Last-modified: 5 July 1994
Archive-name: games/scrabble-faq/general


Scrabble Frequently Asked Questions


This article is posted monthly to rec.games.board,
rec.puzzles.crosswords, rec.answers and news.answers.
An experimental hypertext version is available in
"http://father.ludd.luth.se/~lln/scrabble-FAQ.html".

Plain text copies are available for anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu
in the directory /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/rec/games/board, under the
name Scrabble_FAQ_-_Club_and_Tournament_Supplement (and
Scrabble_FAQ_-_General_Information for the companion part).

If you have better information on any of these topics, please
contact me.  Send all comments to stevena@cs.berkeley.edu with "FAQ"
in the subject.

1.    What this FAQ covers
2.    The trademark Scrabble
3.    Organized Scrabble activity
3.1.     National Scrabble Association and Association of Premier
         Scrabble Players
3.2.     Clubs
3.3.     Tournaments
3.3.1.      North American, UK and world championships
3.3.1.1.       Did the North American 1992 champion really give his
               $10,000 prize away to a literacy charity?
3.3.2.      How club and tournament Scrabble differs from the rules
            in the box
3.3.3.      The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and Official
            Scrabble Words
3.3.3.1.       Why are all those stupid/non-English/indecent words
               allowed?
3.3.3.2.       Current corrections to the OSPD 2nd ed
3.3.3.3.       Current corrections to the Franklin Electronic OSPD
3.3.3.4.       Expurgation of OSPD
3.3.4.      Tournament pairings
3.3.5.      Tournament ratings
3.3.6.      Upcoming tournaments
3.4.     Organizations conducting Scrabble activity outside North
         America and the UK
3.5.     Scrabble by surface mail
3.6      Crossword games on the Internet
3.6.1.      Crossword games servers
3.6.2.      Crossword games mailing list
4.    Differences between Scrabble in North America and in the UK
5.    Publications on Scrabble
5.1.     Periodicals
5.1.1.      Scrabble News
5.1.2.      Rack Your Brain
5.1.3.      Non-North American periodicals
5.1.3.1.       Onwords
5.1.4.      Defunct periodicals
5.1.4.1.       Letters for Expert Players
5.1.4.2.       Matchups
5.1.4.3.       Medleys
5.2.     Books
5.3.     Word lists
5.4.     Word study software
6.    Basic tactics and methods
7.    Typical games
7.1.     Typical scores
7.2.     Frequency of bingos
8.    Scrabble records
8.1.     Actual
8.2.     Theoretical
8.3.     Blocked games
9.    Scrabble variants
10.   Play-by-mail games
11.   Scrabble paraphernalia
11.1     Tiles
11.2     Clocks
11.3     Miscellaneous
12.   Computer versions of Scrabble
12.1.    CrossWise (IBM PC)
12.2.    Gameboy Super Scrabble (hand-held)
12.3.    Maven (Macintosh)
12.4.    Monty Plays Scrabble (hand-held)
12.5.    Scramble (IBM PC)
12.6.    Tyler (IBM PC, Macintosh)
12.7.    US Gold Scrabble (IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST)
12.8.    Vic Rice's Game (IBM PC)
12.9.    Virgin Mastertronic (IBM PC, Macintosh)
12.10.   WordsWorth (IBM PC)
12.11.   STrabbler (Atari)
12.12.   Unix Scrabble (Unix)
12.13    CRAB (Unix, Sun, Vax and Macintosh)
13.   Glossary
A1.   Credits

[In the supplement:]
A2.   Roster of clubs in the US and Canada
A3.   Upcoming North American tournaments
A4.   Contacts for major Scrabble organizations worldwide


1.    What this FAQ covers

This article is about English language Scrabble, or more properly,
Scrabble Brand Crossword Game.  It is North American-centric (and to
a lesser extent covers the UK), but information regarding English
language Scrabble is welcome.


2.    The trademark Scrabble

Scrabble is a registered trademark owned in the United States and
Canada by Milton Bradley Company, a division of Hasbro, Inc.  In
Great Britain and everywhere else in the world, by J.W. Spear & Sons
PLC.

Selchow & Righter, listed as the US owner on many of your boards, was
bought -- in good health -- by Coleco, which shortly went into
bankruptcy due to the collapse of the market for their Cabbage Patch
dolls.  Coleco also led itself to bankruptcy by losing a fortune on
the Adam home computer flop, and the unexpected (to them) slowdown in
Trivial Pursuit sales.  (Trivial Pursuit was marketed in the US by
Selchow & Righter).  Coleco was bought up by Milton Bradley, which
was in turn gobbled up by Hasbro.

In North America, technically, the term Scrabble refers to any game
or related product Milton Bradley cares to label that way, while the
popular board game is "Scrabble Crossword Game".  Most people --
including Milton Bradley's own publication -- use the term Scrabble
to refer to that game, and so will this FAQ.


3.    Organized Scrabble activity
3.1.     National Scrabble Association and Association of Premier
         Scrabble Players

The National Scrabble Association ("NSA") is the only organization
running Scrabble activity in North America.  It is a subsidiary of
Milton Bradley.  NSA licenses tournament and club directors.  Club
and tournament play, except for the national and world championships,
is sanctioned but not run by NSA.  Non-members are supposed to be
charged an extra $5 at tournaments, but this is not consistently
done.

Membership is $15 per year in the US, $20 (US) in Canada, and $25
elsewhere, by postal money order outside the US.

            National Scrabble Association
            c/o Williams & Company
     120 Front St Garden
            Box 700
            Greenport, NY 11944
            (516) 477-0033

In the UK, the Association of Premier Scrabble Players ("APSP"), an
independent organization, organizes many tournaments.  It may be
reached at

     APSP
            36 Longacre
            Woodthorpe
            Nottingham, NG5 4JS
            United Kingdom

Membership in APSP costs #5 per year; members receive a newsletter
about six times per year.  Its chairman, Graeme Thomas, may be
reached by e-mail at gvt@uniplex.co.uk.


3.2.     Clubs

Clubs normally play Scrabble according to tournament rules, although
sometimes accommodation for newcomers includes allowing them to refer
to lists of two- and three-letter words for their first couple of
visits.

The current roster of active North American clubs, according to the
most recent listing from the National Scrabble Association, is an
Appendix to this FAQ.  Some of the listings may be out of date, so
call the person listed before trying to attend.

For clubs in the UK, contact

        Philip Nelkon
        J.W. Spear & Sons PLC
        Richard House
        Enstone Road
        Enfield
        Middlesex
        United Kingdom
 tel +44 81 805 4848


3.3.     Tournaments
3.3.1.      North American, UK and world championships

"National Scrabble Championships", really for North America, are held
by the National Scrabble Association in even years.  North American
players will be eligible for entry in 1994 if they have played in at
least one rated tournament.  Players from elsewhere may enter without
condition.

In odd years, an invitational "World Championship" is held.  The 1993
World Championship was held in August in New York; Australia is the
likely location for the 1995 Championship.  North American entrants
qualify by rating or performance in designated qualifying
tournaments.

In the UK, Spears runs the National Scrabble Championship.  Several
regional events (apparently open only to UK residents) are used as
qualifiers for the national final.

Also in the UK, the APSP organizes a 17-game British Matchplay
Scrabble Championship held each August.  It is open to all.


3.3.1.1.    Did the North American 1992 champion really give his
            $10,000 prize away to a literacy charity?

Yes.  By pre-arrangement, since Joe Edley also is vice president of
NSA, he agreed to give away any money he won in the 1992 championship
to an appropriate charity.  He presented his $10,000 prize for first
place to Literacy Volunteers of America.


3.3.2.      How club and tournament Scrabble differs from the rules
            in the box

Club and tournament Scrabble games are always two-player games.

Both players must keep score.  A bag is used for tiles (not the box
lid).  Chess clocks are used to time the game and each player is
allowed a total of 25 minutes to make all of his or her moves in the
game.  If a player's time limit is exceeded, the game continues but
the player is penalized 10 points for each minute over the time
limit.

The validity of words is determined, in North America (and some other
places) by the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, and in the UK by
Official Scrabble Words.  Most other places use Official Scrabble
Words, although some (including New Zealand and in most states of
Australia) use both.  (These references are described in section
3.3.3.)

When a player challenges one or more words in his or her opponent's
move, the clock is stopped while a third party (usually a club or
tournament director) looks up the challenged words (which the
challenger must specify) to determine whether the move is valid.  If
a challenged word is unacceptable, the play is removed and the player
loses that turn.  In North American play, the maker of an erroneous
challenge loses a turn; in the UK, and most of Australia, they do
not.

There are no "house rules" that many social players use, such as free
exchange of four of a kind, or claiming blanks off the board by
substituting for them.

Once there are fewer than seven tiles left in the bag, no exchanging
of tiles is allowed.  Passing is allowed at any time.

At the end of a North American game, when one player uses all his or
her tiles with none remaining in the bag, he or she receives double
the value of the opponent's remaining tiles.  In the UK, as specified
in the box, that value is added to and subtracted from the players'
respective scores.  Both methods result in the same spread.

Ties are not broken.  (The box rules don't mention this possibility.)

If the two players take six consecutive turns without successfully
placing any tiles on the board - due to any combination of
challenges, passes and exchanges -- the game ends, and both players
lose the value of the tiles on their racks.  A game in which neither
player can make a play ends this way, although the players may simply
agree that the game is over without going through all six turns.

The box rules do not mention whether one can make written notes
during the game.  In tournaments and clubs, players are allowed to
write anything they wish on their score sheet.  One use of written
notes is to keep track of which tiles have been played, allowing one
to know which tiles remain to be played.  This is known as tile-
tracking, and players may use preprinted score sheets that show the
tile distribution as an aid to tile-tracking.


3.3.3.      The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and Official
            Scrabble Words

The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary ("OSPD"), published by
Merriam-Webster, is the official dictionary used for all tournament
and club play.  The OSPD first was published in 1978.  It includes
all words of eight or fewer letters, and simplifies the settling of
Scrabble word arguments by specifically showing those words'
inflections (plurals of nouns, conjugations of verbs, comparatives
and superlatives of adjectives).  For root words longer than eight
letters, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth edition, is
used.  (The Tenth came out in May 1993 and replaced the Ninth on
May 1, 1994.)  The OSPD does include inflected forms of up to eight
letters whose roots words are longer.

In 1990, a second edition of the OSPD came out in hardcover.  A
paperback of the OSPD2 came out in June 1993, but the paperback OSPD1
still may be on bookstores' shelves and should be avoided.  Matchups
($1 + $1 shipping, see section 12.6) and Cygnus Cybernetics (see
section 12.1) each publish a complete list of the words added (and
the handful removed) in OSPD2.

The OSPD was created because in the 1950s Selchow & Righter sold the
right to put out Scrabble word lists to Jacob Orleans and Edmund
Jacobson, authors of Scrabble Word Guide, a 1953 book based on the
Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary.  The official publication, Scrabble
News, is still circumspect about publishing word lists, tending to
print them in small chunks to conform to some idea of their remaining
rights.

Parallel to the OSPD for North America, the UK has Official Scrabble
Words ("OSW"), which lists all rules-acceptable words in the Chambers
English Dictionary ("Chambers") whose uninflected roots have nine or
fewer letters, and words of nine or fewer letters which are
inflections of longer words.  The third edition of OSW, including
words from the 1993 edition of Chambers, is due out on August 25,
1994.  Challenges of longer words are looked up in Chambers.

For trademark reasons, the OSPD is not sold outside North America,
and OSW is not sold in North America.


3.3.3.1.       Why are all those stupid/non-English/indecent words
               allowed?

The OSPD was formed according to the rules of Scrabble, allowing all
non-capitalized words without apostrophes or hyphens, which are not
designated as foreign.  In a compromise between the number of words
in a standard college dictionary (such as Funk & Wagnalls, in use
before the OSPD) and an unabridged dictionary, the OSPD, 1st ed.,
included all words found in at least one of five major college
dictionaries, which in the judgment of Merriam-Webster's
lexicographers (contracted by the trademark holder to do this) met
the rules.

To some extent, this succeeds at capturing the language, not as some
set of Scrabble players would have it, but as it is -- according to
professional lexicographers.


3.3.3.2.       Current corrections to the OSPD 2nd ed.

The cumulative corrections to the OSPD 2nd ed., all corrected in the
most recent printings, are:

            p16   ALIYAH: -YAHS (not -YAS)
            108   CLAUGHT: -ING (not -INT)
            109   CLEEK: CLAUCHT (not CLAUGHT)
            213   FLANKEN: pl. FLANKEN
            272   HONDLE: -DLED, -DLING, -DLES (not -DLIED or -DLIES)
            273   insert HOOTY adj HOOTIER, HOOTIEST
            321   LEAP: add LEPT as third past
            359   insert MISENROLL v -ED, -ING, -S
            364   MOJO: add MOJOES
            424   PECORINO: -NOS, -NI
            436   PINYIN: delete PINYINS
            451   delete PREFROZE; insert PREFREEZE v -FROZE,
                  -FROZEN, -FREEZING, -FREEZES to freeze beforehand
            481   delete REARMICE; insert REARMOUSE n pl. -MICE
                  reremouse
            477   REFALL: add REFALLS
            488   delete REREMICE; insert REREMOUSE n pl. -MICE a bat
                  (a flying mammal)
            537   SJAMBOK: definition should be "to flog"
            635   UNMESH: -ES (not -S)
            638   UPFRONT adj
            639   URB: pl. URBS
            643   delete VANIR
            675   insert XANTHATE n pl. -S a chemical salt

Some of these "corrections" muddy the rule that all uninflected words
in the OSPD have eight or fewer letters.


3.3.3.3.       Current corrections to the Franklin Electronic OSPD

            additions   deletions
            ---------   ---------
            AMNIA       AMNIONIA
                        BRITISH
            CAUDILLOS   CAUDILLLOS
                        CHEERLEADED
                        CHINESE
                        CHRISTMAS
            CLUBBERS
            CRACKLES    CRACKLEES
            CRIOLLOS    CRIOLLLOS
            EXPIATING
                        GONIONIA
            GRAMS
            HALAZONES
            HIGGLED
            HONDLES     HONDLIES
            HORNBEAMS
                        IRISH
                        ITALIAN
            MACHES
                        MISEATE
            OPALESCING  OPALESCESCING
            OUTDRAGGING
                        OUTEATE
                        OVEREATE
            OVERLIT
            PECORINI
                        PINYINS
            REFALLS
                        S
            SISSIES     SIES
            UNCLOGGING
                        UNDEREATE


3.3.3.4.       Expurgation of OSPD

The NSA intends to reissue OSPD2 in September 1994 omitting those
words labelled as offensive to specific ethnic, racial or sexual
groups, such as the words "dago" and "jew".  Hasbro, the NSA's
parent, gave as major reasons for the change its desire to promote
Scrabble in elementary schools using the OSPD and complaints by
offended ethnic groups.

In effect, adult players will have their playing vocabulary
restricted to those words considered safe for children.  At the same
time some words (e.g. "cunt", "welsh") offend no interest group
recognized by Hasbro, and will not be removed.

This points out the incongruity of a business corporation asserting
control over the set of words acceptable for a game purportedly based
on the set of words in a natural language.  In the UK, where (1) the
source of acceptable words is a dictionary (Chambers) prepared by
professional lexicographers with only lexicographic aims, and (2)
organized play is not under the sole control of the manufacturer,
this could not happen.


3.3.4.      Tournament pairings

Most North American tournaments are ranked according to win-loss
record first, followed by the total of point margin in each game.  A
few tournaments score according to a predetermined number of credits
for winning and for each ten points of margin.  Australian
tournaments use total game score as the secondary factor.

In small tournaments or ones in where the field is sufficiently
divided, each player plays every other once.  This is called a round
robin.

In all the other tournament designs, who one plays depends on where
one stands in the tournament so far.  In the first round, generally
the players' pre-tournament ratings temporarily stand in for the
tournament rank.

The modified form of Swiss pairing used at North American Scrabble
tournaments is best described by example.  Suppose 64 players are at
the tournament.  In round one, the first player plays the 33rd, the
second plays the 34th, etc., and the 32nd plays the 64th.  In round
two, the same top plays middle is used for the top and bottom halves
of the tournament separately: 1 plays 17, 2 plays 18, down to 16
plays 32, and 33 plays 49, down to 48 plays 64.  This continues with
groups shrinking by a factor of two at each round.

Because determining the pairings between rounds can take so long in
this method (computers are fast, but data entry can be slow), often
the field is divided into four groups, instead of two.  So with 64
players, 1 17 33 49 would be grouped together, as would 2 18 34 50,
and 16 32 48 64.  These groups of four then each play a round robin.

Note that this "speed-pairing" method provides the better players an
advantage.  Denote the four quartiles in order as A, B, C, D.  Then
the A player plays a B, C and D, while the D plays an A, B and C;
this tends to reinforce the pre-tournament estimate of the players'
strengths, and thus detracts from the aim of a tournament -- to
recognize performance, not rank.  A simple improvement has rarely
been tried, to have each A player also matched against an A from
another group, etc.  This models the round robin in small, and seems
inherently fairer.  (If anyone has references to scholarly treatments
of the fairness of tournament design, I would be grateful to be
supplied with them, for ongoing research.)

In the UK, most tournaments are run by the (un-modified) Swiss
pairing method, in which players in blocks of decreasing size play a
random member of the next lower block.


3.3.5.      Tournament ratings

Using a system based on the Elo system used in chess, North American
tournaments players get a rating in the range 500 to ~2150 which
indirectly represents the probability of winning against any other
rated player.  This probability depends only on the difference
between the two players' ratings as follows:

          rating     probability
         difference  of winning
            400       .919
            300       .853
            200       .758
            100       .637
             50       .569
              0       .500
            -50       .431
           -100       .363
           -200       .242
           -300       .147
           -400       .081

This represents the area under the standard bell-shaped curve where
200*sqrt(2) points are taken as one standard deviation.  (The table
shows some sample points on this curve, adequate for good
approximations of rating calculations by interpolation, although
actual calculations use the exact curve.)

To keep current on a player's actual quality of play, the rating is
updated in every tournament played.  First, the number of games one
is expected to win is calculated.  Let's use as an example a two game
tournament, in which player P begins with an 1800 rating, and plays
opponents rated 1900 and 1725.  P's rating is 100 below the 1900
players, so P is expected to win .363 fraction of a game; P's ratings
is 75 above the other player's, so P is expected to win .603 of a
game (halfway between .637 and .569).

So in the two games, P is expected to win a total of .966 games.
Let's say P won one game.  That's .034 more than expected.  P's
rating goes up some constant multiple of this number.  Well, actually
it's not a constant, but depends on how many tournament games P has
ever played and how high P's rating is.

                        games played
           Rating       < 50    >=50
           below 1800    30      20
            1800-1999    24      16
            2000 & up    15      10

The UK ratings are somewhat similar but simpler: the probability of
the better player winning is supposed to be 50% plus the rating
difference, as a percent.

The Australian rating system is the same as the North American.


3.3.6.      Upcoming tournaments

For a listing of upcoming North American tournaments, see the
Appendix.


3.4.     Organizations conducting Scrabble activity outside North
         America and the UK

Membership in the Australian Scrabble Players Association, which is
independent of the trademark holder, is $10 per year ($8 in some
states).  It publishes 'Across the Board', which has columns on
playing, and tournament listings.  It may be reached at

            The Scrabble Enquiry Centre
            PO Box 405
            Bentleigh, 3204
            Australia
            (03) 510 9381

     Australian Scrabble Players Association
     3 Ocean St
     Ormond, Victoria, 3204
     Australia
     (03) 578 6767

In Israel, English language Scrabble is played by several clubs.
There is a large one in Jerusalem.  Tournaments are rated under a
copy of the North American system.  There are occasional national
tournaments.  Sam Orbaum, who once wrote a weekly Scrabble column for
the Jerusalem Post, runs the Jerusalem club, which meets at ICCY, 12
Emek-Refaim Street, Jerusalem at 7:30pm JST Tuesdays.  He can be
reached at (02)767967 (H), (02)315654 (W).

The Thailand National English language Scrabble tournament has drawn
as many as 885 contestants, including some top North Americans.

Nigeria and Japan each have an active English language Scrabble
tournament scene.

For addresses of many English language Scrabble organizations and
contacts, see the Appendix.


3.5.     Scrabble by surface mail

Postal Scrabble for residents of the US and Canada is conducted by
Nick Ballard (former publisher of Medleys), under the name "Letter
Getters".  Letter draws are supplied in advance, but decoded upon
drawing tiles.  For 2/4/6/8 game events, $13/$21/$29/$37 (+$1 per
event for Canadian entrants).  Players are rated in a system based
on the North American rating system.

            Nick Ballard
            3814 Ashworth Av N
            Seattle, WA 98103
            (206) MED-LEYS


3.6      Crossword games on the Internet
3.6.1.      Crossword games servers

Two servers dedicated to crossword games (with boards configurable by
the players) are available by telnet at next7.cas.muohio.edu, port
8888 (this means to reach it under Unix, type "telnet
next7.cas.muohio.edu 8888) and seabass.st.usm.edu, port 7777.


3.6.2.      Crossword games mailing list

To be added to the crossword-games mailing list, write to
saint@mit.edu, asking to be placed on crossword-games@mit.edu.
Active tournament players can be on crossword-games-pro@mit.edu.


4.    Differences between Scrabble in North America and in the UK

OSW and Chambers govern Scrabble play in the UK.  Australia is
moving toward "double dictionary" play, where words from either
Chambers or OSPD are accepted.  Some clubs in North America are
considering making this at least optional.  An added impetus for
this trend is the planned expurgation of OSPD.

In the UK, a player erroneously challenging suffers no penalty.

The UK has a second form of Scrabble play that is waning: high-score
tournaments, where only the total of one's own scores matters.  Since
one's "opponents'" scores are irrelevant, play in this system aims
for open boards and encourages elaborate setups often independently
mined by the two players.


5.    Publications on Scrabble
5.1.     Periodicals
5.1.1.      Scrabble News

This is a publication of the National Scrabble Association (see
section 3.1), and comes with the $15 annual membership.

Puzzles, contests, gossip, intermediate and advanced tactics,
official information from NSA and Milton Bradley, tournament listings
and tournament results.


5.1.2.      Rack Your Brain

Subtitled "Analysis of your favorite crossword game", Brian
Sheppard's series of booklets deeply analyzes specific positions.
By the author of the program Maven, which is an important tool for
move analysis.  $42 for one year, $5 each.

            Brian Sheppard
            296 Old Marlboro Road
            Concord, MA 01742


5.1.3.      Non-North American periodicals
5.1.3.1.       Onwords

Billing itself as the "Scrabble Enthusiasts' Magazine", this is the
only publication substantially written by more than one person.  It
features numerous columns, lists, analyses, letters and tournament
reports.  Subscriptions are #6 for 6 issues in the UK, #10 elsewhere.

            Allan Simmons
            Onwords Magazine
            Shilling House
            1 Woolmer Hill
            Haslemere
            Surrey, GU27 1LT
            United Kingdom

Onwords may merge with the APSP's newsletter within about a year.


5.1.4.      Defunct periodicals
5.1.4.1.       Letters for Expert Players

This letter-form publication, which ceased in December 1986, still
forms a rich mine of top expert opinion on interesting positions.
Back issues may (possibly) still be available from:

            Albert Weissman
            11 White Rock Road
            Westerly, RI 02891


5.1.4.2.       Matchups

Besides detailed tournament results, Matchups picked up from the
Letters in using a panel of experts to annotate interesting
positions.  Suspended publication in July 1991.  Back issues may be
available.  See section 12.6.


5.1.4.3.      Medleys

Probably the highlight of this well-edited, entertainingly written
monthly were the game annotations.  One game per month was annotated
in full.  Three interesting positions were analyzed by readers, with
quotes.  Word lists, study techniques, anecdotes, humor and opinions
rounded out the publication.  The only drawback was a long-running
two page tournament advertisement in this 12 page newsletter.

For the 12 issues of 1991 and 1992, $34 each; for 1993, $36; plus $2
shipping ($3 US in Canada).

Also, compiled from the pages of Medleys, "The Art and Science of
Anamonics" [a memory-efficient method for studying which letter 6-
and 7-letter sets anagram to make words with; e.g., the letters of
SLANDER make an 8-letter word with those in CALL GOD A PIOUS CHUMP]
and "Complete 7+1 Anamonics #1-2100".

$5 and $29 respectively; plus $0, $2 shipping.

"Expert Analysis -- Consensus Game" #1, #2, #3, #4, and "Expert
Analysis -- Consensus Extras" vol. 1, vol. 2, $29 each; plus $2
shipping.  Available Aug. and Sept. 1994, respectively.

The second and subsequent least expensive items are charged half the
above shipping costs.

            Nick Ballard
            3814 Ashworth Av N
            Seattle, WA 98103
            (206) MED-LEYS


5.2.     Books

How to Win at Scrabble, Jacob Orleans & Edmund Jacobson.  1953,
Grosset & Dunlap.  Out of print.

The Champion's Guide to Winning at Scrabble, Joel Wapnick.  Best for
advanced players, with sophisticated analyses of many positions and
good study techniques.  Out of print.

The Ultimate Guide to Winning Scrabble, Michael Lawrence & John Ozag,
(Bantam).  Good for beginners to intermediates; covers many of the
basic approaches to analysis.  Out of print, but may be available
from Edward R. Hamilton, a mail-order remainder bookseller.

Scrabble Tournament Success, a booklet focusing on the thought
processes which can help intermediate players improve.  Available
from the author, an excellent player, for $7 + $1 shipping.

            Darrell Day
     Marketing Concepts
            5 Westglen Place
            Plano, TX 75074

World Championship Scrabble, Gyles Brandreth & Darryl Francis,
(Chambers).  Twenty-two annotated games from the 1991 World
(English language) Scrabble Championship, which was played using
words in OSW or OSPD.  In bookstores, or $7.95 + $3.50 shipping from
Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.

The Word Game Power Workout, Rita Norr & Audrey Tumbarello (Perigee,
Putnam Publ.) (new, Oct 1993).  Endeavors to teach words "through
trivia, word meanings, riddles, mnemonics, and geography."  This book
appears useful for breaking the reader through to thinking in terms
of anagrams, hooks, prefixes, suffixes and extensions.  Also includes
four pages of well thought out, dense suggestions for better Scrabble
play.  In bookstores, or $10.95 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
Cybernetics, section 12.1.

British Scrabble books:

Official Scrabble Words (Chambers)
  Comprehensive listing of 2- to 9-letter words in the official
  Scrabble word reference, the Chambers dictionary.
Championship Scrabble, Alan Richter
Play Better Scrabble, Michael Goldman
Scrabble, Darryl Francis
The Scrabble Book, Gyles Brandreth
  covers both British & North American Scrabble
  available, $5.99 + $4 shipping, from Cahill & Co., (800) 755-8531
The Scrabble Puzzle Book, Gyles Brandreth
Scrabble World Championship, Gyles Brandreth and Darryl Francis


5.3.     Word lists

Numerous lists and other items are available from Cygnus Cybernetics
(see section 12.1).

The Blank Book, 2nd ed., Alan Frank
  Shows all letters with which each set of six and seven letters
  anagrams to make a word.  Also specifies whether more than one word
  can be formed.  Spiral bound.  $20 + $3 shipping from Matchups,
  section 12.6.

The Olde-Fashioned Anagram Book, Alan Frank
  All 2- to 8-letter words anagrammed according to their alphabetized
  letter sets.  Spiral bound.  $15 + $3 shipping (or $32.50 + $4.50
  shipping together with the Blank Book 2nd ed. above) from Matchups,
  section 12.6.

The Weird Book, Alan Frank
  Features such retrograde lists as words with weird trigrams, high
  probability racks forming 7- and 8-letter words with only one low
  probability tile, and words displaying all ways of forming plurals
  (e.g. LIKUTA MAKUTA, ZLOTY ZLOTYCH).  $10 + $3 shipping from
  Matchups, section 12.6.

The Complete Blankbook, Mike Baron & Jim Homan
  Lists all 6- and 7-letter sets forming 7- and 8-letter words and
  all bingos formed.   In US, postage paid: $42.50/39.98/39.95/38.00
  each when ordering 1/2/3-9/10.  In Canada, add $5 per address,
  elsewhere $10.  Wordbooks & Listmats, P.O. Box 2848, Corrales NM
  87048-2848.

All Words, Jim Homan
  All 2- thru 9-letter words accepted in North American play.  $12 +
  $3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.

Back-Words, Jim Homan
  All 2- thru 9-letter words accepted in North American play
  alphabetized from the back.  $12 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
  Cybernetics, section 12.1.

9-Letter Hooks and Anagrams, Jim Homan
  Shows what letters extend 8- to 9-letter words, and letter sets
  forming all 9-letter words.  $10 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
  Cybernetics, section 12.1.

High Probability Bingos, Jim Homan
  The 1000 most likely 7- and 8-letter words to draw to an empty
  rack.  Also, the 1000 7- and 8-letter words most often played by
  a computer in a substantial sample of games.  $3.25 + $3.50
  shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.

JQXZ Bingos, Jim Homan
  7-, 8- and 9-letter words containing the four top tiles.  $3.25 +
  $3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.

The Family Bingo Tree
  Similar to the two above, it groups together all 7- and 8-letter
  words formable from each 6-letter set.  Contact Randy Hersom
  (section 5.4).

Double List Word Book, Ethel Cannon Sherard
  OSPD1 based, alphabetically by word length and by last letter.  Has
  numerous omissions.  Gwethine Publishing Co, P.O.  Box 41344, Los
  Angeles, CA 90041.

The Scrabble Word-building Book, Saleem Ahmed; $5.95
  Inconsistent in inclusion of new OSPD2 words; numerous errors.

The Official Scrabble Word Finder
  This is useless for Scrabble.

Official Scrabble Word Guide.  Grosset & Dunlap
  This 1953 book, still found in stores, is based roughly on the Funk
  & Wagnalls dictionary then current.

Official Scrabble Lists
  For the UK; lists based on OSW; many useful playing hints.
  Available in the same places as OSW.

Word List 1993
  Lists based on OSW + OSPD, listing all words up to 8 letters in
  length.
            Geoff Wright
     11 Peter St
     Box Hill North
     Victoria 3129
     Melbourne, Australia

Official Scrabble Words on Compact Disk
  This is supplied for Sony's Data Diskman.  Search facilities are
  reportedly poor.

Official Scrabble Players Electronic Dictionary
  Produced by Franklin, this credit-card sized device contains the
  OSPD2. It does anagram queries and queries with blanks in fixed
  position.  Some proper nouns have crept in as acceptable words,
  apparently from careless scanning of the printed OSPD2.  Available
  for $48.00 + $5.00 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics (see section
  12.1; this is the only supplier that ships each device with a card
  listing all the current corrections -- for which, see section
  3.3.3.3), or $59.99 from Radio Shack.

  Late rumor suggests that the Franklin OSPD may be withdrawn because
  of wrangling between Franklin and Milton Bradley about the
  proceeds.


5.4.     Word study software

Word Study System (IBM PC), $99 at last information, is at least a
bit difficult to configure, but a very effective study system.

  Jeff Widergren
  19397 Zinfandel Ct.
  Saratoga, CA

LexAbility (IBM PC), besides a anagram study system, includes a
feature allowing play of Scrabble by modem.  $50 postpaid in US and
Canada.

  Randy Hersom
  115A Rhyne St
  Morgantown, NC 28655
  rhersom@delphi.com

Puzlpack (IBM PC), $20.

  Chuck Fendall
  Recroom Recware
  P.O. Box 307
  Pacific Grove, CA 93950

Anna (IBM PC), $99, quizzes on anagrams, emphasizing words missed
over time, allows custom lists as well as functioning as an
anagrammer.

  Mary Rhoades
  2325 Shady Grove Dr.
  Bedford, TX 76021
  (817) 545-3216

The Helper (Amiga), $10, performs several types of word searches, and
allows saving generated lists to disk for editing or printing.

 Jerry D. Hedden
 P.O. Box 422
 Mt. Laurel, NJ  08054


6.    Basic tactics and methods

Rack Balance

  Some groups of letters combine well, others poorly.  Most
  obviously, racks full of vowels or of consonants are usually hard
  to play.  Also, racks with duplicate letters -- even "good" letters
  (except most often S and sometimes E) -- reduce flexibility.
  Therefore, give weight in evaluating possible plays to how well the
  leave combines.

  As a corollary, also consider what replacement tiles you're likely
  to draw.  For example, if the choice between playing FARM and FORM
  is otherwise indifferent, and there are many "A"s unplayed but few
  "O"s, use the A to minimize the likelihood of duplication on the
  next rack.

  The simplest application of attending to leave is attempting to
  keep good tiles.  On average, S, E, R, and so on form words most
  flexibly, and are particularly conducive to bingos.  Choices
  between letters lower down also matter: P is better than B.  But
  racks with Z or X tend to score high without playing long words.
  Which type of "good" letter is best to keep varies.

  In applying all these ideas, consider the board situation.  If
  there is a prime spot for a T, not used by the candidate plays, but
  none for an S, prefer to play off the S.  If the letters available
  to be played through are mostly consonants, lean further toward
  keeping vowels.

Tile-tracking

  Since the set of tiles in a game is always the same, knowing what
  is left is as useful to the Scrabble player as to the card-counting
  blackjack player -- only easier.  While some find tracking hurts
  their concentration, after practice, most do it without disruption.
  Others count only when they see a specific need.

  Tracking allows better rack balancing: knowing there are many more
  "A"s than "O"s outstanding allows one to lean toward playing an A.
  It keeps one aware of whether the Q is outstanding, and of the risk
  and opportunity in other tiles which fit particularly well or
  poorly with the board.

  Finally, once no tiles remain in the bag, tracking determines what
  exactly is on the opponent's rack.  Just before the bag is empty,
  it allows fairly confident guessing what the opponent has.  These
  allow all kinds of end-game play: set-ups, plays to assure the
  opponent cannot go out and enable one to throw out all rules of
  thumb and simply analyze cases for how to win.

Challenging

  One of the tactical considerations for challenging is not special
  to Scrabble.  If the only way you can lose is to challenge your
  opponent's word, refrain.  If winning requires a successful
  challenge (plus perhaps some further luck) and there is any chance
  the word is phony, challenge.

  It is generally best not to challenge a bingo if an alternative
  bingo was playable.  I once played (P)SCHENT for several fewer
  points than CH(A)STEN because I knew my opponent would be outraged
  that I'd try such a stupid word on him.  He should have calmed his
  emotions and considered my alternatives.  Of course, had he found
  the over ten point better play, he might have inferred I had missed
  it, and challenged.

  Consider the possibility that you are better off with the
  (possibly) phony word on the board.  If it creates a lucrative
  opening for you, makes especially good use of your rack, or wastes
  your opponent's blank, offset the point benefit to you against the
  benefit to opponent of not losing this turn.  Weight this
  calculation using your degree of certainty as to whether the word
  is good.

  Use your right to challenge all words formed.  Since the director
  gives only one ruling on the acceptability of all challenged words,
  your opponent may be uncertain which word was phony and try the bad
  word again.

Study

  The great variety in learning styles prevent any definitive
  recommendation of study methods, but there are some principles.

  Study the words most likely to occur.  Know the two-letter words
  cold, since they are essential to common parallel plays.  On the
  way to learning the three-letter words solidly, learn all front and
  back extensions for the twos.  Learning the part of speech and the
  meaning of the two-letter words helps many people assimilate this;
  it is a technique that allows many to derive dual benefit from all
  kinds of study.

  Also extra likely to occur because of the reward, as well as worthy
  of special study simply because of the reward, are the seven- and
  eight-letter words.  Many techniques are possible.

  One top player has memorized an ordered list of these words each of
  which is the first element of one of a set of subsidiary lists
  which encompass the entire set of bingos.  That method is only for
  the very dedicated.  Practice anagramming by matching the remaining
  letters to a common suffix or prefix.  Some claim success in
  extending this technique to allow recognition of words which, for
  example, contain the letters ING but form only a non-"-ING" word,
  such as LINGOES.

  Unless you have a photographic memory, try to learn words in small
  enough sets that you can master them to the point that you
  recognize both when you can and cannot anagram to one of them.  For
  example, learn the list of all eight letter words containing
  exactly the vowels EEIIO (EOLIPILE and others).  Then the phony
  OLEINIZE will not get by you, nor will you try it yourself.

  Practice anagramming at any time there are words around you whose
  meaning you do not need to concentrate on.  This will soon take
  over your life so that even reading the newspaper, SENATOR will
  translate to TREASON and ATONERS, deeply affecting your world-view.

  For some very effective techniques, see back issues of Medleys
  (section 5.1.2).


7.    Typical games
7.1.     Typical scores

In a 27 game, 194 participant tournament in 1988, the average score
was 368.6, standard deviation 60.6 and the distribution of scores:

            180       2            420     214
            190       1            430     165
            200       2            440     141
            210       5            450     101
            220      26            460     100
            230      27            470      58
            240      19            480      63
            250      56            490      53
            260      78            500      34
            270     101            510      24
            280     137            520      19
            290     185            530      12
            300     205            540       6
            310     257            550       6
            320     309            560       4
            330     325            570       7
            340     336            580       1
            350     345            590       1
            360     325            600       2
            370     331            610       0
            380     325            620       0
            390     328            630       0
            400     276            640       0
            410     225            650       1


7.2.     Frequency of bingos

In the 1983 national championship among 32 selected players, players
got 2.9 bingos per game between them in games that happened to be
annotated.


8.    Scrabble records
8.1.     Actual

The following records are for sanctioned (that is, in an official
club or tournament) North American play.

The high combined score and the high individual score were both
obtained in a 1993 California tournament by Mark Landsberg, who
scored 770 against his opponent's 335.

The high margin of victory including phonies was by Ken Lambe of
Michigan, who scored 716 versus his opponent's 147, using a single
phony.

The high single turn, 302 points, has been achieved by both Jeff
Clark of Michigan and Ron Manson of Canada.

Longest consecutive opening sequence of bingos by one player:
Jeremiah Mead of Massachusetts played five in a 1989 North American
championship tournament game.


8.2.     Theoretical

These records allow words only from the OSPD (1st ed.) and
Merriam-Webster (9th ed.).

The highest single scoring play, found by Kyle Corbin, shown with the
hooked words:

        A1  OXYPHENBUTAZONE  1458
        1A  OPACIFYING         63
        2A  XIS                10
        4A  PREINTERVIEWED     26
        8A  BLADDERLIKE        57
        11A AFORETHOUGHT       18
        12A ZONETIME           29
        15A EJACULATING        63
           +bonus              50

The highest combined score, found by Steven Root of Massachusetts:

        H2  LANKEST            74
        8F  METRICAL           60
        8A  GRAVIMETRI(C)ALLY 293
        2F  SULTANA(S)         61
        1E  HE, ES              7
        1E  HEN, NU             8
        1I  UT, UT, TA          6
        1I  UTA, AN             5
        1M  ON OS               3
        L2  AR                  2
        L2  ARF                12
        1A  OXYPHENBUTAZONE,
             BLANKEST, ZARF  1576
        5E  GINKGOES, ZARFS   123
        B1  XI                 18
        O7  PYRUVATE           67
        N14 WE, WE             20
        D8  VERDITER           76
        13B DIT                 8
        B13 DE                  6
        B13 DEI                 4
        15D ROT                 3
        G14 OE, ROTE            6
        13G JOE, JO            35
        I13 BA, JOB            22
        I13 BAH                 8
        14I AI                  4
        K14 LI, AIL             5
        11D DEADWOOD          106
        15A MICROTECHNIQUES,
             IN, PYRUVATES   1264
          +2 times "F"          8


8.3.     Blocked games

The position from which no play is possible no matter what tiles are
held, which is reached with the fewest plays and tiles (found by Jim
Geary of Arizona) is:

             (K)
            K E V
       V O X
        (X)U

Without using blanks, the smallest, found by Rick Wong of California,
is:

              F
      HUP
     FUCI
      PIU


9.    Scrabble variants

In Anagram Scrabble (Clabbers, to some), where in the usual game, a
word in the dictionary may be used, the adjacent tiles need only
anagram to such a word.  If there is a challenge, the challengee must
come up with a single word to which the challenged set of letters
anagram.  Tiles are still fixed in position once placed.

In an idea discussed in Medleys, called New Scrabble, the role of
luck in the draw of blanks is reduced in that both players have one
blank, not in the bag, which they may use to replenish their rack
once during the game.  No known tournaments have been run with this
variation.

Ecology Scrabble allows recycling blanks, as alluded to in section
3.3.2.

In Duplicate Scrabble, players all play the same board, competing for
high score on each move.  Duplicate tournaments are held in France.


10.   Play-by-mail games

Open-book Scrabble by snail mail is run by Medleys.  (See section
5.1.2 for its address.)  Medleys charges $5 for a round, plus $3 per
game in a round; players participate in from 2 to 8 simultaneous
games.

In the UK, the Postal Scrabble Club is very active.  See the Appendix
for a contact.


11.   Scrabble paraphernalia
11.1     Tiles

The NSA (see section 3.1) will replace individual lost tiles from in-
print sets sold by in North America without charge.

Standard-issue tiles are "braillable", that is, particular letters
(and especially blanks) can be distinguished inside the bag by feel,
and "false blanks" may be played, since the back of all tiles is the
same as the front of a blank.  Protiles, which are preferred
according to tournament rules, prevent this.  They are long-lasting,
and the seller replaces lost tiles without charge.  Available for $18
+ $3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1, or for $18
per set (10% off for 10 or more) from

            Robert Schoenman
            Box 408
            Lake Oswego, OR 97034

In the UK, Philip Nelkon, section 3.2, sells tiles with thinner ink
than the standard, for #6.


11.2     Clocks

Chess clocks, used to time games at clubs and tournaments, are
available where chess paraphernalia is sold, but avoid those analog
models on whose faces the individual minutes past zero are not
marked.

Analog quartz clocks are sold by Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1,
for $45 (or $52 for a see-through case) + $5 shipping, and also by
Matchups, $67.50 + $5 shipping, section 12.6.  Wind-up clocks are
sold by Matchups for $37.50 + $5 shipping.

A digital model well suited to Scrabble, having very large (1 inch)
numbers and a slanted face is sold for $135 + $3 shipping is sold by

            Sam Kantimathi
     Box 5236
     El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-5236


11.3     Miscellaneous

Braille Scrabble is sold in North America by Milton Bradley.  Blind
players do play in tournaments, bringing their own braille sets,
which have visible printed letters.

The Franklin Mint sells a Scrabble set (complete with a copy of the
OSPD, 2nd ed.) for $495.  No serious tournament player I know owns
one, except for the winner of a Franklin-sponsored tournament set up
to promote this garish item.  This set is also available in the UK at
an even higher price.

A cover of light plastic mesh for the Deluxe edition of Scrabble
allowing collecting tiles from the board all at once is available
from

            Mary Lou Thurman
            2627 24th St
            Lubbock, TX 79410
            (806) 744-7702

Cygnus Cybernetics supplies a device called TopSpin to make your
supposedly freely turning deluxe Scrabble set turn better.  It is
really just a pair of ball-bearinged metal plates stuck to the
base and top of the board with two-sided thick tape, available at
hardware stores.  From Cygnus (see section 12.1), it is $7.50 +
$3.50 shipping.


12.   Computer versions of Scrabble

There are (1) Scrabble-playing programs licensed in the US and UK;
(2) "crossword game" programs which can be configured to play
Scrabble; and (3) programs which ignore the trademark and copyright
issues.  All are represented below.

For a citation to a publication on efficient Scrabble move finding,
see section 12.13.


12.1.    CrossWise (IBM PC)

A ridiculously fast player which plays at the highest level, twice
having won the international Computer Olympiad at Scrabble.  Highly
configurable, with a professionally programmed interface.  Contains
all OSPD2 words, but no others over eight letters.   (An augmentation
of the dictionary to cover all words up to 15 letters is $12.50.)  No
setup capability; hinting ability is "limited" to showing all moves
in score order.  $35 + $4.50 shipping.

            Cygnus Cybernetics Corporation
            2013 Weathertop
            Fort Collins, CO 80526
            (303) 490-1288
     (303) 493-5370 fax
            info@cygcyb.com

A UK variant of CrossWise is described in section 12.7.

Note that the shipping charge for orders of multiple items is $3.50
for the first $29.99 of merchandise, plus $.50 for each $10.00 up to
a maximum of $6.00.


12.2.    Gameboy Super Scrabble (hand-held)

Based on American Heritage Dictionary, not OSPD.  Unknown whether
still available.


12.3.    Maven (Macintosh)

An extremely strong and intelligent player.  Maven costs $75 (+$5
for non-US shipment).  The program keeps track of various statistics
about the registered player, so orders must include the name of the
player, and (if available) their current rating.

     Sheppard Company
     60 Thoreau Street #187
     Concord MA 01742-9116
     (508) 287-0055

An IBM PC version should be coming out later this year.


12.4.    Monty Plays Scrabble (hand-held)

Ritam Corporation.  Originally available for the IBM PC and Apple II,
since 1987 only as a hand-held unit.  Comes with 20,000 words from
OSPD1, upgradable to about 40,000, which is still incomplete.
Deplorable strategy.  The hand-held version requires scrolling around
a small screen to find the board area of interest.  Reportedly
sometimes changes the letter represented by a played blank.
Apparently no longer licensed by Milton Bradley, its current
availability is unknown.


12.5.    Scramble (IBM PC)

This is a very pretty game.  But note this from the documentation:
"Q.  How come I can see my opponent's rack?  Shouldn't it be hidden?
A.  You must be thinking of some other crossword game.  This is
Scramble.  In Scramble, you get to see your opponent's rack."  The
machine player plays for high score on each turn.  While substitution
of a user-provided dictionary for the quite incomplete one supplied
is provided for, this slows down an already slow game.

            Ted Gruber Software
            P.O. Box 13408
            Las Vegas, NV 89112


12.6.    Tyler (IBM PC, Macintosh)

Written for the IBM PC and ported to the Macintosh (not very
smoothly, I am told), this version is distinguished by a complete
OSPD2 and Merriam-Webster dictionary up to 15 letters, with a UK
dictionary also available, by good strategy and by good setup and
hint facilities.  (I regularly use it to automatically critique my
tournament games.)  Unfortunately, the latest version, 3.04 is flaky,
and the author has not been upgrading as frequently as he had been.
$50.

            Matchups
            35 Gardner St
            Arlington, MA 02174
     (617) 661-1007
     alf@world.std.com


12.7.    US Gold Scrabble (IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST)

Licensed for sale in the UK, this is essentially similar to CrossWise
(section 12.1), but comes with the complete contents of the OSW.
Reviews in the APSP newsletter say "a splendid opponent ... speed is
quite astonishing ... graphics and facilities are excellent."  Cost
is around #30.


12.8.    Vic Rice's Game (IBM PC)

This goes under the name "Scrabble" but for clarity, I'm denominating
it according to its author's name.  Available from

           Vic Rice
           4026 Bayou Grove Dr.
           Seabrook, TX 77586

and from the bulletin board system (BBS) where the author resides:

           Ed Hopper's PC Board
           (713) 782-5454


12.9.    Virgin Mastertronic (IBM PC, Macintosh)

Licensed for sale in the US.  Sold in three versions, about $15, $25
and $35.  The standard version has about 20,000 words from the OSPD1.
The two deluxe versions have the complete OSPD1 with some errors.  In
the IBM PC program, the deluxe version adds VGA graphics.  The $35
version is the deluxe for Windows, which stops running when in the
background.  Reportedly plays at the level of a middling tournament
player, but with no discernable strategy.  Also reportedly very slow,
with the deluxe versions, holding the full OSPD1, taking two to three
minutes per move on a 386/33.


12.10.   WordsWorth (IBM PC)

Shareware version, available for anonymous ftp from ftp.cs.uct.ac.za
in /pub/misc/gc/wwdem.zip, uses a US English dictionary of only
17,000 words, all of no more than six letters.  Registration brings
an 80,000+ word dictionary, and costs 75 S. African Rand, $25 US or
#20.  Currently in version 1.1g.

            Graham Wheeler
            P.O.Box 6680
            Roggebaai
            Cape Town 8012 
            South Africa
     gram@sun-2.cs.uct.ac.za


12.11.   STrabbler (Atari)

Shareware, it is available for anonymous ftp from
atari.archive.umich.edu in the directory /atari/Games.  It requires
at least 1MB of memory.  Words are played by click-and-drag using
the mouse.  The program plays solely for high score.  It contains a
45000 word editable and browsable dictionary.


12.12.   Unix Scrabble (Unix)

Available by anonymous ftp from ftp.doe.carleton.ca in the directory
/pub/scrabble.  This program, by James A. Cherry, has to be compiled
for the target machine.  It comes with an American Scrabble
dictionary, for which a single word file in simple ASCII may be
substituted.  Currently in version 1.31.  The player faces from one
to three computer opponents which play for highest score at each
move.


12.13    CRAB (Unix, Sun, Vax and Macintosh)

Based on their article in a research journal:

            The World's Fastest Scrabble Program
            Andrew Appel and Guy Jacobson
            Communications of the A.C.M. v.31 no.5, May 1988

this product from Jacoppel Enterprises (the Unix, Sun, Vax version of
which is currently in version 1.3) appears primarily designed to
demonstrate the speed of their move-finding method, but does permit a
real, player-versus-machine game to be played.  Their method is no
longer the fastest (their timings on more sophisticated machines are
far outdone by CrossWise on a lowly IBM PC), but illuminating
nonetheless.  The Mac version is available at any mirror of the
Info-Mac archive, in the file crab.hqx.


13.   Glossary

Bingo:  A play that uses all seven of a player's tiles, earning a
50-point bonus.  Good tournament players average one to two such
plays per game.  The unlovely term "bingo" is used by North American
players.  British players say "bonus play" or just "bonus".

Double-Double, Triple-Triple:  A play that covers two double word
scores, or triple word scores, respectively, scoring quadruple or
nonuple ("hey, it's in Chambers") the raw score of the word.

Exchange:  A turn in which a player trades letters rather than
playing on the board.  This is allowed only when at least 7 tiles
remain in the bag.

Hook:  A play adding one letter to one end of of a word already
played, while creating a main word perpendicular to the extended
word.

Parallel Play:  A play making several words perpendicular to the main
word by extending existing words or inserting letters between
existing tiles.

Pass:  A turn in which a player does nothing.  Compare with exchange.

Phony:  A word played that is not in the official dictionary or
dictionaries.


A1.   Credits

Many thanks to John J. Chew, Jim Homan and Graeme Thomas for numerous
corrections and improvements.  Also to Barry Harridge and Philip F.X.
Ryan for information on Australia.  Thanks also to Edith Berman, Gary
Dismukes, Steven Gordon, Adam Logan, Maggie Morley, Larry Sherman and
Harriet Strasberg for helpful comments.

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Steven Alexander
Comp Sci grad student                      stevena@cs.berkeley.edu
& non-practicing lawyer
