Scrabble

In earlier years when Paul and family were still living in the former house, we used to play Scrabble quite often - usually in the evening. It would be Paul, Ellen and myself - Max was too young and Jenny doesn't enjoy the game. But when they sold the house and moved into the condo last year, somehow the Scrabble game got lost. The move out of the house last summer was done under extreme pressure of time and things got packed in a big hurry. It may show up again someday in a box. Meantime, we haven't been able to play Scrabble. Ellen decided to remedy that by buying a retro edition of Scrabble online quite reasonably - it's new, but lacks newer bells and whistles like a revolving base, or ridges that keep the tiles nicely in place. Well, it turns out that now, Max is not only old enough  to play, but he loves the game, and he is good at it. He is still learning, of course, so he is allowed an adult "consultant." But he does pretty well entirely on his own.

Ellen and Max started a game this morning and since I ate a late breakfast, I joined in as a consultant well into the game. Max was doing well, but Ellen got a Triple Word Score that put her well ahead, so Max and I doubled down. The game ended with Max winning 270-250. Here is the final board:

Today's Scrabble game

You might notice some unusual words. "aa" for example. It is not "American Airlines" or "Alcoholics Anonymous." It is a form of lava and is pronounced "ah-ah." I didn't realize it was a legitimate word until a few days ago when a staff member played it at the Scrabble game they have going all the time at the Alpine Library - staff vs. patrons. I wondered about it and looked it up. It's the first entry in the Scrabble Dictionary. It's a handy word to know at the end of a game and you've got a bunch of vowels left to get rid of.  Another unusual word is "qi" = energy in the Chinese system. Great word to know when you've got to get rid of a "Q" and you don't have a "U" and there is also no "U" available on the board to build on.

Max learned a couple of good principles from this game. Notice "yurt" on the left-hand side. We played this even though it didn't yield a lot of points. There was no way we could see to incorporate the Triple Word Score square into our play, but playing "yurt" prevented Ellen from getting the Triple Word Score which she was certain to do. A good defensive play.

Also look for "think" on the middle, lower right side. Ellen originally played "thin." Later in the game Max drew a "K." Would it be wise to add "K" to "thin"? The question was - could Ellen play an "S" and take advantage of the Double Word Score square after the "K" and reap a big score? I showed Max how he could consult the number of "S" tiles there are (4), count the "S" tiles already played (4), and be secure in the knowledge that Ellen did not have an "S." So he played the "K." There was a bit of luck in this because there was still one "Blank" tile out. (Ellen had played one of the two blanks earlier to make "Ibis" in the lower left corner and use the Triple Word Score). She could have had a second "Blank." As luck would have it, however, Max drew the "Blank" later and was able to add it to "think" and reap the Double Word Score himself with "thinks," sealing his win.

We also allowed Max to play a couple of words that probably would not be allowed - "zen" and "oz" - both are proper nouns. But - hey, he's only 10 and is a beginner. When we gave Max "oz" we also gave Ellen "ur"  which would probably not be allowed either (we do not have a Scrabble Dictionary to consult) - just to balance things out a bit.

Fun game!