135 competition/games/scrabble.p
Description
This article is from the Puzzles FAQ, by Chris Cole chris@questrel.questrel.com and Matthew Daly mwdaly@pobox.com with numerous contributions by others.
135 competition/games/scrabble.p
What are some exceptional Scrabble Brand Crossword Game (TM) games?
competition/games/scrabble.s
The shortest Scrabble game:
The Scrabble Players News, Vol. XI No. 49, June 1983, contributed by
Kyle Corbin of Raleigh, NC:
[J] J U S S O X [X]U
which can be done in 4 moves, JUS, SOX, [J]US, and [X]U.
In SPN Vol. XI, No. 52, December 1983, Alan Frank presented what
he claimed is the shortest game where no blanks are used, also
four moves:
C
WUD
CUKES
DEY
S
This was followed in SPN, Vol. XII No. 54, April 1984, by Terry Davis
of Glasgow, KY:
V
V O[X]
[X]U,
which is three moves. He noted that the use of two blanks prevents
such plays as VOLVOX. Unfortunately, it doesn't prevent SONOVOX.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Record for the highest Scrabble score in a single turn (in a legal position):
According to the Scrabble Players Newspaper (since renamed to
Scrabble Players News) issue 44, p13, the highest score for one
turn yet discovered, using the Official Scrabble Players
Dictionary, 1st ed. (the 2nd edition is now in use in club and
tournament play) and the Websters 9th New Collegiate Dictionary,
was the following:
d i s e q u i l i b r a t e D . . . . . . . e . . . . . . e . . . . . . . e . . . . . o m r a d i o a u t o g r a p(h)Y . . . . . . . . . . . w a s T . . . . . . . . . . b e . . h . . . . . . . . . . a . . g o . . . c o n j u n c t i v a L . . . . . . . . . . . . . n o . . . . . . . f i n i k i n G . . . . . . . a . . . (l) e i . . . . . . . d . s p e l t Z . . . . . . w e . . . . . . e . . . . . . r . . . . . . o r m e t h o x y f l u r a n e S
for 1682 points.
According to the May 1986 issue of GAMES, the highest known score achievable
in one turn is 1,962 points. The word is BENZOXYCAMPHORS formed across the
three triple-word scores on the bottom of the board. Apparently it was
discovered by Darryl Francis, Ron Jerome, and Jeff Grant.
As for other Scrabble trivia, the highest-scoring first move based on the
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary is 120 points, with the words JUKEBOX,
QUIZZED, SQUEEZE, or ZYMURGY. If Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Dictionary
is used then ZYXOMMA, worth 130 points, can be formed.
The highest-scoring game, based on Webster's Second and Third and on the
Oxford English Dictionary, was devised by Ron Jerome and Ralph Beaman and
totalled 4,142 points for the two players. The highest-scoring words in
the game were BENZOXYCAMPHORS, VELVETEEN, and JACKPUDDINGHOOD.
The following example of a SCRABBLE game produced a score of 2448 for one
player and 1175 for the final word. It is taken from _Beyond Language_ (1967)
by Dmitri Borgman (pp. 217-218). He credits this solution to Mrs. Josefa H.
Byrne of San Francisco and implies that all words can be found in _Webster's
Second Edition_. The two large words (multiplied by 27 as they span 3 triple
word scores) are ZOOPSYCHOLOGIST (a psychologist who treats animals rather
than humans) and PREJUDICATENESS (the condition or state of being decided
beforehand). The asterisks (*) represent the blank tiles. (Please excuse
any typo's).
Board Player1 Player2
Z O O P S Y C H O L O G I S T ABILITY 76 ERI, YE 9
O N H A U R O W MAN, MI 10 EN 2
* R I B R O V E I FEN, FUN 14 MANIA 7
L T I K E G TABU 12 RIB 6
O L NEXT 11 AM 4
G I AX 9 END 6
I T IT, TIKE 10 LURE 6
* Y E LEND, LOGIC*AL 79 OO*LOGICAL 8
A R FUND, JUD 27 ATE, MA 7
L E N D M I ROVE 14 LO 2
E A Q DARE, DE 13 ES, ES, RE 6
W A X F E N U RE, ROW 14 IRE, IS, SO 7
E T A B U I A DARED, QUAD 22 ON 4
E N A M D A R E D WAX, WEE 27 WIG 9
P R E J U D I C A T E N E S S CHIT, HA 14 ON 2
PREJUDICATENESS,
AN, MANIAC,
QUADS, WEEP 911 OOP 8
ZOOPSYCHOLOGIST,
HABILITY, TWIG,
ZOOLOGICAL 1175
--------------------------------------
Total: 2438 93
F, N, V, T in
loser's hand: +10 -10
--------------------------------------
Final Score: 2448 83
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is possible to form the following 14 7-letter OSPD words from the
non-blank tiles:
HUMANLY
FATUOUS
AMAZING
EERIEST
ROOFING
TOILERS
QUIXOTE
JEWELRY
CAPABLE
PREVIEW
BIDDERS
HACKING
OVATION
DONATED
Continue to:
My Books
