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7A quick reference to forthcoming competitions

(fuller list and details inside)

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Date Tournament (No of games) Contact Telephone

Jan 9th-16th Madeira Kathy Rush 01928 733565Jan 21st West Berkshire (6) Ian Burn 0118 984 5045Jan 27th-29th Chester (16) Kathy Rush 01928 733565Jan 29th West Sussex(6) Peter Hall 01903 775396Feb 4th-5th Nottingham Nomads (16) Clive Spate 01159 200208Feb 12th Andover (6) Alan Bailey 023 9238 4360Feb 18th Peterborough Free Challenge (6) Chris Hawkins 01733 223202Feb 18th-19th Scottish Masters (invitation only)Feb 25th New Malden (6) Shirley Cave 020 8540 8469Feb 25th Leicester (6) Marjorie Smith 01162 55176Mar 5th Swindon (6) Steve Perry 01367 244757Mar 5th NE v NW (6) - (invitation only)Mar 12th Grantham (6) Hazel Packham 01476 410161Mar 17th-20th H-B Holidays Bingley Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Mar 18th East Sussex (6) Ed Breed 01424 219334Mar 18th Peterborough 5 Penalty Challenge (6) Chris Hawkins 01733 223202Mar 19th Southampton (6) Alan Bailey 023 9238 4360Apr 8th-9th Durham (11) Laura Finley 0191 5654079Apr 14th Exeter - ISCA Matchplay (6) Ronnie Reid 01256 354604Apr 15th-17th Exeter Matchplay (19) Ronnie Reid 01256 354604Apr 22nd Newcastle (5) Michael Murray 0191 2412521Apr 28th-May 2nd H-B Holidays - Worthing Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705May 7th Bourne (6) Betty Benton 01778 425234May 7th Bournemouth (6) Ruth Marsden 01202 707148May 12th-15th H-B Holidays - Morecambe Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Jun 4th Melton Mowbray (6) Maureen Rayson 01664 563330Jun 16th-19th H-B Holidays - Harrogate Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Jul 21th-24th H-B Holidays - Penrith Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Aug 5th-6th Nottingham Nomads (16) Clive Spate 01159 200208Sep 15th-18th H-B Holidays - Morecambe Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Sep 17th Norwich (6) Carol Smith 01603 898791Oct 1st Bournemouth (6) Ruth Marsden 01202 707148Oct 14th-21st H-B Holidays - Jersey Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705Oct 14th-15th Yarnfield Park (12) Christine Cartman 01785 211851Oct 15th Salisbury (6) Bob Lynn 01722 325623Nov 17th-20th H-B Holidays - Harrogate Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705

Adam is the World Champion

As I’m sure many of you are aware, the World Scrabble championships took place inLondon between the 16th and 20th of November, with over fifteen British playersrepresenting their respective countries as well as many foreign-based ABSP members taking part. While no finished articleswere ready in time for inclusion in this issue of The Last Word,you can expect a full report from those involved to appear inFebruary’s issue, along with many photographs from the event!

On the home front, Britain’s highest-placed representative after24 rounds was Wales’s Gareth Williams on an impressive 16wins out of 24, with Scotland’s Paul Allan second out of thehome representatives on 15 wins and 2003 National championHarshan Lamabadusuriya 3rd on 14 wins. Congratulations aswell go to Ed Martin, who also won fourteen games in his firstever world championship!

However, top of the pile when the dust had settled was ABSP member ADAM LOGAN ofCanada winning a phoenomenal 20 out of 24 heat games and beating Thailand’s PakornNemitrmansuk 3-0 in the best of 5 final. Well done Adam!

Wale is the National ChampionSouthampton-based Wale Fashina has beaten off competition from some of the best playersin the UK to be crowned National Scrabble Champion 2005, following in the footsteps ofsome very illustrious players of the past (and present!). A full report of the two-day final canbe found on page 6 in the tournament reports section.

Time to renewI hope you enjoy this final issue for 2005 and please renew your ABSP membership now, to ensure you receive all issues of TLW for 2006See inside front cover

The bi-monthly magazine of the

ASSOCIATION OF BRITISHSCRABBLE PLAYERS

No 105 December 2005

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J.W.Spear & Sons Ltd., Maidenhead SL6 4UB

Deadline for next issue 20th January

Ben

The new WorldScrabble Champion

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The Committee met on 9 October. Following the request for volunteers from the floorto join the Committee, Ed Martin had voiced an interest and had come along to observethe Committee in action. I am pleased to say that Ed was not put off and has been co-opted onto the Committee. Ed has taken on the role of looking forsponsorship for the Association. Another couple of changes havebeen made to the Committee responsibilities. Ev Simpson willtakeover as Webmaster from 01 January 2006 from Stewart Holdenand Stewart becomes our Publicity Officer.

A cautionary note for Tournament Organisers who run weekendevents offering accommodation about individuals who allow"friends" to unofficially share with them. Should a venue discoverthis the Tournament Organiser would need to meet any charge thevenue cares to levy, apart from the embarrassment and ill-will thatthis might cause. Should anyone be found doing this at an Association event they will beseverely punished. This warning will be included in the Tournament Organisers Guide.

As I write, the Association publications - including the Handbook - are being updated.The Handbook should be issued early in 2006.

Stewart Holden is preparing a publicity template for Tournament Organisers to use whencontacting their local media about Scrabble events in their area.

The deadline for the introduction of the new Collins wordlist has slipped. You can readfull details from the Dictionary Committee elsewhere in this issue.

At the BMSC a player resigned from a game. While resignation is an option for someevents, for example BEST where it is clearly stated in the rules for that event, it was agreedafter discussion that resignation was not an option during any ABSP organised event.

There will be an interim Committee meeting on 30 November and the next fullCommittee meeting will be held on 15 January 2006. So if there is anything you wishraised please let me know or speak to any Committee member who will raise it on yourbehalf.

Finally, it is that time of year again when you need to renew your subscription. As inprevious years there will be 20 names drawn at random of everyone who has renewedby 31 December 2005. The 20 lucky winners will receive a Scrabble 'goody bag'containing a set of protiles, scorepad and post-its. In addition, the first name drawnwill receive an extra mystery gift. So do not delay, renew now either by using theenclosed renewal slip or go online to the website and renew using PAYPAL.On behalf of the Committee I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and aHappy New Year.

Amy ByrneABSP Secretary

THE LAST WORD TEAMThe Last Words Team welcomes contributions from readers to their respective areas,either as letters, articles or suggestions. Contact information:

Please send all contributions,large or small, to:-

Elisabeth Jardine6 Wentworth AvenueBournemouth BH5 2ED01202 419 708elisabeth.jardine@virgin.net

Editors:Ben Wilson

(odd-numbered issues)

Wayne Kelly

(even numbered issues)

Games and Strategies:Phil Appleby,Thorns Cottage,Mount Pleasant Lane,Lymington,Hants SO41 8LSphil_appleby2000@yahoo.co.uk

Forthcoming events:Paul Cartman,9 Chapel Terrace,Stafford ST16 3AH01785 211851paul.cartman@btinternet.com

Words and Puzzles:David Sutton46 West Chiltern,Woodcote,Reading, BerksRG8 0SGDavid.J.Sutton@ukgateway.net

Throughout this publication, comments by the Editor do not represent the views of theABSP Committee. Any statements by the Committee are clearly marked as such. Allother contributions to The Last Word represent only the views of the contributor.

ISSUE CONTENTS

Committee Corner .......................... 1Wespa News .............................. 2Dictionary Committee ................ 3

BMSC Gallery .................................. 4Tournament Reports ........................ 5Ratings ............................................ 18Dictionary Pruning .......................... 24

Countdown Tournament .................. 25Across The Board ............................ 26Edgeways ........................................ 33Scusi ................................................ 40Forthcoming Events.......................... 42Edgeways Answers .......................... ibcCalendar of Events ..........................obc

Ed Martin

Time to renew your membershipThe easiest way to renew is via the ABSP website:

http://www.absp.org.ukUsing the Paypal function on the site is very easy and completely safe. Just click thePaypal button and follow the step-by-step instructions. Paypal is the largest onlinemoney service and operates hundreds of thousands of debit card/credit card transactionsevery day. The ABSP does not see any card details. The security of your personalinformation is guaranteed.

More traditionally, you can join or renew by sending your details and a cheque for £15made payable to the ABSP to:

ABSP, 8 Glen Cova Place, Kirkcaldy, Fife KY2 6UL

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A final category is for national associations which find it difficult economically to meetmembership fees which have been set at modest levels for most national groups.

Besides declaring itself a beacon for player interests, Wespa also vows to be a watchdogfor the trademark owners, assuring "to take reasonable steps to safeguard their interests intrademarks."

An estimated 25,000-50,000 players take part in national, regional and internationalcompetitions in addition to tens of millions who play English-language Scrabble in livingrooms and other leisure areas.

Roy Kietzman

(Ed: For those that are interested, the full constitution can be found online athttp://www.scrabble.org.au/wespa/about/constitution.html)

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World Scrabble Association NewsThe following article, as sent to me by Roy Kietzman from Bahrain, is a statement detailingthe proposed constitution for WESPA, the World English language Scrabble Players’Association. It is included here with his permission.

The 3,300-word draft constitution for a world Scrabble association defines its relationshipwith the game's copyright owners as "that of a consumer group."

The charter for the World English-language Scrabble Players Association is to be presentedfor approval to the constituting assembly next month on the sidelines of the eighth WorldScrabble Championship in London.

The constitution has been largely adapted from that of the Association of British ScrabblePlayers.

Allan Simmons, chairman of both ABSP and Wespa, set out the global association's originalcharter which has received more definition and fine tuning by Andrew Fisher (Australia),on the 11-member management committee of the global association.

Copyright owners and game manufacturers Hasbro (North America) and Mattel (the rest ofthe world) have largely taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the forming of Wespa twoyears ago in Malaysia when 17 national Scrabble groups voted the internationalassociation into existence.

Wespa aims "to promote global recognition and respect of Scrabble as a seriouscompetitive activity," benefiting its members.

In addition, Wespa wants to play the leading role in representing players and encouragingan internationalisation of standards and norms at tournaments.

The 15-article constitution spells out such matters as membership categories and theprotection of intellectual property rights.

The membership structure comprises four tiers with the heavyweights among the Scrabblefederation falling into the top tier.

This group includes national associations of 500 members or more and would seeAustralia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, US and Thai associations occupying that tier -possibly India, too, as its membership is approaching 500 members.

Canada and the US would be the hands-down behemoth of national groups as its Hasbro-sponsored National Scrabble Association claims 10,000 members.

However, Hasbro has made it clear it wants nothing to do with any group using "Scrabble"in its title. Mattel has been more tolerant of the quasi-consumer group.

Wespa, nonetheless, absolutely does not want North American players excluded from theglobal network and will have to find a modus operandi to make sure Canadian and USmembers have a voice on the board and subcommittees if Hasbro proscribes NSAparticipation.

Another 26 clubs and associations qualify for tier 2 with under 500 members includingBahrain, China, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq (Kurdistan), Israel, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait,Malaysia, Malta, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia,Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Zambia.

A third tier allows interest groups, like world French- and Spanish-language associations,to take on membership.

Dictionary Committee

ABSP Committee Update for Nov 30th by Darryl Francis:Collins have provided copies of their Scrabble Dictionary (CSD) to all competitors at therecent World Championship. Collins have also confirmed that copies of CSD are nowbeing shipped to retail outlets.

A meeting was held on 24 November with Collins, Mattel and Allan/Darryl present.Collins explained that copies of the page proofs for the whole dictionary had not beenprovided to the Dictionary Committee (DC) by 30 September (as they had promised at theAGM), or delivered since then. Collins claim this was because they were under pressureto ensure the book was published in 2005, and in time to reach the Christmas market.

This means that CSD has still NOT been signed off by the DC.

The CSD, as published, has a number of errors already noted. At the meeting, variousactions were agreed that Collins would undertake, in order to provide additionalevidence to the DC that there were not significant volumes of errors in CSD. It wasunlikely that this evidence would be available to the DC until at least mid-December.The DC stressed that the extent of errors identified in CSD would likely determine theDC’s final recommendation regarding acceptance of CSD. It was also stressed that errorsidentified would need to be corrected to ensure that both Collins Scrabble Words (CSW),expected in mid-2006, and the adjudication software were as correct as possible.

It is still hoped that a formal implementation date during 2006 can be agreed, subject tosign off, consideration of the tournament calendar, and timely availability of anadjudication tool. An ‘initiation kit’ booklet is still planned but work won’t start on thisuntil the word list source has been corrected.

Important Note re Collins Club OfferClubs have recently received a generous offer from Collins regarding the CSD and otherCollins Scrabble publications. The offer is welcome, and it is up to Clubs as to whetherthey order the CSD sooner or later, perhaps after the extent of errors is known in January.However, it is important to note that the 2005 Collins Scrabble Words and Lists bookson the order form are the ones NOT supported by the ABSP/DC for tournament play.

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Organisers are encouraged to send a list of prize winners and a tournament report tothe TLW editor as soon as possible after the event.

Norwich

18th September, 6 gamesReport from Carol Smith

The second Norwich Tournament took place on Sunday 18th September in HethersettVillage hall. There was a slight drop in the number of players taking part so we only hadtwo divisions. Two entrants were unable to come on the day, one substitute player arrivedand we were still one down so I had to fill in to make the numbers even. Two players failedto arrive by the start time having missed the turning on Norwich ring road. Dave French,my excellent Tournament Director, made the decision to start on time and start their clocks.After that one slight hiccup the day went smoothly.

Sarah Wilks, despite arriving late, won five games in a row, beforelosing to Bob Violett in the final round but held on to win the A Division on spread.

David Morris playing in just his third tournament won five games to win the B Division.

My thanks to Dave and Christina French again for their help and support in organising thistournament, to Sheila and Eileen (non-Scrabble players) who served the teas, Matthew andJames for running, members of Norwich Scrabble Club for making the cakes, and toMichael, my husband, for his help and support.

Hope to see you all again next year.

Norwich ASarah Wilks 5 442Bob Violett 5 353Graham Wakefield 4 262Ratings prize:Carol Smith 4 189

Norwich BDavid Morris 5 368Mick Beasley 5 260Richard Moody 4.5 321Ratings prize:Ildiko Plaganyi 4.5 106

A Division winner Sarah Wilks

BBBBMMMMSSSSCCCC 2222000000005555 GGGGaaaa llll llll eeee rrrr yyyy oooo ffff HHHHoooonnnnoooouuuu rrrrOwing to lack of space, photographs of the winners at our flagship event, the BMSC wereomitted from the last TLW. Time now to put that omission right...

Div C Lou BrundellDiv D Steve Balment

Div E Caroline EmeryDiv F Geoff Goodwin

Div B Norman Smith

Div G Bronagh Kenny Mens EventAbraham Sosseh

BMSC ChampionHarshan Lamabadusuriya

Ladies EventMaureen Chamberlain

Middlesbrough25th September, 5 games

Report from Samantha BeckwithThere was a very small entry this year due to clashes with other tournaments and footballfixtures. Being without a computer, we used a system devised by Newcastle S.C. and foundit quite easy to run.

Stafford

1st-2nd October, 12 gamesReport from Paul Cartman

Our first tournament, which was held at Tillington Hall was a great success. There were66 players in 2 divisions, (it was felt that next year it would be more appropriate to havethree divisions). The hotel was very comfortable and appropriate for Scrabble needs andwe had envisaged hosting a second one there in 2006. Unfortunately, because of pricingdifficulties this will not be possible and we have decided to use the facilities of YarnfieldConference Centre instead.

We would like to thank David and Christina French for their valued help and advice beforeand during the tournament. Paul also put in a tremendous amount of work for which healso certainly deserves recognition. A big thanks also to all the runners, some of whomstepped in at the last minute. All in all it was a good weekend and we had a number ofpositive feedbacks.

The top three winners in each division were:-

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IOW Tuition/Event

17th-18th September, 6 games

National Srabble Championships ~ Grand Final

24th-25th September, 12 games

Report from Philip NelkonWale Fashina, 36 a Store Supervisor from Southampton won a closely fought event tobecome the new National Scrabble Champion.The final of the NSC was held in Edgbaston,Birmingham during the weekend of 24/25 September over 12 games.

Nick Deller (Peterborough), Adam Philpotts (Nottingham Nomads), Ed Martin and PalomaRaychbart (LSL) all had their moment of glory in the early rounds before Phil Robertshaw(Ashton) took over the lead in Round 5. His sixth successive win meant he lead overnight.

Phil finally lost to Paloma in Round 7 giving Ed the lead which he kept until losing to AllanSimmons in Round 9. The lead changed again when David Webb briefly reached the topafter giving Allan his second defeat whilst Wale moved into 3rd by defeating Paloma. Then

in the penultimate Round 11 he beat David to take2nd position behind Allan. With Allan and Waledrawn together in the last round, it was a straightshoot-out for the title between one of the UK's mostexperienced players and one of its newest.

The game was close all the way with Wale edginghome by 23 points. Allan's defeat dropped him to 4thwith David Webb leapfrogging him to take 2nd andEvan Simpson (Coventry) pulling up to 3rd, winningall of his games on the Sunday.

Congratulations to Wale, who emigrated to the UKearlier this year. He was Nigerian National Championin 1998 and 2002 and also won the PANASA (All-African Championships) in 1998. His prize was acheque for £500 and a Royal Doulton Vase, which hecan be seen admiring below.

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Wale admires the winner’s vase

Middlesbrough AMartin Thompson 5 194Trish Johnson 4 355Kate McNulty 3 49

Middlesbrough BJoy Hodge 5 493Sheila Smith 4 273Graham Pace 3 81

Stafford ADi Dennis 9 824Darryl Francis 9 730Wayne Kelly 9 727

Stafford BViv Beckmann 10 426Linda Barratt 9 234Russel Smith 8 524

NSC Grand FinalWale Fashina 10 444David Webb 9.5 619Evan Simpson 9 774Allan Simmons 9 602Harshan Lamabadusuriya 8.5 587

IOW AMike Whiteoak 6 321Graham Bonham 4 57Peter Thomas 3 195

IOW BJanet Bonham 4 248Mary Siggers 4 241Jim Blacker 4 69

IOW CChristine Cartman 5 347Paul Cartman 4 221Peggy Moore 3 29

IOW DMargaret Fleming 5 515Iris Glover 4 245Caroline Elliott 4 61

9

Edinburgh1st October, 5 games

Bournemouth2nd October, 6 games

Cardiff8th-9th October, 14 games

8

ABSP Masters 2005

15th-16th October 2005Report from Stewart Holden

The ABSP Masters is a bit like the House of Commons: its atmosphere is a curious mixtureof extremely competitive experts (a.k.a. eccentrics) battling it out amidst the warmth andfriendly cameraderie of a close-knit group. And very few of those who closely watch it willever take part in it themselves!

The Masters is one of the most important events on the ABSP calendar and bestopportunities of the year for British talent to shine. This year's event saw 16 hardy soulswith ABSP ratings of 174 and above complete a 15-game round robin in the Beatles-themed basement bar of the Regent Hotel in Doncaster.

With organiser Phil Appleby also competing in the event I had offered to run thetournament over the weekend. As well as acting as Tournament Director and being the onlyrunner and adjudicator, I was pleased to get my laptop computer connected to the Internetand be able to send round-by-round positional tables to the 600+ members of the uk-scrabble mailing list. Live reporting from tournaments has become a regular feature of uk-scrabble over the last six months and is proving very popular with those unable to make itto a major event in person.

Brett Smitheram took an early lead in the tournament by winning his first four games; TerryKirk was the only other player to do so. Brett briefly relinquished the lead to Andy Davis(whose record at the Masters is exceptional, having won three times in the preceding sixyears) but Smitheram regained the lead to be in pole position overnight. Others in strongcontention were Terry Kirk, Ed Martin and Paul Allan.

By Round 9 the top of the field was narrowing; Brett had lost a second game while AndyDavis was also on 7 wins. Helen Gipson had started the weekend poorly (1-2) but was nowestablishing herself as a threat alongside Phil Appleby. Yet another loss for Brett threw thefield wide open with Paul Allan briefly ascending to top the table, but the Cornishwunderkind proved his resilience throughout the afternoon and with one game to go waslooking favourite to win. Only defeat to Brian Sugar would give Helen Gipson a chance ofsnatching the title; even then, she had the unenviable task of trying to beat Andy Davis byover 160!

SUNDAYCaernarvon Caerphilly CardiffSteve Perry 6 446 Rael Hayman 5 227 Rael Hayman 5 340Jill Bright 5 220 Nuala O’Rourke 5 118 Pat Wheeler 4 284Janet Phillips 4 252 Mike O’Rourke 4 307 Viv Beckmann 4 145

Conway Harlech PembrokeEileen Basham 6 323 Madelaine Baker 6 198 Jean Buckley 5.5 406John Ball 5 267 Jason Goddard 5 410 Peter Basham 5 121Eryl Barker 4 215 Edith Smith 4 187 Beryl Trace 4.5 339

SATURDAYAnglesey Bardsey CaldeyJanet Phillips 6 601 Jill Bright 6 352 Rael Hayman 5 646Steve Perry 5 198 Steve Balment 5 -52 Pat Wheeler 5 104Alison Sadler 4 32 Joy Lloyd 4 190 Viv Beckmann 4 299

Flatholm Ramsey SteepholmM. McParland 6 432 John Ball 7 545 Myra Copleston 7 387Geoff Cooper 5 184 Kathy Rush 5 162 Sheila Wyatt 5 194Peter Sime 4.5 62 Kathy Carson 4 33 Kerry Constant 5 121

Edinburgh BMargaret Irons 5 360Moya Dewar 4 390Juliet Green 4 232

Edinburgh ARaymond Tate 5 264Neil Scott 4 247Wilma Warwick 3 227

Edinburgh CHelga Farrow 4 298Sheila Johnston 4 122Carol Russell 4 3

Bournemouth ABen Tarlow 5 427Penny Downer 5 296Frankie Mairey 5 152

Bournemouth BVal Wright 5.5 161Maureen Reynolds 4.5 390Mary Siggers 4 238

Bournemouth CJean Shaw 5 537Jan Vokes-Taylor 5 193Wendy Tiley 5 110

Bournemouth DAudrey Medhurst 6 498Evelyn Wansbrough 4 389Tanya Robson 4 344

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Amazingly, Brett did lose to Brian Sugar while Helen cruised to a decisive victory againstAndy. However, the combined swing in spread fell just short (or just right, depending onwho you were supporting). After 15 intense rounds interrupted only by an Indian meal onthe Saturday night, the players finished as follows:

Congratulations to Brett Smitheram on his first ABSP Masters victory. The Doncaster venuewas deemed excellent by all concerned and the ABSP hopes to return there for the 2006

event.

H-B Holidays Morecambe

14th-16th October

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Southend-On-Sea

22nd October

Lincoln Round Robin

22nd October

Report from Ben WilsonThe first-ever Lincoln Round Robin Tournament took place on October 22nd at theGrandstand Community Centre to the west of the city, a venue which has also become thenew home for the Lincoln Scrabble Club’s Monday evenings. There were 44 players in total- not quite the amount I had wanted to make an even 3 divisions of 16, but I luckily had“Plan B” up my sleeve- or rather, “Plan C”, as the format for the lowest division changedfrom the usual 4 groups of 4 to 2 groups of 6 with a “decider” match in the final round.

Play started dead on time - one or two players cut it a little close but at 10am the onlysound that could be heard was the rattling of tilebags and the calling out of scores.

In each 4-player “group” within each division, everyone played each other once to form thefirst three games of the tournament (except in division C, as described above). In division A,everything went mostly according to rating, with 3 of the top 4 rated players making the toptable for the second round, but as ever, there was room for one upset - kudos to ChristianBrown for narrowly edging out Scrabble Expert Stewart Holden to claim the final place onthe top table for the second round. Division B had a slightly more eclectic top table for thesecond round, with two of the three lowest-rated players winning all their first-round games,while the two highest in the division had to settle for third-best! In division C, after 5 games,two players went through to play for the £50 first prize in the shape of Gary Male andBarbara Barker - both of whom are Lincolnshire-based players, no less!

When the dust had settled at the end of the final game, it was once again Chris Hawkinstaking home first prize from Lincoln, just as he has done from the Lincoln July tournamentfor the last two years. I think he might be getting attached to our little city by now! Indivision B, it was Scunthorpe-based Martin Harrison (fairly new to the tournament scene,but familiar to many players as ‘xmphx’ on the Internet Scrabble Club) who took away firstprize, as well as the distinction of being the only unbeaten player on the day. In the all-Lincolnshire match in division C, it was Sleaford’s Gary Male (‘reddoggie’ on ISC) who won

Southend ASteve Perry 6 503Danny Bekhor 5 372Chris Cummins 4 175

Southend BStuart Solomons 5 447Priscilla Encarnacion 5 297David Shenkin 4 418

Southend CMaureen Underdown 5 213Carole Wheatley 5 66Peter Hall 4 314

Southend DMavis Ernest 6 542Les Costin 5 528Doreen Searles 4 311

ABSP MASTERS 2005Brett Smitheram 11 693Helen Gipson 11 669Phil Appleby 10 395Andrew Davis 10 76Ed Martin 8.5 262Paul Allan 8.5 201Brian Sugar 8 -241Femi Amoade 7 -42Terry Kirk 7 -61Evan Simpson 7 -89Elie Dangoor 6 15Wayne Kelly 6 -342Lewis Mackay 5 -347Allan Simmons 5 -359Mark Nyman 5 -381Philip Nelkon 5 -449 Brett receives the ABSP masters trophy from

chairman Allan Simmons

Morecambe APeter Thomas 11 694Peter Darby 10 606Trish Johnson 8 -59

Morecambe BChristabel Jackson 11 653Juliet Green 10 477Janet Southworth 9 156

Morecambe CLinda Moir 10 524June Johnston 9 480Irene Atkinson 9 97

Morecambe DRose Lawson 11 757Remie Salazar 10 673Jean Stevens 10 418

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by the narrowest of margins to give him his first divisional win. Congratulations to allwinners on the day, and to everyone who took home runners-up prizes.

Congratulations also go to Alec Webb, who as well as finishing 3rd in division A, also wona pair of Tilefish luxury racks for spotting the best theme word for the day - with it beingNelson day the day before, we were looking for the best word with a naval theme to it. Thisinevitably led to the usual slew of words like COX, OAR and BOAT, but Alec topped themall with MARINER. Many commiserations to the player whose effort of SEASIDE wasdeemed just not naval enough!

My thanks of course go to tournament director (and organiser of LEST) Gerard Fox, as wellas to young Tom, running in his first tournament, and my mother, helping out with theadjudication and scoring whenever she could. Hope to see you all next year!

British Team Tournament

29th-30th OctoberReport by Wayne Kelly

16 players gathered at the Ramada Hotel in Chester for the second, now annual, FourNations Tournament (which I think it should be re-christened from here on in). Despiteprinter problems and a 15 mins delay in starting, the event ran fairly smoothly for my firstforay into organising a tournament. The hotel, players and runners all performedadmirably and helped ease the stress!

This year's event was a very tight affair with three of the four nations still in with a chancealmost till the end. England took the lead after the first battle, beating Ireland 10-6 whilstWales and Scotland drew 8-8. Scotland pulled no punches with their Celtic cousins inIreland, winning 13-3. This took them into the lead as England only narrowly scrapedhome against the Welsh with a 9-7 victory. For the last round England and Scotland werepitted against each other while Wales had, on paper, the easier match against Ireland. BothScotland and Wales had convincing wins over their opposition - Scotland beat England 11-5 and Wales beat Ireland 12-6. This pushed the English team into 3rd position whilst Walessneaked into second leaving Scotland the victors for the second year running.

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The winning team comprised Paul Allan, Allan Simmons, Neil Scott and Wilma Warwickwho knocked up 32 wins from 48 between them. They had won even before the final gamewas played. Congratulations go to them and John Grayson for his individual performance.

England's best player was Harshan Lamabadusuriya with 8 wins and Ireland's best wasAdemola Ajayi with 5.

Elgin

29th October

Weston-Super-Mare

5th NovemberReport by Rod Winfield

This was the first tournament organised by the club in many years but the entries soonrolled in - nine on the first day, but it was just a trickle thereafter. However, we soonrealised that the Isle of Wight event was scheduled for the same weekend when the bestplayer in the club told us she would be there rather than in Burnham! Soon, we lost fourmore to the IoW, but I was never less than confident that we'd reach our minimum targetof 40. With a few late withdrawals [one apparently 'off to Paris for the day'!] we endedwith a statistically neat 64 whom Steve Perry, our director, placed into two divisions.

The start could have been considerably delayed by the late arrival of one group who hadmanaged to get onto the M4 rather than the M5! Registration had been set for 9.15 andthe First Game for 10.00 but many arrived after 9.45 which prompts the question - shoulda 'latest registration' time be set, or perhaps registration between 9.15 and 9.45 would havemade it clearer. Software problems were initially a factor, but once things got under way,Steve managed things with great skill and we made up virtually all the time lost.

For those who'd ordered it Brenda Wall, our excellent treasurer and authority on all thingsScrabble, provided an excellent ploughman's lunch. Tea and coffee were provided atintervals throughout the day but not, to the disappointment of some, on arrival.

The Princess Hall in Burnham on Sea was chosen for the event because it offered attractiveand comfortable accommodation - the seats were a dream compared with those at somevenues. But it was a little too warm for some, so we opened the windows which then madeit a bit cold for others. It seems that public buildings are often the most difficult in whichto get the balance right! The warden had been most agreeable to deal with throughout andthe deal included the setting up and putting away of all the furniture. We played on tableswhich provided additional length thus avoiding collisions of board and rack but there wasnot really enough space for the bag and the clock. Still, no serious complaints reached meand everyone seemed to manage well.

Elgin AAmy Byrne 4 418Kate Surtees 4 324Raymond Tate 4 322

Elgin BHelen Polhill 5 514Jean Gallagher 4 533May McDonald 4 447

Lincoln BMartin Harrison 6 468Mick Beasley 5 370Margaret Pritchett 4 328

Lincoln AChris Hawkins 5 476Stewart Holden 5 404Alec Webb 5 347

British Team TournamentScotland 32 1610Wales 27 529England 24 576Ireland 13 -2625

British Team Tournament (Individual)

John Grayson (W) 9 1002Allan Simmons (S) 9 711Neil Scott (S) 9 561

Lincoln CGary Male 5 269Irene Newberry 5 83Paul Walford 4 21

15

After three rounds Sheila Hinett, Peter Darby, Sheila Jeffery and Minu Anderson werelooking best placed but the two Sheilas fell back to leave Peter and Minu the clear leaders;and by Game 5 Nick Baker was in third place. Peter Darby, the eventual winner, was theonly player in either division to achieve six wins.

In Division 2 Sheila Kennedy was in the lead after four rounds but then stumbled. MabelChoularton then had a clear lead but she fell in the final game leaving the consistent JeanOwen with a high spread to receive the laurels.

The mayor and his wife - a keen internet player of the game - arrived early to enjoy theaction, to present the raffle prizes and most importantly the divisional awards and threespot prizes.

Weston-super-Mare itself fielded 12 players, three in Division 1, our best performer beingthe veteran Jean Bridge. In Division 2 our chairman Pam Sparkes was one of three Westonplayers bunched together with four out of six wins and excellent spreads.

Among the many words unsuccessfully challenged were SAIC, ISHES and MANILLE. Therewas just one occasion for which Chambers was required - QUAVERINGS (allowed).

A press release met with a mixed response. Just three lines in the local freebie, but therewas a good report (notwithstanding those inevitable inaccuracies) in the other. I didn'tcontact local radio but Somerset Sound got in touch asking me to come to their Tauntonstudio for 8.30 a.m. on the day. No way! Eventually they agreed to interview me over thephone. It was a very positive exchange in which I was able to present a good case for theclub game. We now await dozens of new members!

Isle of Wight (Vectis)

4th-5th November

14

Isle of Wight (Main Event)

5th-6th November

Luton

12th November

Glasgow

12th November

IOW AElie Dangoor 9 1066Alan Bailey 9 586Noel Turner 8 572

IOW BGraham Bonham 9 572Mary Siggers 8.5 318Mary Allen 8 891

IOW CPeter Sime 10 719Linda Hillard 9 527Judy Monger 8 384

IOW DBrian Beaumont 9 419Margaret Firmston 8 454Maureen Barlow 8 391

Luton AChris Keeley 5 274George Gruner 5 179Kevin Synnott 5 170

Luton BDavid Shenkin 6 504Sharon Landau 5 240Paul Ashworth 5 77

Luton CJason Goddard 6 458Stephen Wintle 5 149Peter Bailey 4 439

Luton DAdrian Noller 5 413Angela Burke 5 267Jessica Pratesi 5 147

Glasgow AAllan Simmons 6 806Paul Allan 5 376Darryl Francis 4 230

Glasgow BMargaret Harkness 5 320Moya Dewar 5 235Sylvia Swaney 4 481

Glasgow CMarie Davie 5 531Teena Walls 5 366Yvonne Templeton 4 262

Weston APeter Darby 6 299Minu Anderson 5 267Nicholas Baker 5 213

Weston BJean Owen 5 444Gill Thompson 5 343Mabel Choularton 5 128

Vectis AAlastair Richards 5 526Amy Byrne 4 529Moira Conway 4 330

Vectis BDavid Reading 5 442Barbara Goodban 4 283Gerry Pearce 4 267

Vectis CPat Burgess 4 262Judy Monger 4 202Philippa Morris 4 173

Vectis DNicola Staunton 5 490Margaret Emmott 4 228Susan Thorne 4 226

1716

NW Scotland from Dianne Ward holidaying in the UK to enter and undertake a gruelling12hr journey the day before the tournament. There were competitors from 11 differentnations present: Shaila Amalean from Sri Lanka, Mark Kenas from the USA, Alastair andKaren Richards and Dianne Ward from Australia, KC Hirai-san from Japan, Henry Ywofrom Malaysia, Paloma Raychbart from Israel and Femi Awowade, Fidelis Olotu, KoyeAdegbesan and Sanmi Odelana from Nigeria as well as the English players. Some of the listare settled in this country so I'm not quite sure if they count as overseas players, strictlyspeaking but it was an impressive gathering nonetheless.

Winter Matchplay AAustin Shin 9 644Mark Kenas 8 548Di Dennis 8 537Alastair Richards 8 221Mike Willis 7 397

Winter Matchplay BIan Coventry 9 367Martin Harrison 8 536Moira Conway 8 445

Winter Matchplay CSharon Landau 7 248Gavin Holmes 7 -47Jim Lyes 7 -200

Winter Matchplay DTed Lewis 10 847Stephen Wintle 7 195Janet Bonham 7 57

Winter Matchplay EStany Arnold 8 481Jo Holland 8 426Sue Ison 8 160

Winter Matchplay FCaroline Elliott 9 342Jacquie Aldous 7 7Dorn Osborne 6.5 397

Div A Austin Shin Div B Ian Coventry Div C Sharon Landau

Div D Ted Lewis Div E Stany Arnold Div F Caroline Elliott

H-B Holidays Wigan

18th-20th November

Winter Matchplay

26th-27th NovemberReport from Mike Willis

The 15th Winter Matchplay took place at the Holiday Inn Milton Keynes... although thenumbers were down, the event was a great success - in actual fact I think it makes it mucheasier to organise with fewer players - shorter queues for meals for one thing.

As Graeme Thomas was feeling somewhat tired, he asked me if I'd be prepared to playrather than direct. Having not played a real game of Scrabble for about 9 months Iaccepted his offer with some trepidation but not only did he perform the role with his usualcompetence and thoroughness, I thoroughly enjoyed a good weekend of Scrabble. Thiswas aided by the knowledge that the hotel service was almost faultless and we had anexcellent team of helpers in Damola Awowade running, Graeme's twin brother Steve onthe computer and Shin as assistant Director for the outer playing rooms.

Because the World Scrabble Championships took place the previous week, several playersfrom around the world stayed on to compete at Milton Keynes making it the mostinternational event held in the UK outside the WSC. I even got a late call from a hill in

Wigan APaul Thomson 12 519Jill Bright 9.5 427Frank Forster 7 255

Wigan BRhoda Gray 10 510Norma Howarth 10 483Nola Marrow 8 431

Wigan CCyndy Walker-Firth 8 388Barbara Lukey 8 30Marlene Diskin 8 -42

Wigan DRuby Flood 11 685Margaret Boyd 9 599Anne Toft 9 500

Talented young players at players at Milton Keynes. Japan’s KC Hirai squats between seated Austin Shin and Australia’s Alastair Richards.

19

156 1006 Ross Mackenzie156 0299 Les Nyman156 0268 Donna Stanton155 0449 Alan Childs155 0732 Wanda De Poitiers155 Billy Dott155 0573 Gary Fox155 Ralph Gibbs155 0121 Debbie Heaton155 0086 Frankie Mairey155 0986 Robert Pells155 0873 Matthew Pinner155 Angela Swain155 Karen Willis154 0852 Maureen Chamberlain154 0465 Christina French154 0020 Janet Phillips154 1123 Chrystal Rose154 1369 Ben Tarlow153 1197 Christian Brown153 0003 Laura Finley153 0331 Davina Galloway153 0688 Lorraine Gordon153 0609 Bob Lynn153 Thomas Mensah153 0760 Sanmi Odelana152 0822 Jill Bright152 0574 Simon Carter152 1243 Doj Graham152 0553 Brian Jones152 0488 Marion Keatings152 0837 Peter Liggett152 0135 David Meadows152 0631 Alison Sadler152 Malcolm Wearn151 0228 Adrienne Berger151 0254 Ian Burn151 Alan Catherall151 1211 Ian Coventry151 0024 Angela Evans151 0100 David Lawton151 0093 Ruth MacInerney151 0267 Graham Maker151 1279 Ben Wilson150 0096 Diana Beasley150 1145 Peter Darby150 0242 Sheila Green150 0480 Anne Ramsay150 1389 Paul (Tranmere)

Thomson150 0810 Linda Vickers150 0876 Evelyn Wallace150 1206 Sarah Wilks150 0489 Tom Wilson149 Eddy Breed

149 Loz Crouch149 1019 Lynne Murphy149 0272 Ivan Swallow148 0051 Cathy Anderson148 Tolani Ayo-Awojobi148 1120 Anand Buddhdev148 0544 Marjory Flight148 1203 Greg Kelly148 0077 Joy Lloyd148 0094 Rachelle Winer147 0838 Theresa Cole147 0470 Norman Smith147 0870 Jean Swallow147 Fran Thompson147 Pam Titheradge147 Amy Willcox146 Paul Howard146 1051 Elizabeth Hull146 1097 Ronnie Reid146 Carole Rison146 0919 Peter Thomas145 Oluyemi Adesiyan145 0427 Peter Ashurst145 0089 Margaret Bright145 0399 Louise Brundell145 Alan Buckley145 0395 Pat Colling145 0406 Moya Dewar145 0329 Heather Frankland145 0507 Kathryn Henry145 1067 Gavin Holmes145 0655 Mary Jones145 1164 Karl Kwiatkowski145 Martin Leverton145 0150 David Longley145 0067 Danny McMullan145 0154 Mike O’Rourke145 0422 Carol Stanley145 0636 David Williams144 0369 Brian Bull144 Moby Cook144 Iain Harley144 Tim Hebbes144 0458 Eileen Meghen144 Alec Robertson144 0996 Kenneth Ross144 0177 Henry Walton143 0080 Mary Allen143 1046 Paul Ashworth143 0252 Steve Balment143 0835 Maurice Brown143 0469 Tony Davis143 1322 Frank Forster143 1242 John Garcia143 1282 Barbara Goodban

143 Debbie Holloway143 0335 Robert Johnston143 0537 Carol Malkin143 0035 Lois McLeod143 0120 Kate McNulty143 Kay Powick143 0161 Margaret Pritchett143 0028 Lorna Rapley143 0016 Maureen Rayson143 0632 Carol Smith143 Joyce Squire143 0624 Lesley Watson143 Mandy Weatherill142 Tony Bearn142 0066 Sue Bowman142 0717 Graham Buckingham142 0092 Priscilla Encarnacion142 Wendy Lindridge142 0656 Huw Morgan142 0099 Josef Thompson142 0587 Maria Thomson142 Judy Wearn141 1210 Graham Bonham141 0920 Eleanor Dobson141 0933 Ann Golding141 Peter Hunt141 0997 Phil Kelly141 1270 Len Moir141 0804 Mary Oram141 0707 Gwynfor Owen141 0690 Maureen Reynolds140 0922 Barbara Allen140 0738 Margaret Armstrong140 John Balloch140 0565 Ann Coleman140 0163 Yvonne Eade140 Patricia Fenn140 Alastair Ives140 Terry Jones140 Helen Mitchell140 1292 Bryn Packer140 0829 Kim Phipps140 0476 David Shenkin140 1287 Stuart Solomons140 1320 Rita Todd139 0943 Carol Arthurton139 0511 Samantha Beckwith139 0967 Gerard Fox139 Sheila Hinett139 0297 Norma Howarth139 Pinaach Kolte139 0790 Margaret Staunton139 Lesley Trotter138 0037 Liz Allen138 1005 Verity Cross

211 1249 Adam Logan201 0745 Harshan

Lamabadusuriya (Exp)200 0147 Helen Gipson (GM)198 1126 Brett Smitheram (GM)196 0497 Andrew Davis (GM)195 0015 Phil Appleby (GM)195 0007 Allan Simmons (GM)194 0751 Paul Allan (GM)194 0338 David Webb (GM)193 0280 Andrew Perry (GM)192 0621 Andrew Cook (GM)192 0750 Shanker Menon192 0846 Austin Shin191 0652 Nick Ball (Exp)191 0482 Neil Scott (Exp)189 1000 Stewart Holden (Exp)187 Mark Nyman (GM)187 0005 Brian Sugar (GM)186 0002 Pete Finley (GM)186 0072 John Grayson (GM)185 0041 Gareth Williams (GM)183 1017 Sam Kantimathi183 0158 Ed Martin182 0014 Di Dennis (GM)182 0362 Gary Oliver181 0880 Femi Awowade (Exp)181 0530 George Gruner (Exp)181 0823 Wayne Kelly181 0060 Terry Kirk (GM)181 0004 Philip Nelkon (GM)180 1355 Craig Beevers180 1163 David Sutton180 0049 Bob Violett (Exp)179 0368 Chris Hawkins (Exp)179 Omar_Malleh Jah179 0777 Adam Philpotts178 0058 Russell Byers (GM)178 0021 Evan Simpson (GM)177 1220 Theresa Camilleri177 0764 Lewis Mackay (Exp)176 0734 Nick Deller176 0038 Jackie McLeod (Exp)175 1347 Adekoyejo Adegbesan175 0045 Barry Grossman175 0814 Jared Robinson174 Chris Vicary174 0292 Wilma Warwick

173 0478 Elie Dangoor (Exp)173 0162 Alec Webb (Exp)172 0006 Darryl Francis (Exp)172 0281 Steve Perry172 0224 Gary Polhill (Exp)171 0888 Chris Keeley171 1349 Fidelis Olotu170 0172 Daniel Simonis170 0017 Mike Willis (Exp)169 David Brook169 1358 Paul Chadwick169 0025 Richard Evans (Exp)169 Brendan McDonnell169 0012 Ruth Morgan-Thomas

(Exp)169 1368 Phil Robertshaw168 Catherine Costello168 Alastair Richards167 Karl Khoshnaw (Exp)167 0213 Neil Rowley167 0555 Raymond Tate166 0079 Chris Finlay166 Diane Pratesi (Exp)165 0343 Amy Byrne165 0202 Penny Downer (Exp)165 Peter Igweke165 1427 Mikki Nicholson165 0088 Sandie Simonis (Exp)165 Dianne Ward164 1016 John Ashmore164 0103 Danny Bekhor164 Chris Davison164 0059 Simon Gillam (Exp)164 0199 Graham Harding164 Mark Hollingsworth164 0165 Cecil Muscat164 0795 Chris Quartermaine164 1170 Paloma Raychbart164 0229 Graham Wakefield163 Chris Cummins163 0999 Kay McColgan162 1221 JOjo Delia162 0105 Elisabeth Jardine162 Christine McKenzie162 0984 Roy Miller162 1102 Paul (Sale) Richards162 0479 Andrew Roughton

(Exp)162 1057 Mike Whiteoak

161 0534 Caroline Atkins161 0081 Joyce Cansfield (Exp)161 Ed Garrett-Jones161 Mark Goodwin161 1129 Lee Hartley161 John Howell161 Timothy Lawrence161 Paul Nind161 Dave Nunn161 0101 Robert Richland (Exp)161 0226 Alan Sinclair161 Jin_Chor Tan160 0789 Alan Bailey160 1116 Paul Bassett160 Alan Georgeson160 Ken Heaton160 0793 Joanne Hiley160 1295 Shane O’Neill160 0602 Malcolm Quirie160 Margaret Rogers160 1268 Abraham Sosseh160 Kevin Synnott160 0123 Noel Turner (Exp)159 0241 Bob Berry159 1228 Mark Lane159 0719 Kate Surtees159 0966 David White158 0124 Ivy Dixon-Baird158 0055 Helen Grayson (Exp)158 1191 Neil Green158 0408 Nuala O’Rourke158 0235 Martin Reed158 Karen Richards158 0008 Graeme Thomas158 0116 Martin Thompson158 0657 Frances Ure157 0978 Andy Becher157 0069 Moira Conway157 0463 Helen Harding157 1363 Steve Pearce157 Ricky Zinger156 0914 Vincent Boyle156 0836 Chris Fenwick156 0084 Pauline Johnson

18

AAAA BBBB SSSS PPPP RRRR aaaa tttt iiii nnnn gggg ssss Ratings at4-12-2005At least 30 games

and at least 1 since 4-12-2003

(GM) Grand Master (Exp) ExpertABSP membership number is shown before name

21

123 0868 Christine Gillespie123 1088 Malcolm (Luton)

Graham123 Sheila Jeffery123 Angie Jones123 Marc Meakin123 0625 John Mitchell123 Julie Tate123 0085 Derrick Thorne122 0682 Janet Bonham122 Kate Boutinot122 Jennifer Clifford122 Eileen Douglas122 1265 Joy Fox122 1312 Marjorie Gillott122 0776 Peter Hall122 0381 Michael Harley122 0142 Jane Lowndes122 0385 Ken Quarshie121 Maureen Austin121 0849 John Ball121 Sue Ball121 1310 Jim Blackler121 Jill Burgess121 0948 Eileen Foster121 0570 Jean Gallacher121 0921 Shirley Heal121 1050 Yvonne McKeon121 0826 Elizabeth Terry121 Maureen Underdown121 0606 Teena Walls121 1175 Rosalind Wilson120 Elizabeth Allen120 0518 Eileen Basham120 0305 Doreen Blake120 Heather Cruickshank120 0405 Peter Ernest120 Joyce Gershon120 1225 Lena Glass120 1413 Geoff Goodwin120 0724 Stuart May120 Angela Mort120 0169 Sue Thompson120 0356 Pamela Windsor119 Georgina Cook119 0156 Dorothy Dean119 0854 Joseph Doku119 Ann Fiddler119 1257 Mary Hopwood119 0772 David Hoyle119 1113 Christabel Jackson119 1244 Jayanthi Kannan119 1089 Vivienne Newman119 1425 Mark Redhead119 Sonia Temple

119 1339 Carole Wheatley118 Shirley Angell118 1373 Stany Arnold118 Linda Beard118 Mary Brown118 0106 Ian Caws118 1281 Simon Francis118 0759 John Harrison118 0798 Peter Lindeck118 0806 Miriam Moss118 1183 Priscilla Munday118 0184 Celia Osborn118 0236 Hazel Parker118 1231 David Steel118 0052 Martin Summers118 1189 Martin Taylor118 0246 Wendy Tiley118 Rosemary Wood117 Bobbie Bennett117 0982 Ron Bucknell117 Martin Byrne117 Marie English117 0753 Janet Hamilton117 Doug Hill117 1146 Leonora Hutton117 1181 Sue Ison117 0414 Jill Jones117 0752 Peter Kelly117 0626 Martha Mitchell117 0833 Judy Monger117 0952 Jean Owen117 Joan Price117 0477 Malcolm Shaw117 1343 Doris Street116 Nora Bain116 0722 June Clark116 0992 Geoff Cooper116 1424 Len Edwards116 June Faulkner116 0782 Richard Pajak116 Rose Spencer116 1169 Yvonne Templeton115 1158 Wasinee Beech115 0709 Betty Benton115 Vera Flood115 Lorna Franks115 David French115 0718 Pat Friend115 1199 Richard Hitchcock115 0638 Joan Lawrence115 1365 Christina Pace115 1388 Helen Rees115 0357 Jean Shaw115 Lee Walker115 0248 Jean (Cardiff) Williams

114 1142 Doreen Acton114 Anne Backley114 0327 Jessie Brown114 John Brown114 Bridget Busk114 Gwyneth Cox114 1359 Philippa Crosland-

Taylor114 Noel Foulkes114 Kathy Gibbons114 Paul Moorefield114 1159 Vivienne Plewes114 0993 Cyndy Walker-Firth114 0645 June Wilson114 0436 Irene Woolley113 0633 Jean Bakewell113 Margaret Bigg113 Marlene Diskin113 Margaret Herbert113 Janet Milford113 James Mutton113 Norman Partridge113 Gwen Roberts113 Jo Tebbutt113 0947 Jessie Tollick112 0527 Dorothy Churcher112 Eunice Conibear112 1207 Hannah Corbett112 Helen Cowie112 0513 Florence Davies112 Marjorie Gardner112 1304 Linda Moir112 0972 Denise Saxton112 Willie Scott112 0451 Vera Sime112 0844 Jan Vokes-Taylor112 Kathleen Ward112 Isla Wilkie112 1271 Claudia Wiseman111 1063 Irene Atkinson111 0579 Sheila Booth-Millard111 1449 Mary Brodbin111 Joan Ellis111 0640 Daphne Fletcher111 0934 Joyce Jarvis111 1054 Barbara Lukey111 Dennis Nelson111 0190 Edith Tempest110 Eileen (Reading)

Anderson110 0771 Sylvia Baldock110 Beryl Browner110 Jean Buckley110 Irene Catherall110 0894 Owen Clarke

20

138 Alan Guy138 1125 Andrew Hart138 1408 Rael Hayman138 0923 Teresa Hill138 1115 Nick Jenkins138 0713 Trish Johnson138 0589 Anne Steward138 Annette Tinning137 0157 Eileen (LSL) Anderson137 Gillian Ashworth137 1412 Melanie Beaumont137 0330 Viv Beckmann137 1301 Richard Blakeway137 Jean Bridge137 Joe Caruana137 0523 Kate Leckie137 0215 Jean Rappitt137 Brian Watson137 0637 Val Wright136 1375 Michael Chappell136 Chris Downer136 Helen Jones136 Brenda Margereson136 0547 Tess McCarthy136 1131 Russell Smith135 0635 Philip Aldous135 Alasdair Dowling135 1025 Marion Kirk135 0401 Sharon Landau135 0875 Jim Lyes135 0729 Kathy Swan134 0924 Linda Barratt134 0557 Janice Bease134 1423 Calum Edwards134 0223 June Edwards134 0840 Rhoda Gray134 1192 Pat Heffernan134 0263 Sheila Jolliffe134 0204 Michael Partner134 Gerry Pearce134 Barbara Shammas134 0291 Sylvia Swaney134 1273 Peter Winnick134 Jenny Woodroffe133 1179 Janet Adams133 0856 Minu Anderson133 Brenda Baxter133 0964 Phyllis Fernandez133 1035 Andy Gray133 Maureen Greening-

Steer133 Paul Heasman133 0608 Sandra Hoffland133 1110 Pamela Kikumu133 0904 George Newman

133 Carole Thomas132 Nick Baker132 Kate Barratt132 1409 Mick Beasley132 0975 Jill Harrison132 1136 Ted Lewis132 1198 Maurice McParland132 0932 Jill Parker132 0802 Patricia Pay132 0370 Mauro Pratesi132 Jo Ramjane132 0895 David Reading132 Becky Samuel132 0775 Pat Wheeler132 1003 Sheena Wilson131 0110 Liz Barber131 0238 Margaret Burdon131 Jean Dymock131 0715 Barbara Hill131 Nola Marrow131 1269 Richard Moody131 0443 Ann Pitblado131 0995 Carol Sienkiewicz130 Eryl Barker130 Rita Brookes130 1092 Heather Burnet130 Barbara Dein130 Pam Fairless130 1238 Juliet Green130 0032 Ron Hendra130 Roger Ordish130 Malcolm Roberts130 0960 Mary Siggers130 0029 Marlene Skinner130 Wojtek Usakiewicz130 1416 Richard Woodward129 Sheila (Perth)

Anderson129 0166 Beryl Brown129 Garry Clark129 0896 Chris Dossett129 1217 Carolyn Emery129 0402 Sally Fiszman129 0341 Mike Holland129 Medina Hull129 1007 Margaret Irons129 0886 Ruth Marsden129 0136 Jan Turner129 0864 Margaret White129 Margaret Yeadon128 0512 Etta Alexander128 0419 Michael Baxendale128 0899 Jake Berliner128 Janet Braund128 0767 Kathy Bullen

128 0107 Joan Caws128 Val Couzens128 1305 Jason Goddard128 0442 Agnes Gunn128 0347 Kathleen Higgins128 0858 May Macdonald128 0320 Fay Madeley128 0911 Marie Perry128 0152 Marjorie Smith128 Janet Southworth128 1294 Christine Strawbridge128 0036 Dot Taylor128 Evan Terrett128 1053 Stephen Wintle127 0390 Betty Balding127 Linda Bird127 1182 David Carrod127 Jean Carter127 0748 Jean Crowder127 0668 Ceridwen Davies127 0475 Jill Fisher127 1066 Barbara Morris127 Julie Nelkon127 Mary Shaw127 0452 Peter Sime127 Sheila Wall126 Harry Beckett126 0543 Winnie Buik126 Sylvia Carroll126 0641 Norma Galley126 0663 Linda Hillard126 0572 Val Hoskings126 Gill (Taunton)

Thompson125 Noel Barnes125 1020 Derek Bower125 0603 Linda Bradford125 0915 Shirley Chidwick125 0755 Carmen Dolan125 1331 Carol Grant125 0298 Mavis Harding125 0737 Margaret Harkness125 Miri Purse125 Brenda Rodwell125 1149 Jim Wilkie125 Margaret Williams124 0977 Gail Allen124 Alistair Baker124 0539 Lynn Giles124 0736 Molly Lane124 0938 Helen Polhill124 0616 Gertie Roberts123 0257 Syd Berger123 0735 Hilary Birdsall123 Pat Broderick

23

94 1185 Lyndon Johnson94 0132 Lorna Llewellyn94 1219 Jean Masterson94 Beryl Trace93 Judy Beales93 Chris Chapman93 0410 Myra Copleston93 1200 Caroline Elliott93 1052 Barbara Haggett93 0941 Audrey Harvey93 Doreen Searles93 0818 Rose Wall93 1076 Marianne Ward93 1332 Sheila Wyatt92 1235 Rita Barton92 Peter Beales92 Ruth Binding92 1289 Kerry Constant92 1008 Yvonne Goodridge92 1073 Jenny Harris92 Anne Lawton92 1114 Barbara McLaren92 Peggy Moore92 1030 Derek Neath92 1297 Graham Pace92 Les Searle92 1174 Peter Trembath92 Sonja Wyld91 0778 Gwen Linfoot91 0859 John Macdonald91 1277 Vivian Mifsud91 1141 Michael Murray91 0119 Mary Ralfs91 Winifred Stitt91 Richard Tempest90 0563 Fred Burford90 1001 Jean Greenland90 1299 Rosemarie Howis90 0828 Moira Metcalf90 1137 Beroze Mody89 0359 Vera Allen89 1148 Renee Gilbert89 Agnes Gray89 Iris Grover89 Joan Hughes89 Mandy Isaac89 1176 Gordon Lamb89 0193 Christine Nicholson89 0253 Peter Shuttlewood88 Doreen Coleman88 1039 Dorothy Edwards88 Monica Marden88 Kitty Reid88 Rena Waddell88 Rod Winfield

87 Bernard Bruno87 Josephine Croasdale87 1306 Margaret Emmott87 Joan Garlick87 Marcia Hall87 1188 Evelyn Mankelow87 Nicholas Robertson87 1441 Jean (Ryde) Williams86 0517 Peter Basham86 1275 Jo Calvert-Mindell86 1453 Anne Corpe86 0783 Barrie Hall85 Maggie Fleming85 Zoe Marlowe85 Olive Matthew85 Barbara Pinto85 Roy Smith85 1253 Philip Turner85 Fergus Williams84 Chris Baker84 1104 Hazel Brannan84 Florence Connell84 Mary Craddock84 0290 May Gray84 Audrey Jackson84 Jacqueline King84 June Lovett84 1399 Carol Russell84 1251 Jill Russell84 Helen Thompson83 0908 Ted Anderson83 Anna Churchouse83 1407 Jan Hudson83 Eileen Johnson83 Joan Murphy83 Betty Nichols83 1302 Kalpana Thakker82 1229 Eileen Hunter82 1068 Lionel Millmore82 1267 Margot Montgomery82 Monica Urquhart82 Reg Wiseman81 Alice Bennell81 Joyce Caruth81 1323 Sylvia Colledge80 Brenda Burdett80 Dorothy Henry80 0153 Mary Lindsay80 1390 Maria Raffaelli80 Sheila Stanton79 Frank Goodier79 Keith Woodruff78 1143 Letty Burrell78 Ena Harding78 Winnie Haston

78 Muriel Mortimer78 Peter Munt77 1316 Veronica Baker77 0541 Pamela Brown77 Helen Jankowski77 Iris Semus76 Maris Bradley76 Teresa Haycock76 1247 Edna Lindeck76 Margaret Regan76 1234 Jean Ross76 George Sinclair76 Pat Sinclair76 Jane Thomas76 1252 Ruth Turner75 Mary Harris75 1324 Margaret Jaggs75 Elizabeth Mustard75 1135 Sylvia Oates75 1086 Margaret Webb74 1121 Ann Gregson74 1290 Mary Kennedy74 1377 Maria Moseley74 1205 Patrick Teague74 1288 Millie Ward73 Nancy Yorkston72 1069 Olive Smith72 0031 Norah Thompson71 Marie Cross71 0998 Jean Hendrick71 Margaret Scott70 Doreen Throssell70 Alec West69 Marcia Davies69 Julie Rees68 Jessie Chisholm68 Alan Fothergill68 1334 Catherine McMillan68 Carl Szzvanowski67 1028 Peggy Lavender66 1386 Betty Meazey62 1284 Margaret Hallin61 Maureen Knox60 Helen Tegg59 Barbara Yeaman56 0949 Barbara Horlock

110 Jill Dyer110 Wilf Gibbons110 1261 Jo Holland110 Barbara Kent110 0211 Philippa Morris110 1100 Stuart Ross109 Don Beavis109 0474 Eileen Bradshaw109 0725 Paul Cartman109 0928 Iris Cornish109 Marie Davie109 1027 Margaret Firmston109 0533 Barbara Grant109 1077 Marian Hamer109 1064 June Johnstone109 Robin McDougall109 Joy Reason109 Joan Rees109 1071 Barbara Solomon109 Sheila Tutt109 1398 Jill Warren109 Jane Weston108 0761 Mary Adams108 1262 Ginny Dixon108 Bronagh Kenny108 1215 Mary Morgan108 0954 Dorothy Pearson108 Shirley Scoberg108 0634 Edith Smith108 Isobel Smith108 Monica Stockwell108 Judy Young107 1340 Paula Docherty107 0486 Marjorie Lefley107 Doreen Morris107 Sheila Szzvanowski106 Maureen Barlow106 0827 Ann Clark106 June Lindridge106 0970 Sheila Miller106 Mary Orr106 1009 Jenny Sakamoto106 Helen Sandler106 1341 Pamela Sparkes106 0376 Claire Violett105 Madelaine Baker105 0384 Mabel Choularton105 Eve Dwyer105 Barbara Etheridge105 1080 Margaret Mitchell105 Mark Murray105 0692 Margaret Seabrook105 Fuad Shammas105 Marjorie Struggles104 0953 Peter Bailey

104 1049 Ken Bird104 Margaret Boyd104 0758 Kathy Carson104 1351 Jane Comer104 Rona Falconer104 0927 Audrey Medhurst103 0985 Carmen Borg103 Beverley Burgess103 0683 Mavis Ernest103 1298 Helga Farrow103 0415 Marjorie Garrett103 Marjorie Hislop103 0374 Joy Hodge103 1112 Peter Johnson103 Margaret Keeper103 1311 Isabelle McLean103 0851 Sheila Smith103 0917 Nicola Staunton103 0564 Jean Stevens102 Pat Burgess102 0877 Shirley Cave102 0526 Keith Churcher102 Peter Dittert102 1034 Elsie Edwards102 0791 Rosemary Jordan102 Margaret Macdonald102 Marina Mehta102 David Paine102 Jessica Pratesi102 Josie Rogers102 1118 Remie Salazar102 Amy Vye102 0935 Ian Whyte102 0671 Chris Wide101 1350 Gilly Batten101 Philip Bowden101 Hilda Hudspeth101 Pete Ison101 1410 Hilbre Jenkins101 0684 Mary Keevy101 Christine Pullen101 0946 Sheila Reeve101 0083 Pat Rockley101 Beryl Shoesmith101 Jacqui White100 Helen Aley100 1263 Barbara Barker100 Len Choules100 Tricia Cooper100 Reg Dendy100 0030 Ruby Flood100 Joyce Frost100 Paul Harding100 Olive Holroyd100 Rose Lawson

100 Jean Mainwaring100 Renee Paine100 0578 Susan Richardson100 1099 Heather Stevens100 1383 Sarah-Jane Taylor100 Elisabeth Williams99 1081 Anna Blakey99 1248 Margaret Coleman99 Douglas Emmott99 Joan Everitt99 0799 Cindy Hollyer99 1134 Dorothy Kemlicz99 Esme Norris99 1280 Moreen Shillitoe99 Betty Simmonds99 0485 Ann Toft99 Alice Tozeland99 1314 Evelyn Wansbrough98 Alex Beckmann98 Les Costin98 Jean Fothergill98 Patrice McCarry98 Sandy McLeod98 Mollie Moran98 Anne Richards98 1315 Tanya Robson97 Cecilia Cotton97 Steve Davie97 1401 Gerry Gleeson97 1218 Terry Masterson97 1285 Susan Paton97 Connie Riach97 1171 Susan Thorne97 Su Williams97 0900 Amabel Winter97 Henry Woodward96 1259 Sheila (Romford)

Anderson96 0726 Christine Cartman96 Fay Goble96 Jean Jacobs96 Sheila Johnston96 0976 Adrian Noller96 1237 Dorn Osborne96 1119 Anne Partridge95 1038 Jacquie Aldous95 0951 Bill Anderson95 1168 Brian Beaumont95 Alan Everitt95 Jan Gibson95 Lionel Howard95 Christine Watkins95 1258 Anne Wilkins94 Prue Buckingham94 Joan Johns

22

2524

David Sutton on Dictionary Pruning

On the uk-scrabble email forum a few weeks back, in a discussion on the forthcoming newofficial word list one member expressed the following opinion - one which, I am sure, issharedby many people:“...frankly I’d prefer a situation where much of the dross is purged from the Official WordList so that it reflects the English language as currently used today...it’s never going tohappen - too many people gain their scrabble advantage by knowledge of the moreobscure words.”

David Sutton’s reply is worthy of a wider audience:

I’d just like to make a couple of points in response to M___’s posting.

Firstly, M___wants the Scrabble lexicon purged of what he sees as ‘obscure and sometimesridiculous’ words. But M___, to a very large extent this is, believe it or not, exactly whathas already been done. Take a look at the complete OED some time, with its vast array ofheadwords and its seeming infinity of variant spellings, and you will quickly realise thatwhat we have in SOWPODS is a very small subset, perhaps about 5%, of all thecombinations of letters that can legitimately claim to be or have been English words.

Contrary to your belief, dictionary-makers like Chambers do not pursue a deliberate policy ofinflating their compendia with every weird word they can lay their hands on; rather, theypursue a policy of ruthlessly cutting out what might be viewed as dead wood in favour of thepotentially useful: that is to say, words which their readers might actually encounter - not, tobe sure, in that narrow and parochial subset of human existence which we call everyday life,but in everyday life plus a large range of disciplines to which the enquiring mind might beattracted, and plus certain works of the past which it still might wish to explore. It is surelyone of the great attractions of Scrabble, and goes a long way to explain its enduring appeal,that the game is so happily congruent with this act of enquiry and this exploration.

I am sure we have all had the joyful experience of meeting a word that we are used to playingon the board in some real-life context, and hailing it like an old friend; conversely we haveall had the delight of getting to play an unusual word that we genuinely know from our moreadventurous reading or from some personal branch of study. I don’t see why anyone shouldwish to abolish those pleasures by confining the Scrabble lexicon to ‘the English language asused today’ (whatever that means exactly - where? in what context? by whom?).

My second point is that perhaps we sometimes fail to appreciate just how well-fitted, interms of size, the current SOWPODS lexicon is to the game of Scrabble and to the humanminds that play it.

We have around 200,000 words that are conceivably playable. This is a number that is justabout at the limit of the human mind’s capacity to master - perhaps a little beyond the limit.That keeps things perpetually interesting and challenging: each game is a new venture intopotentially uncharted territory, and I think even our most knowledgeable, hard-workingand highly-rated players will testify that it’s an unusual game from which they can’t learnor relearn something on the lexical front. Imagine, by contrast, that the game’s lexicon werelimited to an ‘everyday current English’ vocabulary of perhaps 20,000 words. Any seriousplayer would soon master this pretty well completely, leaving games to be decided purelyby the luck of the draw - if you want that sort of game, why not play ludo? At the other

extreme, imagine an OED-style lexicon of two million words - even the most devout oflogophiles would surely find this totally overwhelming.

In conclusion, I think there is always going to be room for a little tinkering around the edges,as new words become established in the language and obsolescent words can finally beconsidered obsolete beyond all likely encounter. But serious purges - no! Instead, let’s havea little appreciation of what what we’ve got, and of those unsung heroes who have assisted,and are still assisting, in that miracle of adaptive lexical evolution called SOWPODS.

Pi-TileSpotted on the web a few weeks back

was this little oddity. It appeared on ebay- the internet auction site and was described as follows:

This Scrabble tile is from a 1957 edition of the game.It has been struck twice with a "T" and looks like "Pi" and it'sworth 11 points!!! Put that on a triple letter score and kickbutt on family game night!!! Will be shipped safely and securely right to you!How much did it sell for for? It made 31 US dollars - a little over £18!

COLIN (COuntdown in LINcoln) announces...

A Countdown tournament will be taking place on Januay 28 2006 in Lincoln,following on from the successful tournaments held in Lincoln and Bristol in 2005.The tournament is open for anyone to enter, Scrabbler, Countdowner or even thosewho have just a passing interest in either.

The format is very simple - everybody starts off on a table with three players on it. Ineach game, two of the players will compete against each other with the other playeracting as "Carol/Des", putting up the letters/numbers selections, and keeping score.

By the end of the day, everyone will have played 6 games, with the person who hasthe highest number of wins being declared the winner. In the event of a tie, totalpoints scored will be used to determine the winner.

As a "warm-up" to the event itself, there will be an exhibition match between twotop players, and an optional two-course meal when the tournament has finished.

For further details or to enter the event, please contact Ben on 01522 787077 or 07867 913604 email: lcc_2005@btinternet.com or write to COLIN, 7 PerneyCrescent, North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 9RJ.

Tournament entry is FREE but the optional meal comes at a charge of £5 per head.Please say if you would like the meal.

Hope to see you in January!

2726

simulating some 14 points better than MEW. Gareth really needs a 3-consonant pick-up tojustify his choice.

MEW g8d 25 51

Pakorn 2: E L N O T ? D (-40)

Another obvious move for Pakorn. There are five other 7-letter words with DELNOT and ablank. Can you see them? (Answers on page 32).

TaLONED h7d 87 98

Gareth 3: E E E U B P R (-47)

This time the pick-up has been kind to Gareth, and BEEP looks pretty good, keeping backa promising URE. However PUREE at h12a is even better, scoring 7 more points and gettingrid of the U.

BEEP j10a 27 78

Pakorn 3: A A D I K L S (+20)

When I first saw this rack, I concluded that I would play KAF at j6d. This was Pakorn'schoice too, but only after he'd spent a considerable amount of time thinking about themove. When I analysed the game I discovered that there were two lovely 7-letter playsthrough tiles on the board - the Y at k8 and the P at m10. (See page 32 for answers) As ithappens KAF simulates just about as well, largely thanks to the nice DIALS leave.

KAF j6d 20 118

Gareth 4: E R U E I T V (-40)

Gareth spots the only bonus, to retake the lead.

ERUPTIVE m7d 80 158

Pakorn 4: A D I L S S V (-40)

The E of ERUPTIVE is in the wrong place for DEVISALS, so Pakorn looks to find the bestnon-bonus play. He's not short of choices, with plays such as VISED or VADES at j14a, andOVALS at h11d. Somewhat surprisingly, ERUPTIVE takes an S, and the highest-scoring playis SILVAS/ERUPTIVES for 44. I'd have played OVALS keeping DIS, but Pakorn prefers theALS leave after VISED. Perhaps he also considered the E a bigger threat for high-scoringplays involving the J or Z.

VISED j14a 34 152

Gareth 5: A I I O S T Z (+ 6)

As it happens Gareth has picked the Z, but wouldn't have had a play through the E withthe Z on the j14 TLS. Again the S hook on ERUPTIVE provides the highest-scoring play, SAZfor 53, but Gareth's choice of RIZ is far better for balance, and simulates best. ZATI or ZITIat b10a for 35 are reasonable plays, but with a lead of over 40 after RIZ, there is theadditional advantage of taking out the bonus line on the n column.

RIZ m8a 36 194

Pakorn 5: A L S A A D R (-42)

A disappointing pick-up for Pakorn, and ideally he wants to play off two A's. A move thatachieves this nicely, and provides a helpful S hook, is ALARY at k4d for 24. The down sideis that it is almost certain that Gareth will play off the A, with so few scoring opportunities

by PHIL APPLEBYNo. 18

Only the annotated game this month I’m afraid- although it is a classic encounter betweentwo of the world’s finest at this year’s World Championships, a taster for the inevitabledeluge of WSC-related articles next issue! So without further ado...

Annotated Game:Gareth Williams vs Pakorn Nemitrmansuk, World Scrabble Championship

The final round of the WSC prior to the Final saw Gareth Williams take on last year's losingfinalist, Pakorn from Thailand, at Table 1. If Pakorn won, he would reach the Final for thesecond successive year. If Gareth won by a big margin, he might reach the Final himself.So all to play for…

Gareth 1: E E F F I U Y

A tricky choice with a less than inspiring rack. IFFY provides the best score, but the EEUleave could spell trouble if Gareth picks a couple more vowels. FIEF or FIFE leave thescoring potential of the Y on the rack, while FEU leaves the tiles for a possible -IFY bonus.I might have been tempted by IFF at h1a for 18, keeping the Y back for IFFY. If Pakorn playsBIFF, JIFF, MIFF or NIFF, the Y still hooks, and provides an even bigger payback. Garethchooses IFFY at h8a, and computer simulation suggests that it's the best choice.

Gareth: The only alternative to IFFY that I considered was FIEF: there was a temptation toplace it hoping for some score with FY, the Y on DLS, but it wasn't enough. I think word-analysis would show that the Y is a vowel synergistically as well as functionally, so there isno point in keeping it for rack balance, only for scoring insurance.

IFFY h8a 26 26

Pakorn 1: E L N O Q T ? (-26)

No tricky choice for Pakorn. Despite the closed nature of the board, playing off the Qprovides excellent bonus possibilities for next move.

QI h7d 11 11

Gareth 2: E E U E E M W (+15)

Gareth's pick-up certainly could have been better, but at least he has a couple of high-scoring consonants to go with his surfeit of vowels. Again, Gareth chooses to maximisescore at the expense of rack balance, using the M-IFFY hook. This time computersimulation suggests that rack balance is the better option, with EMEU at j7a for 17

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Pakorn 7: A P R S N N O (-77)

Pakorn's foresight in creating a second opening appears to have paid dividends. NAPRONSat f3a for 67 gets him right back into the game. But he makes a surprising error, playingNONPARS instead. This could be one of those rare situations where the fact that English isnot Pakorn's native tongue led him into the error. NONPAR is valid, but it's only anadjective. If you don't know the meaning it's reasonable to think that it might take an S, onthe basis that PAR does. But the net result is that after Gareth's challenge he's lost a move,and possibly his chances of reaching the Final.

NONPARS * f3a 0 198

Gareth 8: E E O R L N R (+77)

So the question for Gareth is - should he block NAPRONS? Pakorn missed it last move; didhe choose NONPARS simply because it scored more, in which case he could plonk downNAPRONS next move? Although NAPRONS plays in two places (f1d and f3a), Gareth canblock both with a move such as LEONE at f3d. Gareth decided that Pakorn didn't playNAPRONS because he wasn't sure of it, and chooses to play off five tiles with LOANER atc13a for 14. Playing lots of tiles is always a good policy when you're ahead; it leaves youropponent less time to catch up.

LOANER c13a 14 289

Pakorn 8: A N N O P R S (-91)

Sure enough, Pakorn fails to spot NAPRONS. Of the non-bonus plays, Pakorn's choice ofPOON is probably best. It scores well, and his leave of ANRS augurs well.

POON d12d 24 222

Gareth 9: E R A A A U ? (+67)

Despite the surfeit of vowels, Gareth must be delighted with his pick-up. The blank willsurely lead to another bonus play, and that might be good enough to wrap up the win.Playing off AA looks like a smart move, and Gareth comes up with a clever play. In his ownwords: "AA at m3 seemed a good idea, balancing my rack a bit, blocking the easy 7 endingin S, forcing the opening of a triple and possible 9-timer in such a case, with a blank onmy rack." I couldn't have said it better.

AA m3d 6 295

Pakorn 9: A N R S I M O (-73)

This time Pakorn spots the bonus, and plays it in the only available spot.

MAINORS f1d 66 288

Missing Issues?In the event that your copy of The Last Word fails to arrive or

if you change your address, the person to contact is:Anne Ramsay

8 Glen Cova Place, Kirkcaldy, Fife KY2 6ULanne.ramsay@blueyonder.co.uk

elsewhere. I suspect this was in Pakorn's mind when he chose LADY instead. Although heis slightly behind, the deficit is far from conclusive at this relatively early stage of the game,so he can afford to keep things tight and wait for a better opportunity to create an opening.

LADY k5d 25 177

Gareth 6: A I O S T I N (+17)

A good spot by Gareth. It's the only 8-letter word with this rack, so the floating T wasparticularly welcome. Suddenly a place in the Final is looking that little bit more likely…

NOTITIAS e7d 58 252

Pakorn 6: A A R S B N P (-75)

Score

Pakorn: 177

Gareth: 252

Pakorn

This is one of those situations where the best move will vary depending on the score. If hewere ahead, BAP at d6d for 19 would be tempting, making the best bonus spot moredifficult to use and keeping promising tiles back should his opponent attempt to create anopening. But instead he is a bonus behind, so needs to keep the existing openings intact,and if possible create another. Pakorn finds the perfect solution with NAB at l4d. It scoreswell, leaves a bonus-friendly SPAR on his rack, and creates a new S hook. Excellent play.

NAB l4d 21 198

Gareth 7: CEEOORW (+54)

Now it's Gareth's turn to have a tricky choice. With a 54-point lead, the obvious thing isto block one of the openings, but if it can be achieved whilst retaining reasonable bonuspotential, so much the better. In the end, and after considerable thought, Gareth decides tosacrifice rack balance and play COW at d6d. It looks a sound choice, although the movethat simulates best, by some considerable distance, is WOE at h12a for 26, presumablybecause of the bonus potential of the CORE leave. Further simulations to the end of thegame still have WOE out in front, winning 80% of all games compared to COW's 76%.

COW d6d 23 275

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A A B N P R S

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Gareth 12: DEEGGHU (+11)

Score

Pakorn:364

Gareth:375

Gareth

There are five tiles in the bag. In this type of situation my inclination is always to leave atleast one tile in the bag. If my opponent knows exactly what's left, they can play a perfectendgame; I feel that they're more likely to slip up if they don't know exactly what I haveon my rack. But Gareth must also consider what Pakorn could play; possibilities includeJAGIR at n2d and JARRING at a4a. On balance, I think that if Gareth can play out first hehas a good chance of winning, regardless of what Pakorn does. For this reason I'd playHUG at i3a for 27. It leaves a G for the -ING ending at e4, and it keeps back tiles that playvery nicely down the n column. But let's see what was going through Gareth's mind…

Gareth: I can see the argument that I should have blocked JARRING. I was aware of it, butalso of JAGIR, where I played EGGED, and didn't much like the EU leave after, say,HEDGING, which yielded HIJRA, while HINGED didn't score as much, and I couldn'tremember if CHINGED* might be good.

As against UGGED: I was unsure of it, having had a hazy recollection of a topic on uk-scrabble recently regarding the part of speech of UG - or was it UGH? Couldn't remember.Then I lost sight of the Q and thought I had to keep the U, then spotted the Q on the board,and later while thinking about the J options forgot it again, all before actually playing. Atany rate I should have taken more time, which I still had on my side.

UGGED would have been better, and would have guaranteed a win. But Gareth would stillbe incredibly unlucky not to win after opening up a 42-point lead…

EGGED n2d 31 406

Pakorn 12: I J R T A G R (-42)

The only pick-up that would give Pakorn a chance was AGR - and that's exactly what cameout of the bag! He has no hesitation in playing JARRING for 46.

JARRING a4a 46 410

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M O O R A GG E SE A H E YX I AI N N AT O L A

C R K A BO N S Q A D EW O M I F F Y R I Z

T E UI W B E E PT A L O N E D T

P I IL O A N E R V

O S V I S E DN

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Gareth 10: A E R U ? S U (+ 7)

Score

Pakorn: 288

Gareth: 295

Gareth

Unfortunately, and perhaps blinded by the double U on his rack, Gareth misses the onlyplayable bonus. Can you see it? (See page 32) Assuming you fail to spot the bonus, what'snext best? Gareth boldly changes UU, despite having seen his lead all but vanish.Simulation indicates that this is an excellent choice, as good as moves such as MURA atf1a. Furthermore, it simulates only 12 points worse than playing the bonus; as I've saidbefore, if you're going to miss a bonus do it when you have a blank on your rack - it'susually less expensive! However an analysis based on winning percentage suggests that it'sbetter to score some points, with MURA winning 85% of games, while changing UU winsonly 79%.

Change UU 0 295

Pakorn 10: E E I I R T X (- 7)

Pakorn has REMIXT for 48 and MIXIER for 45 around the M, but he knows that Gareth isclose to a bonus and instead chooses to tie up as many of the floaters as possible. It's asmart move; it's always much harder to spot 9-letter words.

EXIT e2d 39 327

Gareth 11: A E R S ? O O (-32)

Gareth has exchanged UU for OO, but it proves to be no problem for the Welsh wizard,despite Pakorn's best efforts to make life difficult.

MOORAgES f1a 80 375

Pakorn 11: E I R J H T Y (-48)

Pakorn must be quite pleased with his pick-up. At this stage of the game, with bonus spotsnow pretty much extinguished, scoring potential is key, and the JHY fit the bill nicely. Itwould be nice to hold back either the H or Y, which are more versatile than the J, but HEYor YEH at h2a score significantly more than any alternatives. Pakorn opts for HEY.

HEY h2a 37 364

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C R K A BO N S Q A D EW O M I F F Y R I Z

T E UI W B E E PT AA L O N E D T

P I IL O A N E R V

O S V I S E DN

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A E R S U U ?

32 33

EDGEW

AYS

Compiled by David Sutton(Puzzle solutions on inside back cover)

The Five-Minute Anagram ChallengeBelow are four sets of anagrams, presented in ascending order of difficulty based partlyon the likely familiarity of the words and partly on the nature of their ‘pattern’. Each

anagram has a unique solution. It is suggested that full marks in set Acorresponds to an ABSP rating of around 125; in set B to 150; in set Cto 175; and in set D to 200, though of course people differ in theirvocabularies and anagramming skills so any such categorisation canonly be loose and intuitive. Give yourself five minutes for the chosen

set. Of course, by all means try the harder sets, but don’t bediscouraged if the going gets tough!

A. HENTGLEN ATROGUE ATHRONE PARIOSE PAPHITE

GALLILE GELRATS IRELADY IGOLEAF IRETREE

B. ICEROTE TOPBEDS MEANPEN TEMPUNK SYNDATY

MANOMIA TAXINEY THARBED ARRIPIE THEBESS

C. SNAILEY BOTCHIE THAWELS COMRUDE LAUTLEU

OUTSAUF COIFIER SECIQUE AIRMADE MORTALE

D. PARHAZE WETPLAD GULPSIDE WILDREZ DUPLIER

BELEAKS BONETYPE SCOYNED CODPISS CUSHATY

Meet My TwinMany common seven-letter words have exactly one somewhat less common anagram.Being aware of such alternatives can help you in those all-too-frequent situations wherefinding a bonus is one thing, but finding a bonus that fits is quite another. Practise byfinding the common anagrams of these less common sevens...

SORDINO ENDARCH SUBORAL CAROMED DUALINS

CORANTO ALLONGE NILGHAI HAUSING TROUTER

ALANYLS BROCKED MESTEES CYTASES TSOURIS

CESIUMS FARFELS LASQUES CLEUGHS GINGALL

Throughout Edgeways, words not in OSWI are marked by an asterisk *

Gareth 13: H U C L T U U (- 4)

Gareth's best move is LICH or TICH at l12a for 26. With Pakorn able to score 14 for IT atc7d, this would result in a tie. Maybe Gareth didn't spot Pakorn's best out-play?

HUIC k12a 25 431

Pakorn 13: I T (-19)

Pakorn spots his best out-play to win by a single point.

IT c7d 14 424

Final score: Gareth 427 Pakorn 428

Summary: A terrific game, which Gareth pretty much controlled throughout, only to losethanks to a fortuitous pick-up by Pakorn at the very end. But full marks to Pakorn for puttinghis NONPARS error behind him and playing an excellent game from that point onwards.

What would have been the effect on the WSC if the game had been tied, or if Gareth hadwon narrowly, as looked likely until the last moment? A tie would still have given Pakorna place in the Final, but would have elevated Gareth to 4th, above Ganesh Asirvatham.Any win for Gareth would have given Naween Fernando a place in the Final, rather thanPakorn, while a win by more than 7 points would have given Gareth 3rd place, ahead ofPakorn. To reach the Final Gareth would have had to win by 77 points; it looked possibleat one stage, but probably not after Pakorn's MAINORS.

Solutions

DELNOT goes with F, I, R, W and Y to make TENFOLD, LENTOID, ENTROLD, LETDOWNand NOTEDLY.

The two 7-letter words are ILKADAY for 30 and KLIPDAS for 40.

Holding AERSUU?, Gareth could have played AUgURIES through the I for 66.

ADVERTISEMENT

yellow booksA new scorebook designed to help you easily recordyour racks as you play. No need for bits of stickypaper to hide information from your opponent.Replay your game on the board diagram providedand find those words you missed this time but willnow remember for next time. An excellent aid toany player with a desire to improve their rating.50 2-part A5 scoresheets per book. Wirobound. Vowel/Consonant tracking grids.£2.50 for mail order please add £1 p+p per book (book weight 300g)Only available from Alec Webb, 17 St Margarets Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 4HSemail: alec.r.webb@btinternet.comBooks will be on sale at Chester (January) and Peteborough (February)

Rack Preferred Move

Co-ords Eq Loss

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A A A A A A A A A

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I I I I I I I I I J K L L L L M M N N N N N N O O O O O O O OB B C C D D D D E E E E E E E E E E E E F F G G G

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a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o

Scorebook designed and produced by Alec Webb, 17 St Margaret’s Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 4HS. Email: Alec.R.Webb@btinternet.com

Words In The WildAnyone wanting an introduction to the rather daunting number of Scots words includedin the Scrabble lexicon could well start with Robert Burns's poem 'Tam o'Shanter', thatcombines a fine rollicking humour with some genuine tension, as feckless Tam, havingstumbled one dark night on a coven of witches dancing naked and been unable torestrain himself from shouting encouragement, is pursued by them and just manages toget to safety by crossing a stream (shades of Frodo being pursued by the Ringwraiths!).The witches, with one notable exception, are an unattractive lot, being described as

'Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal/Louping andflinging on a crummock'. RIGWOODIE (alsoRIGWIDDIE) is a cart-horse's back-band; used hereas an adjective it means 'lean and toug'h. SPEAN(also SPANE and SPAIN) means to wean. To LOUPis to leap or dance, with past tense LOUPIT and pastparticiple LOUPEN. And a CRUMMOCK is a crook,a stick with a curved head.

KSAR A tsar.

OBSEQUIE = OBSEQUY, a funeral rite.

OPACOUS Opaque.

OUGLIE, OUGHLY Ugly; (verb) to make ugly.

PERFET Perfect.

PONENT Western, of the setting sun.

PROCINCT Preparedness.

REALTIE Sincerity, honesty.

REGEST A register.

SED Said.

SERENATE A serenade.

SLUSE A sluice.

STOLN Stolen.

SUSPENCE, SUSPENS Suspended, held back.

SUTTLETIE Subtlety.

SWINDGE to swinge.

SYRTIS A patch or area of quicksand. Pl. SYRTES.

TAPSTRY Made of tapestry.

TERF, TERFE Turf.

TROULE To roll, trundle.

UNCONFORM Unlike.

UNFORBID Not forbidden.

VENTRING Venturing.

VENTROUS Adventurous.

VIOLD = VIALLED, put in a vial.

VOLUBIL = VOLUBLE, flowing smoothly.

VOUTSAFE To vouchsafe.

WARDROP Wardrobe.

3534

Author! Author!Our author for this issue is the poet JohnMilton, and it is a bit of a departure fromthe usual format in that I am not actuallygoing to recommend that anyone readshim. That is to say, by all means have a goat 'Paradise Lost' if you want to, but I think it has to be accepted that there are certain classic writers, very fine in their way and in their

time, to whom modern readers have largelylost the key: their sensibility, their style,

their beliefs, their whole cultural backgroundhas become largely alien to us, and it seems to me that Milton withhis complex theology and density of classical allusion is just sucha writer. Be that as it may, there are a number of Miltonismsenshrined in the Scrabble vocabulary and I thought it was worthhaving a look at them. Here is a selection of the most useful.

ANOUGH, ANOW, ENOW Enough.

BOWES Boughs. There is no singular BOWE*.

BUCKSOM buxom.

CRUE Crew.

EEVEN, EEVN, EEVNING Evening.

EMBOST pt of EMBOSS in sense of ‘to go into a wood’.

FEMAL Female.

FORREN Foreign.

FURDER Further.

GOARY Gory. No comparative!

GOLE A goal.

GURGE A whirlpool; (verb) to swirl.

HAEMONY A plant ‘of sovereign use against enchantment’.

John Milton

37

What's The Matter?Before reading on, see how many adjectives you can think of that end in -EN or -ERN anddescribe the substance from which a thing is made e.g. (just to get you started) WOODEN.A dozen would be fairly good going for most of us, but actually there are more than youmight think, and many of them have a pleasantly archaic ring. Here is what purports to bea complete list:

ALDERN made of alder wood.ASHEN made of ash wood.BARKEN made of bark; can also be a verb: to dry up into a barky crust.BIRCHEN made of birch wood.BIRKEN made of birch wood.BOXEN made of box wood.BRAZEN made of brass; can also be a verb as in to brazen something out.BRICKEN made of brick.BRONZEN made of bronze.EARTHEN made of earth.ELMEN made of elm wood.EUGHEN (Spenser) made of yew wood.EWGHEN (Spenser) made of yew wood.FLAXEN made of flax.GLASSEN made of glass.GLAZEN made of glass.GOLDEN made of gold.HEMPEN made of hemp.LARCHEN made of larch wood.LATHEN made of lath.LEADEN made of lead; can also be a verb: to make leaden.LEATHERN made of leather.MILKEN made of milk.OAKEN made of oak.RUSHEN made of rush.SILVERN made of silver.STONEN made of stone.STONERN made of stone.STRAWEN made of straw.TAPEN made of tape.TREEN made of wood; (noun) an item carved of wood.TURFEN made of turf.TWIGGEN made of twigs.WAXEN made of wax.WHEATEN made of wheat; (noun) the colour of wheat.WOOLEN made of wool.WOOLLEN made of wool.YEWEN made of yew wood.

For completion one should add CEDARN (made of cedar).

36

Anagrid:

HORIZONTAL CLUES: VERTICAL CLUES:1. DARTWELD a. SOLCHOKE2. GLANNIE b. ABBADHS3. UNECCLES c. CWYDLIKE4. REARKWE d. UPOLATE5. IEXEROSS e. SDAINTED6. SEAGHIND f. MATDRAIN7. THEPOLIS g. EGOMILED8. MARTINA h. ALPSEED9. COOLWEED i. REKOILES10. TEAJUGSA j. CROATIIS11. CRIMATED k. MOLENANT12. CIDILLY l. ARIOLAE13. SLITTIES m. ATESHREW14. ISABARD n. GEROUND15. LESHLESE o. DATECIDE

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39

Curio CornerThere are special words used in psychology to denote people whose mental processes aredominated by a particular sense or facility. Which would you say you were? We have

AUDILE One whose mental processes are dominated by the sense of hearing.

VISILE One whose mental processes are dominated by vision.

VERBILE One whose mental processes are dominated by words.

MOTILE One whose imagery naturally takes the form of feelings of action.

There seem to be no equivalent words for the senses of smell, touch or taste, so nothing foranyone whose mental processes are dominated by, say, the need to get down to the pub.We do have in addition SENSILE (capable of affecting the senses) and TACTILE (relating tothe sense of touch) but these are purely adjectives and cannot take an -S.

You Can Put a Y on That?! Well, having finished our series on unexpected -S hooks, let's take a look at some wordswhich take a possibly surprising -Y hook. Here are some beginning with A to C.

AMBER ANTS ARROW ATOM ATOP

BALLS BALSAM BARD BIFF BISCUIT

BLADDDER BLAST BLIGHT BLUES BOOKS

BOTH BOULDER BRASH BREAD BRICK

BRISK BULRUSH CAIRN CAKE CALM

CARBO CARTOON CAUSE CHAMP CHASM

CITRUS CLUTCH COACH CONTRAST COPS

CORE COTTAGE CROWD CRUD CURRANT

Multipack MonstersA PILAU is a highly spiced Eastern dish of rice withfowl or other meat, or fish, boiled together orseparately. And very tasty too. Even better, it hasthe following useful variants:

PILAU PILLAU PILAFPILAFF PILAW PILOW

ADVERTISEMENT

Date Tournament Opponent Rating

oo

A A A A A A A A A B B C C D D D DE E E E E E E E E E E E F F G G GH H I I I I I I I I I J K L L L LM M N N N N N N O O O O O O O O P P QR R R R R R S S S S T T T T T TU U U U V V W W X Y Y Z

1stBlank

2ndBlank

blue booksThe neatest way to keep a record of your games.100 A5 scoresheets per book. Wirobound. Alphabetic tracking grids.£2.50 + 50p per book p+pFrom Alec Webb, 17 St Margarets Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 4HSemail: alec.r.webb@btinternet.com

38

Cryptogram

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

T

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

2 18 18 19 4 17 15 23 17 7 14 17 11 15

22 17 25 10 3 7 16 23 22 14 26

16 6 24 15 22 3 22 19 22 15 22 15 24

4 22 15 11 7 19 4 16 17 14 4

14 24 18 17 15 25 4 15 7 15 18

4 14 24 15 18 22 4 5 4 17 15

21 3 17 18 24 18 24 1 7 19 14

3 4 17 14 22 4 11 1 4 18 14 7 15 15

7 18 7 14 22 5 22 7 4 14 7

13 19 7 19 7 22 19 17 4 19 11

8 15 25 19 17 4 14 15 21 22 22

17 4 15 19 17 14 16 7 22 24 18

9 20 14 7 7 10 22 3 7 22 14 15 18

4 22 24 18 12 7 14 22 23 12 7

15 17 3 15 17 7 11 22 13 7 17 10 7 11

4140

TILEFISH ENTERPRISES PRESENT

SCUSI !A NEW SCRABBLE ACCESSORY NO PLAYER WILL WANT TO BE WITHOUT!The inventor, David Sutton, and the proprietor, Stewart Holden, write:

"Scrabble players have been well served by computerprograms such as Maven and Lexpert that help themto win games, but to date one critical piece ofsoftware has been notably missing from theirarmoury: there has been no program to help themwhen they lose games, by automatically generatingappropriate excuses. This lack has now beenremedied, and Tilefish Enterprises are proud topresent Scusi (SCrabble USers Interface), a state-of-the-art program that uses the latest advances inartificial intelligence coupled with unique

psychological insight into the Scrabble player's mind toprovide a broad range of excuses suitable for every occasion. Scusi

runs on any PC, MAC or handheld device and offers the following features:

• A total of two hundred different excuses, which should be enough to last mosttournament players at least a year, after which time they can reasonably berecycled (the excuses, not the players, though that might be an idea too).

• Categorisation of excuses by tiles, opponent, playing conditions, personal stateof health, trouble with clock, use or nonuse of penalty challenges, criminalincompetence of tournament director etc. etc.

• A warning pop-up if the same excuse is selected more than twice in a row: onedoesn't want to become boring.

• Prioritisation of excuses according to margin of loss - save the really dramaticexcuses for those 300+ point losses.

• Facility to block some excuses altogether - for example, it is likely that fewplayers will wish to avail themselves of excuse no. 200, 'my opponent playedbetter Scrabble than I did'.

tilefish14 Dale View Rd Nottingham

NG3 7AJ

0115 841 5179 www.tilefish.co.uk

Single Pair

Clear/coloured: £4.00 £7.00 (pink, green, yellow,

lilac, blue, black, clear)

Oak, gold, ivory: £4.50 £8.00

Bronze, marble: £5.00 £9.00

Postage: £1.00 £1.50

(includes one carry pouch per rack)

LUXURY RACKS

PROTILES

High quality smooth ‘tournament tiles’. Fit all boards, free replacements

for lost or damaged tiles. Available in white, black, red, green, blue, lilac, grey, cream, yellow or orange. £11.00 per set (£1 p+p)

POCKET SAMTIMER™

• 3-year warranty

• Set to 25:00 – 25:00 automatically but can easily be changed • Choose from silver, green, yellow, lilac or pink!

• Comes with own carry box. Batteries also supplied. £35.00 (£3 p+p)

SCORE BOOK Our own design of A5 score book for recording 100 games.

Clear tile tracking grid – Space to record words, scores, final score & spread – Blank area for working – Wire-bound with smart green cover and reorder page at the back. Great value! £2.50 (50p p+p)

OTHER ITEMS:

Challenge-A-Day Calendar (2006) £8.00 (£2 p+p)

Padded case for Pocket SamTimer £8.00 (£1 p+p)

‘Gambler’ board game £15.00 (£3 p+p) ‘Triolet’ board game (see flyer) £22.50 (£3 p+p)

Books:

‘How To Win At Scrabble’ £9.50 (£1.50 p+p)

‘Word Freak’ £5.50 (£1 p+p) ‘World Championship Scrabble’ £2.00 (£1 p+p)

Order any three items on this page and postage is FREE!

Cheques payable to

‘Tilefish’ sent to above address. Please allow 14 days for delivery.

Thank you!

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4342

Chester (16 games)27th-28th January

Contact Kathy Rush� 01928 733565

West Berkshire (6 games)Saturday 21st JanuaryContact Ian Burn� 0118-984-5045Venue The Barn, Beech Road, Purley

on Thames, BerkshireCharity event proceeds going to localcharitable causes.Registration 10.00 First game 10:45 Departure 18:202/3 divisional tournament.

Tea/Coffee available throughout the day. asis afternoon cake. Lunch is not includedEntry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if willing to bring and lend a timer

Cheques payable to West Berks ScrabbleClub Tournament Account and sent to Ian Burn, Valley View, 92 Purley Rise,Purley-on-Thames, Berkshire, RG8 8DHalong with SAE or email address to whichconfirmation and directions can be sent

FFFF OOOO RRRR TTTT HHHH CCCC OOOO MMMM IIII NNNN GGGG EEEE VVVV EEEE NNNN TTTT SSSS

Each tournament approved for rating will get a listing including: date, number of gamesand contact details. For one day tournaments, further details will be given as regardspricing, start times etc, to allow members to utilise the generic entry form. Note thatsome organisers have indicated that rated tournaments will occur on particular dates,but that full details are not yet available. These tournaments are included forcompleteness and once details are known, they will be published as appropriate.

This symbol denotes that the tournament organiser has let it be known thatthe venue is disabled friendly. The absence of a symbol does not mean thatdisabled access is not possible, and in these circumstances the prospectiveentrant should check with the organisers

Note to EntrantsThese rules apply to all tournamentsThe entry cost of all rated tournaments includes the ratings levy� Positions are determined on win and spread unless otherwise stated� Smoking is not permitted in the playing area(s)� You will normally be placed in a division equivalent to your rating or ability. You

may request to enter a higher division but the Tournament Organiser reserves theright to reject your request.

� Entries are at the sole discretion of the Tournament Organiser.� You must always include a SAE with your entry for application.� Please arrive on time

Compiled by Paul Cartman

Sample excuses from Scusi's wide-ranging set:• “Too many consonants”

• “Too many vowels“

• “I had the wrong tiles at the wrong time“

• “I had the right tiles at the wrong time“

• “I spotted a nice little 27-timer ARCHAEOPTERYXES but unfortunately I got the AE the wrong way round“

• “My opponent was distractingly beautiful/handsome“

• “My opponent was Mark Nyman“

• “Now if we'd been playing with penalty challenges“

• “Now if we hadn't been playing with penalty challenges“

• “My wife has just given birth/is about to give birth/gave birth during the game“

• “The lighting was so bad I thought my Q was an O and played ZOQ instead of ZOO“

• “Poor old X had lost his last ten games and I felt really sorry for him“

• “I haven't been playing enough tournaments“

• “I've been playing too many tournaments“

• “I usually play in Welsh/Swedish/Swahili“

• “I'm deliberately playing American words only in preparation for entering US tournaments“

• “I have more to do with my life than learn words“

• “Don't you think it's a bit sad taking these games too seriously?“

• “It's a stupid game anyway“

As a bonus facility, Scusi will not only automatically calculate your new ABSPrating after each rated loss, but will work in ‘what-if’ mode to calculate whatyour rating would now be had you won the game, thus enabling you to seeyour true Scrabble potential unaffected by the accidents of reality.

No Scrabble player will want to be without Scusi!

(Editor’s note: Obviously this is just a case of April 1st arriving a little early for somepeople - which is a shame, as I know several players who would make good use ofScusi! This was the David Sutton’s winning entry in Tilefish’s launch competition, tofind “the most interesting scrabble accessory Tilefish should stock next”.)

44

Ramada Jarvis, Bingley17th - 20th March

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705

Grantham (6 games)Sunday 12th MarchContact Hazel Packham� 01476-410161Venue Great Gonerby Social Club,

Great Gonerby, GranthamRegistration 09.00 First game 09.30 Departure 18.00

2/3 divisional tournament.Tea/Coffee available all day.Entry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberCheques payable to Grantham ScrabbleClub, C/o Hazel Packham, 34 OrchardClose, Gonerby Hill Foot, Grantham, Lincs,NG31 8HD

Swindon (6 games)Sunday 5th MarchContact Steve Perry� 01367-244757Emergency No on day� 07969-294062

Venue Nationwide Building Society Head Office, Swindon, Wiltshire

Charity event, proceeds towards MacmillanCancer Relief

Registration Before 10:00 First game 10:205/6 divisional tournament.Tea/Coffee available throughout theday,packed lunch included in entry feeEntry costs: £13.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timerwhich you are willing to lend

Cheques payable to Highworth ScrabbleClub Tournament a/c and sent to: Steve Perry, 29 Elm Road, Faringdon,Oxfordshire, SN7 7EJ

New Malden (6 games) Saturday 25th FebruaryContact Shirley Cave � 020 8540 8469Venue Christ Church Centre, Coombe

Road, New Malden , KT3 4RERegistration 9.15 First game 10:00 Departure 17.45

4 DivisionsEntry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timerwhich you are willing to lend

Tea, Coffee and biscuits will be providedCheques payable to S I Cave, 14 LindenGate, 9 Church Walk, Raynes Park,London, SW20 9DL

Leicester (6 games)Saturday 25th FebruaryContact Marjorie Smith� 01162 551176Venue The Church of the Blessed

Sacrament, Gooding Avenue, Leicester

Registration 9:30First game 10:15 Departure 17:303 Divisional tournament

Tea/Coffee available on arrival and after thefourth game. Entry costs: £10.50 for ABSP member

£12.50 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timeryou are prepared to lend.

Cheques payable to Leicester West EndScrabble Club MP event and sent toMarjorie Smith, 9 Brazil Street, Leicester,LE2 7JA

45

Peterborough (6 games)Free Challenge EventSaturday 18th FebruaryContact Chris Hawkins� 01733-223202Emergency Number� 07879-885158Venue Millfield Community Centre,

439 Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 2PE

Registration 9:30 First game 10:00 Departure 17:45

2/3 divisional tournament depending onentriesEntry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member

£14.50 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timeryou are prepared to lend.

If entering this and Peterborough event on18th March, deduct £6 from total entry fee

Cheques payable to Peterborough ScrabbleClub, 39 Peterborough Road, Eye,Peterborough, PE6 7YA

Scottish Masters (invitation only)18th - 19th February

Contact Neil Scott� 01224 639291

Andover (6 games)Sunday 12th February

6th GRAND HAMPSHIRE OPENSCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP (competitive)Incorporating6th ANNUAL TEST VALLEY SCRABBLECHAMPIONSHIP (recreational 5 or 6games depending on demand)

Contact Alan Bailey� 023 9238 4360In emergency on the day� 07763 894738Venue John Hanson School, Floral

Way, Andover SP10 3PB

Registration 09:15 First game 10:30 Departure 18.30Entry costs: £17.00 for ABSP member

£19.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timeryou are prepared to lend.

£10 for the recreational section

Hot lunch will be provided as willTea/Coffee in breaksCheques payable to Andover and DistrictScrabble Club, C/o Alan Bailey, 84 EastLodge Park, Farlington, Portsmouth, P061AQ

Nottingham Nomads (16 games)Saturday 4th-Sunday 5th February

Contact Clive Spate

� 0115-920-0208

West Sussex (6 games)Sunday 29th JanuaryContact Peter Hall� 01903-775396Venue The Woodlands Centre,

Woodlands Avenue, Rustington, West Sussex

Registration 9:15First game 10:15 Departure 17:45

3/4 divisional tournament.Tea/Coffee available all day but lunch is notprovided.Entry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timer

Cheques payable to Rustington ScrabbleClub and sent to Peter Hall, 34 LawrenceAvenue, Rustington, West Sussex, BN163HX

47

Melton Mowbray (6 games)Sunday 4th JuneContact Maureen Rayson� 01664 563330Venue Council Offices, Nottingham

Road, Melton Mowbray, Leics.Charity event in support of the Mayor'sappealRegistration 10:00 First game 10:302 divisional tournament.

Tea/Coffee available on arrival and aftergame 4. Food will not be providedEntry costs: £11.00 for ABSP member

£13.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timer

Cheques payable to Melton MowbrayScrabble Club, and sent to MaureenRayson, 57 Highfield Avenue, MeltonMowbray, Leics. LE13 0NQClosing date for entries 21st May 2006

Lothersdale Hotel, Morecambe12th - 15th May

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705

Bourne (6 games)Sunday 7th MayContact Betty Benton(� 01778 425234Venue Bourne Corn ExchangeRegistration 09.15First game 10:00 Departure 18.002/3 divisional tournament of up to 96players

Tea/Coffee available on all dayEntry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timer

Cheques payable to Bourne and DistrictScrabble Club and sent to:Betty Benton, Walnut Farm, Twenty,Bourne, Lincs, PE10 0BHClosing Date for entries 22nd April 2006

Bournemouth Round Robin(6 games)Sunday 7th MayContact Ruth Marsden� 01202 707148Venue Rooper Hall, 5 Victoria Park

Road, Moordown, Bournemouth

Emergency on day only 07720 949 825

Registration 09:30 First game 10:10 Departure 17.30Tea/Coffee available throughout the dayEntry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member

£14.50 for non-ABSP memberCheques payable to Bournemouth ScrabbleTournament and sent to:Ruth Marsden, 27 Spencer Road, CanfordCliffs, Poole, BH13 7ETClosing date for entries 1st May

Newcastle (5 games)Saturday 22nd AprilContact Michael Murray'� 0191 2412521Emergency No on day'� 0191 267 4242Venue West Denton Community

Association, Hillhead Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Registration 10.00First game 10:30 Departure 17.302/3 Divisional depending on entries

Refreshments available most of the day,food facility expected to be open at thevenueEntry costs: £10.50 for ABSP member

£12.50 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timerwhich you are willing to lend

Cheques payable to Newcastle ScrabbleClub, and sent to:Rona Falconer, 18 Nuns Moor Crescent,Fenham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 9BEClosing Date for entries 8th April

Exeter ISCA Event (6 games)Friday 14th-Saturday 15th AprilContact Ronnie Reid

Exeter Easter Event (19 games)Friday 14th-Saturday 15th April� 01256 354604

Durham Event (10 games)Sat. 8th - Sun 9th April

Contact Laura Finley� 0191-565-4079

Best Western, Berkeley, Worthing28th April - 2nd May

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705

Southampton (6 games)Sunday 19th MarchContact Alan Bailey� 023 9238 4360Venue Hedge End Village Hall (close

to M27) n.b. NEW VENUEEmergency no on day� 07763 894738Registration 09:05 - 09.45 First game 10:00 Departure 17:50

4 Divisional tournament A-DTea and coffee will be available duringsome breaks and before startEntry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member

£14.50 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timeryou are prepared to lend.

Cheques payable to Southampton ScrabbleClub, C/o Alan Bailey, 84 East Lodge Park,Farlington, Portsmouth, P06 1AQ

Peterborough (6 games)5 Point Penalty Challenge Event (Rated)Saturday 18th MarchContact Chris Hawkins� 01733-223202Emergency Number� 07879-885158Venue Millfield Community Centre,

439 Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 2PE

Registration 9:30 First game 10:00 Departure 17:45

2/3 divisional tournament depending onentriesEntry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member

£14.50 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timeryou are prepared to lend.

If entering this and Peterborough event on18th February, deduct £6 from total entry fee

Cheques payable to Peterborough ScrabbleClub, 39 Peterborough Road, Eye,Peterborough, PE6 7YA

East Sussex (6 games)Saturday 18th March 2006Contact Ed Breed� 01424 219334Venue Hailsham Community Hall,

Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, BN27 2AE

Registration 09:00 Entries not accepted after 09.45

Departure 17.45

2/3 divisional tournament.Tea/Coffee available at points during theday but lunch is not provided.Entry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberDeduct 50p if bringing a timer

Cheques payable to East Sussex ScrabbleTournament and sent to Ed Breed, 19Magdalen Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, EastSussex. TN40 1SB

46

48

Answers to Edgeways

The 5-Minute Anagram TestA. LENGTHEN OUTRAGE ANOTHER SDOAPIER EPITAPH

ILLEGAL LARGEST READILY FOLIAGE RETIREE

B. COTERIE BEDPOST PENNAME UNKEMPT DYNASTYAMMONIA ANXIETY BREADTH PRAIRIE BEHESTS

C. ELYSIAN BIOTECH WEALTHS DECORUM ULULATEFATUOUS ORIFICE QUIESCE MADEIRA MOLERAT

D. PHEAZAR DEWLAPT PULSIDGE WRIZLED PRELUDIKABELES TEENYBOP ECDYSON PSOCIDS CYATHUS

Meet My TwinINDOORS RANCHED LABOURS COMRADESUNDIAL CARTOON GALLEON HAILINGANGUISH TORTURE NASALLY BEDROCKESTEEMS ECSTASY SUITORS MISCUESRAFFLES SQUEALS GULCHES GALLING

Anagrid

Cryptogram 1=F, 2=Y, 3=L, 4=I, 5=X, 6=J, 7=E, 8=W, 9=Z, 10=H, 11=D, 12=V, 13=B,14=N, 15=S, 16=G, 17=A, 18=T, 19=R, 20=K, 21=C, 22=O, 23=M,24=U, 25=P, 26=Q.

T W A D D L E R O UK I A I E A N L I N GL U C E N C E S O E DO K D G W R E A K E RO R E X I S E S I R RC D E D E A S H I N GH E L I S T O P T A O DE Y T A M A R I N W ES H O M L O C O W E E D

A J U T A G E S N A IB T R D E R M A T I C

I D Y L L I C L E H AA E N S I L T I E S T

A B R A I D S K A R ES P H E E L L E S S

Salisbury (6 games)Sunday 15th OctoberContact Bob Lynn� 01722-325623Emergency Number� 0771-818-9630Venue Winterbourne Glebe Hall,

Winterbourne Dauntsey, Salisbury

Registration 09:50First game 10:30 Departure 18.00Round RobinTea, coffee, biscuits and cake availablebetween games. Lunch is not providedEntry costs: £13.00 for ABSP member

£14.00 for non-ABSP memberCheques payable to Robert Lynn ScrabbleAccount, and addressed to Robert Lynn, 4 George Street, Salisbury,.SP2 7BA

Bournemouth Round Robin(6 games)Sunday 1st OctoberContact Ruth Marsden� 01202 707148Venue Rooper Hall, 5 Victoria Park

Road, Moordown, Bournemouth

Emergency on day only 07720 949 825

Registration 09:30

First game 10:10 Departure 17.303/4 Divisional tournamentTea/Coffee available throughout the dayEntry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member

£14.50 for non-ABSP memberCheques payable to Bournemouth ScrabbleTournament and sent to:Ruth Marsden, 27 Spencer Road, CanfordCliffs, Poole, BH13 7ETClosing date for entries 24th September

Norwich (6 games)Sunday 17th SeptemberContact Carol Smith� 01603 898791Venue Hethersett Village Hall,

Hethersett, Norwich, NorfolkRegistration 09.30First game 10:15 Departure 18.00

3 divisional tournament.Tea/Coffee and homemade cakes provided(but not lunch)Entry costs: £10.00 for ABSP member

£12.00 for non-ABSP memberNo further discounts

Cheques payable to Carol Smith, 31 Christine Road, Spixworth, Norwich,NR10 3PH

Lothersdale Hotel, Morecambe15th - 18th September

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705

Nottingham Nomads (16 games)Saturday 5th-Sunday 6th August

Contact Clive Spate� 0115-920-0208

Clifton Hotel, Penrith21st - 24th July

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705

New MaldenSaturday 15th July

Details to be announced

Summer Matchplay1st-2nd July

Details to be announced

Cairn Hotel, Harrogate16th - 19th June

Contact Viv Beckmann� 0191-273-1705