Dowse, In the next round to open up a gap at the top. Paul Allan led thechasing pack and in round six toppled Martin to hold the overnight lead. Neil Rowley completed agood day's work by beating Chris Hawkins to complete a trio of leaders on five wins out of six.On Sunday morning Neil fell to Paul, while Martin's win over Lewis Mackay kept up the pressure.In round eight things got very interesting, with Paul and Martin both losing, to Rob Dowse andAlan Sinclair respectively, leaving these four all on six wins. In round nine Sod's Law struck. Anadjudication error was made and, naturally, it was in a crucial game and probably affected theresult. Paul Allan, playing Alan Sinclair, challenged a three word move involving PODA. It cameback ticked, incorrectly, and wasn't rechaltenged. Alan won the game. Martin and Rob also won.The final pairings saw Rob and Alan drawn together, while Martin faced Joyce Cansfield. Robstormed home In the deciding game by 169 points to take first place. Despite losing to Joyce,Martin held on to third place, while Paul Allan beat Margaret Burden to dinch the runner-up spot.Division B saw seven different players hold the lead at various times. On Saturday It was PhllippaMorris, Cathy Anderson, Maureen Rayson, Cathy again, and again, then Lorraine Gordon, whobeat Cathy in the final game of the day to stand alone on six wins. Cathy was at that point insecond place. Sadly, Lorraine took no further part in the tournament. However, the next three,Kate McNulty, Peter Ashurst and Liz Barber, were to be very much Involved the following day.The absence of the Gordons meant that several players had to be given byes on Sunday. KateMcNulty, managed to go top of the table after being awarded her first (bye) game. She then40

played Peter Ashurst In round eight but Peter won to become the sixth player to hold the lead. Inround nine, Peter was beaten by Liz Barber who made it seven different leaders. Janice Beaseand June Edwards joined Liz and Peter on seven wins. In the final round Liz beat Janice and Junebeat Kate. Liz just held off June on spread to win the title and Tom Wilson beat Peter Ashurst totake third.Unlike the other three divisions, Division C turned out to be something of a procession. GordonCox led after round one, but Paul Pye took over after round two and was never headed again.Overnight, he was alone on six wins with Christine Nicholson on five and the chasing pack onfour.On Sunday Paul didn't have it all his own way, losing twice in succession in rounds seven andeight, to Fred Burford and Jessie Tollick. However, victories over Violette Little and Gordon Cox Inthe last two rounds took him safely home. After the second of his two defeats, Barbara Hill,Jessie Tollick and Marjorie Lefley were all on six wins along with Paul. Barbara and Marjorie keptthe heat on with wins in round nine, but Marjorie lost in the final round and while Barbara wonagain, Paul hung on to take the title by 51 points of spread. Irene Woolley won her final matchto move through into third place.All in all, it was an eventful but still enjoyable and highly memorable tournament. I hadn't beenpleased about missing a Sundertand home game, but a 0-0 draw with Sheffield United made merealise I'd definitely been in the right place. We were already home and dry as championsanyway, so who cares!Words I didn't know included BEVUE, PEAVY, HEEZE, PROTEASE, VIGIA, FAVELA, ATHEISED,RICIN, PARURE, INSANIE and CRIMEN. And that's just from the words which were challenged -there were probably many more I didn't know that weren't.My particular thanks go to Laura, who was very nervous about taking control of the computer forthe first time but did a brilliant job, despite her one mistake. Thanks also to the team of runners -Ian, Stuart, Richard and Yvonne - and to Graeme.Thanks also to Chris Hawkins for organising the Speed Scrabble event. My first ever attempt at itended in a defeat by Lewis Mackay. I felt a lot better when he went on to win the final.Next year really is the thirteenth Durham tournament. If we don't turn up, you know why.SOWPODS Division APosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1Terry Kirk8.55981Rob Dowse86432David Acton86852Paul Allan77123Andy Davis73423Martin Fowkes73964Di Dennis5.5-1454Alan Sinclair71495Graeme Thomas51545Joyce Cansfield6.5-68Division BDivision CPosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1Liz Barber85461Paul Pye84402June Edwards84682Barbara Hill83893Tom Wilson75413Irene Woolley75674Moya Dewar74194Fred Burford73885Ian Bum72915Mariorie Leflev7188

LondonReport by Graeme ThomasThe venue, in Harrow's Qvic Centre, was superb. If one were in a quibbling mood, one mightsay that the lighting was a little dim in places, but that would not give a true picture of thegeneral excellence of the place. The food was good, and the tea and coffee, with home-madecakes for the afternoon break, were plentiful. All in all, it was a good event.Division A:Division B:PosnNameScoreSpreadPosnNameScoreSpread1J. McLeod68171M. Bright62502E. Dartqoor53972B. Bull550634S. PenvT. Kirk5430932834G. RobertsL. Gradus553552375P. Cohen42925K. Synott4349.Division C:PosnNameScoreSpread1M. Weatherill66682M. White54913R. LuchmunS4884P. Fernandezs2525S. Bullock4411Spalding Charity EuentReport by Graham Wakefield72 players attended the 9th running of this yearly event, held on behalf of charity, from dubs inLincolnshire and its surrounding Counties. The charity LIVES will this year benefit by the tune ofaround £300. (LIVES stands for Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Services who areon call 24 hours a day, every day to rush to any accident to give medical aid at the scene prior touplifting to hospital and thereby saving precious minutes In a victims fight for life.) Local firmssponsor all vehicles used and their running costs and special equipment are met by donationssuch as this one.Prizes were awarded to the 1st three in each division. A booby prize went to Doreen Murphy forfinishing lowest of an the divisions. A prize for highest game score went to Kate Barratt with 555points and she also won the highest word score with LUMBERED for 140. Other high scores wereCRAZIEST 137, JINGLED 121, POUNCING 107 and UNSIZED 101 and most of these were madeby Div B players!!

Division A Division BPosn1234SNameI. Raptey (EM)S. Balment (M)G. Lawson (L)P. Dean (P)M. Pritchett (M)Score55444Spread827364276261•64Posn12345NameJ. Roqers (Le)B. Robinson (B)P. Hunter (D)M. Culpin (G)M. Brown (Ma)Score55444Spread478472497466404DtvisionCPosn12345NameM. Gray (N)M. Whatmouqh(L)E. Draper (D)D. Mfertes (L)E. Moqqan (B)Score54.5444Spread6%274221208207dubs: EM = East Midlands.M = Melton.P ° Peterborough.Le = Leicester. B = Boume,G = Grantham. L = Lincoln.Ma = Mappertey. D = Donninqton,N = NottinghamScottishReport by Amy ByrneChampionshipsPerth hosted the Scottish Scrabble Championships for the second time. The function suite atDewar's Ice Rinks Is one of the best playing areas for Scrabble in Scotland, if not the UK. Afterthe 6 games on Saturday Wilma Warwick was in the lead having won all her games but hot onher heels was a veritable posse of hopefuls including Paul Allan, Neil Scott, Peter Preston, MaryJones to name a few.The second day started well for Wilma winning the next 3 games but by this time only Paul Allanwas one game behind her. However Paul had a huge spread and it meant that if Wilma lost agame he would overtake her for poll position. Game 10 saw the same scenario but Game 11 sawPaul foil and Wilma was now unbeatable. However, like atl true champions she didn't relax goinginto the final game and she beat Anne Ramsay (one of her bogle players) convincingly. All hereIn Scotland are delighted that WUma has won the Championship once again, especially this year,confirming her selection as trie Scottish representative In the WSC in Melbourne. The finaloutcome and prize winners are shown below:Posn12345NameWilma WarwickPaul AllanPeter PrestonDonald MadeodNeil ScottScore1210888Spread8731601637565403Newsflash: The 1999 Irish Champion and Irish representative for the World Championships inMelbourne in November is Brendan McDonnell - congratulations to Brendan from The LastWord'.

Clabbers Eulega ReportReport by Sir Nick ShwahA presedtea nabd fo Tase Dinlamsd dan Bamcs yapsler guleraryt teme pu ot yalp a Clabbersdonur inbors.Crunter sponrjnis ni het Eulega sa ta 31/5/99:123456Jack SealobSir Nick ShwahUrsula MoonrakerWilfred MeqahakaHorace EuromilkLeo Lard-Lichens4/514/188/186/147/180/580%78%44%43%39%0%NewcastleReport by Martin ThompsonAfter 14 years of trying my first tournament win. It was certainly done the hard way, with 3games won on the last move by single point margins, with only seconds to spare in two of them.Made up for the FA Cup final defeat!!Leading positions in the two divisions were:-Division ADivision BPosn12345NameM ThompsonP JohnsonABvmeJCansfiekJP FinlevScore54443Spread194313186185228Posn12345NameJ HarrisonJ CrowderR FalconerS DrannsfieldD PearsonScore54443Spread39825411664253The MastersReport by Graeme ThomasThe following are the results from the Masters:Posnl2345Ratinq203190194184185NameA. DavisM. NymanP. ApDtebvA. SimmonsH. GipsonScore10101098.5Spread680448278231231Congratulations to Andy for a well-deserved victory.

Player A was absent from this event, making it a pleasure to direct. I don't recall having to makeany decisions. Lois McLeod was the runner, without whose help the event would not have beenpossible.Unfortunately, Hotel Staff Member A *was* present. It would be hard to imagine a moreincompetent bunch (although those who were present at the 1998 NSC at Wolvernampton willhave some idea). They seemed to mean well, but were useless. I feel confident in saying thatwe won't be going back to 'that* hotel next year.In round 1 Mark challenged TITTY, apparently on the grounds that he'd never seen one. I erredin mentioning the "Most Ludicrous Challenge" prize; Mark decided to enter this event with gusto.There were 301 challenges during the 105 games of this event; 16 of those challenges involvedmore than one word. 43 challenges (14%) were for invalid moves; the other 258 would haveincurred a penalty, were such things In operation.Here are some of the valid words challenged during the event ($ = OSPD only):AEOLIANAIRTIMEAMBEERS$ANELEANIMUSAUTOCARPBALKYBANISHERSBAURBEDSrTS$BEGROAN$BEKOTEBEMIXT$BENZINEBESOTBESOTSBETRIMBEVERBIWYBIZE$BLEYBUNTZEBUNTZESBLUIDIERBONERBOTCHIERBRAVOSBRONDBULKERCARTAGESCENTNERSCHIVYQSSIERCLEPEDCOLLEGERCONTOCRENATURECRYOGENSCULTI$CAREFULDECURIESDETENTESDIALOGICDISBARREDDOBIE$DOBIESSDOMYDORBUGSDROLLYDROUKSDRUIDESSDYERDYNASTICECURIESENACTORY$ENGOBESENSNARER$EULOGIAE$EXOGENFATTINGFENTFERVIDFEUINGFIAUNTFIREPANFREMITFRUITEDFUGIOS$FUNDERGAMA$GAUNTSGIRDLERSGIVINGSGLACIATESGOBBETSGOLFEDGOR$HALVAHHANDUNGSHAULTHAYINGHAZERHEEZEDHELLUVAHEXADHICKHONANSSHONDLESSHULEHUTTEDICK$ILIUMINDAGATEIND0W$INFELTINSERTERISAGOGEJANKERSJARKMENJUNCOESKAUFKIDGIEKNIVEDKNOTTERSLAWNIERLEMONIERLOOTINGSLOTICLWEI$LYNEMAEUDSMANIMATRONALMAYINGMENSURALMERDES$METATESMEZCAL$MIDDENSMIUEUSMILREISMOUNEMOPEYMOTUNARCEIN$NOIR$NUGAENYEDOBELIOBEUA$OBEUONONIUM$OVULARPALUDINEPEAREPEDREROSPEKOEPERRONPINEALPISCINAEPLAGEPUNKPOCWESTPOOVYPREMIAPTYAUZEQUINIELMREBBEREBOOTED$RECEWALRECUILEDRELATORSREMOLADERENFORSTREOBTAIN$REPROOFRESHOESJRESOLVERRETURNERRIEVERIGATONIRIMAROATEROSOUOROTATIVESABSAGUAROSAKIASCARIOSE$SKAWSKIMO$SLEEKINGSLOUCHERSNOOTEDSNOTTINGSOPITESSOULDANSPHINXSPINETTESPIRITUSSPURRERSTEEUE$STRIDDENSUD / NYSSULFONIC$SUMOTABETICTAIAHATAIN$TAIVEREDTAVS4TEDDERSTEENDSTERRITSTETANOIDTHICKSTTTANOUSTITTY

oveTOEPIECE$TONEYTOOMTOUZIERTWGONSTR1ORSTROLLIESFRIGIDERTRONCTROVERSTRUGTUFTEDTWIGSOMETYINGUNCASEDJOISTEOUNDERLIT$UNHAIRUNTRENDY$URDEURDEEVAW$VEGESOVATORVIERSVIGA$VIGNERONVINTRYvmtEWAB$WALDROUGHERSWAVEYWHAMSWIDENERWIGANWIGANSWIGEONWITTOLTJTULESWIVERNYAHSYAMUN$YIRR$YOWESZABETASZERK$Its a different game!! (and I want to play it) ■ MORPUZZLERNSWERSMoue bymoueGame 1 - Sowpods at Exeter[1] REGULIZE[2] GAMELAN[3] PA: My best play Is VILLAIN at m7d for 20, setting up an outplayof DICE at I12d for 24. Mark can block DICE with AA at I12d for 10, but I then winwith CEDI at n3d. Mark's best reply is AERO at lid for 15. After DICE the final scoreis 471-471.RcrossThe BoardPosition 1 - TSP teaserINDIGNITY at j2d is the word. I remember seeing the possibility of DIGNITYsomewhere and then thinking "oh, if only there were a couple of Is in the rightplace..." And there were! Just a pity these sort of things don't happen in "real" lifeeh?Position 2 - last minute bonus requiredAS: Clearly there is a very consonant-heavy bag and a pickup of three could well pickup three consonants probably including an N & R.Although WOVE or COVE brings the scores to within 30, this doesn't give a realisticchance of winning because:1) the blank is somewhat devalued since it would most probably need to be used asan essential vowel.2) there is only one realistic bonus possibility beginning with the F at C2 which Is toomuch of a long shot given the vowel imbalance and having to retain a W or C.

So, what to do? Need to play to provide several possible and likely bonus slots. Thus,leave the T of PERTAINS available as an ending and play to open the top of the boardfrom the F but must score a few points In order to have scope for a win from a lowscoringbonusafter countback. Choice of FLOW or FLEW look best to keeptwo vowels and the blank. Given the possibility of Martin replyingwith JANN (Ela) above FLOW the only play is FLEW.DA: FLEW Is a sound move here. I'm not sure which F word Allan was thinking of butFALCONER and FALCONET seem the most likely. If this were the only hope, then itwould be worth fishing for them.But there are other possibilities, including the T of PERTAINS and even the two letterwords created by LAD. (For example, DIRECTION could be a reality). In any case, itis pretty much essential to play three tiles and leave Just one In the bag. Allanmustn't give Martin a chance to play off without emptying the bag - a bonus scoreplus countback will be required.What happened aften FLEW:AS: Fortunately I didn't pick the 3, but HNR to give a rack of NOCHER? Martin, from aconsonant-bound rack correctly inhibits the most flexible opening with JET (Eld)(stops NOtCHER) but thankfully I'm able to play onto the T (COHeRENT) to win by ISon countback.DA: Excellent play by both here. Martin did everything right on the blocking front andalso forced Allan to find a winning play. Even if you can't win, give your opponent achance to loselPosition 3 - late 3The "simple* move is JESTEE hl5a for 42! The slightly subtler way to score lots ofpoints is to play something like JEATS and ROARINGS (yes, It does take an S),setting up a nice play under the J with the only remaining O. There is the possibilityAndrew will play GJU, but he will leave himself with S tiles, so there's still a goodchance of winning.Position 4 - Lothian endgameThis is a classic "play out in two" situation. The trick is simply to find the playout.With two Hs, this task Is made a little harder. The key play Is GHI f2a leaving AHOWfor WHOA at n4d. The WHOA play can be blocked, but only with significant pointsacrifice so the game is easily won.

Sun 20 Jun26-27 Jun3-4 JulSun 11 Jul24-25 Jul7-8 Aug14-15 AugSun IS AugSat 21 Aug21-29 Aug27-28 Aug28-30 AugSat4Sep24-26 SepSat25SepSun3OctSunl7Oct8-12 Nov27-28 Nov'Lang Toun•Stoke Rochfcrd♦ABSP Summer (Sheffield)'Richmond•NSC(ChalfontStGUes)•Nottingham Nomads•Scottish Round Robin•Rcmford•Perth£$M!nd Sports Olympiad•BMSC Ladies•BMSC (Nottingham)•Alness£Eastboume•Sheffmateh (ShefReld)•Bournemouth•Middlesborough•fPoriodcMarlon KeatlngsChris FrenchMike WillisPeter ErnestPaulGotderCUve SpateDonald MadeodJohnHoweUMarilyn GrahamDavid LevyLob McLeodLotsMcLeodMay MacdonaldLangham HotelRob DowseRuth MarsdenTony Davisdive Spate•ABSP Winter (Milton Keynes) Mike Willis01592 26552401708 70157801908 6681170181 894 379101277 6333390115 920 02080131445 44890181 924 466401738 5600190171 435 949601582 59491001582 59491001349 88201601323 7314510114 268 355501202 707148016424571080115 920 020801908668117* registered for ABSP rating; £ commercial event; $ SOWPODS eventThe ASSP Newsletter Is published tn February, April, June, August, October and December. Thedeadline for the next Issue Is 18 July 1999.Please send contributions to:Letters and Paul GokJer, U7 Passtngham Avenue, BUIerteay, Essex CMll 2TAevent entry forms Tel: 01277 633339 Fax: 01277 651505e-mail: paul@enlgmaretail.co.ukEvents Information Mike ORourke, 22 Kestrel Lane, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6BUTel: 01572 756968 e-mail: oVourke.m@udes.org.ukGame positions David Acton, 31 Harrogate Terrace, Murton, Co Durham SR79PQTel: 0191 526 4320 e-mail: davld@codurhamjJemonxo.ukWord-related pieces Nick (teller, 17 Windsor Road, Godmanchester, Cambs PE18 8DDTel: 01480 454464 e-mail: nlck@Hddney.denwn.co.ukAnything else... Amy Byrne, 12 NorthfleU Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 7PXTel: 01316613869 e-fnaU: amybyme@nevik34.freeservexD.uk