Welcome to the BigDoggy SCRABBLE Page!

• Getting Started
  • Glossary of Scrabble Terms
• Scrabble On-Line
  • MarlDOoM
  • Crossword Games Pro
  • Scrabble Zone
  • Recommended Scrabble Links
• Word Lists, Word Lists, Word Lists!
• Some Strategy Hints
• A Few Words About Competetive Scrabble

Good news! The NSA now has an online presence!
For more info on this epicenter of organized, you can visit their online home at:
www.Scrabble-assoc.com

?:

The question mark is the common way of identifying the blank in print.

Bingo:

The American word for a play that uses all 7 tiles from one's rack, earning a 50-point bonus. Called a Bonus in other parts of the world.

Challenge Rule:

In simplest terms, " Lose a challenge, lose a turn. " Any or all of the words made on a play can be challenged with two conditions: 1) The challenge must be made before the player draws a tile and 2) All words challenged must be challenged at the same time. If the play is judged to be acceptable, the challenger loses a turn. If the play is no good, the tiles come off the board and the challenger gets to play. See PARC, Legal turn.

Courtesy Draw:

After 60 seconds, a player being held is allowed to draw tiles which must be kept separate from other tiles already on the rack. This is one method used to avoid abuses of the Hold rule.

See Hold

Deluxe Set:

Milton-Bradley Scrabble board designed to turn without having to be picked up. The minimum board acceptable for tournament play.

DLS:

Double Letter Score. The light blue squares on most Scrabble boards.

DWS:

Double Word Score. The pink squares on most Scrabble boards.

Double-Double:

A play which stretches from one DWS to another. Scores 4x.

End Game:

The portion of the game played with less than 7 tiles in the bag, when exchanges are no longer allowed. Often considered the most important part of the game on a strategic level.

Exchange:

To return tiles to the bag and draw new ones in lieu of making a play. Counts as zero score. Players are allowed to exchange any or all of their tiles, however exchanges are not allowed with less than 7 tiles avialable in the bag. See End Game.

Fish:

To play or exchange one or two tiles in hopes of getting a high-scoring play on the next turn.

Franklin:

An electronic OSPD2 dictionary, no longer in manufacture, but highly revered by most Scrabble players who have one. See OSPD.

Free Challenge:

A challenge without penalty to the challenger.

Goldman:

An individual so obsessed with Scrabble that all ability to socialize is lost. (It's a joke, Stu. Really.)

Hold:

A request for the person who has just played to delay drawing tiles until the second player decides whether or not to challenge. See Challenge Rule.

Hook:

A letter which can be added to another to make a longer word. Generally referred to as front hooks and back hooks. Example: The front hooks for HOOK are S and C (shook, chook). The back hooks are A, S and Y (hooka, hooks, hooky).

Hot Spot:

A square on the board which offers high-scoring opportunities, such as a TLS or DWS next to a vowel.

Leave:

The letters left on one's rack after making a play. Often more important than the play made. See Strategy Tips section.

Legal Turn:

In tournament play, there are four steps to a legal play before drawing more letters. The steps are to Play the word, Announce the score, Record the cumulative score, and hit the Clock. (PARC)

LW:

Letter Word(s). When preceeded by a number, signifies a word of set length. (e.g.: 4LW means "four-letter word(s)".)

Maven:

The precursor to, and basis for, the Scrabble CD-ROM. The only computerized Scrabble game with an end game strategy.

Natural:

A bingo made without a blank.

Nine Times:

A Triple-Triple.

Old McDonald:

Any rack that contains the letters EIEIO.

OSPD:

Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, the North American word guide, published by Mirriam Webster. The third edition (OSPD3), published in 1996 was sanitized for family play, but has 1200 more words than the second edition (OSPD2). For tournament play, all words from both editions are used (TWL).

OSW:

Official Scrabble Words, the word guide for Europe and Australia, published by Chambers.

PARC:

An acronym for Play, Announce score, Record cumulative score, hit Clock. The four components of a complete legal turn. (It was pointed out by Aaron Long that the correct order is PACR, but it's just doesn't flow as well. The main things to remember are 1) that you have to do all four before drawing tiles and 2) you NEVER Record the cumulative before Playing the word.)

Phoney:

A word which does not appear in the chosen word guide. Note: I don't say phoneys are bad or unacceptable words because many fairly common words have not yet been added to OSPD. RETILE and REDIALS, for example, were considered phoneys until 1996.

Power Tiles:

The tiles most likely to lead to big scores. In English sets, the power tiles are the 4 esses (S), the 2 blanks, J, Q, X, and Z.

Protiles:

Scrabble tiles with a smooth face so the blanks can't be identified by touch. Often required in tournament play.

Rack:

The letters a player has to work with at any one time.

Stems:

Combinations of letters that are especially bingo-prone. SATINE and SATIRE, for example, are stems for over 50 bingos each. See Word Lists! Section

SOWPODS:

The combined OSPD - OSW dictionary. Used primarily in International Championships.

TLS:

Triple Letter Score. The dark blue squares on most Scrabble boards.

Track:

To record the letters that have been played. Often critical to End Game Strategy.

Triple-Triple:

A word which stretches from one TWS to another. Scores 9x.

TWL:

Tournament Word List. Available only to tournament Scrabble players and NSA members. The TWL has replaced the OSPD as the official reference guide for tournaments. The TWL does not contain definitions, making it easier for word judges to officiate.

TWS:

Triple Word Score. The red squares on most Scrabble boards.

bigdoggy: Turn 3
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o        -> bigdoggy      DEHIOOR    35
-----------------------------           mklouda       BBDDJRU    47
1|=     '       =       '     =| --My choices (your play: 2nd)---------------
2|  -       "       "       -  |  best l1  DHOOTI  24/+6.5 ER
3|    -       '   '       -    |   0.5*11d HOOKED  28/+2.0 IR
4|'     -       '       -     '|   1.5 11d HOOK    22/+7.0 DEIR
5|        -       P A T T Y    |   1.5 m1  HOODY   24/+5.0 EIR
6|  "       P L A I N       "  |   2.5 6l  OOH     21/+7.0 DEIR
7|    '       ' V '       '    |   2.5 11d HOOKIER 28/+0.0 D
8|=     '     M O       '     =|   3.0 l1  DHOOTIE 26/+1.5 R
9|    '       A W '       '    |   4.0 11d HOOKER  26/+0.5 DI
10|  "       " R     "       "  |   4.5 6m  OHO     19/+7.0 DEIR
11|        -   K       -        |   5.0 l3  HOTROD  24/+1.5 EI
12|'     -       '       -     '|   5.0 11e HOKED   26/-0.5 IOR
13|    -       '   '       -    | --Tracking----------------------------------
14|  -       "       "       -  | AAAAAA CC D EEEEEEEEEEE FF GGG H IIIIIII LLL
15|=     '       =       '     =| M NNNNN OOOOO Q RRR SSSS TTTT UUU V W X Y Z
-----------------------------  ??  69
Number of bingos in DEHIOOR: 2
HOODIER cHOREOID

MarlDOoM is real-time Scrabble against live competition. A DOoM (Distributed Object-oriented MUD) is a multi-user program which allows people from different parts of the world to play simultaneously via Telnet. At last count, over 700 people around the globe had MarlDOoM accounts.

MarlDOom continues to be my favorite place to play online despite the advent of MPlayer and the Scrabble CD-ROM. I prefer it for three major reasons: 1) You get a much higher caliber players, thus more challenging games, than on any other service. 2) You can analyze the games after they're played (see the sample above), even other people's games. I've never run into any better training than this for getting my game in shape. 3) You can watch other games in progress and learn from better players and different styles.

Games are played with tournament rules, with ratings, and there's even a "bot" which can give you critiques of your play. The bot is also able to play versus a live opponent for the rare times when there's no one around. To request an account, click on the link at the top of this section and read the instructions on requesting a password. It's a little work, but worth the effort if you're looking to improve.

Recommendation!! For best play on MarlDOoM, you'll want to download a Telnet plug-in. My favorite for PC users is AvPlay available at The Avalon Home Site For other choices and Mac Telnet plug-ins, you'll want to visit the wonderfully organized shareware files at Tucows

I'm also told there exists, though I haven't seen it, a special program for MarlDOoM which allows you to see the game as a real board, not just a set of typographical representations. Anyone with more info is welcome to contact me at BigDoggy@Cyberonic.com

If you're really interested, and don't mind getting 40-50 e-mails each day, you can ask Sherri to give you a subscription.

Recommended Scrabble Links

• Scrabble FAQ - Steven Alexander has put everything you ever wanted to know about organized Scrabble in one place. Includes club listings and an explanation of the Ratings system.
• North American Tournaments - Steven Alexander's other Scrabble Project. I found out the hard way that I can't keep the list up as well as he can!
• Protiles.net - The original and best Protiles are here. The original Protiles were screened ink on plastic, which has a tendency to wear and fade after awhile, but took the art of "brailling" out of the game. The best Protiles are injected plastic, which can never fade because the lettering is actually part of the tile.
• Protiles.com - These three-piece (paper letters in a plastic casing) Protiles came along after the originals, but they grabbed the domain name first, which is why they are dot-com. These Protiles are more durable than the original, screened, version, but not quite a match for the modern injected plastic because the casing will eventually get scratched or marred. The benefit of these Protiles is the wide range of colors available.
• National Scrabble Association - The home site of the NSA. Many sections are still under construction, but it's getting better every time I visit.
• Helga's Rogue's Gallery - Pictures, Home Pages, and E-mail addresses of Scrabble players in the US, Canada, and abroad.
• San Jose Scrabble #21 - One of my local clubs, run by Rick Wong. A free plug and some well-done word lists.
• ACE Word Finder - A new and improved word finder with a beautiful interface and words up to 15 letters. Even gives you the option of sorting by score.
• Milton-Bradley's Scrabble Page - A cool demo of the Scabble CD-ROM and a few other surprises.
• Electronic Scrabble Club - This Aussie entry is the most fun Scrabble site I've found. Proof positive we Yanks take this game WAY too serious. Watch out for OSW words!
• David Sauter's Scrabble Thoughts - No one should be allowed to play in a tournament until they read Mr. Sauter's essays. His focus is on the fun of the game and he makes no bones about what he feels the tournament structure has done to his favorite game.
• Anagram Puzzles - Tom Riggle has put together a cute, but tough, set of tongue-in-cheek anagram puzzles. Fun for the word junkies among us.
• Back to the menu

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  Last Updated: 04.13.2000
  WebMaster: Brian Wagner BigDoggy@cyberonic.com
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