Scrabble - Classic or Dud?

Mattel can eat a bag of tiles imho.

is there going to be an official list of allowable proper nouns, or can we expect a lot more conversations like "oh man, you don't remember Zxjktmpf Jackson from high school? he was a total bro, too bad he died mysteriously the week before Facebook was invented. anyhow, that's my rack cleared across two triple word scores, you wanna add that up?"

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/04/06/article-1263658-09041212000005DC-451_233x453.jpg

lol at Daily Mail

If you insist.

u guys can still play by the old rules btw

is there a name with both a Q and a Z in it, btw

quizno's

quetzalcoatl

like if the person before you put the word "coat" down you can be a fucking idiot

so basically I have to wait for someone to play COAT and hope I have AELLQTUZ in my rack

xp: lol

Quetzalcoatl
Quizno's
(Gabriel Garcia) Marquez
Quezon (province in the Philippines)

Lots of people named Velasquez/Velazquez and Vasquez/Vazquez.

http://mantiseye.com/img/shirtclub/full/week3.jpg

many xposts: QUIZ is not a proper noun fwiw

yes I know but it would be tons more fun to use the new rule to ditch a Q and a Z, like a 1-2 punch of "fuck you" translated into Scrabble-ese

Hold the phones...this article suggests the rule change only applies to a new version of Scrabble called 'Trickster'?
Oh Mattelpaws...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20001840-52.html

there is more space dust

More reassurance, from Stefan Fastis himself. So you can put "Dweezil" and "Zappa" on hold.

tbh, Words With Friends shot down my Triple Word-Triple Letter "Shinto" the other week, which absolutely would have won me the game, so I am in favor of this measure.

FFS. Just tried to play "fag" in the official iPad app and it wouldn't allow it. Just tested some swear words too and they're not allowed either. And there's not even an option not to censor the dictionary. When the fuck did this happen?

played it for the 1st time ever in October, i'm now hooked.
can't believe it's taken me 37 years to actually play this game.

I started playing again, boy am I lousy.

i really need to get back to playing this. I used to have several regular rivalries w/ folks whose formidable skillz challenged me to take this kind of seriously, at least to the extent that I memorized all the acceptable two-letter words & also developed quite a skill & making bingos. Once I got formed a bingo ending in S which also pluralized another, existing word ON A TIPLE WORD SCORE SPACE, no less, & also I believe I double or triple letter-scored a high-point letter in the same fell-swoop. The point total for that word (which escapes me at present, tho I have it written down somewhere) was, I believe, in excess of 250 pts. - so, yes, I am both a dork and a badass!

Classic, obv.

Steve do you play Words Free on your iphone?

"Once I got formed a bingo ending in S which also pluralized another, existing word ON A TIPLE WORD SCORE SPACE, no less, & also I believe I double or triple letter-scored a high-point letter in the same fell-swoop."

Whoever let you get access to a triple word score off a pluralized word should be shot. That's terrible play right there.

The word ASININE just spelled itself on my rack, which I played for a bingo. A suitable comment on Mattel's removal if "fag" from the dictionary.

iirc, I believe I was set myself up for that, betting against the other player being able to utilize the chance & then it just so happens I got the tiles to not only use the s for both words, but also to make a bingo.

xp

xp lol

I am playing Scrabble in face to face environment, not isc nor wwf. i had one game with 500+ points but several sub 400 point efforts including a low 300 point game which was pretty :-(.

I think I'm about 75-5 against random opponents on Words w/Friends. When we started the ILX Literati tourney a few years ago, Edward III beat me so bad I gave the game up for a few years.

Anybody ever want to play a non-rated game on isc, let me know. It's got to be non-rated, though, to save me from myself.

personally, I am afraid to start playing online b/c of the distractibility factor. I barely have enough self-discipline to get any work done as it is.

It's not a distraction for me. It simply takes over my life.

o I def think it is a worthwhile endeavor, for the brain workout & all, it is just that I don't get paid to do it. nor do I get paid to drink booze or post on ilx :-(

Had to give this up. Every game was either a) me winning by so much it was embarrassing; ii) me losing by so much it was embarrassing; or 3) a tense nailbiter with hours of mental torture trying to wring every last possible point and tactical advantange out of every move. None of these things were fun.

hahaha great description *sigh*

Scrabble has provided me with many hours of harmless enjoyment, so I will rate it on the classic side of the equation. Among my siblings and I it caused fewer internecine feuds than, say, Monopoly or Risk, and had more scope for skill than, say, Candyland or Stratego.

But no one should ever, ever, ever make the mistake of thinking that Scrabble has more than a passing connection to one's aptitude for language.

more of a spatial logic challenge ime

But no one should ever, ever, ever make the mistake of thinking that Scrabble has more than a passing connection to one's aptitude for language.

That's something I learned pretty quickly when I started playing online seven or eight years ago (triggered by Fatsis's book). It basically comes down to: 1) ability to anagram, 2) board and rack management, and 3) mastery of goofy Scrabble words--kaf, zoon, atonies, etc. (For me, #4 would be facility with goofy "-ers" bingos: moaners, nodders, milkers, etc.) Everyday working vocabulary ranks about ninth on the list. Knowing a lot of words will get you out of a tough spot occasionally.

Having said that, I'm a big fan of moaners.

Saw in the paper this morning that the big NSC tournament is about to start, and supposedly the favorite to win is a woman from Toronto:

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/07/word-power

But when I checked NASPA's own page, they've only got Daniel ranked third in the province:

http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/ratings/bystate.html

So I don't why she'd be deemed the favorite--maybe she's in the midst of a DiMaggio-like hit streak. Anyway, I like that Ontario's ranked #1.

The reader's comments on the first piece really make one proud to be Canadian.

I would suggest that the media focused on a woman as she's one of the few women who play in the top section in North America - Scrabble is still seen as a curiosity that the media needs an "angle" into, and women stand out amid a sea of largely interchangeable nerdy men. She's certainly a good player but I'd be very surprised if she finished top 10. Before the event my money would have been on Nigel Richards or Kenji Matsumoto.

(And no, pretty much nobody at the event would be rating her among the favourites to win)

I have to say that the internet has taken much of the fun out of the game for me (too much time in online Scrabble groups).

I could go for a game of Candyland or Life right now.

I've been on the wagon for five or six months, so I didn't need to read this, but fascinating nonetheless:

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/gaming/2012/08/scrabble_cheating_the_real_story_behind_the_stolen_blanks_scandal_at_the_national_scrabble_championship_.single.html

(They must be trying to honor the game with the pointlessly lengthy URL.)

http://magratheazaphod.livejournal.com/333131.html

http://p.twimg.com/A0WqdLtCEAAB4--.jpg

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/04/news/scrabble-dictionary/index.html?sr=fb080514scrabblewords130pStoryLink

"Hashtag," "selfie," "mixtape," "bling" (I've been waiting for that one--had it turned down by various computer opponents many times), etc. That's good. I hope they don't get stupid and start adding internet acronyms, though. Those things need to be eliminated from the world, not encouraged. (I can guess the next post.)

What happens when you play too much Scrabble: you're looking at E-F-L-O-R-W-?. You immediately spot F-L-O-W-E-R-S, but you pause, because you're not 100% sure it's a word. "Flower...something that flows...yes, that should be a word."

Had to laugh when Meadow Soprano laid "oblique" (season 3, the episode where she's sick and playing with Jackie Jr. in her dorm) in such a no-big-deal way. I've never played "oblique"--not even sure I'd recognize it on the rack if the letters were scrambled enough. She didn't mention the 50-point bonus, either.