Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Scrabble

I have a multi-day Scrabble tournament soon and a brand-new cold. Help!

iftheaccidentwill — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:04:36 -0800

I have a multi-day Scrabble tournament soon and a brand-new cold. Help! I've searched AskMeFi but haven't had any luck; if I've missed something feel free to point it out and I'll (try to) delete my question.

I can feel a cold coming on (Sunday). I'm congested and have a sore throat. On Wednesday I'm flying half way across the country to play in a multi-day Scrabble tournament. This means 8 hour days of nerding it up.

Generally I do not take cold medicine, so I'm a bit at a loss here. What should I take (day and/or night) so that I can minimize symptoms but, most importantly, not be a zombie. I'm going to need to stay somewhat energized and fairly sharp. Several of my classmates have had a cold recently, and it lasted for quite a long time. No idea if this is the same thing, or something new and improved.

Also, so far as I know, there is no drug-testing program, so if you know a cold medicine that will also give me super-duper powerful anagramming abilities, that'd be peachy.

I have two B's, an S, a A, a C, and an E ... what do I do now?

anastasiav — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:12:30 -0800

How do I become a better Scrabble player? On my vacation, I got my ass handed to me by a really expert Scrabble player. Her tip for me was to play on a specific on-line site, which I've started doing. But my problem is still the same: I see the letters but can't make words out of them. The website offers me one hint per game, and that's all. And so I'm getting frustrated and not really any better.

Other than memorizing the list of two letter words, what can I do to become a better scrabble player?

TAKE

NolanRyanHatesMatches — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:06:40 -0800

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?

How do I find people to play Scrabble in-person?

iftheaccidentwill — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:03:00 -0800

How do I find people to play Scrabble in-person? Thank goodness for the small degree of anonymity afford by the Internet. I have a shameful secret: I love Scrabble to a (probably) embarrassing degree.

I play online, compete in tournaments, and occasionally attend the local club. What I'd like to do, though, is to find people to play with, in-person, that are roughly my age. I'm in my late 20's, and most of the people at club are pushing 70. I certainly don't mind games with them, but would appreciate the opportunity to socialize a bit more, too.

Any suggestions for how to meet people who might be in the 20-35 range, who might enjoy a pint and a patio, along with a few games?

It's probably not particularly relevant to the question, but I'm in Canada, have generally good hygiene, and no outstanding warrants.

It was like a game of Scrabble with hundreds of players all going at the same time.

Cool Papa Bell — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:33:08 -0800

Help me find this cool site! Site was an example of crowd dynamics. The site presented a shared space and a random assortment of letters, like Scrabble tiles, that could be dragged around the screen to spell out words. Multiple people could interact with the board simultaneously, either helping each other spell words or swiping letters from other people's words.

Boggle Clubs in NYC

Falconetti — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:33:52 -0800

I've become obsessed with Boggle (or Boggle-like games), especially when a SOWPODS dictionary is used. Are there any Boggle clubs in New York City? I like Scrabble a lot too, but I am specifically looking for local Boggle meetups.

What's the difference between Lexulous and Wordscraper?

box — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:14:38 -0800

What's the difference between Lexulous and Wordscraper?

scrabble rule help!!

slograffiti — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:32:13 -0800

scrabble fight! ok, so we are having a dilemma. can you form the same word two times in one turn in the game of scrabble? more inside!! we know that you cannot form the same word twice in TWO turns (i.e. person one makes the word "in" and then person two makes the word "in")...Scrabble rules on box and online say "NEW WORDS must be formed in each consecutive turn..." but can one player make the same word twice in ONE turn? (i.e. "in" across and then "in" down again?)

I not only need an opinion, but also a LINK to where I can verify the rule online. My gut is saying you cannot make the same word twice, regardless of how you do it, but my fellow scrabble players dispute this. Thanks (in advance).

Simple, fun, online two-player games?

Robot Johnny — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:15:29 -0800

Can you recommend some simple, fun, online two-player games suitable for two people chatting over a webcam? Long-distance relationship here. When apart we like to use Skype and play games together online, and I'm wondering what else is out there.

We're big fans of Scrabble and Scramble on Facebook, so suggestions of any other Facebook games that let us play together/against simultaneously (or back-and-forth like Scrabble) would be welcome. Word games and crosswords are particularly welcome.

We've also enjoyed iSketch.net. No Puzzle Pirates or MMORPGs, please.

Scrabble on Lexulous?

rikschell — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:50:01 -0800

Has anyone in the US or Canada succeeded in using a proxy server to play a regulation-style Scrabble game on Lexulous? Is there any other way?

I have some letters; will you trade me for words?

47triple2 — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:56:15 -0800

What's it called where you take a group of letters and make words out of them? (Not anagram!) Okay, this has been bugging me forever. I want to take a group of letters, and using the letters, make words. For example:

abcdefg

Gives me: Cab, Face, Cede, Fag, deaf, bee...

What's it called when you do this? Is there an online program to do this for you? (I run Mac if you have an OSX program to do this.)

Thanks!

Scrabble

A189Nut — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:58:56 -0800

Scrabble anxiety I'm going out with a new lady who is very good at Scrabble. I am hopeless. My word scores are single figures and consist of CAT, DOG, BALL, etc. I just don't seem to have the facility for this. Will practice help or am I wasting my time?

hardscrabble scripting

pinto — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:45:37 -0800

Is it possible to write a greasemonkey script or FF add-on to have the online scrabble dictionary default to exact matches only? It's sooooooo annoying to have to select the radio box every time!

Don't Tase Me, Hasbro

vanoakenfold — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:21:58 -0800

In light of the recent Mattel/Hasbro suit against Facebook's Scrabulous application, what witty sayings can I spell out in Scrabble tiles to voice my perturbation with the suit? So far I've got (using blank tiles for punctuation/etc). Credit will be given to MeFi username and posted blog-ward =P I may reword it slightly to account for a dearth of necessary tiles, although I've got multiple sets. Using obscure OSD-kosher words nets you a triple word score.

Hasbro? Has Broke
Just be happy with the free advertising Hasbro
Imagine a PR nightmare of "pulling a Hasbro"
Don't tase me, Hasbro

Any Scrabble apps for Intel Macs with networked play?

VeniceGlass — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:39:53 -0800

Any Scrabble apps for Intel Macs with networked play? Not sure why this is so hard to find (unless there are none)!

Advice on breaking into the newspaper puzzle business?

vanoakenfold — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 08:40:21 -0800

I've invented my own type of unique, newspaper-publishable, word game. I would like to either make weekly editions of it to sell to weekly newspapers... individually by sending in months' worths of puzzles (or however they are distributed, such as by email/pdf/whatever) or perhaps license the rights to the format to newspaper/calendars/etc publishers thereby being able to create their own.

I've been inclined to perhaps starting out in smaller papers for negligible fees until/if it catches on, but I'm curious as to how it could be prevented from other papers and/or other word-game writer/editors from just duplicating my format (perhaps altering one aspect to make it unique) and creating their own without any royalty action taking place.

Secondarily, would you personally, with given such a task, prefer going the slow-buildup route of establishing a fanbase with negligible fees like I had intended, or querying the syndicators right off the bat instead?

Any links to recommendations or books about breaking into the newspaper puzzle business? I've considered even making up a whole slough of them and sending them off to a coloringbook publisher to (relatively) inexpensively print mass quantities to sell in book form also.

I'm certain it'll start out being a solo effort of just a hobby-level income, but perhaps if I can build it up great enough..

My mom loves Scrabble!

GarageWine — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:18:33 -0800

Scrabble help! I'm looking for a handheld Scrabble game that isn't this. My mom has become a Scrabble fanatic. I'm looking for a handheld version that she can play with when none of her Scrabble buddies are around. I'm aware of the games for PC, but she doesn't really like "the computer" and would rather sit in an easy chair or cafe while she's playing. The only thing I've found is the Scrabble Express Handheld that seems to be a bit dated. Thanks for the help!

Scrabblegrams puzzle & answer archive?

vanoakenfold — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 02:48:36 -0800

Looking for a site that posts daily Scrabblegrams and answers for previous puzzles. Dozens of newspaper sites post comics and such, but what about word puzzles like this and Jumble? Actually just looking for the answers to March 26, 2006's Scrabblegram, but I figured there would have been a site with current puzzles and previous answers to browse -- which would be better.

DIDACT is an anagram of ADDICT

lalochezia — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 10:53:19 -0800

Where can I find someone to make a simple alteration to a OS X java program? This program allows me to play internet scrabble on isc.ro I play person-to-person internet scrabble on isc. The client that interfaces with the server is written in java. On the PC version, in order to place tiles on the scrabble board you can click on the place you want the word to appear, and then type the word - this is fast.

This functionality is not present in the mac version - you have to drag each tile into place and then drop it - this is slow.

I'd like to be able to type my words onto the scrabble board on my mac.

I'd be willing to pay someone a nominal fee to do this.

The PC client and mac clients can be found here.

Note: The mac file as downloaded is a .jar file.

I used to play 3 minute speed scrabble games (over 4000 in 18 mos), but now because I'm on a mac, I have to play 8-9 minute games. I've only played 2000 of these and I need to play more quickly! Yes, that's an average of ca. 1hr scrabble every day of my life! I'm a junkie.

Why isn't 'commotion' in the Scrabble dictionary?

mark7570 — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 15:15:43 -0800

Why is the word "commotion" not in the Scrabble dictionary? I have the paperback official Scrabble players' dictionary, and it's not in there in any form.

2-person board games

selfnoise — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 10:36:44 -0800

FollowUpFilter: This question about board games elicited some great answers. I really need a good game for two players, however. My wife is a big backgammon and scrabble fan, and I'm looking for something else that we can play together. Any ideas are welcome.

Scrabble and Poker for OSX

blueshammer — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 13:17:08 -0800

Games for OS X: I'm looking for a good Scrabble clone and a poker game with quality AI. I've Googled and rooted around, but am now looking for trusted recommendations. Anyone? Will I get best results simply playing online? I should mention that my preferred poker game is Hold 'Em, since that's what I play on the weekends with the boys, but am willing to be flexible on that for the right game.