pink and star trek scrabble?

Yesterday I was browsing the games section at my local Toys R Us and I came across something that caught my eye. I've seen Hasbro come up with strange editions of Scrabble (and many other versions of their games) to capture a new market including variants of Scrabble that were shaped like Shrek or were reworked for Pirates of the Caribbean. Well, this would appear to be the Star Trek version and, aside from not being a rotating board with fixed tile slots, it looks pretty awesome! Nevertheless, I won't be hoping to see it show up in my games cabinet as I am too married to the original game now. But I was impressed with it and I noticed that it purported to contain a special word list of playable Trek terms and seems to give bonus points to certain words.

Check it out:

Then I saw this obnoxious pink version of the game called "Designer's Edition" with everything being in pink and pastels. What's impressive about this board is that it actually folds up, rotates, and has the raised grid ... making the board club and tournament legal. Unlike the Star Trek board it doesn't have distracting images and isn't a non-standard board except for the color scheme. Notwithstanding the color scheme it is probably more tournament legal than the 75th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (the first fold up rotating board Hasbro has made) in that it doesn't sit higher than the opponents rack (you must display your tile count at all times for a Board to be legal. I can't tell you the number of times I heard someone complaining about the new Hasbro color scheme and how confusing it is that the Triple Letter Score is green, Triple Word Score is orange, and the Double Word Score is red (this was especially true at Nationals). My response to this was always that if they had been playing Scrabble that long it shouldn't be an excuse to not know where the bonus squares are.

I'm not a big fan of the color change either and I can only imagine the reaction that those players would have if someone showed up with this board:

I'm half tempted to try to show up to a tournament with one of these to see what sort of reaction I would get. Tee hee.

Note: this is the 99th post on this blog.

Let them eat cake

Two of our local Scrabblers have birthdays today, so before I even get started, happy birthday to Shelley Schiavone and Jim Merrill! If it seems unusual that two people in a group share a birthday, it really isn't. In fact, it only takes 23 people in a group for the chances of this happening to exceed 50% - and only 57 people for the chances to exceed 99%. (I like counterintuitive math problems.)

Since Aaron McGuffin's birthday is tomorrow, and NSA Club #767 met today anyway, it was turned into a birthday celebration complete with Scrabble cake. Here are a couple of pictures for those who missed the fun at Java Joint.

Here's the cake. It was a very dense chocolate sponge cake with gooey icing in the shape of a Scrabble board. It even had tiles atop which read: "HEY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLeY". The cake board underneath was a real Scrabble board - one of the cardboard ones, which I'm told is now ruined.

Here we see Dr. McGuffin making an incision into the patient. Please note the Scrabble logo peeking out at the bottom left of the photo - the aforementioned cake board.

I don't know what the "tiles" were made of, but I think it was something close to 100% pure sugar. I think I heard someone say there was cream cheese in the icing also. If so, I certainly blew my calorie count for the day - but it was fantastic.

Kudos to Jason at Java Joint for creating this masterpiece, and kudos to Amber for serving us with her usual aplomb and grace.

She is the King of Scrabble!

After months of dedicated studying and traveling to tournaments, all of our Tina's hard work is paying off! At the Cleveland Classic this past weekend, she won 11 out of 15 games! She placed second in her division, gained a LOT of rating points, and walked away with prize money!! I suspect she's on her way out of the baby leagues. Remember me when you're up in the top division, Tina.

The other three club members who competed at Strongsville did not fare so well. Chris, Brad and I all landed in the bottom thirds of our divisions. But we were buoyed by Tina's success. Even the lake-effect snow driven by crazy-cold winds didn't bring us down.

Tina also got many compliments about the three Scrabble boards she recently made. She made me a beautiful board with a Monet background. Pictures just don't capture how marvelous it is.


The board that she made for herself has very soothing, subtle patterns with a gold border. How could you get stressed playing on that board?


She made another board for artist Joe Larson with a Van Gogh theme and an offset grid. Very very nice. (Speaking of Joe, he too was at the tournament and I finally got to purchase his Gemini sculpture. Yay!)


She's going to start selling boards that are tailored to the buyers' requests. I told her how much I love Monet, so she was able to design my board with that in mind.

We here at WVScrabble are so so proud of Ms. Tina! She has shown us what dedication is all about. Her 2008 Scrabble Whirlwind Tour may be at an end, but the player lives on. She is the King of Scrabble!

Diamond Anniversary Scrabble commercial

Here's a short video showing the Diamond Anniversary Edition Scrabble board in action. And here's the review posted here earlier for those who are interested or missed it.



(Edit: Video now must be started manually.)

This is such a nifty commercial. It's quirky and geeky, and it captures the spirit of the game perfectly. I actually saw this commercial on TV a couple of weeks ago, and it's the first time I've seen Scrabble advertised on TV since the late 80s when it was "America's good time game".

The only question I have is: Why didn't they play CRAZING for the bingo? I know RACING is an obvious connection to toys there, and the toy race cars get to zoom around, but they could have easily continued the sequence by having one of the toy figures dressed up in a straightjacket and chasing all the race cars, screaming, "The colors are all different!!! Why?!?!? Oh, the humanity!!!...."

Maybe it's a good thing I'm not in advertising.

A review of Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition

It's finally here!

I picked up the Diamond Anniversary Edition Scrabble board right after lunch today at a local department store. Given some of the boards Hasbro has put out over the last decade or so, let's just say my hopes were not high... but I just had to buy one and see for myself.

Surprisingly, this is a rather good board. The new color scheme is horrid, of course... very disconcerting. But it's constructed well, the turning mechanism is both functional and unique, and the portability is a definite plus. And finally, they actually put something on the blank so it's not as easily braillable.

The grid is solid hard plastic, and it adequately holds tiles in place - I tried it with Protiles and the wooden tiles which came with the set, and they both sustained a good solid bump from the side without moving. I found that Protiles will fit in sideways, which opens the possibility of using this board in the same manner as an Ossie Mair board - that is, with the curved sections facing each player. (Yes, this is a blatant misorientation, but I believe if both players agree to play in this fashion from the beginning, it would probably be okay.)

It's made in China, but I expected this, since almost every mass-produced good in the country is anymore.

Here are a few pictures.
The case / board, all folded up and ready to go. The case is held together with some magnets hidden inside the plastic surface, so be careful with this board around credit cards, portable hard drives, and anything else sensitive to magnetic forces. The "turntable" is actually a series of small wheels on what becomes the bottom of the board. They just roll and the whole thing rotates. Very cool and innovative!

Here's the board unfolded with a couple of the curved racks on it. The racks are very cheaply made and probably should be replaced.






Blanks are your best friends, and in this case, so are diamonds.













A few of the included tiles scattered across the playing surface. (Yeah, I know... HaNDLES, HaNDSEL, and HoNDLES.)










This particular board has a small manufacturing defect, but it won't affect any games.










Some Protiles placed in the grid to see how they fit. And... they don't move!









A side view of the Protiles to show the depth at which they rest. The big brown thing at top left is a bag of dinner rolls.




Here are the drawers opened up, revealing the rules booklet and a place to put the racks and tile bag. The rules refer to the OSPD3, but the NSA does get a plug.






And finally, the board by itself, with nothing on it, to give a better view of the yucky new colors. Hopefully these make a rapid departure. Imagine if Coke changed their cans to green. It's just not right!


Overall, I think Hasbro is on the right track here from a manufacturing perspective. This board actually looks and feels like they put some effort into it. As for the color scheme, I can only attribute it to someone being on drugs who is hopefully now going through rehab.

NeoScrabble's Spring Fling

What started out as an inconvenience this week turned into an opportunity to represent West Virginia in a one-day Scrabble tournament! NeoScrabble (Northeast Ohio Scrabble) had their Spring Fling on Saturday just outside of Akron. I had previously learned that I had to go to Akron this weekend to pick up my sister's grandmother's cedar chest. (My sister's grandmother passed away about 13 years but her husband, my sister's step-grandfather, had just died late last year.) Frustrated with the thought of spending at least $100 in gas and traveling money, I checked Cross-Tables to see if maybe, just by some chance, I might get in some Scrabble during the trip. I lucked out and Dallas, NeoScrabble's Montrose club director, was taking late registrations.

So Saturday 5:30 a.m. found my husband and I on the road to Ohio. Shortly before 9:00 in the morning, I was enjoying my free, tournament-provided breakfast buffet (including fresh fruit, muffins, juices, yogurt, and more!). Did I mention the view? The tournament was held in Furnace Run Metro Park in a well-appointed, indoor shelter with walls of windows and nothing but a view of the woods and a lake. Though the morning was somewhat overcast, the view was, by far, the most beautiful I've had during a Scrabble tournament.

By shortly after 9:00 a.m., I was getting my first game started against a tall young man that I thought for sure might be graduating college soon. Turns out, Christopher was a 15-year-old who already had a rating of 998 going into the tournament. That first game resulted in my first mark in the “L” column and a pretty sizable negative point spread (his 419 points to my 249). He did, however, have a shiny new board from CustomScrabbleBoards.com and I was able to spend a few minutes examining it in an attempt to discover its maker's secrets. (I just made my first board and, although I learned a few lessons, I was pretty happy with the results.) Here's the game...and the board:

Aside from the severe ass-whoopin I received, about the only notable things about the game was the board and Christopher's 4th move...a 79-point bingo for SOOTIER. I enjoyed the game, though, and the chance to check out the board. Christopher was polite and good-natured so there was no touchdown dance after his win. Maybe he experienced some of the same guilt Chris does with beating a petite, friendly person like myself.

My next opponent, Dennis, was a man with a quiet nature and, thus far, no rating (and a bye in the first round). When he sat down, since he didn't have a rating, I asked what he did for a living (which would give me some idea about what to expect). He said, “I'm an accountant” and I offered him some support on his first tournament game saying, “Well, then, you'll come out of this with a nice rating. People think Scrabble is about knowing how to spell but it's really a math person's game.” He obviously didn't need my ego boosting on his Scrabble skills but his face brightened a little at our common thinking. He agreed with me and we started a very pleasant game. Since I'm a creature of habit, I decided to get my arse kicked here, too.

After my fourth turn, I had racked up an amazing 35 points with GAP, NOR, a 2-tile exchange, and RITES. Dennis had started off slowly, as well, but had 76 points. Still unable to get a good rack (heh, heh, hehahhhh...) I maxed out my scoring ability with FAXED on a corner square. Dennis had steadily accumulated 30-point words, not to mention a bingo with TINIEST on the 6th play, and came out with a debut score of 397 to my 317. Of course, Dennis was a good sport and we parted ways with friendly words.

In the third round, I had a bye...then, lunch! Linda, Mary Kay, and Diane, all of whom I had met in the recent Elyria tournament, sat with me during lunch and we had a great time talking about Scrabble and pets and kids. They're all such nice women, I was glad to see (and play Scrabble with) them again. Lunch was also provided with the cost of the tournament. Dallas' wife had prepared a wonderful buffet for us (and she had prepared the breakfast one) including beef barbeque, pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, chips...and a whole table of cookies, fudge, cake, and other treats!!! Lunch was so awesome and it was really convenient not to have to venture out into a strange town and find someplace decent to eat.

The 4th round was my game against Joyce, a strong player who came into the tournament with a rating of 869. As usual, I like to start my games off real slow, you know...lull my opponent into a false sense of security. I stuck to that M.O. with Joyce but did manage to accumulate 64 points by the end of my 4th turn. Finally, I made my first bingo of the day with RESALER* for 74 points. Joyce sais, "hold," and thought for a minute before telling me to go ahead and draw my tiles. The next turn, I added a “P” for 43 points. A few turns later, she played TRIAGED for 62 points. Toward the end of the game, I managed SHELVING on a red square for 89 points. In the end, I had finally secured my first victory with 392 points to Joyce's 350.

Second-guessing not challenging RESALER* and PRESALER*, Joyce checked them on her Franklin and found out they were phonies. I really, really thought they were good. In fact, I could have sworn that I had seen them both on a word list or in a dictionary before and thought, “huh...those look odd.” Guess not. (Joyce has also taken, and passed, NSA's director's test, so she was nice enough to answer several questions I had as we went along about certain rules of play.)

My 5th, 6th, and 7th round games were against Linda (2) and Mary Kay. The 5th and 6th round games didn't send anyone's ratings into the stratosphere as Linda and I scored 306 and 322 (respectively) and as Mary Kay scored 326 to my 318.

In the 7th game, though, Linda beat me like a rented mule (that cliche's for you, J-Si) with PUNIEST (72 points), QUAY (48 points), and SHELTER (77 points). Linda's 471 points made for a bit of a tough closing for me and my 306 points.

I ended the tournament with a 3-4 record and a -315 point spread. But I am...NAHT...sorry I went. Dallas put on a great tourney and I love talking to the people I've met at other Scrabble events and meeting new people.

After the tournament, most of the group relocated to the local Dairy Queen for the awards ceremony. The park's rules against exchanging money on the premises required it. Well, it required no money changing hands on the premises, not necessarily that the money then be exchanged at the DQ. Anyway, I didn't place in the tournament but I did win some prizes! I won one of the door prizes, an original piece of art with a...well...”artistic” Scrabble theme:

I also managed to win both special “tournament words” competitions by playing SHELVING. The prizes were for the words including the most letters in “Spring” and “Fling” with the highest score breaking a tie. Shelving had scored me 89 points and $40 which was the exact cost of the tournament entry fee!

After the awards, about seven of us stuck around the DQ to play Taxes Hold Me, a Scrabble board variation of Texas Hold 'Em poker. In what I hear is the usual outcome, Dallas won the game...but was probably slightly less thrilled than usual since the public game had to be played with poker chips as opposed to real cashola. I have to say, I gave him an early run for his “money” even though it was my first time playing. It was a very un-serious end to a day of concentration and I was able to make the statement that I am a “feminist so I'll go on top.” I guess sometimes your subconscious will break through no matter what. My subconscious is funny.

Here's how everyone fared overall:

Division A
5.5-1.5 +446 Dan Stock - $200
5.0-2.0 -28 Jeff Clark - $120
4.0-3.0 +295 George Viebranz - $60
4.0-3.0 +127 Linda Hoggatt
4.0-3.0 +88 Pete Zeigler
3.0-4.0 +149 Eileen Popick
3.0-4.0 -207 Connie Breitbeil
3.0-4.0 -344 Frank Lee
2.5-4.5 -34 Karen Smith
1.0- 6.0 -492 Walter Konicki

Division B
7.0-0.0 +464 Diane Joseph - $200
5.0-2.0 +535 Christopher Walleck - $120
5.0-2.0 +223 Pat Hardwick - $60
4.0-3.0 +49 Tim Smith
4.0-3.0 +44 Cecelia Huber
3.0-4.0 +135 Linda Robinson
3.0-4.0 -4 Joseph Reiben
3.0-4.0 -165 Joyce Stock
3.0-4.0 -224 Dennis Tomlinson
3.0-4.0 -315 Tina Totten King
2.0-5.0 -392 Mary Kay Quinn

Low Probability 7-letter natural, valid bingo - HEARTHS - Mary Kay Quinn - $20
Low Probability 8-letter natural, valid bingo - WITCHING - Jeff Clark - $20

In the end, a bit of a frustrating task turned into a really awesome day. Since Cross-Tables estimated I'd win 1.8 games, I felt okay with my three wins. Dallas was a great host and obviously put a ton of work into the day. I can't wait to get to NEO-Scrabble land again.