5. Consider Your Next Play. A good SCRABBLE move is composed of what you put on the board to score and what you leave yourself to work with on your rack. If you make a decent play for 28 points but leave a rack with VUUW, chances are your next several racks will be terrible. Go for a balance of vowels and consonants.
6. “Bingos.” This is what tournament players call it when you use all seven tiles for a 50-point bonus. Again, look for common letter combinations. Over time, you should learn how to manipulate your rack to a bingo, especially if you have bingo-prone tiles such as the blank, S, E, R, A, T.
7. q-without-u Words. Words such as QI, QAT, QAID, and others are invaluable for both scoring and getting rid of the Q, as it’s not a bingo-prone or particularly workable tile. A full list of these words is on pages 211–212.
8. Look for Hooks. “Hooks” are single letters that can be added to existing words to form other words. While the S is the most obvious, don’t forget the Y, D, R, or E. Examples: HAND(Y), PLAN(E), CARVE(D), and MAKE(R).
9. Choice of Plays. Even if you have a great play, look for a better one. You’ll be amazed at how often a second look around the board for options will yield an even better move than you’d planned. And, remember, the best SCRABBLE move is not always about the most points. You need to consider your “rack leave” as well as what opportunity your move might leave for your opponent.
10. Attitude. Remember that everyone draws bad tiles from time to time; it comes with the turf. Also remember that luck is a factor for both you and your opponent. SCRABBLE is supposed to be fun. Don’t dwell on your mistakes.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR NORTH AMERICAN SCRABBLE PLAYERS ASSOCiation (NASPA)
For more information on tournaments and clubs, email NASPA —North American SCRABBLE Players Association—at [email protected], visit www.scrabbleplayers.org, or mail PO Box 12115, Dallas, TX, 75225-0115.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SCRABBLE WORDBOOK OR AUTHOR MIKE BARON
Mike Baron, PO Box 2448, Corrales, NM 87048
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I’d like to thank all my colleagues and friends who worked over the years at and with the National SCRABBLE Association. It was always a team effort and could not have been accomplished without you. I’d especially like to thank the final team of Jane Ratsey Williams, Theresa Bubb, Katie Schulz Hukill, and Patty Hocker. Your energy and dedication to the game took us all over the world as one of the best NSA teams ever.
Many thanks to Will Menaker, my editor at Liveright/W. W. Norton, for your insight, hard work, and patience in bringing Word Nerd to reality. And much gratitude to editor Bob Weill for his help and early appreciation of the project, as well as to copy editor India Cooper for making order out of chaos. Also much appreciation to Ken Weinrib and Neil Rosini for their legal expertise and guidance, as well as Norton counsel Laura Goldin. And so much appreciation to and admiration for my agent, Regula Noetzli, for her experience, vision, and energy over the years. Word Nerd could not have happened without you.
Special thanks to SCRABBLE players and friends Stefan Fatsis, Joe Edley, Mike Baron, and Robert Kahn for their suggestions and contributions to the manuscript. Special thanks also to Merriam-Webster’s John Morse for his friendship, encouragement, and contributions. Much appreciation as well to my colleagues at Merriam-Webster—Peter Sokolowski, Meghan Lungi, Jim Lowe, and Jane Mairs.
Of course, this book—and more importantly my SCRABBLE experience—could not have happened without my many colleagues at the Hasbro Games division in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Your confidence in our work and willingness to try new ideas over the decades helped introduce millions of new players to the world’s greatest game.
Also by John D. Williams Jr.
Everything SCRABBLE ® (with Joe Edley)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John D. Williams Jr. was the executive director of the National SCRABBLE Association (NSA) and national spokesperson for the game for twenty-five years. He has been a tournament SCRABBLE player and publisher of the SCRABBLE News and is coauthor of the game’s best-selling strategy book Everything SCRABBLE®. Among other achievements, Williams was a cofounder of the World SCRABBLE Championship, an architect of the acclaimed National School SCRABBLE Program and School SCRABBLE Championship, and creator of the SCRABBLE All*Stars, the United States’ first televised SCRABBLE match. Under his leadership, the NSA raised over a million dollars in prize money for competitors and grew the tournament scene to over two hundred official competitions annually.
Williams has also worked as a writer and producer for both television and film for Nickelodeon, CNN, ESPN, Paramount, TV Land, and MTV Networks, among others. He lives in Greenport, New York, with his wife and business partner, Jane Ratsey Williams.
SCRABBLE is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the United States; of Hasbro Canada, Inc. in Canada; and of J. W. Spear & Sons, Ltd., a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., throughout the rest of the world. This book is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the foregoing entities.
Copyright © 2015 by John D. Williams Jr.
All rights reserved
First Edition
“Scrabbling over Scrabble” by Stefan Fatsis, from the New York Times, July 14, 2013. All rights reserved. The printing, copying or retransmission of the content without expressed written permission is prohibited.
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Word Nerd: Dispatches From the Games, Grammar, and Geek Underground Page 18