Friday, January 18, 2013

DITZ:  Stefan Fatsis, the author of the books Word Freak and A Few Seconds of Panic (and the Friday sports correspondent for NPR's All Things Considered), is virulently opposed to any proposed changes in Scrabble tile value for multiple reasons, including this one:
Big but still-reasonable values for some tiles, especially the X and Z, are good because they improve the odds of comebacks, make tile positioning a compelling strategic consideration, and give players with lesser word knowledge a slightly better chance against those who are booked up.... Scrabble players understand that the game’s inequities are on the margins, and that figuring them out is a crucial part of learning to play well.

4 comments:

  1. Ok, help me understand something - in official Scrabble play, such as tournaments, is the official word list still the Scrabble Dictionary? Or are they using the SOWPODS word list?

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  2. bellawilfer1:12 PM

    Just here to say that if any of you haven't read Word Freak I highly recommend it. I knew nothing about Scrabble before I read and it got me obsessed. It's wonderful.

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  3. Further, is SOWPODS an allowable word?

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  4. For the United States, Canada and Thailand, it's Official Tournament and Club Word List or TWL. For Britain it is Collins Scrabble Words, and the combo of the two is SOWPODS used in most other countries. (There's an explanation for the Thailand thing in Fatsis' book, I believe.)

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