February 2010 - The Last Word Newsletter

W O R D G A M E N E W SThe Last WordThe Independent Tournament SCRABBLE® NewsletterA Monthly Newsletter Issue 4- February 2010Albany New Year’s TourneyBook ReviewsStrategyPuzzlesThe Last Word is an independent publication for tournament SCRABBLE® players. It is not isaffiliated with Hasbro, Mattel, the North American SCRABBLE® Players Association (NASPA), theWord Game Players Organization (WGPO), or the National SCRABBLE® Association (NSA). Ourmission is to provide content of interest to all SCRABBLE® players, so please let us know if thereare topics you would like us to add. We welcome contributions: stories, artwork, etc.For the time being, we are hoping to provide this Newsletter at no charge; however, since it is a100% volunteer effort, we would appreciate any donations. Advertisers are encouraged, too. If youwould like to have The Last Word emailed to you, please send a request with your email address toCorneliaSGuest@gmail.com and we will add you to our mailing list.Editor in Chief: Cornelia GuestMonthly Columnists: Joe Bihlmeyer, Cheryl Cadieux, Jan Dixon, DianeFirstman, Ryan Fischer, Stu Goldman, James Leong, Katya Lezin, Art Moore,Ember Nelson, Juraj Pivovarov, Larry Sherman, Chris Sinacola, SiriTillekeratne, Linda WancelEditors-at-large: Robin Pollock Daniel, Joe Edley, Stefan Fatsis, Ted GestContributors: Sandee Bloom, Mark Bonta, Jeremy Cahnmann, Arlyne Coker,Judy Cole, Roger Cullman, Lynn Cushman, Linda Federico-Omurchu, GoranFernlund, Eric Goldstein, Peggy Grant, Jill Heffner, Nancy Konipol, JoelLipman, Denise Mahnken, Heather McCall, Aune Mitchell, Will Nediger, SusinNielsen, Steve Pellinen, Christopher Peterson, John Robertson, Dan Stock,Joyce Stock, Michael Tang, Adam Townsend, Jeff WidergrenThanks to Ed Wilson for recommending The Professor and the Madman!The Last Word is a volunteer effort.We appreciate your donations.(PayPal or snail mail--contactCorneliaSGuest@gmail.com)If you are interested in advertisingin The Last Word, please emailCorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.Copyright © 2009 GuessWhat! Some data copyright ©1999-2009 NSA; copyright © 2009 NASPA; and copyright © 2005-2009 Seth Lipkin and Keith Smith.SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.in the USA and Canada. Elsewhere it is the trademark of J.W. Spear & Sons, Ltd.

Table of ContentsT A B L E O F C O N T E N T SFrom the Editor 4Emails to the Editor 6Top Players by State or Province in 2009: Inactive Leaders 9Players’ Organization Debuts 10Tournament News 11Albany New Year’s Tournament by John Robertson 12Albany Team Trivia Contest by Jeremy Cahnmann 15Reno MLK SCRABBLE® Tournament by Jeff Widergren 24It Happened in Reno by Stu Goldman 27Redeye 2010, a SCRABBLE® Odyssey (Oddity?) by Steve Pellinen 2825th Summit Open by Dan Stock 32January Tournament Results 34New Faces 36Play the Game: Game Analysis by Joe Edley 38Know the Rules by Jan Dixon 42The Wordsmith by Chris Sinacola 43Anagram Tunnels Quiz by Juraj Pivovarov 46Will Nediger: Puzzle Master by Cornelia Guest 48Anagram Crossword Puzzle by Will Nediger 50Badqoph Blog Talk by Ryan Fischer 52Historic Moments: SCRABBLE® Throughout the Years by Stu Goldman 542

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T SLinda’s Library by Linda Wancel 55Stell’s Racks of Mirth by Stellacious (AKA Cheryl L. Cadieux) 57Interview with Susin Nielsen, Author of Word Nerd by Cornelia Guest 63Diane’s Defalts by Diane Firstman 61The Art of Strategy by Art Moore 62Find the Best Play 63Player Profile: Denise Mahnken by Katya Lezin 65SCRABBLE® in the News 67Book Review: The Professor and the Madman by Cornelia Guest 73Meet Our Columnists: Katya Lezin 75Club News 80Video Joe by Joe Bihlmeyer 81Passages 82Equipment Roundup: Boards 83SCRABBLE® Resources 87Tournament Calendar 92Archives 94 3

From the EditorF R O M T H E E D I T O RNew Year’s Day my daughter and I welcomed in the new decade in West Hartford, CT, at an unratedSCRABBLE® tournament organized by Dave Carlson. The tournament was open to all players, tournamentand casual, and each player brought a food item for a potluck lunch.It was an incredibly pleasant day--friends gathering to play SCRABBLE® and share each other’s company(and good food). Entry fees were low ($10 for six games)--and went back to the players as prize money.It made me realize that ratings, “participation fees,” and big payouts sometimes obscur what is best aboutSCRABBLE® for many of us: playing a game with friends.I hope in this next decade to play many more games of SCRABBLE® with friends. Thanks, Dave, forreminding me about the true joy of SCRABBLE®!__________________________________________________________________There was good news this past month for top-level players. Michael Tang, the organizer of the CausewayChallenge and other top tournaments including the 2009 WSC and WYSC, made two significantannouncements: 1) the 2010 Causeway Challenge in Malaysia will be offering a US$30,000 top prize; and2) a “Tournament of Champions,” featuring 10 of the world’s best SCRABBLE® champions, will take placeDecember 8-10, 2010, in Malaysia. With NASPA now rating SOWPODS (Collins) tournaments, NorthAmerican players may get more opportunities to practice the lexicon used at these events. Kudos toMichael Tang for his terrific work in promoting top-level international SCRABBLE®!____________________________________________________________________This month’s issue of The Last Word covers the year’s first tournament: Annette Tedesco’s Albany NewYear’s Tournament. Annette runs three tournaments a year--two in Albany and one at Lake George--anddoes an amazing job. (We’ve included Jeremy Cahnmann’s popular Albany Team Trivia Contest to try!)Jeff Widergren reports on the Reno MLK Tournament he organized with Rick Wong. The number of topplayers who attended this event was remarkable--and winner Kenji Matsumoto, fresh from winning Albany,has most definitely started his tournament year with a bang.Steve Pellinen, who will be running the North American Scrabble Tour (NAST) finals on February 7th, writesabout the Twin Cities Redeye--an incredible tournament where participants play 30 games in 41 hours. Atrue SCRABBLE® marathon!Dan Stock covers the 25th Summit Open in Hudson, OH, which used an unusual match format. WinnerBrian Bowman continues to demonstrate world-class skills.NASPA Rules Committee member Jan Dixon joins our staff as author of a new monthly column: “Know theRules.” With new rules taking effect February 2, Jan’s arrival could not be more timely. We invite readers tosend in their questions about rules to CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.As we were going to press, an announcement was made about the formation of the Word Game PlayersOrganization (WGPO). We include details here with contact information.In response to reader requests, we are including an “Equipment Roundup,” which will list SCRABBLE®equipment with links. Readers are encouraged to contact me with suggestions of equipment to include.This month we are featuring boards; next month we will spotlight timers.In tribute to our hardworking columnists, I’ve added another new section: “Meet Our Columnists.”February’s columnist in the spotlight is Katya Lezin, who writes the monthly “Player Profile” (this monthfeaturing one of the most genial players on the SCRABBLE® scene: Denise Mahnken).4

F R O M T H E E D I T O RWill Nediger, a young Canadian student with an expert rating, is also a cruciverbalist (a constructor ofcrossword puzzles), whose work appears regularly in the New York Times. With the 33rd Annual AmericanCrossword Puzzle Tournament coming up in Brooklyn, NY February 19-21, it is a timely moment to readabout Will’s feats--and also try a puzzle he specially constructed for The Last Word.“Find the Best Play” offers another kind of puzzle SCRABBLE® players face every game: looking for theoptimal play on the board. In this issue we offer the challenge met by Eric Goldstein in a game against ScottKitchen at the Rhinebeck NY Tournament in January. We hope other readers will send in great plays we canfeature.Last month we reviewed Word Nerd, a most enjoyable young-adult novel about a boy who playsSCRABBLE®. This month we interview the author of Word Nerd, Susin Nielsen, an award-winning writer ofbooks and television scripts (and a big SCRABBLE® fan!)We’re also pleased to include a game analysis by Joe Edley, who always offers great insight. This game,between top players Joel Sherman and Joey Mallick, is an excellent example of how expert players scorepoints with racks many intermediate players would consider hopeless.Recently players have been talking about a blog entry by psychologist Christopher Peterson in PsychologyToday: “There Are No Bad Racks.” Using SCRABBLE® as a metaphor for life, Dr. Peterson offers goodadvice for success in both SCRABBLE® and life. We reprint the essay here in our “SCRABBLE® in theNews” section with the gracious permission of the author.Talking about blogs, Ryan Fischer, creator of the Badqoph Directory, will be talking about blogs in his newmonthly column, “Badqoph Blog Talk.” This month’s topic is sims (computer game simulations).Be sure to read this month’s “Club News,” which features Lauderhill FL Club #276, directed by SandeeBloom, who for the past 21 years has made this club’s weekly meetings full of fun. Club directors inparticular are encouraged to read this write-up--and visit the club’s fantastic website. You’ll find a slew ofgreat ideas! Thanks, Sandee, for sharing your club’s story.Thanks, too, to the many readers who sent in donations and encouragement--I am overwhelmed! Andthanks also to the many SCRABBLE® players (including our regular columnists) who sent in stories,puzzles, and suggestions. Any players wishing to contribute to The Last Word in any way--stories,donations, ideas for articles--are greatly appreciated. Just email me at CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com or writeto me at Cornelia Guest, 6A Barry Avenue, Ridgefield, CT 06877.Note: This issue the columnists for “Word Trivia Quiz” and “The Tile Bag” are taking a month off. We expectto include these popular columns in next month’s Newsletter.Cornelia GuestTHIS MONTH, IN LIEU OF DONATIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER, IASK THAT READERS SEND WHAT THEY CAN TO HELP THEDEVASTATED PEOPLE OF HAITI. 5

Emails to the EditorE M A I L S T O T H E E D I T O RShould you wish to comment on any of the Newsletter articles—or make suggestions or corrections—please email Cornelia Guest at CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com. Snail mail is also welcome at 6ABarry Avenue, Ridgefield, CT 06877. Emails chosen for publication may be edited at the editor’sdiscretion._______________________________________________________________________________To the Editor:I recently read your newsletter and wonder what your system is for keeping track of home states. Ialso wonder if you could extend your list and publish the top ten in every state. Your newsletter isexcellent and I can always pass something on to friends even if they don't play.Thank you.Joel LipmanThanks so much for your email. I use the home states listed at cross-tables.com; however, playersoften move from one state to another during the course of a year, so there may be someinaccuracies.I would love to list the top ten players in each state, and had considered adding a link under eachstate until I got overwhelmed with holiday madness. The good news is that you can easily find therankings of players by state or province at cross-tables.com.Go to cross-tables.com and click “FIND” at the top and then “Top Players by State.” Pick a state orprovince, and you’ll find all the players listed by rank, both active and inactive.Thanks, too, for your nice comments about The Last Word. I appreciate your support!Cornelia Guest_______________________________________________________________________________CORRECTION: In last month’s coverage of the top U.S. Youth Players, weincorrectly reported that Bradley Robbins had the second highest rating gainin 2009 (464 to Max Karten’s 547). We have since been informed thatPaolo Federico-Omurchu actually holds that honor, as his rating went up468 points last year, from 541 to 1009. Paolo was also the coach of the 8thplace team at last year’s National School SCRABBLE® Championship(Glenfield Team 2: Rachel Keller and Conor McGeehan), making him theyoungest coach in NSSC history.6

E M A I L S T O T H E E D I T O RDear Ms. Guest,In last month’s Word Trivia Quiz, it states that "All words are found in OSPD4/TWL2."I have recently created a word finder Web site (http://www.lexifind.com ) that uses TWL06 andSOWPODS. I had thought that these were the most recent versions for North American andinternational English play, respectively, and the only versions supported for official tournaments, andtherefore thought that I should support only those versions.But I have found numerous sites, including your own, that are still referring to versions of OSPD(which has been merged with the OSW list into SOWPODS), and so I am wondering what the valueof these earlier versions is, and whether I should support them on my Web site. It may be thatthese sites simply have not yet been updated, but then again, maybe these older lists are still inuse. I am not a professional Scrabble player (just a home player for many years) but my site isintended to serve players at all levels, and so it is important for me to understand this topic.Using TWL06 and my Web site, I obtained quite different answers than those given for two of thequestions in the above trivia quiz. Specifically,Question 2: In addition to DREAMT, REDREAMT and UNDREAMT, I also found DAYDREAMT andOUTDREAMT.Question 3: In addition to FACETIOUS, ARSENIOUS and ABSTEMIOUS, I also foundFACETIOUSLY, ABSTENTIOUS and ABSTEMIOUSLY. (In SOWPODS, we also haveHALFSERIOUSLY, PARECIOUS and CAESIOUS.)The answer to question 5, by the way, is still the same for TWL06.I am genuinely in the dark about the continuing relevance and uses of the earlier OSPD lists vs. themore current TWL06 list. I'm mainly interested in knowing whether there is a significantgroup of people who would prefer to use those older lists rather than SOWPODS or TWL06. Canyou point me to authoritative information on the nature and uses of the various lists? Also, it wouldbe great to know where files holding these earlier lists reside. There are some lists at http://www.isc.ro/en/commands/lists.html, but none of the OSPD variants are included there.Thanks in advance,Carl Gunther|Thank you for your email. I'll pass your comments along to the author of the quiz. My belief is thatthe reason some of those longer words aren't included in the quiz answers is that they are too longto be in the OSPD4 or OWL2. But I'll check! (I also have corrected the copy to read OWL2.)In regard to your comments about the OSPD4 and its relevance to tournament SCRABBLE® today,the OSPD4 is the official word source in the U.S. for School SCRABBLE®, a team variation that istaught to approximately a million schoolchildren nationwide and championed by the Hasbro- 7

E M A I L S T O T H E E D I T O Rsupported National SCRABBLE® Association (the National Championship offers a first prize of$10,000!) In addition, the OSPD4 is used at many unrated SCRABBLE® events includingnumerous Literacy Volunteers tournaments and other fundraisers. It is also the dictionary of choicefor most North Americans for recreational play--which means more North Americans use theOSPD4 while playing SCRABBLE® than any other word source. While all the words in the OSPD4are included in TWL06 and SOWPODs lists, the OSPD4 words remain a distinct list, the mostwidely used in North American SCRABBLE®, so I would recommend supporting it on your web site.Cornelia Guest8

T O P 2 0 0 9 P L A Y E R S : I N A C T I V E L E A D E R STop Players by State or Province in 2009: Inactive LeadersIn the January issue of The Last Word we listed the top active players for the year by state orprovince. A reader brought to our attention that in some states and provinces, players who areinactive actually hold the top ranking. We’ve changed the heading in that issue--and also made acorrection: For the District of Columbia Ted Gest was the top active player for 2009 (although StefanFatsis played in 2009, he did not play in enough tournaments to qualify as an “active” player).Here we list those inactive players who hold the distinction of being the highest ranked players intheir states. The year after each name is that of the player’s last tournament as of 12/31/09.ALABAMA GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI NOVA SCOTIAAnna Chisling ’02OHIOAnna Chisling ’02Tracy Cobbs ’07 Ray Smith ’06 Marlene Milkent ’09 ONTARIOCALIFORNIA INDIANA MONTANAJerry Miller ’03 Michael Orford ’02KENTUCKYNEBRASKAPatrick Caulfield ’05 Steven Fisher ’92Charles Goldstein ’08 NEW BRUNSWICK PENNSYLVANIAMike Yowoske ’07WASHINGTON, D.C. Ted Blevins ’05 RHODE ISLANDRichard Lupo ’00MICHIGANChuck Abbate ’05 SOUTH DAKOTAMark Oppenheimer ’09NORTH CAROLINAStefan Fatsis ’09 John Attamack ’99 WYOMINGNORTH DAKOTA Martha Stearn ’05Peter Morris ’07 June Land ’09 9

P L A Y E R S ’ O R G A N I Z A T I O N D E B U T SPlayer’s Organization DebutsA new organization, the Word Game Players Organization (WGPO), has joined the constellation ofassociations for competitive players.Designed as an alternative, although not one that is mutually exclusive, to NASPA, the organizationis free and open to all, regardless of tournament experience or rating. There are no restrictions onmembership or participation in any other organization.According to its mission statement, the WGPO will be run "democratically, by and for the players." It"emphasizes a respectful and supportive environment.that encourages every member...to playoften, play fair and have fun."The new organization, which its leaders describe as "a work in progress" and open to futuremodification by a vote of its members, is planning tournaments, with a rating system also underconstruction, and expects to have its own website in operation soon.In 2010, the WGPO will be led by an Executive Committee of four, who will share equally in itsdirection. In January 2011, leadership will pass to formal officers, who will be elected by an openvote of the membership. The executive committee members are Keith Hagel of Maine(wordguy1@gmail.com), Stephanie Steele of Minnesota (flamingjune45@gmail.com), Linda Wancelof New York (lawyeraau.@aol.com), and Rick Wong of California (kablooey@gmail.com)."This is an exciting, hectic time, and we are grateful for the large amount of support and offers ofassistance we have received so far. But, literally and figuratively, we've only just begun, and we urgeinterested players to contact any of us by email for information about joining, volunteering for anadvisory board, or any aspect of WGPO," the Executive Committee members said in a statement.10

T O U R N A M E N T N E W STournament NewsFor the most up-to-date tournament results and the official calendar of upcoming tournaments,players should consult the NASPA results and calendar. Detailed information about past andupcoming tournaments is also posted at www.cross-tables.com. Here we will feature a tournamentor two each issue, plus list winners of recent tournaments. Directors who would like to submit resultsand photos from their tournaments are encouraged to send them to CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.________________________________________________________________________January opened with a bang: Annette Tedesco’s fabulous Albany NY New’ Year’s Tournament. Thetournament started with two early bird events, both in December, then moved to the main event onDecember 31, New Year’s Eve. Contestants enjoyed seeing the New Year in at Annette’s partyFriday night, then had fun participating in Jeremy Cahnmann’s Team Trivia Contest after games onSaturday. A group of night owls danced into the wee hours at The Fuze Box, a local disco.Later in the month players ventured west to enjoy the great hospitality of Jeff Widergren and RickWong, the organizers of the Reno MLK SCRABBLE® Tournament in Reno NV over the MartinLuther King weekend. Early-bird and main-event players played 27 games.That same weekend Club #247 of Brandon, MS honored the memory of the late Nita Washington,their former director, by renaming their 16th annual tournament “The Nita Washington MemorialTournament.” Two days of games, with both an early bird and a main event, produced ten differentwinners, two of them first-time tournament players.The weekend of 1/16-18 Steve Pellinen organized a tournament that traditionally brings out themost rabid SCRABBLE® players: The Twin Cities Redeye, in Bloomington, MN. An astonishing 30games were played in a 41-hour period, with players starting games at dawn to get as many gamesin as possible. True diehards stayed for a really late late bird (starting at midnight) and 5 moregames.The following weekend players gathered in Hudson OH for the 25th Summit Open, captured thisyear by Brian Bowman, who represented the U.S. in Malaysia at this year’s World SCRABBLE®Championship. The unusual match format meant that players with fewer wins overall sometimesbeat players with more.The month closed with the beginning of the Atlantic City Tournament, held this year at the TrumpPlaza Casino Hotel. We’ll list results in next month’s issue. 11

A L B A N Y N E W Y E A R ’ S T O U R N A M E N TAlbany New Year’s Tournamentby John RobertsonDenise Manhken and Bernadette Buckleyring in 2010 in style at Annette’s NewYear’s Eve party! (Photo courtesy ofPeggy Grant)In keeping with recent tradition, another large crowd ofSCRABBLE® aficionados descended on the Crowne PlazaHotel in downtown Albany, NY from December 29 throughJanuary 3 for the fifth annual New Year's tourney hosted byAnnette Tedesco. As usual the event produced its fair shareof surprises and general SCRABBLE® excellence.The main event was preceded by two eight-round early birdsdirected by John Robertson. The December 29 affair featured36 players vying in three groups of 12. Seven wins in eightgames was enough to take first place in all three divisions.Winter Zxqkj's 7-1 mark was enough to give him a one-gameedge over Michael Wolfberg. John Morse, the only player toupend Winter, finished in third with the best spread among the5-3 players. Brett Constantine and Tobey Roland were thefront-runners in the second division and faced each othertwice in the last two rounds. The games were split, which earned Brett the divisional title with a 7-1mark. Roland's 6-2 was good enough for second. Shelley Ubeika came in third place for the finalcash placement--but just barely. Her 5-3, +236 was a mere 13 spread points ahead of fourth-placeMona Larsen. In the third division, Bridget McGrew and Janet Elliott both roared out to 6-0 records;they too faced off twice in the last two games to settle championship matters. Those games werealso split, but McGrew took top honors via superior point spread. Sean Aery, the only player in thedivision with a 6-2 record, came in third to round out the money winners.Fifty-two players entered the December 30 earlybird and were slotted into four divisions. MichaelWolfberg was the class of the field in Division "A."He accrued a sensational 7-1 record with a +947spread. In second place was Darin True (6-2), whileJason Keller's 5-3, +474 was good enough for thirdplace. In Division "B," Michael Bassett's six winsvaulted him into first place over five rivals whoall finished at 5-3. Daniel Milton and HeatherMcCall finished second and third respectively to endup in the money. Wilma Pitzer's 6-2 record earnedher first place over Denise Mahnken in Division "C"on the basis of spread points. Young NoahLieberman came in third with a 5-3 mark. DaveKrook and Nancy Wroblewski topped 16-playerDivision "D" with 7-1 marks, with Krook taking thetitle by 121 spread points. Glen Aery edged DoreenFiorelli for third place by just 16 spread points.Dance Dance Revolution at the Fuze Box inAlbany. Left to Right: Winter, Jim Fonti, RisaHorowitz, Linley Bingham, Jeremy Cahnmann,Denise Mahnken, Chris Lipe, Heather McCall,Jessica (non-player), Roger Cullman (Photocourtesy of Heather McCall)12

A L B A N Y N E W Y E A R ’ S T O U R N A M E N TAmong the added after-hours attractions for the players were a New Year's Eve party at Kelsey’s, aspirited evening of Fry Your Brain, and a fun and challenging multi-subject trivia contest created andhosted by Jeremy Cahnmann that drew 51 participants (see page xxx). Many of the questions hadspecially designed SCRABBLE® themes or required anagramming skills.Division 1 winner Kenji Matsumoto contemplating amove. (Photo courtesy of Roger Cullman: Photos byRoger Cullman http://www.rogercullman.com)The four-day main event began on December31. The total prize pool was $4,200. Ninety-fivehopefuls, spread over three divisions, testedtheir endurance in the 24-round main event.The 26-player top division featured four playersentering the final day's play with identical wintotals. Kenji Matsumoto eventually prevailedand took home the $1000 first prize. The genialJoel Bihlmeyer took top honors and $800 in the42-player Division "B." Nancy Konipol wasclearly the best of the field in 27-player Division"C" and won $600. Both Bihlmeyer and Konipolhad insurmountable leads after round 23 andwere subsequently Gibsonized for the 24 thround.Annette Tedesco generously provided goody-filled Christmas stockings for all the contestants andvarious treats throughout the event. Allen Pengelly and John Robertson were the acting directorsfor the main event.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXJoe Bihlmeyer, winner of Division 2, prepared this video of thanks to Annette Tedesco, who isundoubtedly much “More Than a Woman!” (Video courtesy of Joe Bihlmeyer) 13

A L B A N Y N E W Y E A R ’ S T O U R N A M E N TDivision 3 winner Nancy Konipol receives her $600prize from co-director John Robertson astournament organizer Annette Tedesco and codrectorAllen Pengelly look on. (Photo courtesy ofAdam Townsend and Judy Cole)Margo Kuno is all smiles as sheaccepts the prize for coming in 2ndin Division 3. (Photo courtesy ofAdam Townsend and Judy Cole)A happy Ben Schoenbruncame in second in Division 2.(Photo courtesy of RogerCullman: Photos by RogerCullman http://www.rogercullman.com)The woman of the hour--tournamentorganizer Annette Tedesco--gets a bigthank-you hug from Division 2 runner-upBen Schoenbrun. (Photo courtesy ofAdam Townsend and Judy Cole)Joel Wapnick accepts his prize from codirectorJohn Robertson for coming in 3rdin Division 1 as Annette Tedesco smiles inthe background. (Photo courtesy of RogerCullman: Photos by Roger Cullman http://www.rogercullman.com)Joey Mallick finished 2nd in Division 1. (Photo courtesy of RogerCullman: Photos by Roger Cullman http://www.rogercullman.com)14

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A C O N T E S TAlbany Team Trivia Contestby Jeremy CahnmannOn Saturday night of the Albany Tournament I ran a team trivia event. It was my first time trying thisat a SCRABBLE® tournament, and it seemed to go over quite well. There were 52 people playingin teams of 3-5 (the entry fee was $10 per person on the team), and there were 7 rounds ofquestions. There was no penalty for wrong answers in the first 6 rounds.Round 1 (30 points): Picture handout (players were asked to identify pictures of snippets of gamesfrom various games people play in living rooms across America; and yes, everybody's favoritecrossword brand board game was on there).Round 2 (15 Points): Mostly geography.Round 3 (15 Points): Mostly entertainment (movies, TV).Round 4 (34 Points): Picture handout (pictures of baseball stadiums; players were asked to namethe stadiums and the teams that play there).Round 5 (15 Points): Mostly sports/leisure activities."Quizmasters" after-hours trivia team Noah Lieberman, Les Hipenbecker,Peggy Grant, Gerianne Arbiano, Kevin Gauthier, and Hannah Liebermanfinished solidly in the middle of the pack! Photo courtesy of Peggy Grant.Round 6 (15 Points plus 5-point bonus for guessing the theme): General trivia.Round 7: Wager round. Every question you answered correctly was worth 5points; every wrong answer cost you 5 points. Round was worth from -50 to 50points.Teams were allowed to double the value of one round (had to be Round 2, 3, 5or 6 (6 bonus points not doubled).179 would have been a perfect score, and going into the last round there were3 teams tied with 116 points each:1. Mainiacs with Rod McNeil, Alyssa Faria, Richard Popper, Kate Fukawa-Connelly, and RebeccaLambert.2. Monkey Pod with John O'Laughlin, Cecilia Le, Sam Rosin, Evans Clinchy, and Terry Kang Rau.3. Jasons Inc. with Jason Ubeika, Jason Keller, Jason Idalski, Shelly Ubeika, and Darin True. 15

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A C O N T E S TThey finished with 35, 30, and 25 points respectively in the last round; the prize payout was:• $250 1st place• $150 2nd place• $100 3rd place• $20 Last place booby prize•Below are the questions. I have the handouts in excel files (if anybody would like to see them, justshoot me an email and I will send them to you). Note that this was not the order of the questions,and some have been changed slightly from the way I announced them at the tournament, although Ihave tried to note most of the changes.Anybody who is ever in Chicago and wants to come see one of my pub quizzes--I host 3 a weekback home (t-w-th)--let me know when you will be in town and I'll make sure I throw in aSCRABBLE® question or two.TEAM TRIVIA QUIZ (ANSWERS ARE ON PAGES 20-23)1. Name two countries that are not GREAT. (That do not contain any of the letters in the wordGREAT.)2.There are 5 countries in the world whose full names contain all 5 vowels. Only one of thosecountries has a one-word name. Which one? (The others are United States of America, DominicanRepublic, Equitorial Guinea, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.)3. What is the only state capital whose name has no letters in common with the state that it is in?(i.e., Springfield, Illinois would be incorrect because both names have INS in common.)4. If you were to list all the state capitals alphabetically, which would be first and which would belast?5. If you were to list all the world capitals alphabetically, which would be first and which would belast?6. Which city is furthest West? Spokane, Washington; Canyon City, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; LosAngeles, California; or San Diego, California?8. What is the oldest English founded settlement in North America?9. On April 3, 1953 which baby was on the very first issue of TV Guide? (His mother was also on thecover with an inset photo.)10. On “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” who was Dobie’s beatnik sidekick?16

18S E Q U O I A C L U B25. Who is the only person to win a Heisman Trophy, the Super Bowl MVP, and the AP NFL MVPaward?26. What Hall of Famer is the only person to be the all-time career leader in 2 of the 5 majorstatistical categories in the NBA (Points, Rebounds, Steals, Assists, and Blocked Shots)?27. Who led the majors in wins in the last decade (2000-2009)? (HINT: He played in both leaguesduring that span.)28. Who led the NFL in rushing yards during the 1990's: Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith?29. What NHL team had three different players lead the league in scoring over the last decade?30. What chess piece is prominently featured on the cover of the book Breaking Dawn? (The one upfront, not in the background. Provide the color and the name of the piece.)31. What is the only multisyllabic word in the book Green Eggs and Ham?32. Felix Hoenikker, Billy Pilgrim, and Kilgore Trout are all characters created by what author?33. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I wasborn and what my lousy childhood was like....” Name the source.34. John Grisham's new book of short stories is entitled Ford County. Ford County was the settingfor two of his earlier works, one of which has been made into a film. Name those books.35. On “Seinfeld” what magazine does George's mom catch him with when she walks in on him"taking care of business," leading to the famous bet of who could remain master of their domain thelongest?36. On “Seinfeld” when George buys a used car, what actor does he believe used to own the car?37. On “30 Rock” what do the writers of TGS call their annual Christmas party? (HINT: It soundslike a rapper might have thrown the party.)38. In the first-ever episode of “South Park” when Jesus and Santa Claus engage in a fight to thedeath, the boys seek to bring the peace by wondering what this athlete would do?39. In 1981 the state of Wisconsin add what 9-letter word to its flag?40. What two actors have each been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar 3 times since the year 2000?41. Who is the all-time leading scorer in Boston Celtics history?42. I called this trivia game VERTICAL RABBIS. Why?43. How many gold medals has Michael Phelps won? (This was the 14th question of the round, afact I pointed out several times just to see if anybody would pick up on it.)

S E Q U O I A C L U BThese next 15 questions had a theme that connected the answers. There was a 5-point bonus forcorrectly guessing the theme.1. What TV family included Shirley Jones and Susan Dey?2. Bradford, Bosc, and Bartlett are all types of what?3. “Happy Together” was a #1 hit for 3 weeks in 1967 for what group?4. Hot-headed Hank Hall became the superhero Hawk while his more sensitive younger brother Donbecame what superhero in DC comics?5.The state of Maine has the highest percentage of speakers of which language? (Over 5% ofhouseholds in Maine speak this language at home.)6. What is the word for a female octopus?7. Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, and Suzanne Pleshette are terrorized by what creaturesin a 1963 horror film?8. Country artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette released what album in 1976?9. When Veruca says she wants it now in a popular film, what is she originally talking about?10. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago was founded in 1868 when the Lincoln ParkCommissioners were given a pair of what as a gift?11. Exposure to cowpox poses no real threat to human beings, but it does actually convey a partialimmunity to the disfiguring disease of smallpox. Persons thus exposed had smooth skin that wasoften described as being as smooth as a what? (I also mentioned that the answer was anacceptable 8-letter SCRABBLE® word and would be worth 17 points without bonus squares.)12. Fred Astaire’s first movie role was in this 1933 film where Joan Crawford played the titlecharacter, a burlesque worker living in New York. What is the name of the film?13. Only one of the many adult films this star made was made after her 18th birthday. She started inthe industry in 1984 at the age of 15 and has gone on to appear in several mainstream filmsincluding Underworld, Blade, and even Zack and Miri Make a Porno. What is this actress’s lastname?14. Every Sunday in the summer the tale of this man from a popular children’s story is enacted in acity in Germany. Who is he?15. From 1967-1971 and again from 1974-1995 the Grateful Dead featured two of what in theband?5-Point Bonus: What is the theme of these questions? 19

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N S W E R SANSWERS1. Name two countries that are not GREAT? (That do not contain any of the letters in the wordGREAT.) KOSOVO and FIJI2.There are 5 countries in the world whose full names contain all 5 vowels. Only one of thosecountries has a one-word name. Which one? (The others are United States of America, DominicanRepublic, Equitorial Guinea, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.) MOZAMBIQUE3. What is the only state capital whose name has no letters in common with the state that it is in?(i.e., Springfield, Illinois would be incorrect because both names have INS in common.) PIERRE,SOUTH DAKOTA4. If you were to list all the state capitals alphabetically, which would be first and which would belast? ALBANY and TRENTON (Thankfully I think everybody got Albany right!)5. If you were to list all the world capitals alphabetically, which would be first and which would belast? ABU DHABI, U.A.E. and ZAGREB, CROATIA6. Which city is furthest West? Spokane, Washington; Canyon City, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; LosAngeles, California; or San Diego, California? RENO, NEVADA (Look at a map--it’s true!)8. What is the oldest English founded settlement in North America? ST. JOHNS,NEWFOUNDLAND (Founded in 1497 by James Cabot.)9. On April 3, 1953 what baby was on the very first issue of TV Guide? (His mother was also on thecover with an inset photo.) DESI ARNAZ, JR.10. On “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” who was Dobie’s beatnik sidekick? MAYNARD G. KREBS11. Who is the last surviving member of “The Honeymooners” TV show cast? JOYCE RANDOLPH(Trixie)12. The answer to #11 was not the first person to play her character. What Tony and Emmy awardwinningactress was the first to play the role on “Cavalcade of Stars”? (HINT: She won her Emmy forher work on “30 Rock,” playing Alec Baldwin’s mother.) ELAINE STRITCH13. Steven Spielberg has appeared in and directed several films; however, he has never actuallyappeared in a film that he directed. The closest he came was when he used himself as a voice onthe radio in this, his fourth highest grossing film to date, and one of the seven films he has directedto be nominated for Best Picture. What is the name of this film? JAWS14. On Saturday Night Live who provided the voice for the “Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy”sketch? JACK HANDY15. On July 11, 2000, which company--the world’s largest chain store--opened its 20,000th store inTokyo, Japan? 7-1120

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N S W E R S16. What is the only state that has on its flag a picture of a real person and not just a genericcaricature of a soldier or something of that nature? WASHINGTON17. What is the only state whose state flag is not four-sided? OHIO18. Who is the only African American to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar? JOHNSINGLETON (Boyz in the Hood)19. What is the only movie to win Best Picture and be primarily set in and around LA? (HINT: I saideverybody in the room was alive when the picture won. If you look at cross-tables.com, theyoungest entrant at Albany was in the room with her brother, and I assured her that I was correctwhen I said EVERYBODY was alive when the picture won.) CRASH20. Only 3 movies have ever swept all of the top awards at the Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director,Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay). Name one of them. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT,ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS21. Formed in 1992, the Premier League Championship has only ever been won by 4 teams.Manchester United has won it 11 times. Name the other 3 squads that have a combined 6championships between them? (Actually I asked competitors to name 3 of the 4 teams withoutgiving Man. U at the trivia event.) ARSENAL, CHELSEA, and BLACKBURN ROVERS22. According to cross-tables.com, what woman has played in more then 400 tournaments, morethen any other woman? (This question was misread at the event as “more than anybody else.”)VERNA RICHARDS BERG23. According to cross-tables.com, who has won more money then any other SCRABBLE® playerwithout ever having won a major tournament? (Majors being the National Championship, Worlds,the King’s Cup, etc.) JOEY MALLICK (Here's hoping I can ask this next year, and the answer willbe different.)24. According to cross-tables.com, only 2 women have won more then $16,000 playingSCRABBLE®. Name them. PAT BARRETT and JAN DIXON25. Who is the only person to win a Heisman Trophy, the Super Bowl MVP, and the AP NFL MVPaward? MARCUS ALLEN26. What Hall of Famer is the only person to be the all-time career leader in 2 of the 5 majorstatistical categories in the NBA (Points, Rebounds, Steals, Assists, and Blocked Shots)? JOHNSTOCKTON (Assists and Steals)27. Who led the majors in wins in the last decade (2000-2009)? (HINT: He played in both leaguesduring that span.) ANDY PETTITTE28. Who led the NFL in rushing yards during the 1990's: Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith? EMMITTSMITH (Would have been Barry Sanders but he retired before the decade was up.) 21

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N S W E R S29. What NHL team had three different players lead the league in scoring over the last decade?PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (Jagr, Crosby, Melkin)30. What chess piece is prominently featured on the cover of the book Breaking Dawn? (The one upfront, not in the background. Provide the color and the name of the piece.) WHITE QUEEN31. What is the only multisyllabic word in the book Green Eggs and Ham? ANYWHERE32. Felix Hoenikker, Billy Pilgrim, and Kilgore Trout are all characters created by what author?KURT VONNEGUT, JR.33. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I wasborn and what my lousy childhood was like....” Name the source. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE34. John Grisham's new book of short stories is entitled Ford County. Ford County was the settingfor two of his earlier works, one of which has been made into a film. Name those books. A TIME TOKILL and THE LAST JUROR35. On “Seinfeld” what magazine does George's mom catch him with when she walks in on him"taking care of business," leading to the famous bet of who could remain master of their domain thelongest? GLAMOUR36. On “Seinfeld” when George buys a used car, what actor does he believe used to own the car?JOHN VOIGHT37. On “30 Rock” what do the writers of TGS call their annual Christmas party? (HINT: It soundslike a rapper might have thrown the party.) LUDACHRISTMAS38. In the first-ever episode of “South Park” when Jesus and Santa Claus engage in a fight to thedeath, the boys seek to bring the peace by wondering what this athlete would do? BRIANBOITANO39. In 1981 the state of Wisconsin add what 9-letter word to its flag? WISCONSIN40. What two actors have each been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar 3 times since the year 2000?JOHNNY DEPP and SEAN PENN41. Who is the all-time leading scorer in Boston Celtics history? JOHN HAVLICEK42. I called this trivia game VERTICAL RABBIS. Why? IT ANAGRAMS TO THE PHRASE“SCRABBLE TRIVIA”43. How many gold medals has Michael Phelps won? (This was the 14th question of the round, afact I pointed out several times just to see if anybody would pick up on it.) 14These next 15 questions had a theme that connected the answers. There was a 5-point bonus forcorrectly guessing the theme.22

A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N S W E R S1. What TV family included Shirley Jones and Susan Dey? PARTRIDGE2. Bradford, Bosc, and Bartlett are all types of what? PEARS3. “Happy Together” was a #1 hit for 3 weeks in 1967 for what group? THE TURTLES4. Hot-headed Hank Hall became the superhero Hawk while his more sensitive younger brother Donbecame what superhero in DC comics? DOVE5.The state of Maine has the highest percentage of speakers of which language? (Over 5% ofhouseholds in Maine speak this language at home.) FRENCH6. What is the word for a female octopus? HEN7. Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, and Suzanne Pleshette are terrorized by what creaturesin a 1963 horror film? BIRDS8. Country artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette released what album in 1976? GOLDENRING9. When Veruca says she wants it now in a popular film, what is she originally talking about?GOLDEN GOOSE, GOOSE LAYING GOLDEN EGGS, GOOSE10. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago was founded in 1868 when the Lincoln ParkCommissioners were given a pair of what as a gift? SWANS11. Exposure to cowpox poses no real threat to human beings, but it does actually convey a partialimmunity to the disfiguring disease of smallpox. Persons thus exposed had smooth skin that wasoften described as being as smooth as a what? (I also mentioned that the answer was anacceptable 8-letter SCRABBLE® word and would be worth 17 points without bonus squares.)MILKMAID12. Fred Astaire’s first movie role was in this 1933 film where Joan Crawford played the titlecharacter, a burlesque worker living in New York. What is the name of the film? DANCING LADY13. Only one of the many adult films this star made was made after her 18th birthday. She started inthe industry in 1984 at the age of 15 and has gone on to appear in several mainstream filmsincluding Underworld, Blade, and even Zack and Miri Make a Porno. What is this actress’s lastname? LORDS (Traci Lords)14. Every Sunday in the summer the tale of this man from a popular children’s story is enacted in acity in Germany. Who is he? PIED PIPER (The city is Hamelin)15. From 1967-1971 and again from 1974-1995 the Grateful Dead featured two of what in theband? DRUMMERS5-Point Bonus: What is the theme of these questions? THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS 23

R E N O M L K T O U R N A M E N TReno MLK SCRABBLE® Tournamentby Jeff Widergren2010 marks the 21st year of the Reno SCRABBLE® tournaments, originally organized and run byJohnny Nevarez and Jeff Widergren, and now organized by Rick Wong and Jeff Widergren and runby Kyle Widergren. The MLK weekend event took place at the Grand Sierra Resort hotel in Reno,NV. In addition to the 19-game main event, there was an 8-game early bird tournament on Friday.The playing room at the Grand Sierra ResortThe competition at Reno isalways tough, and this yearwas no exception. Among thetop expert players inattendance were DaveWiegand, Carl Johnson, KenjiMatsumoto, Nathan Benedict,Rafi Stern, Nigel Peltier, JerryLerman, and Conrad Bassett-Bouchard. When the dustsettled, it was California’s toprankedactive player JerryLerman surrounded by theyoung stars. As has becomevery much a custom this newyear, Kenji Matsumoto finishedfirst in the tournament, with a15-4 +720 record. His entry-towinpercentage in Renotournaments, including earlybirds, is an impressive 34%.Jerry Lerman held off the other 20-somethings and finished second in a very competitive topdivision, with a 13-6 + 1049 record. Jason Hlady came in third, missing second place by only 38spread points. Nigel Peltier and Eric Tran, both with 13-6 records as well, came in fourth and fifthrespectivelyThe first five finishers in Division 1 of the Reno MLK SCRABBLE® Tournament (L-R):Kenji Matsumoto, Jerry Lerman, Jason Hlady, Nigel Peltier, and Eric Tran.24

R E N O M L K T O U R N A M E N TDivision 2 winnerCarlynn MayerAlthough Carlynn Mayer, 16-3 +1225, won byDivision 2 by two games, the division winner stillin doubt until the final game. Carlynn and PaulTerry both entered that game with 15-3 records,with Carlynn beating Paul to take the prize. Paulfinished second with a 14-6 +991 record.Division 3 had a similar finale, with Ron Barkercoming in first with a 16-3 + 1442 record overWilma Pitzer, who finished 14-5 + 1403.Division 3 winnerRon BarkerThursday’s Early Bird winners were Nathan Benedict (Division 1), Rich Baker (Division 2), StuartGoldman (Division 3), Paul Terry (Division 4), and Jeannie J. Wison (Division 5). For StuartGoldman, who has been playing in tournaments for 36 years, this was his 61th tournament win!Early Bird winners (L-R) Nathan Benedict, Rich Baker, Stuart Goldman, Paul Terry, and Jeannie J. WilsonOf course it's great to win,but playing the game,especially with people whoplay well, is what it's allabout for me.--Stu GoldmanCertainly the most unusual game inthe tournament was in Division 1between Rich Moyer and SpencerSun. The game finished with atrapped board--24 tiles unplayed.Rich took the win: 304-272. 25

R E N O M L K T O U R N A M E N TCarl Johnson 514, Dave Wiegand 424Dave Wiegand 611, Joey Mailick 325.Dave’s comment: “It was pretty silly.”Jeff Widergren is Senior Engineer for Microsoft in Mountain View, the author of TourneyMan, the coorganizerof Reno, a former WSC contestant, and former 2000 rated player. Now he gets beatentoo regularly by youngins: Nigel, Conrad, Rafi, Nathan, Kenji, and the ilk.26

It Happened in Renoby Stu GoldmanI T H A P P E N E D I N R E N OStu Goldman won Division 3 at this year’s RenoMLK Tournament--his 61st tournament win andhis 5th at Reno, where he has played in 59tournaments! Here are a few of Stu’s anecdotesfrom Renos of the past.The Reno tournaments twice a year have provedpopular and successful for more than 20 years.Johnny Nevarez, who started the series, wasalways looking for ways to improve tournamentSCRABBLE®. He was the first organizer to offermore than six games of NSA tournament play ina day. In typical fashion, he asked players toanswer a questionnaire at the conclusion of theevent.The first question was: "Were the three days ofplay too many, too few, or just right?" Thesecond question: "Were the nine gamesSaturday too many or just right?" My answerwas: "I won the last three--probably too few."Another early tournament gave me myexplanation of the lack of relevancy of sleep toperformance. I roomed with Bob Lipton for thetwo-day event. Bob and I were friends, but wehad never roomed together before. The firstnight he complained that I kept him up all nightbecause I couldn't sleep and was roamingaround the room, playing solitaire SCRABBLE®,etc. I went 5-1 that next day. The following nightI knew I slept because Bob complained that Isnored all night. I went 1-5 the day after that.Bob said I can stay in his home any time I wish,but he will never room with me again.My third anecdote about Reno illustrates anattitude about making assumptions around wordknowledge that may prove helpful to some. Iquote from my Confessions of a Compulsive TilePusher (1992). My opponent was JimNeuberger, who left the game with a rating over2000."I had taken a huge lead based mainly on twoearly bingos when Jimmy laid down SO?KAGEand called the blank a C. The play scored overa hundred points and reduced my leadconsiderably but not completely. I called holdand looked over the situation."SCRABBLE® experts know the word SOCAGE,to which R and S may be added for a bingo. Iwas also quite sure the C could be doubled, butextremely skeptical of that K. At the same time, Iwas nearly certain that if Jimmy had made theblank an A for SOAKAGE, it would be anacceptable play and score just as much."Meanwhile, at the other end of the board, I hadjust played the Z on the Triple Word Score row,and could now make another high-scoring playusing it. If I challenged SOCKAGE and it wasacceptable, Jimmy might use the Z to score wellafter I lost my turn, and the victory... would be injeopardy. If I challenged successfully, Jimmywould probably play SOAKAGE in the sameplace after my play off the Z, and all I would havegained would be the turn."Therefore I did not challenge and won thegame. Dictionary research afterward proved meright on all counts: SOCKAGE* is not a word andSOAKAGE is. Yet, even if I had certainknowledge that this was true, I would havegained very little by challenging."Stu Goldman lives in California and has beenplaying tournament SCRABBLE® for 36 years.Confessions of a Compulsive Tile Pusher: SanFrancisco: Stu Goldman Publications, 1992.(currently out of print, but available at the TorontoSCRABBLE® Club #3 Library to club members) 27

R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0Redeye 2010, a SCRABBLE® Odyssey (Oddity?)by Steve PellinenThere is nothing like it. Not for theweak, the wimpy or whiney, the Redeyehappens once a year in Minnesota,naturally in the coldest and snowiestmonth. This was the fifth year for thisunique event, the brainchild of JoeGaspard and Stephanie Steele, acouple of Minnesota players likelyhaving had a few too many heartwarmingbut brain-freezing drinks onewinter night.Redeye co-founder Steph Steele facesWally Schultz over the board.28

R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0It took a little work, but the NSA eventually gave the event aprovisional go-ahead. Among the provisions, the players that firstyear had to respond to a post-event questionnaire that tried toassess their ability to play well for 24 games and still have fun.The response was overwhelmingly positive. Among thesuggestions for future Redeyes was the addition of more games.From that initial 24 games, the Redeye has grown each year tothis year’s 30 games--with 69 players from 17 states and 2provinces. Anne Loring, in her second year as tournamentorganizer, concluded her opening remarks with, “And now, I thinkI’m going to say something that’s never been said before at a(rated) SCRABBLE® tournament. Today, you will be playing 16games.” That made for a comparatively easy 14 games on thesecond day to finish with 30 games in 41 hours. That 41 hoursincludes meals, breaks, and some sleep. The Redeye is gruelingfor the players, to be sure, but it is just as grueling for the directorsand data-entry helpers.Redeye co-founder Joe Gaspardconsiders a move in a gameagainst John Karris.Part of the Redeye experience is the uncertainty of structure in theweeks and months leading up to it. Some of that uncertainty is dueto the need to be as efficient as possible with pairings (the event isnot computer-paired, though it may be some day if it proves moreefficient and enough computer-savvy helpers can be found). Untilthe approximate final number of attendees is known, the number ofdivisions remains in limbo so that a schedule of games can beworked into the meal and break schedule with minimal waiting timefor data entry and pairings.This year, we eventually settled on a double round-robin format forthe top three divisions of 16 players. That made for no on-sitepairing work in those divisions and allowed all such effort to bedevoted to the fourth division, which ended up with 21 players.That division was set up to not start performance pairings until afterlunch on the second day, which resulted in the easiest Redeye forpairings to date. The double round robins also incorporated backto-backgames between contestants, which made things eveneasier in those divisions.First day registration opened at 5:45 am (pajamas allowed), andthings got underway very close to the scheduled 6:30 am start.Five games were followed by lunch, another four games before ashort break, three more games before dinner, and four gamesbefore bedtime. Meals were included with the entry fee and wereprovided by the hotel’s restaurant. (It wouldn’t be possible to playthis many games if players had to leave the venue for meals.)With only 14 games on the second day and a comparatively lateRedeye organizer Anne Loringhard at work.Sue Gable demonstrates how to drawtiles. Richard Lauder to the right. 29

R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0Main event winners (L-R) Tim Adamson (Div 1), Ruchie Gupta (Div 2), Rob Siegel (Div 4), and Phyllis Koselke (Div 3)7:00 am start, the tournament managed to finish ahead of schedule. The organizers took a shorttime to verify results and determine winners of place and category prizes, and the tournament andaward ceremony were done around 11:00 pm on Sunday night.But the Redeye wasn’t over. This year, a late bird was added for those diehards who thought 30games weren’t enough. The late bird was also open to local or other players who didn’t want to playthe Redeye but had nothing better to do after midnight. Players could wait until the last minuteAbove: John Karris playing Lisa Odom (Winter in thebackground). Right: Scott Hawkins faces 16-year-old JasonVaysberg, the youngest player at the Redeye.30

R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0before signing up for the late bird, and we expected maybe a dozen or so might brave this ratherbizarre event.Left: Mark Kenas plays CALCTUFA (a soft porous rock consisting of calcium carbonate deposited from springs richin lime). Right: A seven-bingo game by Tim Adamson and Rob Robinksy. Robinsky won the game, which totaledalmost 1,000 points. Can you spot the phony that was played?To our amazement, 36 players signed up, including only five non-Redeye participants. Nearly halfof the players who had just finished playing 30 games over the last two days decided to add fivemore games in the early morning hours before making flights or sleeping or whatever else they hadto do that day.The late bird was one open division, paired by NAST pairings, which easily adapt last minute to anynumber of players. After the four even-strength round-robin games, six undefeated players wereSwiss-paired for the top prize, which was won by Eric Harshbarger (AL), followed by Rob Robinsky(MN), and Winter (car) in second and third place, respectively.Main event winners were Tim Adamson, Div 1; Ruchie Gupta, Div 2; Phyllis Koselke, Div 3; and RobSiegel, Div 4.Anecdote 1, the I’m-Glad-This-Wasn’t-Televised Game. Midway through the tournament, a playerconsidered playing DENAZIFY for a 356-point TWS-TWS, but rejected it and settled for 93 pointswith NAZIFY. His opponent immediately extended it with his own DE.Anecdote 2, the Always-Check-Your-Tile-Distribution Game. Veryfew of us do this, but it proved critical in the tournament’s first roundwhen two players were playing a tight end game and both ended uptracking and retracking for several minutes, only to end up scratchingtheir heads. After concurring that they both seemed to be missing atile, a search was made of table, chairs, floor, clothing, etc., only toturn up empty. The game was finished, whereupon furtherinvestigation revealed that it had been played with three Ws and oneV. A play of AW had been inconclusively tracked by both players.Steve Pellinen often plays, sometimes directs, and always wonders about this game we play. 31

25th Summit Openby Dan Stock with photos by Joyce Stock2 5 T H S U M M I T O P E NFrank Lee (left) faces Summit Open winner Brian Bowman, who only lost onegame over the weekend (to Pete Zeigler). Lee finished in sixth place.Brian Bowman made a convincing statement at the 25th Summit Open in Hudson, OH, thisweekend: He's a force to be reckoned with in this country, in addition to his recent fine performanceat the Worlds.Bowman swept Winter in the best-of-five championship match, winning all three games by at least90 points.Before the tourney, Winter had posted an ethical question to CGP: Since his goal is to play as manytourney games as possible this year, would it be ethical to intentionally lose some games in a bestof-fivematch to allow playing more games (since in this tourney format, the fourth and fifth games ofthe championship match are played only if needed)? However, the question was posed before twoexperts joined the field: Bowman and Pete Zeigler. Bowman's performance made the questionmoot, a least for this tourney.Bowman lost only one game over the weekend, to Zeigler during the qualification portion of thetourney on the first day. Winter lost his game to Zeigler and all four games to Bowman (includingone on the first day).32

2 5 T H S U M M I T O P E NStock drewConnie Breitbeil and Pat Hardwick nine powertiles in the firstof the best-of-two match against Zeigler, but misplayedthe endgame (missing a huge spot for the E front hook toSQUIRES) and won by only 105. The drawing was muchmore even in the second game, and at first it seemedlike Zeigler had won by 106 to win the best-of-two matchby a single point. However, a recount showed that therehad been a two-point error in Zeigler's favor ... so Stockended up winning the match by a single point! Note thatif the match had ended as a tie, Zeigler would havemoved on to the third-place game due to his strongerrecord on the first day.Zeigler ended up with the second-best record in thetourney at 8-3, but due to the tourney format and somebad luck he ended up in fifth place. He was a couplehundred spread points behind Winter after the first day tomiss out on the finals. That put him in the group of fourthat played for third though sixth places. He played DanStock in a preliminary best-of-two match, with the winnerto meet the winner of a similar best-of-two match betweenKevin McCarthy and Frank Lee for third place.In the McCarthy-Lee best-of-two match, Lee won the firstgame by 56 points but McCarthy won the second gameby 120 to take the match.Christopher Sheppard awards the firstplacetrophy to Brian Bowman.In the third-place match, Stock defeated McCarthy in both games.In the fifth-place match, Zeigler defeated Lee in both games.Kevin McCarthy, Sr. finished fourth.The rest of the field continued to playmodified Swiss pairings. HeatherSteffy won her last three games to getthe last money place. ChristopherSheppard, Connie Breitbeil, andEileen Popich won ribbons.About Dan Stock:QUITE BRAINIlYMEMORIALIZINGIN A GOOD TROVEOF TABLEAUXDAN STOCK LOVESPURPLE AND WISEWIFE JOYCE ANdTHREE DAUGHTERS 33

TournamentResults 1/1-31ALBANY (MAIN EVENT)12/31-1/21. Kenji Matsumoto2. Joe Bihlmeyer3. Nancy KonipolLAGUNA WOODS CA1/31. David PearlBERKELEY CA (NAST)1/91. Bruce WardBERKELEY CA 1/101. Sam Kantimathi2. Andrea Michaels3. Whitney GouldFENTON MI 1/91. Jeff Fiszbein2. Carolyn Easter3. Cheryl MelvinREGINA SK CAN 1/91. Angela Rea2. Maureen KealTAMPA FL 1/91. Joan KnobelsdorfFENTON MI 1/101. Jason IdalskiGUELPH ON CAN 1/101. Jim Nanavati2. Shelley Ubeika3. Dave KrookT O U R N A M E N T R E S U L T SRHINEBECK NY 1/101. Eric Goldstein2. Kathy Hooper3. Judy RosenthalRHINEBECK NY YOUTH(A.M.) 1/101. Nicholas Vasquez2. Conor McGeehanRHINEBECK NY YOUTH(P.M.) 1/101. Conor McGeehanINDEPENDENCE OH1/121. Daniel StockBRANDON MS 1/151. Scott Garner2. Reid Warren3. Eric Cahanin4. Lanita Wadley5. Jane Peacock6. Erica StutzmanBRANDON MS 1/161. Scott Garner2. Eric Cahanin3. Lindsey Dimmick4. Mark BontaRENO NV EARLY BIRD1/151. Nathan Benedict2. Rich Baker3. Stuart Goldman4. Paul Terry5. Jeannie WilsonBAYSIDE NY 1/161. Daniel Tinkelman2. Edwin Roth3. Nicholas VasquezBRYAN TX 1/16-171. Michael Early2. Becky Dyer3. Edward Gordon4. Oliver RoederKINGSTON CUP(TORONTO VS.MONTREAL;RESTRICTED ENTRY)1/16-171. Craig Rowland2. Nicholas Fall3. Pamela HunterRENO NV 1/16-181. Kenji Matsumoto2. Carlynn Mayer3. Ron BarkerTORONTO VS.MONTREAL SOWPODS(RESTRICTED ENTRY)1/16-171. Adam LoganTWIN CITIES REDEYE(BLOOMINGTON MN)1/16-181. Tim Adamson2. Ruchi Gupta3. Phyllis Koselke4. Rob SiegelSOUTH AMERICANCRUISE 1/17-301. Aldo Cardia2. Verna Richards Berg34

TWIN CITIES REDEYELATE BIRD OPEN(BLOOMINGTON MN) 1/181. Eric HarshbargerT O U R N A M E N T R E S U L T S1. Jeff Clark2. Marcia Wade3. Laura Thomley4. Pat FeiginFT. LAUDERDALE FL 1/231. Ron Tiekert2. Roy Dixon3. Mitchell BrownMOUNTAIN VIEW CA 1/231. Christiane Tran2. Emely WeissmanSEATTLE WA 1/231. Dave Johnson2. Frank Kashuk3. David Foerstel4. Adam Henderson5. Hilary JohnsonLAKE OSWEGO OR (LCT)1/311. Michael Baker2. Charlie Kaplan3. Gunther JacobiSTANTON CA 1/311. David Pearl2. Victor Tantua3. David Slavin4. Ruben RadlauerSAN FRANCISCO CA 1/311. Conrad Bassett-BouchardTUCSON AZ 1/231. Richard Spence2. Sara BoykanWINNIPEG MB CAN 1/231. Caroline Polak Scowcroft2. Amy Knight3. Lynne WardCALGARY AB CAN1/30-311. Eric Tran2. Richard MartinLAGRANGE PARK FL 1/301. Melissa Routzahn2. Diane Pietrzak3. Mitchell Szczepanczyk4. Rebecca GilmoreORLANDO-KISSIMMEEFL 1/30-31 35

N E W F A C E SNew FacesSince our last issue, 20 new faces have competed at NASPA tournaments. Two of these playerswon their divisions at their first tournaments: Erica Stutzman, winner of Division 6 at the BrandonMS 1/15 Tournament, and our featured “new face,” Mark Bonta, who won Division 4 at the BrandonMS 1/16 Tournament (6-2 +709).______________________________________________________________________________Mark BontaMark Bonta, 40, lives in Cleveland, MS, with his lovely wife Luz (aHonduran professional artist) and their beloved teenaged daughter Eva, 13going on 30, who aspires to be a professional dancer. A geographyprofessor with research activities in Mexico and Honduras involvingcycads, birds, and environmental issues, Bonta teaches a full slate ofclasses at Delta State University in the Mississippi Delta, “where the Blueswere born, one of the most unique places in the world.” He is the author ofDeleuze and Geophilosophy: A Guide and Glossary and Seven Names forthe Bellbird: Conservation Geography in Honduras. Other thanSCRABBLE®, some of his hobbies include birdwatching, hiking, pianoplaying, traveling, reading philosophy, and watching horror movies.Bonta has been playing SCRABBLE® for as long as he can remember being able to read. “I wasraised in the woods with a lot of books and no TV, and my sole competitor was my older brother.When we were kids, my Dad, who was a reference librarian, had purchased the complete OxfordEnglish Dictionary for home use(!), so we used that as our SCRABBLE® dictionary. The OED hasjust about every word ever written in English in the last five centuries, so we managed to wrack uphuge scores--plus we allowed every possible 're-' and '-er' combination (reeaters, redrinkers),resulting in some pretty bizarre non-words.” After Bonta grew up and moved away, he only playedSCRABBLE® occasionally, but he never lost his love of the game. “When the first good electronicversions came out in the 1990s, I started playing a computer, and quickly became re-addicted. Ofcourse, I had to learn to use only the acceptable words.”Bonta’s New Year's resolution for 2010 was to actually get out and play human beings. “My brotherand I had been talking wistfully about tournament SCRABBLE® since the very beginning, so Ithought I should take the plunge--I'm not getting any younger, and all that.” Searching the Internet,Bonta found a SCRABBLE® club in Mississippi only a couple hours' drive away (Brandon MS Club#427)--and an upcoming tournament he could attend. He jumped right in!Like many “newbies,” Bonta was somewhat nervous about playing in a tournament. “But DannyGatlin and Sharon Hall [the tournament organizers] were very encouraging by email and over thephone, and anyway this is Mississippi, the most friendly and hospitable state in the Union! The foodwas excellent and abundant in Brandon and the atmosphere was competitive but somewhatrelaxed; I got to chat with several other players, and found them all to be intriguing folks. I wasamazed at how well organized everything was, and of course I loved everybody's professional,sportsmanlike behavior.”To prepare for the tournament, Bonta played 10-15 daily games against the computer (which hedoes most days), using Tournament mode in the Yahoo Games version. “I usually have the36

N E W F A C E Scomputer set at 1700 rating, but occasionally I set it at 2100, which is humbling! I memorized thetwo-letter words when I was a kid, and last year I memorized all the 3-letter words. My goal for thisyear is to learn all the 4-letter words, and we'll see after that. Also, I've read up a lot onSCRABBLE® strategy as written by the masters, and that has helped a lot--rack management,shepherding, and so forth.”Bonta found the tournament quite different from online play. “I'd never played under thoseconditions, so I initially struggled a bit with the clock, and even after 8 games I couldn't manage totrack tiles, which is crucial for my endgame strategy. I was slowed down by physically having todraw tiles, move them around on the rack, and announce cumulative scores, so I guess you couldsay I had gotten spoiled by playing only the computer. Nevertheless, the human element issomething I had been missing these past years.“I was happy to win the Division as well as its high word for the day [QUILTERS for 104 points as hisopening play in Game 3]--and have such a good spread [+709].”Bonta “definitely” plans to participate in the Brandon Club #427 meetings “as much as my gasolinebudget allows,” and he hopes to play in more tournaments, at least those nearby.Welcome to Mark Bonta, Erica Stutzman, and the following other newfaces:FENTON MI 1/9: Han Ei ChewFENTON MI 1/10: Ryan HershaRHINEBECK NY YOUTH (A.M.) 1/10: Noah BressmanRENO NV 1/16-18: Elaine DeFelice, Kate RussellSOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE 1/17-30: Rosalie WargaskiTWIN CITIES REDEYE MN LATE BIRD 1/18: Marie SwetallaFT. LAUDERDALE FL 1/23: Mary FontiSEATTLE WA 1/23: Whitney Golob, Patrick HolmWINNIPEG MB CANADA 1/23: Angela Kapoor-DozoisCALGARY AB CANADA 1/30-31: Dave ThaiLAGRANGE PARK FL 1/30: Wesley UnderwoodOSWEGO OR 1/31: Scott R. SmithSTANTON CA 1/31: Deborah Komatsu, Cooper Komatsu, Rasul Macasimbar, Lillian Salas 37

P L A Y T H E G A M EPlay the Game: Game AnalysisNotes by Joe EdleyThe game below is Round 6 of the 2009 Dallas Open 3/13/09: Joel Sherman (NY) vs. JoeyMallick (ME). To play the game, click here (or go to http://cross-tables.com/annotated.php?a=795#0). (Note: All simulations, done using Quackle, are at least 10K iterations.)1 JS: AAEEEMS EXCH. AEE 0 T: 0Best. Given that the AE combo is so strong, and that he has 5 of these 21 tiles (12 Es + 9 As),saving both is slightly better than just the ES. Plus, the M is a good bingo tile, as well asoverlapping attacker (note the 11 two-letter M words).1 JM: EGHLLQ? QuELL 8D 46 T: 46Best. There’s no point to saving the blank, because he’d have to guarantee a bingo next turn todo as well for his first two turns.2 JS: AABEIMS IAMB 9G 17 T: 17AIM 9C 20 is immediately 3 pts more and the ABES leave is more balanced than the SEA afterIAMB. Additionally, without an I, he’s giving Mallick an extra place for a variety of return shots(IAMBI).2 JM: DEFGHLS SHELF K9 31 T: 7738

P L A Y T H E G A M EGood play, but GULFED or FUGLED E7 20 would also be wise decisions. While the S is oftenthought to be worth about 8 pts, in the beginning of the game it’s usually more valuable becausethat’s when bingos get played more easily, and where the huge scoring lead from an early bingocan give a big advantage.3 JS: AEEOOST TABOO J7 18 T: 35OOH 10I 18 is best. The AEEST leave is much more conducive for bingos than EES.3 JM: ABDEGNU BANGED 10B 22 T: 99He may not have been certain of the superior BUNGED in the same spot, to get rid of the U.4 JS: DEEEGS? TEG 7J 4 T: 39He’s down and should be playing aggressively. FEED 13K 16 is well worth the risk, since hisopponent, even with an S (not likely!), won’t score more than 9 additional points with that hotspotthan without it. And without the S, Sherman has a chance to catch up quickly.4 JM: AAGIIUU EXCH. ALL 0 T: 99Nothing better.5 JS: DEEHJS? HaDJEES M1 92 T: 131Great bingo!5 JM: AIKNORR KORAI 2J 36 T: 135Overlooking IRONBARK through the B. 2 nd best would be KHAN 1L 48.6 JS: GINPRRY PARRING C9 26 T: 157Using six tiles, he clearly wants to draw some power tiles. However, just PARRY C9 26 keepsthe ever-valuable ING, which, in this case, is worth saving for its synergy.6 JM: AEIINRV VINIFERA 13G 88 T: 223Another great find! 39

P L A Y T H E G A M E7 JS: EELTTTY LYTTAE N9 34 T: 191Not easy to see, but by looking for a word with the Y on the TLS, he finds his best play.7 JM: ACMORVX AXIOM H11 66 T: 289Another winner!8 JS: EIOOTUY YOGI 15A 27 T: 218Tough decision. UNITY 14B 32 also looks inviting, and, in fact, simulates slightly better, thoughthe EOTU leave after YOGI might look a lot more appealing than just the 5 pt. gain from leavingEOO.9 JM: CORSUVW VOWER 5J 22 T: 311Much better to get rid of the U with VROUW 12B 22. No good reason to keep it. However, it’slikely he wanted to block the O column from a random bingo while setting up his own S forperhaps a smaller, but potent +40-point play. That’s certainly a worthy goal. With such choices,I’d still take the better leave after VROUW, which gives more flexibility in the long run.10 JS: AEOOPTU PAREU 12A 20 T: 238Or UPO O7 17, which sims a very slight amount better.10 JM: ACEISUU JEU M4 13 T: 324ULU 9M 4 actually defends better, and keeps bingo-prone tiles.11 JS: ADEOOTT TOAD I3 18 T: 256HOT 1M 20 or TOO O8 16 are good choices. Close calls as to which is better.11 JM: ACFISUU FUCI O6 29 T: 353Best. He gets rid of some junk and scores very well.12 JS: EENORTW OWN 14A 27 T: 283Why not HOW 1M 29? He can use the extra points.40

P L A Y T H E G A M E12 JM: AIINSTU INIA I12 19 T: 372Or AIS O11 24. He has the win already.13 JS: CEENNRT GNU E10 8 T: 291He’s trying to save spread now with a last-minute bingo, and that’s a very good thing to try for!Note that his current rack has an unplayable bingo, CENTNER.13 JM: DNSSTUZ DOZE K4 14 T: 386He might not have tracked Sherman’s tiles accurately....14 JS: ACEENRT CANTERED 6B 69 T: 360 + 10 (NSSTU) 370FINAL SCORE: JM: 386 JS: 370Joe Edley is a three-time National SCRABBLE® Champion and the author and co-author of manybooks, including BANANAGRAMS!: The Official Book, Everything SCRABBLE® (Third Editionreviewed in the December issue of The Last Word), and SCRABBLE® Puzzles, Vol. 1-4, allavailable at amazon.com. His second Bananagrams® book, MORE BANANAGRAMS®!, isscheduled for publication in April from Workman Press. 41

K N O W T H E R U L E SKnow the Rulesby Jan Dixon, NASPA Rules Committee MemberJan Dixon, a longtime expert player and a member of the NASPA RulesCommittee, will be writing a monthly column on rules for The Last Word.We are thrilled that Jan will be sharing her rules expertise with our readers,and we encourage you to email any questions you may have abouttournament and club rules to CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com. With the recentNASPA announcement of rules changes effective February 2, Jan’s arrivalcould not be more timely, and she addresses these changes in her first Q& A answer. (Photo credit: Jill Jarrell)________________________________________________________________________What major rules changes will take effect on February 2, 2010?It is NASPA's goal for the Rules Committee to only do one update each year. Hopefully, as timegoes by, there will be very few changes or corrections that need to be made. The RulesCommittee reviewed and debated numerous issues, and have agreed on roughly two dozenchanges. Many of the changes are just for clarity. Following are three major changes beingimplemented:• The exception at the beginning of the game to the “six-scores-of-zero-and-the-game-is-over” rulewas removed. The game can now end with no tiles on the board.• After an adjudication, the clock may not be restarted until both players are seated and (in theevent of an unsuccessful challenge) the drawer has seen the face of at least one replenishmenttile.• The blank designation rule was revamped. The key features are that the written designation ismandatory and spoken designation is equivalent to NO DESIGNATION.Please refer to the NASPA website (www.scrabbleplayers.org) for complete details of these changesand to download a copy of the Official Tournament Rules effective February 2, 2010.Always remember that it pays to KNOW THE RULES!Jan DixonRules Committee MemberJan Dixon has been playing tournament SCRABBLE® for 28 years and has been a member of theRules Committee since its inception. She divides her time between New York City with her fiancé,Aldo Cardia, and Delaware, where her children and grandchildren all reside.42

The WordsmithT H E W O R D S M I T H“A week’s worth of words”by Chris SinacolaThe chief obstacle standing between most SCRABBLE® players and a higher rating and greatersuccess in club and tournament play is simply not knowing enough words. Strategy is significant, ofcourse, and well worth attention once you have developed a solid vocabulary, but the best strategywon't carry you far if you don't have the word weapons you need.If you don't believe me, spend a few hours playing Quackle (www.quackle.org) and keep track bothof what the program finds and what you miss.The cure for ignorance is, of course, hard work and study. Methodical study of the SCRABBLE®dictionary is essential to success, as is some kind of systematic approach to anagrams of sevenand eight letters.But I have always felt that learning words out of context, without much mind to definitions, part ofspeech, and usage, drains the game of much of its beauty. Not every player will agree, of course.Those intent on rapid advancement, or those who view SCRABBLE® as another in a series ofgame “puzzles” to be solved and conquered, may see it as little more than committing to memorywhich strings of letters are valid and which are not.I much prefer to dwell in the language, and as various interesting and unusual words crossed mydesk this week, I got to thinking exactly how many “new” words someone immersed in languagemeets in a given week. And make no mistake – we are all immersed in language in this age andculture.Here are a few that I met in recent days in the course of reading newspapers, books, magazines;listening to the various media; and, of course, playing SCRABBLE®.Reading Michael Pollan's best-selling The Omnivore's Dilemma, I happened upon this sentence,describing the dominance of corn in our domestic food supply: “It's a good thing this plan can't forman impression of us, for how risible that impression would be: the farmers going broke cultivating it;the countless other species routed or emiserated by it....”I stopped at emiserated, a wonderful example of a word – if it is a word, SCRABBLE® playerswould quickly add – whose meaning is almost immediately clear. It surely wants to express theprocess of making poorer, or a reduction to a state of miserliness. And yet, something about itdoesn't look quite right.I call a quick timeout here to to note that whether something “is or is not a word” doesn't mean allthat much. Anything we see in print is commonly referred to as a word, even if it appears nowhereelse and has no generally accepted meaning. But there are many perfectly valid words that are notacceptable in SCRABBLE®, and when you stop to consider the neologisms that Shakespeare,Melville, and Joyce engaged in (to name just three of the most poetical offenders of the linguisticstatus quo), it's clear that the OWL-2 is rather limited in scope. 43

44T H E W O R D S M I T HBut back to our word. I would challenge EMISERATED in a heartbeat, simply because I've playedQuackle enough to judge that if these fairly common tiles could be put together in that fashion,Quackle would have done so long before now, nine and ten-letter words being no problem forsilicon-based lifeforms.Checking the word judge just now, I see that I would win such a challenge, but I can't take muchpleasure in it, because the “word” EMISERATE*, now bearing our little asterisk, makes no sense.The challenge was what we label “an easy call.” The prefix e-, as Latin students will recall, confersthe idea of out and away from, as opposed to in- or im- prefixes, which suggest inwardness, or thestate of becoming something, that something, in this case, being impoverished. (See what I mean?)Indeed, EMISERATE* doesn't appear anywhere in the Oxford English Dictionary, which leads me tomy first conclusion on this word: Mr. Pollan either made it up or was thinking of some other word,which he then misspelled.But what other word?Google EMISERATE* and you are prompted to search for IMMISERATE. Do so, and youimmediately find an online dictionary claiming that word derives from the Latin immiserare, meaningto sink into poverty. But the various Latin dictionaries inhabiting my house yield only: “immiserabilis,unlamented, unpitied,” and note that the word appears in Horace's Odes.Unlamented is not quite the same as falling into a state of poverty or miserliness, which leads to mysecond conclusion about this word: Internet lexicographers may also be making things up. I add onecaveat – IMMISERATE may be perfectly good medieval Latin. At my house, we are generally stuckin the classical age.But I promised you a week's worth of words, and here I have just spilled 500 or so on a single word,which you cannot even play.Here are five more you can play (technically, the tile gods being with you), taken from a New YorkTimes story of Jan. 19 on insects that adapt to cold temperatures: ANTARCTIC, SNOWBANKS,SPRINGTAIL, BUDWORM, CRYOPROTECTIVE. I didn't say any of these would be particularlylikely to show up.From an article on a newly discovered “super-Earth”: EXOPLANET. Alas, give it an asterisk, at leastfor now. The list of 135 EXO- words doesn't welcome EXOPLANET*. (You could still give it a spin ifyou wanted.)GADARENE. This word, an adjective meaning “headlong, rash, impetuous,” cropped up in a columnby George Will, who is never shy about sending his readers to the dictionary. It is within the top2,000 eight-letter words by probability, so many players will readily recognize it. I wonder, however,how many know its context. I confess that I did not.It comes from the Gadarene swine in the Bible, who were possessed by demons and rushed intothe sea, as recounted in Matthew 8:28. Some online biblical commentaries note that Gadarene isgiven as Gergesenes in some translations – if that were the standard, however, we wouldn't befalling over ourselves to play GADARENE!

T H E W O R D S M I T HHere are a few words that came up during actual SCRABBLE® play this week:.HOTSEAT*, which I played during a club game, was doubted (by both myself and my opponent) butremained unchallenged. Often, players will not challenge words such as this that we pronounce as ifthey were one word. SNOWBANK, see above, comes to mind.Another game featured the trio of DUCTING, EDUCTING*, and REDUCTING*. I played the first,which is perfectly valid, then hooked CLOVE to it for EDUCTING*, which my opponent didn't muchlike. Neither did I. Yet EDUCTION is the act of EDUCING (drawing out), and an EDUCT is what anEDUCTOR gets when they are finished with their EDUCTIVE process. It's just that at no point canone be EDUCTING*.At this point, my opponent hooked RELEARN onto the word for REDUCTING*. You might thinkREDUCTING* follows a similar chain of reasoning leading to invalidity. Not quite. There are 18 validwords with the stem REDUCT-, but REDUCT* itself is invalid. And yet, as the OED shows, reduct isa perfectly good English word, meaning to reduce to a different state. It's just that it's obsolete anddidn't make the cut in modern times. No one promised this was fair!While getting the car inspected – multitasking is wonderful, no? – I read another dozen pages ofPollan's book, and ran across a treasure trove of words, 15 of which I give here in list form, andleave to readers to decide which are acceptable. If in doubt, you'll have to look up the answersyourself, of course. That's the whole point of this month's column – study harder.FOXTAIL, VERDUROUS, TROPISM, COEVOLVE, BIOPHILIA, TIMOTHY, BELOWDECKS,FESCUE, PHAGES, SHRIMPY, POLYCULTURE, ATRAZINE, TITYRUS, XANTHAN, PINPRICKS.Chris Sinacola is co-director of the Worcester MA SCRABBLE® Club #600.. 45

A N A G R A M T U N N E L S Q U I ZAnagram Tunnels Quizby Juraj PivovarovAn Anagram Tunnel is a sequence of words such that there is exactly ONE word that can be formedfrom the previous word and a blank.Example:GRIFFSGRIFFESGIRAFFESFIREFANGSRESTAFFINGAFFORESTINGOVERSTAFFINGIn our current dictionary, the maximum length of such a tunnel is 7, and it is realized by 6 differentstarting words (see The Last Word, Issue 2).Here are 5 (from the 15 total) 5-letter words that stretch into 5-word tunnels. See if you can find the3 missing words that complete each tunnel:HUSKS...CHECKSUMSMUSKY...KOUMYSSESOHMIC...SHAMBOLICSULLY...LUMPISHLYTOFTS...FOSSETTESANSWERS ON NEXT PAGEJuraj Pivovarov is a 1400 SCRABBLE® player and a near-expert chess player. He has a degree inPure Math and a M.Sc. in Computer Science.46

A N A G R A M T U N N E L S Q U I ZANSWERS:HUSKSSHUCKSSHMUCKSSCHMUCKSCHECKSUMSMUSKYKOUMYSKOUMYSSKOUMYSESKOUMYSSESOHMICHOLMICMOCHILAMOCHILASSHAMBOLICSULLYLUSHLYPLUSHLYPLUSHILYLUMPISHLYTOFTSOFTESTSOFTESTFOSSETTEFOSSETTESJuraj Pivovarov is a 1400 SCRABBLE® player and a near-expert chess player. He has a degree inPure Math and a M.Sc. in Computer Science. 47

W I L L N E D I G E R : P U Z Z L E M A S T E RWill Nediger: Puzzle MasterWill Nediger, a 20-year-old college student from London, Ontario, is one ofthe highest ranked SCRABBLE® players under 21 in North America(current NASPA rating: 1792). Although Nediger has played in only 14tournaments since he started competing just over 5 years ago, he won 6 ofthose tournaments, and his 67.2% lifetime win record rivals that oftournament giants such as Dave Wiegand (67.5%). Nediger also played inthe inaugural World Youth SCRABBLE® Championship in 2006, coming in3rd, the best placement of any North American in the history of the event--an astonishing feat considering that the tournament used the unfamiliarCollins dictionary.But Nediger is an expert with words--crosswords in particular. Since 2006 Nediger has beenconstructing crossword puzzles for the New York Times, the New York Sun, and numerous otherpublications. “We like to call ourselves cruciverbalists, because it sounds impressive,” said Nediger,who has an engaging sense of humor and an easy confidence. And an astounding vocabulary!Nediger had always enjoyed solving crossword puzzles, and, like many crossword puzzle fans, hethought it couldn’t be to hard to make one. “It is, it turns out, but I kept at it.” His early “ratheramateurish” efforts were quickly rejected, but he persevered. His first New York Times puzzleappeared in 2006, when he was just 16, and now his name appears regularly alongside that of WillShortz, the New York Times crossword puzzle editor--and hero of the successful 2006 documentaryWordplay.Nediger submits his puzzles with clues; however, the puzzle editors will usually change “a goodlypercentage” of these clues to match the difficulty level they are looking for in that puzzle. While theeditors do not suggest themes to Will, he usually bounces a theme off an editor before spending toomuch time on it. “A flawed theme is a deal-breaker,” advises Will.Nediger constructs a couple dozen puzzles a year--in between doing his homework as a third-yearcollege student at the University of Western Ontario, where he studies linguistics and Spanish.“They say SCRABBLE® players tend to be mathematically minded instead of linguistically minded,”notes Nediger, “so I guess I'm an exception to that.”While Nediger enjoys completing crossword puzzles, he has never competed at the annualAmerican Crossword Puzzle Tournament, now held in Brooklyn, NY (formerly in Stamford, CT).“I’m a pretty fast solver, so I’d probably be able to do fairly well with some practice.He also was not involved with the documentary Wordplay, though many of his colleagues were.He’s glad the movie has made people more aware of the art of crossword construction. “Eventhough it’s one of the most popular hobbies in North America, most people really don’t knowanything about what goes into making a crossword. The most common question I’m asked iswhether I write the clues or make the grid first. I’ll leave that one as an exercise to the reader!”48

W I L L N E D I G E R : P U Z Z L E M A S T E RNediger does not play often in SCRABBLE® tournaments, and he has competed in just four eventsoutside of Canada. His only two majors were the 2006 World Youth SCRABBLE® Championshipand the 2009 National Scrabble Championship in Dayton (where he finished 43rd out of 127 playersin Division 1). “Some might say the WYSC isn't really a major, but there was some pretty stiffcompetition, including David Eldar and Suanne Ong, who just recently won the 2009 WYSC [andwho beat Nigel Richards to win the 2008 King’s Cup].“It was a great experience,” said Nediger of his trip to Wollongong, Australia, to compete in the 2006WYSC. He represented his country with two other Canadians: Michael Loo and Vimalan Raviraj.(The U.S. did not send a team.)“It was pretty daunting, and it remains the only time I’ve ever used cue cards to study, and prettymuch the only time I’ve studied by probability. Obviously, there was no way to learn 30,000 words ina few months, so I just learned the important stuff: 2s, 3s, as many 4s as I could, JQXZ words, andhigh-prob bingoes without TWL anagrams.“I discovered that that’s basically all you need to be able to be competitive at a SOWPODS event,although there’s not much hope of winning without a much better SOWPODS knowledge thanmine.”Nediger wishes there were more interest in SOWPODS/Collins in North America. But he adds that,“Luckily, the situation seems to be changing for the better.”Nediger recommends Quackle to North American Youth Players looking to improve. “Quackle is thebest thing around for improving your game. I find it really useful for developing the instinct forevaluating leaves, for example.”For Youth Players considering competing at the WYSC, Nediger advises “not to sweat the dictionaryissue too much.”“Just learn the basics, and play some Collins against Quackle (or a real Collins player, if there’s oneavailable) to get a sense of the dynamics of the Collins game, which is quite different from the TWLgame.”Does knowing the meanings of so many words give Nediger an edge? He admits it does, but hesays he often forgets the definitions, unless the words are ones he’s encountered outside ofSCRABBLE®. He does read a lot, though, which he feels definitely helps his game.Nediger has constructed a special “Anagrams Grid” crossword puzzle, using the American-stylecrossword grid, for this issue of The Last Word (see the next page). All of the words are acceptablein the OSPD4 and TWL (except for the 9s, which are too long for the OSPD4). Good luck!For more information on constructing crossword puzzles, visit the www.nytimes.com/wordplay andwww.cruciverb.com, or read Patrick Berry’s Crossword Puzzle Challenges for Dummies, available atamazon.com. For information on the upcoming 33rd Annual Amerian Crossword PuzzleTournament in Brooklyn, NY, February 19-21, go to www.crosswordtournament.com. 49

A N A G R A M C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L EAnagram Crossword Puzzleby Will NedigerSOLUTION ON NEXT PAGEAcross35 AAELOOPRTDown28 EEGRT1 ACEEHLT37 AEIKKMNO1 ACHIIMS30 AJLOP8 ABBELSU40 FFHOSW2 AEHINSS32 MOS15 AEGHNOX44 EEGST3 CEIMOSX34 HOO16 DEENORT45 DEH4 ABL36 EELOPSST17 ABIORSS47 AEPRU5 AAGS37 BBCEKKU18 AFILSTY48 BEER6 EORST38 AAAGHPR19 ASS49 AEKST7 EEILNS39 EELKNOS20 EEIRSUZ51 AMSY8 BDDEEFLU41 AFILRSZ22 ELS52 ABL9 AERRU42 EEFIIMN23 AIMS53 ADILLMM10 BELO43 CEPSSTU25 DEILS55 IPZ11 ADS46 ADHHIT26 CERU56 AEPRSTU12 EEILRSU49 EINRS27 AEIMZ58 AEIINST13 AEELNRT50 AAHKS29 DEN60 CEHOSSU14 ELSSTTY53 AAMS30 AJRTU61 CHIILOT21 ADEFILNNZ54 AIMR31 CGINOS62 AABKNNS24 AEIOSTZ57 BTU33 AEFLLOST63 ADEHRST26 AACTUWY59 DOT50

A N A G R A M C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L ESOLUTION 51

Badqoph Blog Talkby Ryan FischerB A D Q O P H B L O G T A L KRyan Fischer manages the Badqoph Directory, a database of blogs by known SCRABBLE®bloggers, primarily tournament players. Here he looks at some interesting threads from the blogs.This month's focus is on the value of the sim and other things that make you go "hmm." But first, aBadqoph Directory primer. [The Badqoph Directory can be found at http://www.charlottescrabble.com/badqoph/people/.]As of this writing, the directory is split into two sections: active and inactive blogs. This is not anautomated feature yet, so on occasion, I'll go through and move blogs that don't have any recentpublic posts to the “inactive” section. Currently, the directory has 191 blogs and otherSCRABBLE®-related websites listed: 110 active, 81 inactive. Clicking on "Inactive" takes you tothose inactive blogs of interest.On the main page, you'll see a list of the first 30 blogs of note, sorted by the owner's rating indescending order (last month, I mentioned two of the first ones to appear: Dave Wiegand's "TheWindage Report" and Kenji Matsumoto's "kenji_v_quackle"). Say you want to find someone's blog.You can sort by NASPA rating, WESPA rating (this is still incomplete), last name, first name, ISChandle, or blog name, just by clicking any of the columns listed on the main page. In some cases,clicking a column head again will reverse the sort (this is still experimental and a bit buggy). Youcan cycle through pages via the links at the top of the page and the previous sort will remain intact.A newly debuted feature is the database search. Simply type in any information you have on a field(one piece of information at a time), and the database will return all likely partial matches. Forinstance, say you want to find all SCRABBLE® players named "Eric" (who have a blog or a knownISC presence, mind you). So you type that in. The search is case-insensitive, and it matches anyoccurrence of those four letters in a row. So in addition to finding Eric Tran, Eric Harshbarger, andEric Pivnik, it also matches ERICa Moore, Jesse Day's "ExotERICa", and Katie Devanney's"amERICan idiot."This search is also useful for that nagging question that first contributed to my wanting to start thisdatabase. A lot of times when playing on ISC you'll come across a player who claims s/he isN(A)S(P)A. How to know for sure? Seen user "TakeItAway" tear it up with a 600 game and findyourself intrigued? Type in his handle, and you'll seen he's Mike Yowonske. Click his name to linkto his cross-tables.com profile, and you'll see he's only played in one tournament, Atlantic City'sOpen of three years ago. He came out of it with a 1766 rating, finishing 5th out of 130, besting thelikes of Lloyd Mills, Stefan Rau, and Scott Appel.To further the completion of the info in this database, I invite any and all NASPA members to submittheir ISC handles and blogs they'd like to share, in the name of growing the community and furtheruniting it.As for "things that make you go hmm," this month Geoff Thevenot and Nigel Peltier pontificated onsimulations. Peltier first posted on CGP in response to a query by Brian Williams about how to52

B A D Q O P H B L O G T A L Kquantify whether to forego a bingo based on what it gives back. Matthew Hodge's allusion to a"Statistics 101 example" is apt. Whereas on average "adults hav[e]... one testicle and one ovary" isa true statement, it is "misleading and utterly useless."Peltier explained that "In a game of SCRABBLE®, you win or you don't. Plays happen along theway. You make judgments about endless factors, MOST of which have nothing to do with numbers,to decide how ‘good’ different plays are, compared to one another." And, "You can't write a programto predict how the average opponent thinks. You can analyze a board and quantify its ‘equity’ interms of the highest amount of points that your opponent can score with a certain rack, but theyhave an unknown rack." This is a trait that another well-known SCRABBLE® Nigel shares: that ofnot wanting to post-mortem too much because every game is different, so ultimately, once it's over,what's the point?The conversation then trickled over to Geoff Thevenot's "Bozo's Montreux," where as"getofftheoven" he likened the aforementioned phenomenon to being a musician or a teacher ofmusic: "I can show a student technical things, talk about theory, expose him to new styles andsounds that might expand his vocabulary. I can give him the raw material and point him to sourceswhere he can find what he's looking for if I don't have it myself. But I can't make my student a truemusician, no matter how hard I try; that's up to him to unlock, and it has damn little to do with howwell he plays his scales in the practice room."Marlon Hill (cuzzakenji) added that "SCRABBLE® is a such BEAUTIFUL game BECAUSE da higherconcepts mirror LIFE--REASON, SEQUENCY, CHOICE wif CONSEQUENCE, TIMING, andCHANCE." while David Koenig (jigsawn) interjected a contrary opinion, saying "Quantitativeanalysis has led to a much better understanding of SCRABBLE® and a much higher quality of playthan in the past." Quoting Cecelia Le, he wrote: "the objectivity of the computer can help dispel usof our biases."Labels never really fit. There is rarely in SCRABBLE®, or in life, a 100% best play. Hence the oftmentionedjoke, especially in the SCRABBLE® blog community, of wanting a "Life Quackle" toassess the success rate of real-life decisions. So Nigel Peltier's apt final word on CGP sums it upquite nicely: "Why do people feel the need to quantify everything?"Ryan Fischer graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2005 with a degree incommunications studies and a minor in creative writing. He is a NASPA player and director, a majorforce, with John Luebkemann and Sherrie Saint John, behind the Eastern Championships inCharlotte, NC, where he now lives. He recently completed a documentary on chaos magick, and heis working on a television pilot about ballroom dancing. 53

H I S T O R I C M O M E N T SHistoric Moments: SCRABBLE® Throughout the YearsEmbarrassments of Richesby Stu GoldmanThe J, Q, X, and Z can be powerful weapons separately, but what about having them all at once? Ina recent tournament game I picked the X and Z after a bingo. There were no good plays evidentusing either of them, but a 40+ point WEND was available at H12-15, so I did that. To myamazement I drew the J and Q! Luckily, I played the J, X, and Z for decent points on the next threeturns, and several plays later got rid of the sometimes pesky Q.I was reminded of a game over 25 years ago in the legendary Game Room with the late MikeMartin. With the game nearing its end, I was down by well over a hundredpoints, but holding AIILLNO found ILLATION for a double-double off a T. Mike challenged and Idrew the remaining tiles. He then played two of those HPT's for very few points.Hardly anyone tracked tiles in those days, but Mike's play aroused my suspicion. Sure enough, aquick look around the board showed me that the other two were not there, so Mike had to havethem. I'd like to say I went out immediately and stuck him with both of them, but I don't rememberthat I did. I do remember sticking him with at least one and only losing by 3 points, a considerablegain from the position I'd been in a while back when playing for two cents a point.But the ultimate in excessive Scrabble riches was created by Nick Ballard in a "Medleys" piece. Heclaimed that the rack JQXZSS? had been sent to him by one Handin D. Cookiejar. I appropriatedthat rack in an story I wrote called "The Scrabble Club from Hell,” and gave it to a haplesssoul who asked the devil always to play a bingo, but forgot to specify that it had to be good.Stu Goldman lives in California and has been playing tournament SCRABBLE® for 36 years.MMedleys (1991-1993) was the outstanding journal of its type. Although thereis some out of date material among the 398 scanned pages in this version (e.g.,old word lists and anamonics), it includes much of value for todayís player:Classic articles on theory by Nick Ballard, Charlie Carroll, and Brian Sheppard;over forty annotated games, including the three games of the 1991 WSC finals,the five games of the 1993 WSC finals, and the deciding game of the 1991Masters Tournament between Carroll and Morris; monthly Endgame PracticePublished from 1991 to 1993, Medleys was acolumns; hundreds of game positions, discussed SCRABBLE® and analyzed newsletter published by experts by expert of theplayer Nick Ballard. It included articles on theoryday; Dear Aunt Scrabby (humorous advice to by the top players, wordlorn); annotated and games, much monthly muchmore.“Endgame Practice” columns, and game positionsanalyzed by experts of the day. Players interestedin seeing archive copies of this newsletter canpurchase them on disc by clicking here.54

L I N D A ’ S L I B R A R YLinda’s Libraryby Linda WancelAs an avid reader and book lover, I have found that many other Scrabblers also share my passionfor books and for reading. So, I am happy to have this opportunity to share some of my favoritebooks with you. These reviews, for the most part, were written for Amazon.com, where I have beenwriting reviews under a pseudonym for nearly ten years. I hope that the book lovers among youmay find their interest piqued by some of these books.Non-fiction:The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a GreatVictorian Detectiveby Kate SummerscaleThis is a beautifully written, well-researched book that dissects themurder investigation that surrounded an appalling murder thatoccurred in England in 1860. It is a fascinating story replete withhistorical detail about the era in which the murder took place, as wellas those persons involved. It is a page-turning mystery, as well as awonderful portrait of those involved in this human drama.When three-year-old Saville Kent was found murdered, his throatsavagely cut, in the outhouse of the home of his well-to-do parents,suspicion immediately fell upon the family and their servants, as themurder happened during the night when all were sleeping and nothingwas taken from the house. After all, who else might have murderedthis innocent child? This murder engendered outrage and much presscoverage throughout England, and when the local police came upempty-handed, Scotland Yard stepped in, sending their bestdetective, Jonathan Whicher, to spearhead the investigation.What Whicher surmised from his investigation was that, indeed, one of the family members wasresponsible. Though he eventually accused one of the family members of the crime, the evidenceproved insufficient to bind the accused to trial and provoked a public outcry against Whicher. Thiscase virtually ended his career, as he resigned from the force soon after. Whicher would eventuallybe vindicated years later, when an amazing turn of events occurred. His investigative methods anddeductive reasoning would later come to be embodied in many of the fictional detectives that wouldprove to be popular.This book not only details the murder investigation, it places the events that transpired in the contextof the history of the times, as well as the social mores that dominated. This elegantly written truecrime thriller will keep the reader riveted to its pages.The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is available at Amazon.com. 55

Fiction:L I N D A ’ S L I B R A R YA Judgement in Stoneby Ruth RendellThis is one of Ruth Rendell's earlier works and, perhaps, one of herbest. More of a novella, rather than a full-fledged novel, by virtue of itsbrevity, it is absolutely brilliant, well-written, and gripping from the getgo.Ms. Rendell captures the reader with her first sentence, "EuniceParchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read orwrite."This is a descriptive and insightful literary stunner about how anilliterate, middle-aged woman gets to the point that she wipes out anentire family one fateful evening. The book takes the reader, step bystep, through the events that lead up to this crossroad. It explores themind of Eunice Parchman, a woman so limited in her world view andso robotic in her actions that she is almost repellent. The readermarvels at her very existence and is sure to find her a fascinatingcharacter study.Ms. Parchman's interactions with the well-educated Coverdale family, who employs her as ahousekeeper, are intriguing and always interesting, as she struggles to keep her illiteracy a secret.How Ms. Parchman circumvents its discovery for as long as she does, the lengths to which shegoes to maintain a facade of literacy, and her socially inappropriate responses to everydaysituations, paint an amazing psychological portrait for the reader. The eventual discovery of herilliteracy results in a ghastly outcome, which makes for some gripping and chilling reading.Ms. Rendell is masterful in her storytelling, infusing mundane situations with an understated horrorthat is all the more frightening because of the common denominator that strikes a chord with thereader. Written in a well-nuanced, taut, spare style, this book is a literary gem that will keep thereader enthralled to the very end.A Judgement in Stone is available at Amazon.com.Linda Wancel loves reading, writing, watching films, traveling, and Scrabbling. She is the mother of27-year-old twins and has been a criminal prosecutor for the last 23 years.56

S T E L L ’ S R A C K S O F M I R T HStell’s Racks of Mirthby Stellacious (AKA Cheryl L. Cadieux)Thanks to Jill Heffner for organizing my thoughts for this column, as much as such a thing ispossible!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *It was all about hooks.Mr. Chuck Armstrong, at a Detroit area tournament, hooked an M onto my MAXI and I said, "Whatthe hell is that?!" He IMMEDIATELY hollered out, "Director! She's trying to intimidate me!"And, at the Casselberry Club near Orlando, my opponent Art Moore, upon seeing me make AGLEYout of GLEY called out, "Director! She's playing obscure hooks!!"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Karrie Bowe to someone who had only won one game: "Well,... your family loves you!"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *During a marathon scrabble session with Jill Heffner, I played LURID for the second time in a fewhours, she commented, "Your favorite word." I responded, "NO, my ONLY word!"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *And, speaking of Jill, she related to me an incident where it wasn't the Tile Gods causing troublewith racks of tiles. Her mother was visiting and they got up and started a game at breakfast. Jilldrew seven consonants, could not make a word, had to exchange. Oddly, her mother had the sameproblem, exchanged as well. Nor could Jill play following her exchange, still no vowels, and hermother did not draw any vowels either. The culprit? Jill's husband had removed all the vowels fromthe bag the night before and hidden them in the sugar bowl!* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Stellaisms for Your DayLittle differences – like a letter in a word – make all the difference in the world.No individual raindrop ever considers itself responsible for the flood.People are funny. They want the front of the bus, middle of the road, and the back of the church.Pride is something we have. Vanity is something others have. 57

S T E L L ’ S R A C K S O F M I R T HThe best way to keep your kids out of hot water is to put somedishes in it.We judge others by their actions; we judge ourselves by ourintentions.There is no I” in team, but there is a “ME”.The wonder of a single snowflake outweighs the wisdom of amillion meteorologists.Those who jump to conclusions often land in ignorance.To join OSPD, Stella'sSCRABBLE® mail group, pleasesend a blank message to thefollowing URL: ospd-scrabblesubscribe@yahoogroups.com.We are so delicious, that we areDIGESTable, with the digest formof only one e-mail a day.At the bottom of each and everye-mail that you receive fromOSPD, you will see the address tochange your daily subscriptionfrom receiving the e-mails as theycome in to only once a day in thedigest form.OSPD is a way for Scrabblers tocommunicate. We also have aDaily Word List: For example,one recent word list was “N” backhooks.Paul Epstein occasionally doesMystery Racks and we have aquiz from time to time.Please join us!StellaciousAKA Cheryl L. CadieuxThis picture of me and my husband, Gary, wastaken about a week before I had surgery toremove a brain tumor. The palm tree in thebackground looks as though it is growing out ofmy head. I’m going to print this photo out andtake it into my doctor and tell him, “Here it is--right here!”Cheryl L. Cadieux, a congenial tournament player better known to her OSPD group members as“Stella,” lives in Au Gres, MI and New Port Richey, FL.58

A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U S I N N I E L S E NAn Interview with Susin NielsenAuthor of Word Nerdby Cornelia GuestIn the January issue of The Last Word we reviewedSusin Nielsen’s young adult novel Word Nerd, whichtells the story of a a 12-year-old boy, AmbroseBukowski, who befriends his landlord’s son Cosmo, a25-year-old ex-convict, through their mutual interest inSCRABBLE®. Here we learn more about Susin andhow she came to write a book set in the SCRABBLE®world. (Photo credit: Goran Fernlund)Susin Nielsen lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and son. She has writtennumerous television scripts, including sixteen for the hit show Degrassi Junior High, and is the cocreatorof the critically aclaimed series Franny’s Feet and Robson Arms. She is the recipient of twoCanadian Screenwriter Awards. Prior to writing Word Nerd, she wrote four books in the Degrassibook series, and three illustrated books for younger children: Mormor Moves In, The Magic Beads,and Hank and Fergus, for which she won the Mr. Christie’s Silver Award. In researching theSCRABBLE® world for Word Nerd, Susin contacted SCRABBLE® player Val Gallant, who invitedher to observe players at Vancouver Club #545 and at the 2007 Vancouver SCRABBLE®Tournament. Val also recommended Susin read Stefan Fatsis’s Word Freak.TLW: How much familiarity with the SCRABBLE® world did you have when you decided to use it forthe setting of Word Nerd?SN: I love to play SCRABBLE®, but I am just a “kitchen player,” a term I didn’t even realize existeduntil I read it in Stefan Fatsis’s book Word Freak. I had also seen a documentary about tournamentSCRABBLE®, so I was aware that it was an interesting world populated by very interesting people.TLW: Your description of the SCRABBLE® club depicted in your book seems spot on. Do youattend a club?SN: When I knew that that was the world I wanted Ambrose to explore, I got in touch with ValGallant, who recommended I read Word Freak. She also invited me to visit the Vancouver ScrabbleClub and observe the players. I went to the club a number of times. I also attended the VancouverTournament, which had players from all over the Pacific Northwest, including California and Oregon.It was really fun to go to the tournament.TLW: Did you play any games when you visited the Vancouver Club? 59

A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U S I N N I E L S E NSN: No, I never played. Playing at the level they were, the members sort of terrified me in their“goodness.” But I brought a friend with me, and she played. My excuse is that I was too busy doing“research!”TLW: Some of the characters described in the book sound very familiar. Are they based on anyparticular players you met at the club and the tournament?SN: I tried to make sure that nobody resembled anybody at the Vancouver Club. The characters areamalgams of players I met or read about--or just made up. For example, I never met a large womanwho wore all pink!TLW: Some of the games in the book describe rather obscure words. Did you know these words?SN: Most were new to me. While I was at the Vancouver Club I would make diagrams of theplayers’ boards and their scores. The club members were very nice about it.TLW: With your many television connections, is there a movie version of Word Nerd in the works?SN: I’ve been approached by several producers in Canada; however, they would like me to write thescreenplay and be heavily involved. Also, right now it is an arduous slog to produce films inCanada. Ideally, I’d like to sell the rights to a U.S. company, let them hire a big-name screenwriter,and let me visit the set. I think that it could be a really nice family film--like Akeelah and the Bee.TLW: Any thoughts about a cast?SN: We discussed that one night at my book club, which was reading Word Nerd--despite myprotests. We saw Johnny Depp as Cosmo, though he’s probably too old now. Catherine Keenerwould make a great Irene. Ambrose I see as some bright new face. And Amanda would have to bea beautiful young actress--we had a lot of fun fantasizing about a dream cast that night!TWL: Do you have another book coming out soon?SN: Yes, I’m just finishing up my next book, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom, whichshould be out this fall. It is also being published by Tundra Press, the publishers of Word Nerd.TWL: Has your perspective on SCRABBLE® changed since writing Word Nerd?SN: For me the real benefit of going to the SCRABBLE® club was that I now have all these tricks upmy sleeve when I play! I know my twos, some threes, and some interesting hooks. My game hasdefinitely improved!TWL: Thanks so much, Susin. Good luck with Word Nerd and with George Clooney later this year!Word Nerd and Susin’s other books are available at Amazon.com. To learn more about SusinNielson, visit her website, www.susinnielsen.com, or read her blog, Susin-Nielsen.blogspot.com. Toread our recent review of Word Nerd, click here. We’ll let readers know when Susin’s next book isavailable!60

Diane’s DEFALTSby Diane FirstmanD I A N E ’ S D E F A L T SDiane Firstman published her first book of DEFALTS, Generous toa DEFALT: Vol. 1-3, in 2006. Since then, she has published asecond volume of her humorous alternative definitions to common(and not-so-common) words--DEFALTS Vol. 4--and selectedDEFALTS have appeared in SCRABBLE® News and on the onlineSCRABBLE® discussion groups crossword-games-pro (cgp) andOSPD. The Last Word is pleased to offer the following selection ofDEFALTS.SKIDDY: 1) a child with slippery footwear; 2) a brand of peanut butter that does NOT stick to theroof of your mouthSKIFFS: people who ski "if and only if" conditions are goodSKYBOX: a prizefight on an airplaneSKYMAN: 1) the father of "Rain Man"; 2) a fellow said to always have his "head in the clouds"SMILAX: someone who has been neglectful in finding reasons to be happySNIFFY: 1) possessing a penchant for smelling everything; 2) descriptive of an item with iffy orindeterminate odor, aroma or smellSNOOZY: the eighth dwarf, a cousin of SLEEPYSPELTZ: Schlitz beer made from a hearty wheatSPHYNX: the "Y" located within a sphinx, where all the Pharaohs playedSQUUSH: a squashed WDiane Firstman is a lifelong New Yorker and has been playing SCRABBLE® competitively since1994. When not thinking up DEFALTS, she attends crossword puzzle tourneys, and writes on theNew York Yankees for www.bronxbanterblog.com. She is adept at math, can reach items on topshelves in supermarkets, and does a dead-on impression of a sea lion. The collected “DEFALTS”are available at http://stores.lulu.com/dianagram. 61

62T H E A R T O F S T R A T E G YThe Art of StrategySwappingby Art MooreSwapping is a valid strategy in SCRABBLE®. Sure, it scores no points, but it will(at least temporarily) relieve you of junk. But first, a quick discussion about leave.Leave is simply what tiles are on your rack after you've made your play. Obviouslyit is the foundation of your next rack. If you’re holding AERUUVW and your onlyplay is AREA (using an A on the board) for 8 points, you'll quickly find that it’s thewrong play to make. 8 points is better than 0, sure. But your next rack isguaranteed to have UUVW on it. Your following play might only net you a fewpoints as well. And you’re handicapped with those 4 tiles until you get rid of them, which you'll havetrouble doing in two turns. (As a sidebar, expect to draw a Y, I, or O to go with it. Or all three. Someof the worst combinations of letters you'll see).So, playing the word doesn't improve your score much, and it certainly doesn't improve your rack.Instead of playing the 8 points, exchange everything except ER (or maybe AER if you're feelinglucky) and build a new rack with it. Yes, you can exchange. And no, you don't have to exchange allof your tiles. Seems too good to be true sometimes. But there do have to be at least 7 tiles in thebag for you to be allowed to exchange.Going first is an advantage in that you can exchange with little drawback. I don't hesitate toexchange the first play if I can't score at least 14 points and hold a decent leave.Under normal circumstances, exchanging a bum rack with 7-10 tiles in the bag is akin to dropping agrenade on your opponent. You fill up the tile pool with junk, leaving them to clean up your mess. Ifyou do this, be cautious with your next turn as well. You may also get hit with the shrapnel.And never pass your first turn. If your opponent passes he's likely needing a letter for a bingo. Don'toblige unless you have a bingo yourself.Swapping goes hand and hand with rack balance. If you can play off a couple tiles of a very badrack, you're probably still going to have a very bad rack. How many 8-12 point turns are you willingto endure to rehabilitate? If you average 20 points per turn (which puts you at about a 300-pointgameplayer), you will effectively have lost a turn after two plays in the 8-12 range. If you averagehigher than that you're instantly better off dumping that stuff and getting back into real scoringterritory.It helps to have a good idea of what tiles are available in the pool before you swap. And, of course,your position in the game matters, too. There have been times when I was up a bingo and holding arack of vowels (or consonants). Seeing that the exact opposite is in the bag, I'm better served tohold what I've got, knowing my opponent is having the exact opposite problem. Neither one of uswill be able to score big and the lead is protected. Call it sneaky or call it clever, but it can work.Art Moore lives just outside of Orlando, husband to an incredibly patient woman and father of fourequally tolerant children. He is co-director of Club #438 in Casselberry, Florida. Find him on ISCunder the moniker "Werds"

F I N D T H E B E S T P L A YFind the Best PlayAt the January 10 Rhinebeck (NY) Tournament, Division 1 winner Eric Goldstein had an amazingplay in Game 1 against second-place finisher Scott Kitchen. The score at the time: Scott 348, Eric270 (Eric won the game 409-396). See if you can find the best play (there were two very goodones).ANSWER ON NEXT PAGEIf you have a particularly good play in a game, send it in to us at CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com. 63

F I N D T H E B E S T P L A YANSWEREric played REOPpOSED at O1 for 100 points. Another good play would have been RESPOOlEDat 01 for 99 points.If you have a particularly good play in a game, send it in to us at CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.64

P L A Y E R P R O F I L E : D E N I S E M A H N K E NPlayer Profile: Denise Mahnkenby Katya LezinMost folks, when asked about the highlight of a particular SCRABBLE® tournament, will cite a gameor play that stands out as a personal best or won them a prize. But if you ask Denise Mahnkenwhat she most enjoyed about Nationals, for example, she's just as likely to gush about a karaokebar she discovered or the night she gathered a group of friends to go out dancing. For Denise, whohails from Long Beach, Long Island, it is the experiences she has in and around SCRABBLE®tournaments, and the people she has met along the way, that fuel her love of the competitiveSCRABBLE® world.Denise does not come to the game with a lifelong passion. She did notplay SCRABBLE® growing up; her family played cards. A savvy card playerfrom the age of seven on, Denise maintains she “can play poker with the best ofthem,” and she is particularly proud of her Omaha high-low game. As forSCRABBLE®, she got started by playing with her husband after dinner. "We'dbrew a pot of decaf," she reminisces, "and play three or four games a night." In2001, after learning about the rules and the existence of tournaments in thebook Everything Scrabble, Denise and her husband decided to test the watersat Ginger White's tournament in Plainview, Long Island. Reflecting on her firstimpressions, Denise's face lights up as she describes the people she met andhow at home she felt among so many others who loved the game as much as she did. "I had noidea it was going to be such an eclectic group," she says. "It was filled with real characters and Ijust found them all so interesting.""Oh, this is something good," she remembers thinking. But she also realized she had a lot ofstudying to do, and that first tournament was a humbling experience. She found herself emotionallyinvested in every game, taking the losses to heart. She used her tournament games, especiallythose with better players, as study tools and honed her competitive game. Her attitude improvedalong with her SCRABBLE® skills. "Now, win or lose", she acknowledges with her trademark grin,"it's fun either way."While her SCRABBLE® buddies, and the fun she has with them in a slew of after-hoursactivities, are a big part of what Denise relishes about competitive SCRABBLE®, she is also anenthusiast of the game itself. Asked about a favorite game or play, she points to the thrill she getsfrom pulling out a victory at the end of a fiercely competitive game or tournament.Her most memorable victorious run? Denise was seeded 116 out of 154 players in the bottomdivision at Nationals. She won 13 of the final 15 games, and found herself at table one on the startof the last day of competition. “I finished seventh and gained a record 312 rating points for onetournament, going from 961 to 1273,” she recalls. “It was thrilling!"Her most memorable loss? “That’d have to be my loss to Mike Baron,” Denise recalls, thinking backto the first game of the early bird at BAT [the Boston Area Tournament] three years ago. “I stillshake when I think of this one.” The game was neck and neck all the way. Denise matched his 65

P L A Y E R P R O F I L E : D E N I S E M A H N K E Nbingos (“with gorgeous tiles,” she notes) with her own (“ugly, ugly tiles, playing through vowels.”) Heactually complimented her towards the end of the game, noting, "I can't believe you are findingbingos with that drek on your rack.” Denise also summoned up her courage and challenged off oneof Mike’s words (GLOSZING), taking the lead before losing the game by failing to block a bingo linefor his outplay (FIANCEE).Encouraged by the warm reception she received at her first Long Island tournament, Denise hastraveled across the country to cities and states she's never visited, where she does not know a soul,to play in tournaments. Her work as a teacher of the deaf affords her summers off, so she'll hop ona bus and play in tournaments all summer long, undaunted by the fact that she doesn't knowanyone. "People bring you home," she says, "and show you around. I've made so many friends.Lifelong friends. We support each other through major life changes, easing the hard times anddoubling the fun.” It is no wonder that the social perks of the game are what fuel her love of it.SCRABBLE® has also opened up a world of cultural experiences and travel opportunities forDenise. She has traveled to Prague, Budapest, and Alaska for SCRABBLE® tournaments andcruises, and Spain is planned for this summer. She has wonderful memories of games she's playedin a little village café or while sipping a glass of wine by the Danube River at sunset. "It just doesn'tget any better than that,” Denise says, and it's hard to argue with her.Katya Lezin lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and three children (Noah, Hannah,and Eliza). She is the author of Finding Life on Death Row, which profiles six individualssentenced to death, and KNIGHT SWAM, a young adult novel based on SCRABBLE®, and she haswritten numerous articles for magazines and other publications. When she is not on the tennis courtor competing in a SCRABBLE® tournament (two of her passions, which her husband would argueborder on obsessions), she enjoys cooking, reading, and spending time with her family. Katya is thismonth’s featured columnist in “Meet Our Columnists,” page 75.66

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SSCRABBLE® in the NewsSee something about SCRABBLE® or a SCRABBLE® playerin the news? Let us know! Send your stories toCorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.We’ve added a new category--”Milestones”--for news aboutplayers with notable achievements in the previous month.We reprint here, with permission from the author, ChristopherPeterson, an entry that appeared January 16 in PsychologyToday in his blog “The Good Life: Positive psycholgy and whatmakes life worth living.” This essay, which uses SCRABBLE®as a metephor for life, has justifiably attracted a lot of attentionin the SCRABBLE® community. Enjoy!JANUARYMILESTONESJAN DIXON played her 5000thcross-tables-listed game onJanary 18--at sea! The game wasthe first one Jan played on LarryRand and Barbara Van Alen’sSouth America Cruise. (Jan’splayed more, but records fromearly years are incomplete.)KENJI MATSUMOTO reached2000 for the first time at the RenoMLK Tournament.There Are No Bad Racksby Christopher PetersonThis entry is about Scrabble as a metaphor for life.Published on January 16, 2010. Copyright (C) 2010 by ChristopherPeterson.This blog entry is about Scrabble, where one's "rack" is theseven tiles in front of you that you want to play in a way toproduce a high score and/or to prevent your opponent fromdoing the same and/or to set yourself up for future high-scoringplays.This blog entry is also about Scrabble as a metaphor for thegood life, just in case you are not a dedicated Scrabble playerlike I am. But if you do play Scrabble, my advice here isuseful. :)Scrabble is deliciously middle-brow, which is why I like thegame. When psychologists have studied complex problemsolving,they have often opted to investigate the high-browgame of chess, which in my opinion does not provide nearly asgood a metaphor for life. Chess is thoroughly deterministic,whereas Scrabble has an element of chance. Great chessplayers always beat poor chess players, whereas greatScrabble players sometimes lose to their less talentedopponents. If the less talented player draws a lot of power tiles(Q, X, J, K, S, and blanks), good things will happen, if they areplayed well. That's the first lesson about life from Scrabble.Luck can matter ... if one takes advantage of it.ORRY SWIFT reached 2000 forthe first time at the TexasTournament of Champions.MATTHEW HODGE reached1900 for the first time at the TexasTournament of Champions.KEN KASNEY reached 1800 forthe first time at the Bryan TXTourmanet.PETE ZIEGLER reached 1800 forthe first time at the Albany NYNew Year’s Touranment.BEN SCHOENBRUN reached1600 for the first time at theAlbany NY New Year’sTournament.SAMANTHA SOUTHARDreached 1500 for the first time atthe Albany NY New Year’sTournament.Let us know if you hear of anymilestones reached!CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com 67

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SSaid more positively, anyone can win a Scrabble match against anyone else, not often but at leastoccasionally. That's a useful metaphor for life, at least for the vast majority of us who are not the"best" at anything, except of course being ourselves.More systematically, here are the lessons for a good life that I have learned from playing Scrabbleduring the past decade.First, like chess, you don't need to bet on the outcome of aScrabble match to make it enjoyable. There may be highstakesScrabble games, but I've never heard of them. Incontrast, other popular games - like poker or the NFL -would likely not be as interesting or engaging without a potor a wager. Here is a lesson about the good life pertainingto those things that we choose to do. The best activities arethose that are intrinsically rewarding.Second, Scrabble is more of a visual game than a verbalgame, something I did not appreciate when I first started toplay. I have a great vocabulary, so I should be good atScrabble, right? Wrong, as I learned the hard way in thebeginning. It's where you play the word, across doublesand triples, more than what the word per se happens to be.Good players see patterns and the possibilities theypresent. The particulars matter but mainly in the context of the bigger picture. That's another goodmetaphor for life. Do what you do in situations where doing well has the biggest payoff.Third, the "meaning" of a word in Scrabble is not its dictionary definition. It is the worth of the wordwhere it is played on the board. Period. Consider the word SUQ. Every time I throw that one downagainst a neophyte, he or she looks puzzled and asks "What does that mean?" I always reply "It is athree-letter word that ends in Q ... and a great play!" "But what does it mean?" they persist. And Irepeat what I had just said. Here is the lesson for the good life: The value of anything is contingentand contextualized. A productive play is purposeful and pragmatic. What are we doing with it, whereare we doing it, and why are we doing it?Did you know that some of best Scrabble players in the world don't even speak or read English?They speak Scrabble, as it were, which is what you need to do when playing Scrabble. That's yetone more lesson for the good life: Speak the local dialect!Fourth, move tiles! If you can't make a high score, then make a low score that frees up your rack.Most of us know that in poker, you cannot draw to an inside straight, and the same principle appliesto Scrabble. Don't hold tiles hoping and praying that you'll get the one extra tile that allows a goodplay. Move them out! Doing so clears out the nonsense and allows new possibilities. If that is not auseful metaphor for the good life, then nothing else in this blog entry is.Indeed, sometimes discarding the ten-point Q can be a great play, and one that is oftenrecommended by Scrabble experts. Another good metaphor, but one that is hard to heed. Eventhough I know better, sometimes I die ever so slowly by the overly-held Q.68

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SFifth, one of the "best" racks is really mundane - SALTINE - all one-point tiles. Why? Because thisostensibly ordinary rack allows all sorts of plays that can be hooked with the S and produce a Bingo(playing all seven tiles and thereby yielding a 50-point bonus), like:ELASTINENTAILSNAILSETSALIENTSALTINESLAINTETENAILSSixth, Bingos rule. The player who makes more Bingos than his/her opponent is going to win thevast majority of Scrabble games, even if his/her other plays yield little. The lesson for life? Prettyobvious, I think, and one akin to Kahneman's peak-end theory of what we remember from hedonicexperiences. The peaks are what matter (along with how an experience finishes, which in the caseof Scrabble is determined by the peaks - i.e., the Bingos).Seventh, don't rely on what are called bluehair moves, those that are cautious, conservative, andconstipated. They block your opponent's future plays, but also your own. Unless they have goodreasons for playing defensively, the best Scrabble players open up the board, and their plays createwhat looks like a spiderweb on the board. The lesson? Go for it!Eighth, don't cofffehouse, a pejorative term used to describe Scrabble playing in which the chatteroverwhelms the game. In my opinion, one can (and should) chatter before and after a match, butwhen you play Scrabble, you should do so fully, deeply, and sincerely. Flow is thereby produced,even under the time constraints of tournament Scrabble. Yet another good metaphor for life: Donothing half-heartedly.Ninth, Scrabble requires that you juggle the here-and-now and the future. If you can play a Bingo,you should probably do so, even if it opens up the board for your opponent. But a thirty-point playthat allows your opponent to make a forty-point play is not preferable to a safer twenty-five pointplay.Tenth, when the game is coming to an end and you are winning, close the board down! TournamentScrabble matches and even informal games reward margin of victory, but close victories are alwaysbetter than "should of, could of, would of" losses that resulted from an attempt to pile it on. A lessonfor life? I think so.Finally, and to mention explicitly the title of this blog entry, there are no bad racks, only bad players.Good Scrabble players may blame their strategy, but they never blame the tiles they draw. Tiles areto be played, not used as excuses. To be sure, there are less than productive racks (e.g., what I callirritable vowel syndrome racks), but these can be fleeting annoyances, if one deals with them bymoving tiles or exchanging them. In the latter case, you lose a turn, but you void your rack, as itwere, and you make the bad tiles more likely to appear in the rack of your opponent. Anothermetaphor for the good life, with or without opponents.Scrabble on, dear reader, whether or not you have a rack in front of you. 69

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SChristopher Peterson is Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. One of the foundersof the new field of positive psychology, the scientific study of what makes life work living, his mostrecent book is A Primer in Positive Psychology, published in 2006 by Oxford University Press.Peterson also writes a blog for Psychology Today titled "The Good Life" (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-good-life), where this article first appeared. Peterson is acasual but regular SCRABBLE® player, playing several games a week with friends online or overlunch.______________________________________________________________________Funny about SCRABBLE®...Myq Kaplan, a Boston-based comedian, participated recently in the 7th Annual Charleston ComedyFestival in Charleston, SC January 20-23 with Alt Com! The Alternative Comedy Festival Tour. Myqgrew up playing SCRABBLE® with his grandmother, which he uses for this short ad he did as partof the Subway/SCRABBLE® promotion last year (click photo to see video).XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX____________________________________________________________________UK Open in Financial TimesFT.com, the online arm of the Financial Times, included a nice story about the UK Open on January15. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/febb6746-ff1c-11de-a677-00144feab49a.htmlNerd NiteThe January 22 Washington Post featured the inaugural monthly “Nerd Nite” at the DC9 bar in its“Going Out Guide,” with Word Freak author Stefan Fatsis the star attraction for the capacity crowd.http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/nerd-nite,1159662/critic-review.htmlCauseway CashThe Star.online (Kuali, Malaysia) had a story by SCRABBLE® player Tan Jin Chor January 8th onthe December Causeway Challenge. The article shared tournament organizer Michael Tang’s newsthat next year’s first prize will be US$30,000, with US$15,000 going to the runner-up.http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/1/8/lifeliving/5408549&sec=lifeliving70

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SBerry slim!A newly svelte Jeremy Cahnmann and Linda Nguyen, one of America’s top SCRAMBLE players onFacebook, were interviewed playing SCRABBLE® for a Berry Chill yogurt promotional post. Lindawill be making her SCRABBLE® tournament debut March 7th at Jeremy’s Chicago one-day tourney.http://berrychill.tumblr.com/post/347861772/bip-of-the-day-names-jeremy-cahnmann-and-lindaDirty words?The Oak Meadows (CA) Elementary School pulled the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary offclassroom shelves for study by a newly formed committee after a parent complained about explicitdefinitions of sexual terms.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dictionary26-2010jan26,0,4779588.storyFree the Clinic!The Iowa City Press-Ciizen announced that the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic and Dick Parrott FreeDental Clinic would kick off its capital campaign with the Free the Clinic SCRABBLE® Tournament. TheJanuary 30th tournament, which was open to SCRABBLE® players of all levels, ages 8 and older, offeredindividual and team (up to four players) competition. Funds raised were to free the clinic from its mortgage.http://www.freemedicalclinic.org/scrabblereginfo.htmlFacebook SCRABBLE® players protest “forbidden” wordsFacebook SCRABBLE® players have expressed anger over the words used in the popular onlinegame, as reported in the London Times.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6970969.eceIowa’s top player profiledThe Iowa GazetteOnline ran a nice feature on the state’s top player, Mike Weepie.http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2010/01/26/scrabble-pro-proves-his-s-k-i-l-l-sCross-tables’ Lipkin on the iPadCross-tables.com genius Seth Lipkin gives his thoughts on the new iPad to the Boston Globe.http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/01/28/apple_devotees_applaud_as_ipad_comes_into_view/ 71

S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SSCRABBLE® on the iPhoneNew York Times reporter Bob Tedeschi discussed the growing iPhone gaming community in hisJanuary 27 column. He played a game of the EA SCRABBLE® app, with the following comments:“I used the iPhone this week to play a Scrabble game hosted on Facebook. I competed against twofriends who played on their PCs. The Scrabble iPhone app ($5) sent me messages whenever it wasmy turn, and it also displayed smack-talk, in real time, from the game’s instant messaging feature.“And yes, my productivity suffered. Immensely.”http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/technology/personaltech/28smart.htmlSCRABBLE® Cookie RecipePosted on the blog Peas Love Carrots is a recipe for SCRABBLE® cookies--enjoy!http://peaslovecarrots.blogspot.com/2010/01/cook-your-hobby-scrabble-cookies.html72

Book Reviewby Cornelia GuestB O O K R E V I E WThe Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity,and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionaryby Simon WinchesterAny lover of words cannot fail but be intrigued by this engrossingstory of how the Oxford English Dictionary came into being--andhow two very different men found their lives entwined by theirmutual love of words, books, and language.What is most striking about this story is that prior to 1692, Englishdictionaries did not exist. In Shakespeare’s time, there was nosource for definitions and spellings (which may account for thegreat variety of spellings during that time). Words were defined bytheir usage in books. Then, in the mid-eighteenth century, SamuelJohnson published A Dictionary of the English Language, whichdefined 43,500 selected headwords. It remained the standard forthe next century.In 1857, Dr. Richard Trench, a member of London’s Philological Society, came up with a great plan:to collect in a “big dictionary” all the words in the English language, with their pronounciations,definitions, and usages. Each word was to be accompanied with quotations illustrating its variousmeanings and its first recorded use.Trench proposed that an army of amateur volunteers be recruited to read certain books, looking forwords, each of which they would write on a slip with a quotation (with page number) showing theword’s meaning. It was an incredibly bold and ambitious venture. Originally estimated to takeseveral years, the first edition of the dictionary was completed over 70 years after it had first beenproposed. To this day, the OED, as it is familiarly called, remains the ultimate English-languageword souce worldwide.The Professor and the Madman focuses on two men who made the creation of this dictionary theirlife’s work. Professor James Murray, the original editor, and Dr. W. C. Minor, a contributor of morethan 10,000 of the book’s well over half million entries. Although the two men worked as colleaguesfor over 20 years, they communicated primarily by post, and their shared interest in the dictionarybelied the vast differences in their personal lives.James Murray was an academician and a scholar. From a humble background, he distinguishedhimself as a man of letters, coming to the attention of the brilliant eccentric Frederick Furnivall (themodel for the Water Rat in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows). Furnivall, who wassecretary of the Philological Society and a member of the amusingly named “Unregistered WordsCommittee,” recommended Murray as editor of the dictionary. Murray took the position in the spring 73

B O O K R E V I E Wof 1879, and immediately issued an appeal for volunteers, which was published in newspapers anddistributed widely by booksellers. During his tenure as editor, Murray received more than six millionsmall slips of papers with words from volunteers. He had the mammoth job of sorting through thesemany slips to select the best definitions and quotations illlustrating usage. He also faced achallenge Scrabblers can appreciate: Language is constantly changing, never “complete.” Indeed,Murray’s reluctant acceptance of that fact did not deter him. Were he alive today, he wouldundoubtedly revel in seeing the OED move from its twelve massive volumes in 1927, to a twovolumeset with a magnifying glass in the late 1970s, to the online version available today atwww.oed.com.Although not the foremost contributing volunteer to the OED, Dr. William Chester Minor wascertainly the strangest. An American, Yale-educated army surgeon imprisoned for murder at theBroadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Berkshire, Minor suffered from what is now called paranoidschizophrenia. Each night he imagined malevolent figures emerging from the floorboards or fallingdown from the ceiling and torturing him in bizarre ways. He ended up spending the majority of hisadult life institutionalized. Responding to one of Professor Murray’s nationwide pleas for dictionaryvolunteers, Minor found new purpose in his life, and his meticulous research and submissionsearned him the highest praise from the editor. Minor worked on the project for twenty years, poringover books from the 17th century to find quotations illustrating meanings and the first documenteduse of a word. To this day, thousands of Minor’s submissions remain in the OED, the majorityappearing little changed from how they had been submitted.While the stories of Murray and Minor make for fascinating reading, the true star of this book is thedictionary itself. During the course of seven decades, the “big dictionary” project sees variouscontributors lose interest or die, and yet the dictionary continues on. To give an idea of the amountof work involved, the T section of the dictionary alone took a full five years to complete. At oneparticularly poignant moment in the book, Murray offers his dying supporter Furnivall a glance atfinal “majestically long” entry for the word take. With the many dictionaries of our time and theirfrequent updates, it is amazing to read how this dictionary, the great-grandfather of them all, cameto be.Author Simon Winchester, who has written a dozen other books and is a frequent contributor toVanity Fair, gives readers a provoking look at the world of that era. From the battlefields of theAmerican Civil War, where Dr. Minor tends dying soldiers, to the rough Lambeth Marsh section ofVictorian London, where the delirious Minor kills an innocent laborer, to the rarified world of Oxford,where Professor Murray and his colleagues discuss the future of the English language, Winchestertells a compelling story. Our lexicon today owes much to Murray, Minor, and the thousands of othervolunteers in Victorian England who contributed to the OED. The Professor and the Madman is aremarkable look at what is undoubtedly one of history’s most phenomenal achievements.The Professor and the Madman is available at Amazon.com.Cornelia Guest is a writer, publisher, and editor who also directs and plays in SCRABBLE®tournaments. She teaches and coaches School SCRABBLE® players at the Ridgefield (CT) Libraryand the Somers (NY) Middle School.74

M E E T O U R C O L U M N I S T SMeet Our ColumnistsThe Last Word would not be possible without the generosity of our many contributors. I amparticularly grateful to our monthly columnists, many of whom have been writing for the Newslettersince it first appeared in July as the NASPA Tournament SCRABBLE® Newsletter. Toacknowledge their enormous contributions, I hope to feature a short introduction to a differentcolumnist each month. This month’s featured columnist is Katya Lezin, from Charlotte, NC.KATYA LEZINKatya Lezin writes the monthly PLAYER PROFILE andenjoys the opportunity to highlight players who might nototherwise get any press. “Everyone brings somethingdifferent to the game,” she explains. “And you do not have tobe an expert player to be noteworthy or interesting.” She hasenjoyed discovering the world of competitive SCRABBLE®and the slew of characters who populate it, and she isparticularly appreciative of how warm and receptive everyonehas been to Noah and Hannah, her son and daughter whoalso play in tournaments. Competing together has served asa fabulous family activity, although her husband andyoungest daughter, who do not play, may choose to differ.When not playing SCRABBLE®, Katya engages in several part-time endeavors that allow her to behome with her kids and involved in their various activities while funding her SCRABBLE®obsession (because tournaments are expensive enough without multiplying all the associated coststimes three!) As a recovering attorney (one who only practices under duress), she occasionallyteaches and writes about the law. She also teaches cooking classes to kids and adults and has asmall catering business, Katya’s Creations. Her culinary claim to fame is that she won her kitchenand the title of “Charlotte’s Best Home Chef” in a cooking competition. She recently launched acollege admissions advising business, www.perfectfitcollege.com, drawing upon her experience asan alumnae interviewer for both Brown University and Georgetown University Law Center. Shealready has plans to use campus visits as an excuse for competing in SCRABBLE® tournamentsacross the country.Katya Lezin with her husband, DavidLieberman, and their children Eliza, Hannah,and Noah.Katya is also a writer and is the author of both a publishednonfiction book on the death penalty and many freelancearticles. Her latest publication is a young adult novel,KNIGHT SWAM, revolving around the game ofSCRABBLE®. It is available for purchase at www.lulu.comor at www.amazon.com. “I suspect many people willrecognize a character or two,” she says, chuckling. “Icertainly drew from my own experience at tournaments inwriting it.” What Katya most hopes to convey in the book isher love of the game and the wonderful outlet for fun,travel, and bonding it has provided her family. 75

Club NewsLarry Sherman, EditorC L U B N E W SIf you'd like your club to be considered for an article or if a newsworthy event has taken place atyour club in the last month, please submit material to CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.Lauderhill FL SCRABBLE® Club #276 was born in 1986 at the newly built VeteransPark Recreation Center in Lauderhill, Florida. Ann Robin directed for the first three years, thenSandee Bloom took over the directorship in January 1989 and Ann became assistant director.Recently Ann, the club’s assistant director emeritus, has been unable to attend and Larry P. Gradushas stepped up to the plate as acting assistant director. Sandee writes, “As always, we meet inVeterans Park every Wednesday night and rarely miss a session unless the park is closed forholidays or Hurricanes Andrew and Wilma!”When Sandee first started directing the club, she created and edited a newsletter, SCRABBLE®Babbles. A few years back Sandee replaced the newsletter with the websitewww.scrabbleclub276.com, which is updated at the end of each month. It features information suchas the weekly happenings at club, members’ profiles, club stats, NASPA news, other SCRABBLE©links, upcoming tournaments in the area, a fun page, and much more.Writes Sandee, “Over the last 21 years, we have had more than 400 people walk through our doorand try their luck at playing in our club environment. Although we have a core of about 40 people76Sandee Bloom and Ann Robin at 14th Annual SCRABBLE® Awards Night--January 2003

C L U B N E W Swho attend sometime during the year, our usual weekly attendance is between 18-28 players. Wehave some very strong expert players such as Ian Weinstein, Steve Polatnick, Trip Payne, RobertKahn (among others), and also many intermediate players who keep getting better. Florida is awonderful place to visit in the winter and we always look forward to our visiting players andsnowbirds.” Says Kahn, “Our club is like a second family to us.”Here is a photo composite of some of the many players who attended SCRABBLE© Club #276 from1989 until 2009.The energy at the club is magnetic. John Thomason, a reporter from the South Florida Sun-Sentinelnewspaper, visited the club a few years ago to write a story about the players. He was bitten by theSCRABBLE© bug that night and has become a regularly attending player ever since. The articlethat he wrote on his first-night experience appears on the home page of the club website, as doesthe follow-up article that he wrote the next year. 77

C L U B N E W SSandee continues, “We have had so many fun nights over the past 21 years….One week I toldeveryone at club that they would receive a lei if they scored a bingo that night. Here are the happywinners.”Ann Robin, Shahnaz Mallat, Carl Stocker, Ken Weinstein, Mary Capalbi, Dee Jackson, Howard Pistol, Marty Rosen,Larry P. Gradus, Robert Kahn, George Rogers, Trip Payn, Jeff Garrett, Ed Gordon, Michael El-Deiry, Cheryl Levin,Lya Korda, Shereen Weinstein, Melissa Edelson, Angel Dupree, Sandee Bloom, Ossie Mair, Steve Wolf“In 2007, our weekly Wednesday-night session fell on Halloween and some of our club memberscame dressed for the occasion; a prize was awarded for the best costume.”Back Row, L-R: Jed Martinez, Carl Stocker, Trip Payne, Larry P. GradusFront Row, L-R: Ann Robin, Shereen Weinstein, Sandee Bloom, Dee Jackson78

C L U B N E W SAngel Dupree, winner of the2009 Good SportsmanshipAward (aka Ms. Congeniality)Sandee and Larry Gradus at the 21st AnnualSCRABBLE® Awards Night--January 2010The club recently celebrated its 21 st Annual SCRABBLE© Awards Night. Twenty-six membersbraved unusual cold to attend and cheer on their fellow players as awards were presented.Computer stats have been kept at the club for the past 12 years, and plateau awards were given tothose who have completed 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 games. Ian Weinstein andSandee Bloom each reached the 1000 plateau level. Prizes were also awarded for in many othercategories, including Most Bamdingers (words scoring 100+ points) and Best-Looking Scoresheet.(Complete results are at the club website.)Sandee obviously loves heading Club #276. “Back in the beginning days of directing the club, Iclearly remember sitting at my computer typing away at the newly created newsletter, “ScrabbleBabbles,” and wondering if I would have the stamina to direct the club for as long as Ann did. It isnow twenty-one years later and I’m still going strong!”Lauderhill FL Scrabble® Club #276 meets Wednesday nights from 5:45-9:00 p.m. at VeteransPark, 7600 NW 50th Street, Lauderhill, FL 33351. Fee is $3 per week; score sheets and “cheatsheets” are supplied, but please bring sets and clocks. Contact Sandee Bloom, 954-726-6449,sandee@scrabbleclub276.com; or Larry Gradus, club335@comcast.netTake Two Aspirin...John Robertson, director of Cambridge (ON) Club #471, shares the following story:One director story I like to tell is about the most disagreeable player who ever attended our club.Let’s call her Ima Pain (not her real name). I met her in the parking lot outside the club. One of oursemi-regulars had brought her. When I said hello, she immediately went into a tirade: "I don't knowwhy I'm here. I'm not a game player and I really don't like SCRABBLE®." I was tempted to say, 79

C L U B N E W S"Please feel free to leave," but I instead told her she might be pleasantly surprised. During the firstround of play, she was matched against Su Edwards, one of the club's directors.At one point in the game, Su noticed that the sulking Ima had overdrawn and had eight tiles on herrack. Su politely said, "Oh, you've overdrawn. Here's what happens now. I get to pick three tilesfrom your rack..." As Su moved to select the tiles, Ima yelled, "NO!!!" and violently jabbed herfingernails into Su's wrist! How she didn't draw blood is a great mystery.Ima never returned after that night. We were all very grateful. The lesson I learned was that ifsomeone flat-out states he/she does not want to be at a SCRABBLE® club, that person should beencouraged to leave immediately!Cambridge (ON) Club #471, the Golden Triangle SCRABBLE® Club, meets Fridays at 7:15 p.m.at Riverbend Place, Lower Level Rec Hall, 650 Coronation Blvd. Contact John Robertson,519-621-6432, jgrobertson@sympatico.ca.80

Video Joeby Joe BihlmeyerV I D E O J O EEver wonder what expert SCRABBLE® players are thinking when they play? If you watch expertsplay each other on ISC, you might be curious why they made certain choices. Here Joe Bihlmeyer,a top Connecticut SCRABBLE® player, talks us through a game on Quackle, telling us what’s goingon in his head as he plays. He next talks through pre-endgame strategy on an ISC game. (For thoseBihlmeyer fans who enjoy seeing--as well as hearing--Joe on video, see his wonderful “AlbanyThanks!” tribute to Albany organizer Annette Tedesco on page XXX.)Think like an Expert!XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXPre-endgame ThinkingXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXNOTE: “3rd take, don't feel like redoing! I forgot to mention the ONYXES/UNSEXY threat on the left side ofthe board, which I thought was the least likely problem because they both require the ENSXY combo....” 81

P A S S A G E SPassagesLarry Sherman, EditorEach month we will be including information about SCRABBLE® players (births, deaths, marriages,etc.) Please send your news to the newsletter editor, Cornelia Guest, atCorneliaSGuest@gmail.com._______________________________________________________________________________DEATHSEDWARD COKERby Charlene WhiteEdd Coker passed away on Sunday, January 10, 2010, after a long illness.Edd’s longtime friend Charlene White remembers him here.What do we know about Edd Coker? He was born in Washington, D.C., butraised in Clarksville, PA. He graduated from Allen University in SouthCarolina. He had a masters in both political science and social work. Hetaught on both elementary and college levels in North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Ohio, and New York. He retired after serving the city of New Yorkas a social work administrator.Prior to his interest in SCRABBLE®, he was an avid bowler, enjoyed playing pinochle, and had avivid interest in the Negro Baseball League. He was well informed and involved in movements toaid African American people.I believe I met Edd in early 1988 at a Yonkers SCRABBLE® tournament and invited him to join aSCRABBLE® Club that met in the Bronx at the home of Jenny Bailey. It included Chester Collins,Arline Silverman, Lesley McTaggart, Mike Sherman, Bee Dreyer, and others. He later joinedanother group of players in Queens called The Blank Tiles, which was a forerunner of SCRABBLEClub #490. In addition to attending Manhattan Club #56 and several other registered and nonregisteredgroups, he was a staunch member of the Bronx club run by Ed Halper and Maris BrodyGreenwald, and of the Montclair Club in New Jersey. Edd attended several National SCRABBLEChampionships and a Players’ Championship, among other tourneys, over the past few years.I'll never forget how he would say whenever we played sessions in New Jersey, “I came all the wayfrom the Bronx, you should let me win.” I would just laugh. He was always very witty. His transitionoccurred on Sunday, January 10th, leaving behind, to mourn, his lovely wife, Arlyne, his grandson,Jonah, and numerous relatives and friends.82

E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B O A R D SEquipment RoundupIn our survey last fall, an overwhelming number of readers asked for us to include information onSCRABBLE® equipment. However, since there are many different opinions on which board, timer,or rack is the “best,” we will not be reviewing or rating equipment here, simply listing it (inalphabetical order by maker) and providing a link to the supplier. The Last Word makes norepresentation as to any of the equipment listed, and we will not accept calls related to orderfulfillment or quality. We do not list prices as they are subject to change; follow the links for these.Readers are encouraged to write in to add equipment to our list (CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com).Our first “Equipment Roundup” features some SCRABBLE® boards, both custom and commercial.CUSTOM SCRABBLE® BOARDS (with revolving turntables)SAM KANTIMATHI (www.samtimer.com)Sam Kantimathi offers a variety of boards listed below. Special discounts are offered at the web site.Round SamBoardsAvailable in steel, wood, or acrylic; green or yellow playing surface.Square SamBoardsAvailable in wood or acrylic; green or yellow playing surface.FoldBoardsAvailable in wood; green or yellow playing surface.SamBoard AppleAvailable in red, green, or orange acrylic; red board has yellow playing surface;green and orange boards are availble with green or yellow playing surface. 83

E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B O A R D SOSSIE MAIR (http://www.tucsonscrabble.com/links/ossieboard.html)Ossie Mair offers lucite boards in red, blue, green, and black (all colors are not always available, soa second choice is always requested).Styles• OVAL BOARDS -- Smaller and lighter than the original round boards.• STAR BOARDS -- This is a two-piece board, the playing part of which nests in the basewhen not in use and when ready for play, forms a star.• FOLDING BOARD -- This board is hinged at the joints of the nearest grids to the centerand when opened a base is attached and locked in place for rigidity.All boards have free-turning turntable bases and are supplied with protective cloth covers. 9"long matching racks are also available.PETER MANZOLILLO (www.customscrabbleboards.com)Wooden boards featuring hand-painted customization by Peter Manzolillo.Plain Boards (no customizing)One ColorTwo ColorCustomized Boards(Customizing can include lettering; pinstriping; artwork; cartoons; abstract designs, etc. Detailedartwork is extra--ask for quote.)One color, customized on 1 quadrantOne color, customized on 2 quadrantsOne color, customized on 4 quadrantsTwo color, customized on 1 quadrantTwo color, customized on 2 quadrantsTwo color, customized on 4 quadrants23K GOLD LEAF lettering available for an additional charge.84

E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B O A R D SKELLY SMITH www.sparkyenterprises.comSparky Enterprise’s Custom SCRABBLE® Boards: Custom-painted boards with acrylic glaze overpainting.Custom BoardsCustom-painted boards. Includes a hand-made carrying bagand two acrylic tile racks.GENE TYSZKA (www.adjudicator3000.com)Adjudicator custom boards are available in four different styles and a variety of languages. See thewebsite for details.Fold-up BoardsIn medium blue or charcoal gray/black acrylic. Includes two racks andpadded carry pouch with handles.Round BoardsIn matte black, frosted colorless, and frosted dark blue acrylic. Includes tworacks, tile bag, and cover.Deluxe Wood BoardsCustom stains on ash wood. Includes matching board cover, tile bag, and 2long non-tipping tile racks (stained). Prices on request.Standard Game BoardGray malamine over particle board. Includes matching board cover, tile bag,& 2 extra long non-tipping tile racks (unstained) w/pouch. 85

E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B O A R D SCOMMERCIAL SCRABBLE® BOARDS (from Hasbro)Standard SCRABBLE® GameFolding cardboard board. Available at Amazon.com.Diamond Anniversary Edition SCRABBLE®With rotating board/carrying case. Available at Amazon.com.Super SCRABBLE®Double the spaces and tiles. Folding cardboard board. Available atAmazon.com.There are numerous variations of commercial boards available. Check Amazon.com for listings.Please let us know if there are other boards you believe we should include in our links here. Nextmonth we will be listing SCRABBLE® timers.86

SCRABBLE®ResourcesThere are many study tools tohelp tournament SCRABBLE®players hone their skills,including a number of programsthat can be downloaded forfree. This section will offersuggestions and links, plusfeature each month a differentSCRABBLE® resource. Thismonth’s focus will be on themost popular site amongtournament players for playingreal-time SCRABBLE® online:the Internet SCRABBLE® Club,better known by its initials, ISC.ISCWhere to begin? ISC, theInternet SCRABBLE® Club,Wordbiz--all refer to anincredible site for playing onlineSCRABBLE®, populated bymany of the worldʼs toptournament players. Foundedin Romania in 2004 by amysterious SCRABBLE® fanknown only by his first name--Carol--ISC keeps a low profile.Its creators, well aware of howHasbro and Mattel made shortwork of Scrabulous in 2008, didnot respond to requests for aninterview. And because ISC isnot generating the hugerevenues Scrabulous did, thereis hope that it will beappreciated for the interest ithas generated in SCRABBLE®,and be allowed to survive.S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E SISC, found at www.isc.ro, issimilar to the Internet ChessClub in that it offers pureSCRABBLE®. No ads, no popups,no constant chit-chat.Games are available in English,French (translation by Herve),Dutch, Italian (translation byDragone), and Romanian.Players may select whichdictionary they prefer to use.Current choices are TWL98(American), SOWPODS(English) , ODS (French),LOC2000 (Romanian), ZINGA(Italian), SWL(Dutch), and theexotic MULTI, which acceptswords from all dictionaries.Players pick how long a gamethey wish to play (the 3-minuteblitz is the shortest option).They may also choose to play“double challenge,” in which alost challenge costs a turn;“single challenge,” in whichthere is no penalty forchallenging; “5-point penalty,”which assesses a 5-pointpenalty for an incorrectchallenge, but no missed turn;and “void,” in which onlyacceptable words may beplayed, and which providesplayers with the option to checktheir words before playing (typeCHECK, plus the word, on thecommand line).Another interesting option is“duplicate,” a variant ofSCRABBLE® that is the mostpopular version of the game inFrance. In DuplicateSCRABBLE®, each player isgiven the same rack, and thenis rewarded for finding thehighest scoring play (NOTE:Adding an “S” to a play for asingle point is a good move inDuplicate SCRABBLE®; usuallysuicide in a standard game). 87

S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E SISC also offers players theoption to observe othergames, either those friends or“high-rated games” selectedfrom games being played atthe time. Observers may notoffer suggestions to theplayers, but they may“whisper” suggestions andcomments amongthemselves. Playerspreferring more privacy mayopt to hide their tiles fromviewers.ISC is a free playing site.However, should you wish tobecome a subscriber (for $30a year at present), you gaintwo amazing options. First,you may play the ISC “bots,”computer programs that areset at different competitivelevels. Second, you mayanalyze your games afterplaying. Many players do thisafter every game, seeingwhat plays they missed (itcan be humbling to see howmany bingos were out there!)ISC gives players the optionsof adding “buddies,” who aredisplayed on the top of thepage, and of “no-playing”unpleasant types. If anopponent uses foul language,subscribers may report thatplayer; the administratorsexamine the game and thendecide whether to temporarilysilence or, in rare cases, toban the player.88Players may chat onlineduring games--or mayindicate that they prefer not totalk. There are also specialchannels for chatting that canbe added or removed. Thesechannels are helpful shouldgroups wish to organizeonline tournaments.ISC rates players, thoughNAPSA players are quick tonote that an ISC rating isoften far higher than a liverating. There is no way toascertain whether players areusing anagrammers ordictionaries, though ISC doesrequire players to sign a fairplayagreement, and theadministrators monitor thesite to be sure the playersarenʼt using computer helpprograms while playing.There is a down side ofplaying on ISC (other than theobvious risk of addiction).The program draws tiles,does all the scoring math,and tracks tiles (perfectly,every time--I wish I could!)When switching to live play,ISC aficionados often findscoring and trackingcumbersome and timeconsuming.Tournamentplayers figure that a 15-minute ISC gameapproximates a 25-minutelive game.But despite criticisms, mostplayers recommendpracticing on ISC as thesingle fastest way to improveat SCRABBLE®. A few yearsback players joked that aPennsylvania student, MikeYowonske, rated over 2000on ISC, was probably usingan anagrammer. Yowonskeshowed up at the 2007Atlantic City Open--his firstlive tournament--and finished5th out of 130 players, losingonly 4 of 16 games andgaining a rating of 1766. Hehasnʼt played in another ratedtournament since.Other ISC players enteringtheir first tournaments havefound themselves similarlywell-prepared--and directorstrying to place an unratedplayer in an appropriatedivision may ask if the playerhas an ISC rating. Most ofthe first-time winners featuredin our “New Faces” columncredit their success to ISC.Because you can matchplayers at a suitable level, allplayers can get better bypracticing on ISC. Andbecause there are thousandsof players from all over theworld playing, you can alwaysfind someone interested in agame!Try ISC--within a few yearsyou might join the select fewwho receive the followingannouncement when they logon: “A hush fills the room as[fill in a handle here] entersthe room!”

OTHERSCRABBLE®RESOURCELINKSPlay SCRABBLE®On LinePOGO SCRABBLE®The official SCRABBLE®online game. Created underagreement with Hasbro in2008.SCRABBLE® ONFACEBOOKSelect the SCRABBLE®application on the Facebookhome page to play the officialSCRABBLE® game. Variousgroups hold tournaments atthis site, including a groupcalled “Mad Scrabblers”.INTERNETSCRABBLE® CLUBA Romanian-based site andapplication for interactivegames. A favorite site formany of the top players.Play LiveSCRABBLE®CROSS-TABLESLists all upcomingtournaments, as well asresults of past tournaments.Has SCRABBLE®tournament aides.NASPA CLUB LISTINGSLists clubs throughout NorthAmerica with their meetingtimes and locations.S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E SNSA CLUB LISTINGSLists casual clubs throughoutNorth America with theirmeeting times and locations.Anagramming/Practice ToolsJUMBLETIMEA free web site for practicinganagramming skills.MAC USERS: After you do aJumbletime quiz on a Mac,the scroll bar to view theresults is missing. To make itappear, go to the lower rightcorner and grab the stripedtriangle and shrink thewindow all the way to the topleft corner. When you pull itback, the scroll bar to theright of the answers to thequiz (magically) appears.(Make sure you do this beforeyou check your score againstother players.) Also, beforerunning a quiz, you mightwant to first press Control andscroll with the mouse toenlarge the screen so thatyou can more easily view thejumbles. Once you finishplaying, scroll the screenback to its original size.(Thanks to Larry Rand andMonique Kornell.)AEROLITHA free application forpracticing anagramming skillsand learning words.QUACKLEA free application for playing,simulating, and analyzinggames.ZYZZYVAA free application forpracticing anagramming skillsand learning words. Also hasWord Judge capabilities.SCRABBLE®DICTIONARYType a word to check foracceptability. OSPD4 words.LEXIFIND WORDFINDERType a word to check foracceptability (includes Collinswords and TWL06).FRANKLINSCRABBLE® PLAYERSDICTIONARYAn electronic handhelddictionary and anagrammer,with many helpful options andgames. Includes the latestword lists, and can beadjusted from OSPD4 toOWL2 lists with a code.CLICK HERE TO HELPEND WORD HUNGERAS YOU LEARNWORDSA free vocabulary testing site.For every correct word, grainsof rice are donated throughthe United Nations WorldFood Program. Feed hungrypeople as you expand yourvocabulary!] 89

Online SCRABBLE®Discussion GroupsCGP (crossword-gamespro@yahoogroups.com)This group, for tournamentplayers and directors only, hasthe largest membership of anyonline tournamentSCRABBLE® discussion group.Most important events andchanges in the SCRABBLE®world are discussed on cgp.Admission is by approval only.Details can be found in theNASPA TournamentSCRABBLE® Newsletter #1.OSPD (ospdscrabble@yahoogroups.com)This group, dedicated to playersusing The Official SCRABBLE®Players’ Dictionary, offers lightheartedhumor, daily word lists,and more. Admission is to allSCRABBLE® lovers. Detailscan be found in the NASPATournament SCRABBLE®Newsletter #1.SCRABBLE® BlogsTHE BADQOPHDIRECTORYThis is a database of blogs byknown SCRABBLE® bloggers,primarily tournament players.As January 24 there were 191blogs in the directory.S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E SCHEAT SHEETSMIKE BARON’S CHEATSHEETA great cheat sheet with 2s, 3s,vowel dumps, short high-pointtilewords, and good bingostems. Includes useful frontand back hook letters to make3s from 2s. Adapted from MikeBarron’s SCRABBLE®Wordbook and the OfficialTournament and Club WordList, 2nd Edition.MIKE BARON’S CHEATSHEET (for SchoolSCRABBLE® and homeplay)A great cheat sheet with 2s, 3s,vowel dumps, short high-pointtilewords, and good bingostems. Includes useful frontand back hook letters to make3s from 2s. Adapted from MikeBarron’s SCRABBLE®Wordbook and the OfficialSCRABBLE® PlayersDictionary, 4th Edition.COOL WORDS TO KNOWA terrific cheat sheet from theNational SCRABBLE®Association for SchoolSCRABBLE® and home play.Gives useful information on howto find bingos, plus the 2s, 3s,vowel dumps, and short highpoint-tileplays.BOOKSBOB’S BIBLEA terrific book to build wordpower for tournaments.BOB’S BIBLE, SCHOOLEDITIONThe great Bobʼs Bible for SchoolSCRABBLE® and home play.BROW-RAISERS IIA brilliantly organized studyguide geared towards thesuccess of beginning andintermediate players.THE CHAMPION’SSTRATEGY FORWINNING ATSCRABBLE® BRANDCROSSWORD GAMEA guide from North AmericanSCRABBLE® Champion JoelWapnick. Out of print, butavailable sometimes atAmazon.com and on disc.Note: New words not included.EVERYTHINGSCRABBLE®, THIRDEDITIONThe ultimate guide to winning atSCRABBLE@ by 3-timeNational Champion Joe Edleyand John D. Williams, Jr.Completely updated to includeall new words. (See review inthe January issue of The Lastword.)THE OFFICIALSCRABBLE® PLAYERSDICTIONARY, FOURTHEDITIONThe official word source forSchool SCRABBLE® andcasual play.THE OFFICIALTOURNAMENT ANDCLUB WORD LIST, 2NDEDITIONThe official word source forNASPA tournament and clubplay.90

SCRABBLE®TOURNAMENT & CLUBWORD LIST (COLLINS)The official word list forinternational tournament play.SCRABBLE®WORDBOOKA great word book forSCRABBLE® players by MikeBaron. OSPD4 words. (POOLists available with wordsexcluded from the OWL2.)S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E S 91

T O U R N A M E N T C A L E N D A RTournament CalendarThe most accurate tournament information is posted on the NASPA Calendar, which includes allregular sanctioned tournaments to date. Additional tournament information is posted at crosstables.com,which often includes tournaments not on the NASPA Calendar: Local ClubTournaments (LCTs), School SCRABBLE® Tournaments, and special invitational and/or unratedtournaments. Cross-tables.com also provides for most tournaments a list of participants, bothconfirmed and tentative, with their ratings. Many unrated fundraiser tournaments and SchoolSCRABBLE® tournaments can be found on the NSA website. Additional international tournamentscan be found on the WESPA calendar. (Past tournament flyers will be removed from archives.)FEBRUARY TOURNAMENTSTexas State Championship (Restricted) 2/5-7Berkeley CA (NAST Final) 2/6Greater Des Moines (Johnston) IA 2/6-7Seven Hills OH 2/6Berkeley CA 2/7Laguna Woods CA 2/7Rhinebeck NY 2/7Eastern Championships NC 2/12-15Phoenix AZ 2/12-15Bayside NY 2/13Ft. Lauderdale FL 2/13Tampa FL 2/13Edmonton AB CAN 2/20Pittsburgh PA 2/20Guelph ON CAN 2/21Mountain View CA 2/21Philadelphia PA 2/21Saratoga Springs NY 2/26-28Dallas TX 2/27Ft. Lauderdale FL 2/27Indianapolis IN 2/27Lakewood Ranch FL 2/27Warren MI 2/27-28WESTBerkeley CA (NAST Final) 2/6Berkeley CA 2/7Laguna Woods CA 2/7Mountain View CA 2/21MIDWESTGreater Des Moines IA 2/6-7Seven Hills OH 2/6Indianapolis IN 2/27Warren MI 2/27-28NORTHEASTRhinebeck NY 2/7Bayside NY 2/13Pittsburgh PA 2/20Philadelphia PA 2/21Saratoga Springs NY 2/26-27SOUTHEastern Championships NC 2/12-15Ft. Lauderdale FL 2/13Tampa FL 2/13Ft. Lauderdale FL 2/27Lakewood Ranch FL 2/27SOUTHWESTTexas State Championship 2/5-7Phoenix AZ 2/12-15CANADAEdmonton AB 2/20Guelph ON 2/2192

T O U R N A M E N T C A L E N D A RMARCH TOURNAMENTSMyrtle Beach SC 3/5-7Vancouver BC CAN 3/5-7Worcester MA 3/6Berkeley CA 3/7Chicago IL 3/7Laguna Woods CA 3/7Rhinebeck NY 3/7Ramat Gan ISRAEL (North American Lexicon)3/10-12Elyria OH 3/13-14Port Jefferson NY 3/13Tampa FL 3/13Guelph ON CAN 3/14Dallas Open TX 3/19-21Ft. Lauderdale FL 3/19-21Durham NC 3/20Mountain View CA 3/21Philadelphia PA 3/21Columbia SC 3/26-28Ashland OR (Collins) 3/27-28Calgary AB CAN 3/27-28Cambridge ON CAN 3/27Ortonville MI 3/27New England School SCRABBLE®Championship (Ridgefield CT) 3/27WESTBerkeley CA 3/7Laguna Woods CA 3/7Mountain View CA 3/21Ashland OR (Collins) 3/27-28MIDWESTChicago IL 3/7Elyria OH 3/13-14Ortonville MI 3/27NORTHEASTWorchester MA 3/6Rhinebeck NY 3/7Port Jefferson NY 3/13Philadelphia PA 3/21New England SchoolSCRABBLE Championship(Ridgefield CT) 3/27SOUTHMyrtle Beach SC 3/5-7Tampa FL 3/13Ft. Lauderdale FL 3/19-21Durham NC 3/20Columbia SC 3/26-28SOUTHWESTDallas Open TX 3/19-21CANADAVancouver BC 3/5-7Guelph ON 3/14Calgary AB 3/27-18Cambridge ON 3/27INTERNATIONALRamat Gan ISRAEL 3/10-12 93

ArchivesA R C H I V E STo access previous issues of The Last Word click the links below.Issue 1: November 2009Issue 2: December 2009Issue 3: January 201094