TAKE

August 11, 2009 11:06 PM

We called this Scrabble variation "Take," but it seems no one else calls it that. What's the most common name?

Back at college, we basically threw away the Scrabble board and played "Take" instead. Rules: turn over all of the Scabble pieces (usually from two sets of Scrabble so there were a ton of letters), and everyone begins with seven letters. The first person to make a word/words with those tiles (e.g. one seven-letter word or two interconnected words, like d-o-g, and then playing off of the -g- with g-a-m-e-s) yells "TAKE," and everyone has to take another tile.

So basically, everyone is building their own personal Scrabble board off of the letters they draw, and every time someone has used all of their personal letters, they yell "TAKE." To win, you are the player to yell "TAKE" when there are no more letters left in the pile. Then the other players check your interconnected words to make sure everything is kosher, and then you've won.

The name "Take" seems to be specific to my college; Of maybe the 30 people I've mentioned the game to in NYC, none of them have even heard this particular variation, and all are regular Scabble players. The only time I've met someone who has played a similar Scrabble variation called it by another name (can't remember what).

I've searched Google high and low for proof that we're not the only people playing this variation, but I can't find anything under "Take," and I can't seem to locate it by a different name.

HALP! Are we the only ones playing Take; or, under what name is everyone else playing under?

posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches to sports, hobbies, & recreation (19 comments total)

This sounds like fun, but I just have one question. What does the person who uses all their tiles do when they yell "TAKE"? Draw seven more? Or what?
posted by Precision at 11:10 PM on August 11

When someone yells "TAKE" (and you can only yell "TAKE" once you've incorporated all of your letters in your personal interconnected board), everyone takes one tile from the pool of tiles in the middle.

And it is a load of fun. Each game lasts around 7-10 minutes depending on how many people you have playing. We play w/ mainly writers and editors, and I'm constantly surprised that this isn't a dominant variation of the game. Then again, maybe we're the rubes calling it by the non-standard name!
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 11:19 PM on August 11

I know it as speed scrabble, but wikipedia's standard name appears to be Take Two.
posted by inkyz at 11:19 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]

We called it 'Take Two' back in 90s when I played it (and yes, it is a load of fun).
posted by pompomtom at 11:22 PM on August 11

Ah, so that's what they call it in town. Thanks, inkyz! "Speed Scrabble" seems to be the common name. I thought I'd heard "Scribble," and after some cross-searching, it looks like that's another name for it.

And now I can sleep.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 11:27 PM on August 11

Sounds like one of the essential features of Bananagrams...PEEL!
posted by sagwalla at 12:36 AM on August 12 [3 favorites]

So I yell "TAKE", and I pick up one tile? And if I can throw it onto my grid I can yell "TAKE" again? I guess I'd have to play it to really get it?
posted by Precision at 12:38 AM on August 12

Oh man, memories of the drinking game we played called "Speed Scrabble" are hazily coming to mind... Same rules as Take Two (always wondered the real name of the game) but players had to drink when another player turned over certain letters or could make sexual words, etc. Fun times.
posted by lazywhinerkid at 1:42 AM on August 12

I played this recently as "Bananagrams," which sagwalla mentioned.
posted by web-goddess at 2:18 AM on August 12

Yes, we play it as "Bananagrams," which is the name it's commercially produced under. It comes in an awesome little cloth banana and everything. I was introduced to the game as "Speed Scrabble," though.
posted by elisabethjw at 2:35 AM on August 12

I can't believe I hadn't heard of this until now. AskMe ftw!
posted by Kreiger at 3:03 AM on August 12

Bananagrams. Comes in a yellow banana-ish bag at Target even.
posted by zpousman at 5:43 AM on August 12

i learned this as Take Three.

so very addictive.
posted by gursky at 7:42 AM on August 12

play this quite often as "Speed Scrabble". and it is rather entertaining. especially with booze. more so than normal scrabble.
posted by mary8nne at 7:45 AM on August 12

Another vote for calling it Speed Scrabble. It is the only type of Scrabble I ever want to play. And we say "draw" instead of "take." And (self-indulgent story time) we learned it several years ago from some folks who were waiting in line with us to see Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind .
posted by Xalf at 7:46 AM on August 12

Precision , pretty much, but when you throw it onto your grid it has to be a part of a word. Then you'd yell "TAKE" and you (and everyone else) would take another tile. Basically, once you've used all of your letters in your grid (which, obviously, you can disassemble and reassemble as often as you'd like), you yell "TAKE."

My explanation isn't the best; the Wiki for Take Two describes it more clearly. And it really only takes one game to learn it. And yes, it goes very well with beer-- not uncommon for us to take a satchel w/ a few boards' worth of pieces (we've pretty much forgotten about normal Scrabble) and head to the nearest bar.

And how can such a majestically frantic game be called Bananagram? Shame on you, Hasbro.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 9:12 AM on August 12

If you buy the Bananagrams version, please carry it home in the same bag as your groceries.
posted by soelo at 9:23 AM on August 12

My friends and I always call it "The Crossword Game".

We also play "The Anagram Game" where tiles are flipped over until someone can grab a word out of the pile. The letters in that word can be stolen to form a larger new word in combination with tiles from the center.
posted by abirae at 9:47 AM on August 12

My friends and I always call it "The Crossword Game".

Like others, we always called it Take Two. (Interesting, IRHM, that you play with taking only one tile. Taking two probably makes the game faster and more frenetic.)

We also play "The Anagram Game" where tiles are flipped over until someone can grab a word out of the pile. The letters in that word can be stolen to form a larger new word in combination with tiles from the center.

We played that too, but called it Squabble.

Speed Scrabble, I thought, was just regular Scrabble with a time limit (say, 45 seconds or a minute) on each turn.
posted by torticat at 10:44 AM on August 12