What is Scrabble?

Scrabble is essentially a word game which can be played by 2-4 players at a given time on a board which comprises a grid of squares in a 15 X 15 format. The squares are assigned different scoring attributes. There are 100 tiles to draw from and players must draw 7 tiles initially and maintain the same number on their racks till they are exhausted. Each tile has a point value attached to it. If all 7 tiles are used in a word an additional 50 points is added to the players score. The goal is to win by scoring more than your opponent. Scrabble is now increasingly played competitively across several countries on the globe and in several languages.

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Scrabble Word Study Tools

 My colleague Ishika takes you through some useful tools for word study namely Zyzzyva, Aerolith, and Anagram Quizzer. I chip in on my favor...

Thursday 4 June 2015

Scrabble Champions Tourney Berths from India

As per the Scrabble Association of India here are the standings for the Scrabble Champions Tourney qualification:

RankLocationNickNameGamesOld RatingNew Rating
1MUMSRODSherwin Rodrigues79518241838
2CHNMCHUMohan Chunkath62816621774
3PUNUGROUdayan Grover99017451756
4MUMVHINVarisht Hingorani43717161736
5CHNRCHARanganathan Chakrav58217351702
6BLRSGUPSanjoy Gupta85616111692
7BLRPSEEPrashanth Seetharam31016401640
8GOAIGONIrineu Gonsalves91216161621
9GOADLOBDouglas Lobo85917211615
10MUMJDEJose de Abreu71515931593

The top two Sherwin and Mohan have qualified. Mohan has confirmed he will be there in Australia representing India in the Scrabble Champions Tourney. Sherwin has declined so Udayan will be joining Mohan in Perth on behalf of India.

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Mohan Wins Bayer National Scrabble Championship 2015

Longtime scrabble stalwart of India Mohan Chunkath has won the Bayer National Scrabble Championship held in Mumbai. He finished ahead of defending champion Sherwin Rodrigues and Sanjoy Gupta  and has clinched his place in the Scrabble Champions Tourney to be held later this year in Australia. The top 10 finishers are shown below:

Player
Standing
Win-Loss
Spread
Mohan Chunkath
1
18-6
1030
Sherwin Rodrigues
2
17-8
1412
Sanjoy Gupta
3
16-9
474
Varisht Hingorani
4
16-9
459
Udayan Grover
5
15-10
418
Irineu Gonsalves
6
15-10
340
Carolann Pais
7
14.5-10.5
694
Ranganathan Chakravarthy
8
14-11
603
Mangala Bhandarkar
9
14-11
161
Nakul Prabhu
10
13.5-11.5
1260

Saturday 30 May 2015

Bayer National Scrabble Championships Standings after Round 10

The Nationals have kicked off. Here is an update of the standing after round 10 from the Scrabble Association of India:

Premier Division:
1        Mohan Chunkath    8    +366
2        Varisht Hingorani    8    +331
3        Sherwin Rodrigues    7    +721
4        Sanjoy Gupta    7    +652
5        Ranganathan Chakrav    7    +408
6        Kurian Tp    7    +280
7        Nakul Prabhu    6    +1051
8        Sunny Bhatia    6    +68
9        Udayan Grover    6    +67
10        Mangala Bhandarkar    6    -10
11        Shaikh Ahmed    6    -139
12        Carolann Pais    5    +216
13        Irineu Gonsalves    5    +192
14        Manju Pai    5    +47
15        V Ramachandran    5    -36
16        Douglas Lobo    5    -58
17        Priya Karkhanis    5    -167
18        A Krishnan    5    -323
19        Ramchandran Chidamba    4    +206
20        Aditya Iyengar    4    +91
21        Manju Sood    4    -126
22        Bhushan Pradhan    4    -153
23        Anthony Gomes    4    -288
24        Nidhi Singhvi    3    -350
25        Samrath Singh Bhatia    3    -376
26        Romilla Thakur    3    -497
27        Sudhir Kamath    3    -523
28        Pc Jose    3    -528
29        Neena Shahani    3    -554
30        Joe Rodrigues    3    -568

High game:    Nakul Prabhu    627
Open Division:
1        Brian D'Souza    8    +733
2        Sridhar Paidikondala    8    +548
3        Nupur Sood    8    +409
4        Subodh Tripathi    7    +663
5        Zeba Sultan    7    +622
6        Vraj Jain    7    +340
7        Meena Kalyan    7    +287
8        Phil Paes    6.5    +409
9        Hyder Quraishi    6    +342
10        Kala Ganesh    6    +321
11        Satish Srinivasan    6    +320
12        Meena Bakhru    6    +266
13        Viji Ramachandran    6    +145
14        Yash Potnis    6    +103
15        Virendra Braganza    6    +31
16        Prashant Venkatraman    6    +16
17        Rehet Singh Bhatia    6    -22
18        Sylvia Coelho    5.5    +257
19        Ritu Chadha    5    +247
20        Rekha Sanzgiri    5    +168
21        Purshottam Keswani    5    +131
22        Gaurav Bhargava    5    +51
23        Nikheel Ruparel    5    +46
24        Vedika Hingorani    5    +2
25        Gover Mubarakai    5    -7
26        Meena Thakker    5    -24
27        Vaibava Kamalasanan    5    -101
28        Solai Adithya    5    -321
29        Mehul Arora    5    -497
30        Vidya Goggi    4    +385
31        Aruna Grover    4    +87
32        Rajeev Menon    4    +70
33        Kreishna Parmar    4    +29
34        Mehjabeen Peeradina    4    -74
35        Prateek Wadhavkar    4    -85
36        Sai Shiv    4    -139
37        Laura Braganza    4    -140
38        Creswell D'Souza    4    -188
39        Shaurya Puri    4    -413
40        Sai Vignesh    4    -665
41        Aravind    4    -958
42        Asha Namdev Kamath    3    +374
43        Ganesh    3    -47
44        Bharath    2    -1012
45        Krishna Vora    1    -1959
46        Dummy    0    -750

High game:    Sai Vignesh    629

Thursday 28 May 2015

Altezas Win Inaugural Edition of the Wordaholix Scrabble League

The Altezas led right from the start to capture the title at the inaugural edition of the Wordaholix scrabble league. They did this winning 94 out of the 168 games played registering an impressive spread of 2094. Team Diadochi came in a close second with 90.5 wins. The final standings after 3 days of exhilarating competition are as follows:
Team
Standings
Win-Loss
Spread
Altezas
1
94-74
+2094
Diadochi
2
90.5-77.5
+920
Caziques
3
82.5-85.5
-457
Bashaws
4
69-99
-2557

Tuesday 26 May 2015

Wordaholix Scrabble League - Altezas still on Top after Day 2

After the second day of proceedings at the Wordaholix Scrabble League the Altezas are still on top. However team Diadochi has made a nice run and is only 4 games away from the leaders. Some terrific individual performances from Udayan, Sherwin, Carol, Jose and Shaikh. Hear are the updated standings after day 2:
Team
Standings
Win-Loss
Spread
Altezas
1
65-54
+1886
Diadochi
2
61-58
+298
Caziques
3
58-61
-1233
Bashaws
4
54-65
-951

Monday 25 May 2015

Wordaholix Scrabble League - Altezas on Top after Day 1

The Wordaholix Scrabble League kicked off yesterday. The Altezas are off to a quick start with 32 wins out of the 56 games played. Here are the complete standings:

Friday 22 May 2015

The National Scrabble Championship is here

Finally the much awaited Nationals is here. The event taking place over 3 days in Mumbai over the next week from May 29-may 31 holds particular significance as Scrabble Champions Tourney places are up for grabs. Here are the details:

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Different Words Same Meaning

Citolas, Citoles, Cithrens, Citherns, Cithers, Citterns - A Guitar
Waivode, Waiwode, Woiwode, Voivode - An army leader
Cagouls, Cagoules, Kagouls, Kagoules, Kagools - An anorak
Eulachan, Eulachon, Oulachon, Oulakan, Oolakan, Ulikon - A candlefish
Kiester, Keister, Hurdies, Patootie - The Buttocks
Didakei, didakai, Diddicoy, Didicoi, Didicoy - A Tinker
Cabala, Cabbala, Kabala, Kabbala, Kabbalah, Qabala, Qabalah - a Jewish doctrine
Yoghurt, Yaourt, Yogurt, Yoghourt - A type of curd
Narwal, Narwhal, Narwhale - An Arctic aquatic mammal
Lekythus, Lecythus, Lekythos - An ancient oil Jar
Germen, Germain, Germaine, Germin - Something that serves as an origin
Filemot, Philomot, Philamot - A dull brown shade
keblah, Kibla, Kiblah, Qibla - The direction muslims face while praying
Litchi, Lichi, Lychee, Lichee - A fruit
Poursue, Pursue, Persue, Poursew Pursew - To follow
Pummelo, Shaddock, Pompelo - A citrus fruit
Repreeve, Reprive, Repryve - To delay
Baklava, Baklawa, Baclava - A middle eastern desert
Nilgai, Nilgau, Nilghai, Nilghau, Nylghai, Nylghau - a large antelope
Cassina, Cassene, Cassine, Cassena - an evergreen tree
Narghile, Narghily, Nargile, Nargileh, Nargily - a hookah
Dirdam, Dirdum, Durdum - uproar
Shechita, Shehitah, Shehita - krosher killing of animals
Mezuzot, Mezuzoth, Mezuzah, Mezuza - a Jewish scroll

Combo Words of Two Words that are Good Both Ways

Bedrail - Railbed
Dovering - Ringdove
Hangover - Overhang
Turnover - Overturn
Runover - Overrun
Roadside - Sideroad
Outburn - Burnout
Woodworm - Wormwood
Linecut - Cutline
Outpass - Passout
Outspeak - Speakout
Comedown - Downcome
Upclose - Closeup
Outback - Backout
Pinhead - Headpin
Mateship - Shipmate
Cutover - Overcut
Upstart - Startup
Outshoot - Shootout
Overwing - Wingover
Fantail - Tailfan

Common Words with Not so common Anagrams

Tailors - Oralist, Rialtos, Sliotar
Almonds - Dolmans
Mustard - Durmast
Stadium - Dumaist
Romance - Cremona
Cauldron - Crunodal
Acolyte - Cotylae
Cilantro - Contrail
Decagon - Congaed
Ethical - Alethic
Strongly - Strongyl
Ungrazed - Gazunder
Expires - Prexies
Detangle - Danegelt
Teardown - Danewort
Erasions - Sensoria
Innovate - Venation
Inundate - Antidune
Invocate - Conative
Antidote - Tetanoid
Liaises - Silesia
Coalise - Celosia
Isotherm - Moithers
Heroism - Moreish
Sedation - Astonied
Marries - Simarre
Tsunami - Manitus, Santimu
Cheerio - Echoier


Those Handy Pyramid Words!

Pyramid words are words which start at 2 letters but can be extended to 7 letters and beyond. For example take the word loofahs, we start with lo, next we get to loo, followed by loof, loofa, loofah and loofahs. Thus by knowing loofahs we get to know a total of 6 words. Other examples include:
Abasers, Amenders, Amusers, Barbers, Bingers, Chained,
Chiasmal, Daledhs, Divests, Erasers, Fasties, Godsons, Hookahs, Jambees, Jamboks, Kaingas, Kinases, Lapsers, Maliced, Mentors, Nursery, Parkiest, Poleyns, Reeders, Reposes, Singers, Skaters,Tapetis, Teasers, Ureases, and Woosells.

There are some reverse pyramid words too. Take the word drooped for example, we start with ed, then ped, then oped, then ooped, rooped and finally drooped.Other examples include:
Aemules, Afeared, Borates, Cleared, Demures, Escapes, Glaired, Hamates, Lemures, Mananas, Penates, Retapes, Scraped, Testates, Upreach, Vacates, Whooped, Yslaked and Zananas.