How to Date a Scrabble Player 101

Do you want your life to improve dramatically? Do you want to live in the lap of luxury? Do you want to spend your free time (which will actually be most of your time, unless you have to see your beauty counselor or personal stylist) on tropical beaches and cruises in the Caribbean? (Depending on the circumstances, Johnny Depp may be part of the package.)
If you’ve answered yes to at least one of the above, then all you have to do is date (or marry) a Scrabble player. I did and the result can be observed (and admired) below.



However, if you do decide to take this huge step, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
1. Pretend to be in raptures when your hubby tells you how he played ATROPINES for 149 points. Don’t tell me you don’t feel the thrill of that! It’s better than bungee jumping, I’m telling you.
2. Words such as TURGIDER, URCEOLI, CHOREGI or GENIZAH should be part of your current vocabulary.
3. Don’t even think that Jon Bon Jovi may be sexier than Nigel Richards. What, you don’t know who Nigel Richards is? Go home and do your homework before visiting this site again!
4. Be prepared to accept that word lists make as good interior decorations as any. I mean, who needs a Faberge egg when you can have the complete set of four-letter words spread out in your living room?
5. Be confident that if someone were to break into your house or attack you in the street, your Scrabble player’s steel biceps, fortified by months of carrying and lifting the Scrabble Dictionary, will be more than capable to protect you.
6. Of course… to be continued.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Being a Scrabble Wife

A fellow blogger posted the following question for debate:
“If there were no prize money in Scrabble, would you play as many tournaments as you do now, fewer tournaments, or none at all?”

I must say, that was a tough one. I mean, what would I do without all the money Adrian has made playing Scrabble? I’d probably have to give up my Hermes bags, my Prada shoes, my VanClef and Arpels jewelry and… oh, no, that would be too much, even my personal chauffeur! No, I don’t think I could be married to a man who made absolutely no money playing Scrabble. I know, it sounds extremely superficial, but a girl must look out for herself if she wants to survive in this cruel world.



Now, since I started talking about this profitable business, let me enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of being a Scrabble wife (or a Scrabble widow, as Paul brilliantly put it).

Advantages:

1. All the above-mentioned luxury items. Feel free to look at them at leisure in the shop windows or to browse the internet.
2. You will always have a dictionary handy. I mean, if you are sitting on the toilet and feel the incontrollable urge to know what “wymote” or “grihastha” means, all you have to do is stretch your arm and pick up the dictionary from the shelf. Then you can truly relax.
3. When your husband refuses to accompany you on meetings with your friends (and what can be more delightful than that?), at least you can excuse him and say that he’s training for the next competition.
4. Your husband will never complain if you spend an entire day at a beauty parlor: he would be too absorbed in his games/word study to notice that you’re not there. On the contrary, he would be happy that the usual buzzing which seems to float in your bedroom has gone. Also, considering his high winnings, he won’t ask you how much your new red highlights cost.

Disadvantages:

Honestly, I can’t think of any. I mean, what more can you wish for after you’ve seen the look of pure envy on your friends’ faces when you tell them that your husband is a Scrabble champion? Can anything compare with the bliss of hugging your husband after he’s won a game, you know, one of the “Rocky-Adrian” moments? (And yes, in this case I’m Adrian, not Rocky, although my husband’s name is Adrian.)
Is anything better than knowing that you can buy another sapphire necklace (and I’m only saying sapphire because I don’t like diamonds) using the latest check he has won at Scrabble, even if he only finished in top 60?
No, I’m telling you, Scrabble is a marvelous game, 100% recommended if you’re a shopaholic, brand-freak and luxury aficionado. We are so lucky that Bill Gates didn’t discover it before Microsoft made him famous, because now we would be talking about the Scrabble Empire and brand monopoly and we, poor mortals, wouldn’t be able to enjoy its benefits like we’re doing now.

Coming up next: How to Date a Scrabble Player 101

Tricktionary II

My job today, my dear reader, is to perswade you that the verbs PERSUADE and PERSWADE are different, even though they have the same meaning.Piece of cake! PERSWADE+D,S is an obsolete form of PERSUADE+D,R,S. I know what you`re thinking... I`m an excellent PERSUADER!

Tricktionary

I had been planning to introduce the Tricktionary for about three months. I wanted to call it the Scrabble Zone, but when my beloved wife frowned twice, I knew it was a mistake. So I thought harder, and came up with the Tricktionary. What is the Tricktionary? It`s the place where you can find what I like to call tricky words, words that apparently "behave" the same but in reality don`t.
Take the words ROYAL and LOYAL, two of my favourite words, that really come in handy when you try to teach your Japanese students phonics.
ROYAL can be a noun ( a size of printing paper) and an adjective ( related to a king or queen), while LOYAL (faithful) is an adjective and doesn`t take an S. UNROYAL is a valid word in Scrabble but UNLOYAL* isn`t! Both adjectives are comparable. The comparative form of ROYAL can be spelt with one L, while the comparative form of LOYAL can be spelt with one or two Ls. And let`s not forget ROYALTY , LOYALTY, ROYALLY and LOYALLY, the perfect tongue twisters in my ESL book! That is the difference between ROYAL and LOYAL.
ROYAL+S ROYALER ROYALEST UNROYAL ROYALLY ROYALTY
LOYAL(no-S) LOYALER (LOYALLER) LOYALEST (LOYALLEST) LOYALLY LOYALTY

Mihai Pantis @ hotnews.ro

It took the Romanian journalists a lot of time to come up with a good article about Scrabble. This one is about Mihai winning the B Division at the Uk Open, and it`s written by Marian Chiriac. Well written. I wish I had the time to translate it into English!

http://think.hotnews.ro/pantis-paceaura-pacfong-pachesca.html/comment-page-1#comment-4869

Facebook Scrabble ( David Sutton vs Adrian Tamas)

David Sutton and I are having quite a Scrabble marathon at the moment. We played 222 games and the score is 111-111! I took 239 blanks and spotted 491 bonuses, while David only took 211 blanks and found 436 bonuses. I wonder if the six extra blanks are the result of a glitch or the result of human error...

Causeway Scrabble Challenge 2009 ( Some nice words in the Open Division)

Yesterday evening, I spent a couple of hours looking at the played bonuses in the Open Division. I was honestly impressed with some of these plays! I`m sure that at least five of these players will be in the Premier Division next year.

Patrick Mpundu ( CLUTTERING, DIGENETIC, PORCELAIN, UNDRAINED), Thatcha Koowirat ( INSULATOR, OUTLAYING, REARMOUSE, DIAPENTE)and Kevin McMahon ( BLOODIEST, DOPAMINES, TRAHISONS) proved that they really have an eye for long words.

Some nice finds in the Open Division:
Mark Kenas: HARIJAN,
Peter Kougi: KOFTGARI, RUCKMAN
Cheah Siu Hean: SPATZLE, NENUPHAR
Theodoro Martus: GLUHWEIN, VINIFERA
Ralph Lobo: LACTIFIC, CRIMINI, TOROSITY
YEO KIANG HONG: MENOPOME, OGHAMIST, CHIGOES
Allan Oyende: TERAFLOP, PARERGON
Goh Jiang Pern: CRONYISM, GENIZAH
Taewan Sutthasin: CHOREGI, WAINSCOT
Kevin McMahon: SHEQALIM, REVIVIFY, LISTSERV
Mark Schellenberg: PHENAZIN, KULTURS, GUMBOTIL
Michael Akonor: INTIFADA
Carmen Dodd: TEETOTAL, NEINEIS
Michael Gongolo: MEBOSES
Ellie Dangoor: ZEDOARY
Anand Buddhdev: SHEQELS, GINGELI, BITESIZE
Andrew Golding: FOLLICLE, HAROSETH, BASENJI
Karl Chin Hon Yew: BLIPVERT
Thacha Koowirat: STEGODON
Yannakit Sirisup: MEGILPS
Oyeleke Oluwaseun: RUFIYAA
Lim Sha Lyn: OCTOPOD
Cedric Stewart Lewis: QUEENDOM
Willy Mwangi: HORNBILL
Chim Wai main: BREEZILY
Pui Cheng Wui: PANGOLIN
Daniel Srichwala: REPEOPLE, WEEVILED
Graeme Lock Lee: MASTODON
Victor Owokere: FALSENESS, LINGAMS
Antonio Malonzo: ROBORANT
Moses Owugah: QUIDAMS
Olabatoke Aka: PLURALISE, VIDAMES, CATGUTS
Tony Hunt: CARYATID
Phillip Hamilton: UNARMORED
Oscar Rivera: GOUTWORT, BESPRENT
Heather Long: EVZONES
Liz Fagerlund: DRUXIEST
Paul Richards: SHAKEOUT
Thavachai Tivavanvong: TAUTAUG
Sharon Sorensen: TUPPENCE
Larry Serrano: FRUITFUL