SCRABBLE - The Last Word Newsletter

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Table of ContentsT A B L E O F C O N T E N T SFrom the Editor 3Advertising Section: Equipment, Tournaments, Organizations, Books 4Tournament News 12Albany Fourth of July Tournament with photos by Betsey Wood 12Omaha’s River City Wrangle by Kirk Troutman 152013 National SCRABBLE® Championship by Ted Gest with photos by Patricia Hocker, NASPA 16Division 1 Winner: Nigel Richards by Evans Clinchy 19Collins Division Winner: John O’Laughlin by Marty Gabriel 22Division 2 Winner: Mark Rosenberg by Linda Oliva 24Division 3 Winner: Andy Hoang by Whitney Gould 25Division 4 Winner: Daniel Moglen by Daniel Novinson 26Scenes from Nationals: photos by Patricia Hocker, NASPA 282013 Rose Award Winner: Conchita Deproso by Ginger White 30Tag-Team SCRABBLE® at Nationals by Brian Galebach 31Music at Nationals 32Tournament Results 36Scrab-doku by Jeff Kastner 37Letter from America from an Englishwoman Abroad by Nicki Huitson 40The Nervous Rack: My Life in SCRABBLE® by Daiva Markelis 45Dweebovision by David Webb 48Word Star by Jeff Kastner 57Know the Rules by Jan Cardia 50SCRABBLE® and Scrabblers in the News edited by Judy Cole 55The Wordsmith: Good Old English, crafty all along by Chris Sinacola 65Online SCRABBLE® Games 67Fill in the Blanks by Jeff Kastner 68Poland’s English-language SCRABBLE® Championship by Michal Josko 702013 NSC Town Hall Minutes recorded by John Fultz 71Word Trivia Quiz by Siri Tillekeratne 42New NASPA Advisory Board Members 79Historic Moments: SCRABBLE® Through the Years by Stu Goldman 80Real or Phony? by Adam Henderson 81Tournament Talk 83Linda’s Library by Linda Wancel 85SCRABBLE®: Thoreau & Thoreau by Frank Lee 87SCRABBLE® Resources 88Tournament Calendar 92Archives 1012
F R O M T H E E D I T O RFrom the EditorAfter two poorly attended Nationals (327 players in 2011 and 341 in 2011), this year’s NationalSCRABBLE® Championship in Las Vegas attracted 521 NASPA members for five days of excitinggames. Undoubtedly the choice of venue made a big difference, as players were able to enjoy themany entertainment (and gambling) choices in this city that never sleeps. The rooms at the hosthotel, the Riviera Hotel and Casino, were reasonably priced, too, showing that players’ commentsabout expensive hotel costs in Dallas and Orlando had found an ear.The $10,000 first prize went for an unprecedented fifth time to SCRABBLE superstar NigelRichards, a New Zealander living in Malaysia, who finished with a 24-7 +1934 record. Second wentto Komol Panyasophonlert from Bankok, Thailand, who won the final game to finish just 66 spreadpoints behind Nigel. The top American player was third-place finisher Will Anderson, from Croton,NY, with a record of 23-8 +1623.This was the second year a Collins division was offered at Nationals, and entrants rose from 37 to40. The Gibsonized winner was John O’Laughlin, from Cambridge, MA, who finished with a 24-7+1883 record over three players closely bunched with 21 wins apiece: Evan Berofsky, GeoffThevenot, and David Eldar. Last year’s winner, Sam Kantimathi, withdrew after an accusation ofcheating by Mark Kenas. NASPA has suspended Kantimathi; however, an appeal is expected.Other division winners--Mark Rosenberg, Andy Hoang, and Daniel Moglen--took home big checksand earned great respect for topping their large divisions.Next year’s Nationals will be in Buffalo, NY, August 8-13, and it will be interesting to see if the strongsupport continues. While Buffalo does not offer the glitz of Vegas, it will likely get good attendancefrom the many East Coast and Canadian players. The 2015 Nationals, it was announced in Vegas,will be in Reno, NV. The appeal of a casino city appears to have trumped NASPA’s previouslystated goal of rotating the NSC among various parts of the country.Editor-at-large Ted Gest took charge of this year’s Nationals coverage, bringing in writers EvansChinchy, Marty Gabriel, Linda Oliva, Whitney Gould, and Daniel Novinson to write profiles of thewinners. Photographer-at-large Betsey Wood and Patty Hocker contributed photographs for thestories, and other writers provided additional material. I cannot express my gratitude enough to Tedfor taking charge--he is one of the most professional journalists I’ve ever met, and I think readerswill enjoy the Nationals stories and profiles.On a less positive note, incidents at Nationals and at the Albany Fourth of July tournament havecreated tension in the SCRABBLE world as players watch to see NASPA’s response to cheatingaccusations and Code of Conduct violations. As the world has grown more litigious, so it seemsthat players have become more willing to file incident reports and speak up when they see apparentrules violations. Meanwhile, the WGPO must consider whether to allow players in their tournamentswho are under suspension from NASPA. It’s a tough situation. We seem to have come a long, longway from a group of players who like to play a game together.With the extensive Nationals coverage in this issue, I’ll be saving the year-end award profiles for thenext issue, which will also cover the WGPO Word Cup and the Canadian World Championship teamprofiles. Good luck to the many players in the upcoming August tournaments!Cornelia Guest 3
Page 1: W O R D G A M E N E W SThe Last Wor
Page 8 and 9: A D V E R T I S E M E N TAsheville
Page 10 and 11: A D V E R T I S E M E N TNEWTOWN, c
Page 12 and 13: A L B A N YAlbany Fourth of July To
Page 14 and 15: Annette’s Barbecue on the HudsonA
Page 16 and 17: 2 0 1 3 N A T I O N A L S2013 Natio
Page 18 and 19: 2 0 1 3 N A T I O N A L SAfter Coll
Page 20 and 21: 2 0 1 3 N S C D I V I S I O N 1 W I
Page 22 and 23: 2 0 1 3 N S C C O L L I N S D I V I
Page 28 and 29: S C E N E S F R O M N A T I O N A L
Page 30 and 31: 2 0 1 3 R O S E A W A R D W I N N E
Page 32 and 33: Music at NationalsM U S I C A T N A
Page 34 and 35: M U S I C A T N A T I O N A L SSupr
Page 36 and 37: MOUNTAIN VIEW CA(WGPO) 7/211. Pat D
Page 38 and 39: Word-Finder Challenge:S C R A B - D
Page 40 and 41: L E T T E R F R O M A M E R I C ALe
Page 42 and 43: Tuesday night we were taken out to
Page 44 and 45: L E T T E R F R O M A M E R I C ARa
Page 46 and 47: T H E N E R V O U S R A C KCigarett
Page 48 and 49: DweebovisionBy David WebbD W E E B
Page 50 and 51: D W E E B O V I S I O NAlthough the
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Word StarBy Jeff KastnerW O R D S T
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W O R D S T A RWord Star Solution f
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S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W S
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S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SGu
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Arctic SCRABBLES C R A B B L E I N
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The Write StuffS C R A B B L E I N
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The WordsmithGood Old English, craf
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O N L I N E S C R A B B L E G A M E
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F I L L I N T H E B L A N K SANSWER
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2 0 1 3 N S C T O W N H A L L M I N
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Word Trivia QuizBy Siri Tillekeratn
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N E W N A S P A A D V I S O R Y B O
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Real or Phony?By Adam HendersonR E
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Tournament TalkT O U R N A M E N T
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Linda’s LibraryBy Linda WancelL I
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S C R A B B L E : T H O R E A U & T
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JUMBLETIMEA free web site for pract
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SCRABBLE®TOURNAMENT & CLUBWORD LIS
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T O U R N A M E N T C A L E N D A R
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ArchivesA R C H I V E STo download
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