meet my friend ... Franklin

I have a new friend. It is the portable version of the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary by Franklin (referred to in Scrabble circles as a "Franklin"). I first heard about this when I read Word Freak and now I've tracked one down. Mine is the more recent model ... or the SCR-228 rather than the SCR-226. The difference is that the SCR-228 is based on the OSPD 4th edition and you can input a special code that will allow you to access the OWL2 words that are not included in the OSPD4. So make sure that if you order this you get the SCR-228 (available from the NSA shop Word Gear) and be wary of older models you may find on eBay. The SCR-228 says "Deluxe Edition" in the top right corner. I used to use my Palm Pilot to check my Scrabble words but learned that the Handmark Scrabble program is based off of the OSPD3 dictionary. I have to say that the Franklin is so much cooler to use (comparatively speaking). Why consult two dictionaries when you can just punch the word into the keypad and it will tell you the word, its pluralization, and a short definition (unless it's an OWL2 word and then it will just say "correct word" or "OWL2 word" ... we wouldn't want to offend anyone who bothered to input the code and now sees definitions to words like YID, TUP, and REDNECK). Oh, and as our club director discovered this device does not seem to include The Long List and some errata from the OWL2.

This device has some other cool features. You can input a pattern on the board (including bonus squares) and the letters that you have in your rack and it will tell you the best word that you can play there. Perfect for analyzing those challenged bingos later and seeing if you could have played something better. There are also three game modes for building your word knowledge. My favorite is "jumble" where you get a 5, 6, or 7 letter word (depending on the skill level you select) all jumbled up and you get three tries to find the correct word (sort of like Scrabble Grams). There is also a game called "mystery word" that works sort of like hangman. And lastly there is a guessing game called "word deduction" that works on a 12 question guess telling you when you have right letters and you have to figure out where they go.

The features that I think that I would use most would be the word lookup and the pattern lookup features. I need to try to track my racks better so that I can go back and analyze what my potential plays were at the time that I played them. I sometimes take a picture of an inviting rack or a tough rack so that I can try to figure this sort of thing out later and now I have an even better way to do this. For example, check out some of the sample racks that actually occurred to me over the two days of my first Scrabble tournament (blogged about here, here, and here). I put these patterns into my Franklin and it came up with a lot of great words that I could have played. Not all of them are bingos but they are interesting. I've included some of the more interesting or odd words here as examples of how this device can be helpful for improving your game.



QUiNsY, YaNQUi, FiQUe, QUaFf, QUakY, QUaY, QUerY, QUeY, QUiFf, QUaNt, QUeaN, QUeeN, QUerN, FlUNkY, FUNkY, FUnNY, sNUfFY, UNiFY, bUFfY, FaNcY, FAnNY, FawNY, FeNnY, FlUkY, FlUtY, FUbsY, FUggY, FUmY, gULFY, FaNUm, FoNdU



EPEE, NEEP, PEEN, PEG, GENE, ENG, NEE



STYLIST, SLITTY, LYSIS, SILTY, STYLI, SYLIS, SYLI, STILT, SLIT, TILT, TIL, TIT



[screwed] No suggestions ... pretty much how I was at that point in my game.



OIDIA, AIDE, IDEA, ODEA, ADO, ODA, ODE



ErUGO, GEEsE, GElEE, GEOdE, GOUgE, OGEE, rOGUE, rOUGE, sEGUE, tOGUE, vOGUE, yOGEE, aGEE, aGUE, dOGE, EGEr, GEE, mEOU, mOUE

Check out all of my Scrabble posts here or from my blog's sidebar.