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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!uwm.edu!lll-winken.llnl.gov!overload.lbl.gov!agate!stevena
From: stevena@cs.berkeley.edu (Steven Alexander)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board,rec.puzzles.crosswords,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Scrabble FAQ - General Information
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Date: 16 Mar 1995 02:46:51 GMT
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Summary: Frequently Asked Questions and their answers on the game Scrabble
Keywords: Scrabble, crossword game
URL: http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~stevena/faq.html
Originator: stevena@qin.CS.Berkeley.EDU
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Last-modified: 11 March 1995
Archive-name: games/scrabble-faq/general
Scrabble Frequently Asked Questions
This article is posted monthly to the Usenet newgroups
rec.games.board, rec.puzzles.crosswords, rec.answers and
news.answers. Other ways to obtain it are
ANONYMOUS FTP to rtfm.mit.edu (18.181.0.24) and get the files
/pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/general
/pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/supplement
EMAIL (for those without ftp access) send
To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Subject:
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/general
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/supplement
A hypertext version is available in
http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~stevena/faq.html.
If you have suggestions or better information on any of these topics,
please mail me at stevena@cs.berkeley.edu with "FAQ" in the subject.
1. What this FAQ covers
2. The trademark Scrabble
3. Organized Scrabble activity
3.1. National Scrabble Association and Association of Premier
Scrabble Players
3.2. Clubs
3.3. Tournaments
3.3.1. North American, UK and world championships
3.3.1.1. Did the North American 1992 champion really give his
$10,000 prize away to a literacy charity?
3.3.2. How club and tournament Scrabble differs from the rules
in the box
3.3.3. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and Official
Scrabble Words
3.3.3.1. Why are all those stupid/non-English/indecent words
allowed?
3.3.3.2. Current corrections to the OSPD 2nd ed
3.3.3.3. Current corrections to the Franklin Electronic OSPD
3.3.3.4. Expurgation of OSPD
3.3.4. Tournament pairings
3.3.5. Tournament ratings
3.3.6. Upcoming tournaments
3.4. Organizations conducting Scrabble activity outside North
America and the UK
3.5. Scrabble by surface mail
3.6. Crossword games on the Internet
3.6.1. Crossword games servers
3.6.2. Crossword games mailing list
3.6.3. Crossword games related homepages
4. Differences between Scrabble in North America and in the UK
5. Publications on Scrabble
5.1. Periodicals
5.1.1. Scrabble News
5.1.2. Tourney News
5.1.3. Non-North American periodicals
5.1.3.1. Onwords
5.1.4. Defunct periodicals
5.1.4.1. Letters for Expert Players
5.1.4.2. Matchups
5.1.4.3. Medleys
5.1.4.4. Rack Your Brain
5.2. Books
5.3. Word lists
5.4. Word study software
6. Basic tactics and methods
7. Typical games
7.1. Typical scores
7.2. Frequency of bingos
8. Scrabble records
8.1. Actual
8.2. Theoretical
8.3. Blocked games
9. Scrabble variants
10. Play-by-mail games
11. Scrabble paraphernalia
11.1. Tiles
11.2. Clocks
11.3. Miscellaneous
12. Computer versions of Scrabble
12.1. CrossWise (IBM PC)
12.2. Gameboy Super Scrabble (hand-held)
12.3. Maven (Macintosh)
12.4. Monty Plays Scrabble (hand-held)
12.5. Scramble (IBM PC)
12.6. Tyler (IBM PC, Macintosh)
12.7. US Gold Scrabble (IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST)
12.8. Vic Rice's Game (IBM PC)
12.9. Virgin Mastertronic (IBM PC, Macintosh)
12.10. WordsWorth (IBM PC)
12.11. STrabbler (Atari)
12.12. Unix Scrabble (Unix)
12.13. CRAB (Unix, Sun, Vax and Macintosh)
12.14. Scrabble Door (IBM PC BBS)
13. Glossary
A0. Copyright
A1. Credits
[In the supplement:]
A2. Roster of clubs in the US and Canada
A3. Upcoming North American tournaments
A4. Contacts for major Scrabble organizations worldwide
1. What this FAQ covers
This article is about English language Scrabble, or more properly,
Scrabble Brand Crossword Game. It is North American-centric (and to
a lesser extent covers the UK), but information regarding English
language Scrabble played anywhere is welcome.
2. The trademark Scrabble
Scrabble is a registered trademark owned in the United States and
Canada by Milton Bradley Company, a division of Hasbro, Inc. In
Great Britain and everywhere else in the world, by J.W. Spear & Sons
PLC.
Selchow & Righter, listed as the US owner on many of your boards, was
bought -- in good health -- by Coleco, which shortly went into
bankruptcy due to the collapse of the market for their Cabbage Patch
dolls. Coleco also led itself to bankruptcy by losing a fortune on
the Adam home computer flop, and the unexpected (to them) slowdown in
Trivial Pursuit sales. (Trivial Pursuit was marketed in the US by
Selchow & Righter). Coleco was bought up by Milton Bradley, which
was in turn gobbled up by Hasbro.
In North America, technically, the term Scrabble refers to any game
or related product Milton Bradley cares to label that way, while the
popular board game is "Scrabble Crossword Game". Most people --
including Milton Bradley's own publication -- use the term Scrabble
to refer to that game, and so will this FAQ.
3. Organized Scrabble activity
3.1. National Scrabble Association and Association of Premier
Scrabble Players
The National Scrabble Association ("NSA") is the only organization
running Scrabble activity in North America. It is a subsidiary of
Milton Bradley. NSA licenses tournament and club directors. Club
and tournament play, except for the national and world championships,
is sanctioned but not run by NSA. Non-members are supposed to be
charged an extra $5 at tournaments, but this is not consistently
done.
Membership is $15 per year in the US, $20 (US) in Canada, and $25
elsewhere, by postal money order outside the US.
National Scrabble Association
c/o Williams & Company
120 Front St Garden
Box 700
Greenport, NY 11944
(516) 477-0033
(516) 477-0294 fax
In the UK, the Association of Premier Scrabble Players ("APSP"),
while not owned by the UK copyright and trademark holder, is bound
to it by a licensing agreement. The APSP organizes many tournaments.
It may be reached at
APSP
c/o Gareth Williams
209 Fidlas Rd
Llanishen
Cardiff
CF4 5NA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1222 758249
Membership in APSP costs #7.50 per year; members receive a newsletter
six times per year. Its chairman, Graeme Thomas, may be reached by
e-mail at graeme@insignia.co.uk.
3.2. Clubs
Clubs normally play Scrabble according to tournament rules, although
sometimes accommodation for newcomers includes allowing them to refer
to lists of two- and three-letter words for their first couple of
visits.
The current roster of active North American clubs, according to the
most recent listing from the National Scrabble Association, is an
Appendix to this FAQ. Some of the listings may be out of date, so
call the person listed before trying to attend.
For clubs in the UK, contact
Philip Nelkon
J.W. Spear & Sons PLC
Richard House
Enstone Road
Enfield, Middlesex
England EN3 7TB
Tel: +44 181 805 4848
3.3. Tournaments
3.3.1. North American, UK and world championships
"National Scrabble Championships", really for North America, are held
by the National Scrabble Association in even years. North American
players were eligible for entry in 1994 if they had played in at
least one rated tournament. Players from elsewhere entered without
condition.
In odd years, an invitational "World [English language] Championship"
is held. The 1993 World Championship was held in August in New York;
the 1995 Championship is planned for London in November. North
American entrants qualify by rating or by performance in designated
qualifying tournaments. Words allowable in North American or British
play are allowed.
In the UK, Spear runs the National Scrabble Championship. Several
regional events (apparently open only to UK residents) are used as
qualifiers for the national final.
Also in the UK, the APSP organizes a 17-game British Matchplay
Scrabble Championship held each August. It is open to all.
3.3.1.1. Winners of the North American championships
1978, May 19-21, New York City: invitational, 64 contestants
David Prinz
1980, November 14-16, Santa Monica: invitational, 32 contestants
Joe Edley
1983, August 10-12, Chicago: qualifiers, 32 contestants
Joel Wapnick
1985, July 28-31, Boston: open, 302 contestants
Ron Tiekert
1987, July 5-7, Las Vegas: open, 300+ contestants
Rita Norr
1988, July 31-August 5, Reno: open, 323 contestants
Robert Watson
1989, July 29-August 3, New York City: open, 221 contestants
Peter Morris
1990, August 5-9: Washington, 300+ contestants
Robert Felt
1992, August 9-13, Atlanta: open, 320 contestants
Joe Edley
1994, August 14-18, Los Angeles: open, 294 contestants
David Gibson
3.3.1.2. Winners of the World (English language) championships
1991, September 27-30, London: invitational, 48 contestants
Peter Morris
1993, August 27-30, New York City: invitational, 64 contestants
Mark Nyman
3.3.2. How club and tournament Scrabble differs from the rules
in the box
NSA and APSP rules for competitive play are available for ftp at
seabass.st.usm.edu in the directory /doc/doom, in the files
rules-apsp.txt and rules-nsa. (The APSP rules there, from December
1991, are slightly out of date, but still useful.)
Club and tournament Scrabble games are always two-player games.
Both players must keep score. A bag is used for tiles (not the box
lid). Chess clocks are used to time the game and each player is
allowed a total of 25 minutes to make all of his or her moves in the
game. If a player's time limit is exceeded, the game continues but
the player is penalized 10 points for each minute over the time
limit.
The validity of words is determined, in North America (and some other
places, including Israel and Thailand) by the Official Scrabble
Players Dictionary, and in the UK by Official Scrabble Words. Most
other places use Official Scrabble Words, although some (including
New Zealand and most states of Australia) use both. (These
references are described in section 3.3.3.)
When a player challenges one or more words in his or her opponent's
move, the clock is stopped while a third party (usually a club or
tournament director) looks up the challenged words (which the
challenger must specify) to determine whether the move is valid. If
a challenged word is unacceptable, the play is removed and the player
loses that turn. In North American play, the maker of an erroneous
challenge loses a turn; in the UK, and most of Australia, they do
not.
There are no "house rules" that many social players use, such as free
exchange of four of a kind, or claiming blanks off the board by
substituting for them.
Once there are fewer than seven tiles left in the bag, no exchanging
of tiles is allowed. Passing is allowed at any time.
At the end of a North American game, when one player uses all his or
her tiles with none remaining in the bag, he or she receives double
the value of the opponent's remaining tiles. In the UK, as specified
in the box, that value is added to and subtracted from the players'
respective scores. Both methods result in the same spread.
Ties are not broken. (The box rules don't mention this possibility.)
If the two players take six consecutive turns without successfully
placing any tiles on the board - due to any combination of
challenges, passes and exchanges -- the game ends, and both players
lose the value of the tiles on their racks. A game in which neither
player can make a play ends this way, although the players may simply
agree that the game is over without going through all six turns.
The box rules do not mention whether one can make written notes
during the game. In tournaments and clubs, players are allowed to
write anything they wish on their score sheet. One use of written
notes is to keep track of which tiles have been played, allowing one
to know which tiles remain to be played. This is known as tile-
tracking, and players may use preprinted score sheets that show the
tile distribution as an aid to tile-tracking.
3.3.3. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and Official
Scrabble Words
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary ("OSPD"), published by
Merriam-Webster, is the official dictionary used for all North
American tournament and club play. The OSPD first was published in
1978. It includes all words of eight or fewer letters, and
simplifies the settling of Scrabble word arguments by specifically
showing those words' inflections (plurals of nouns, conjugations of
verbs, comparatives and superlatives of adjectives). For root words
longer than eight letters, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary,
Tenth edition, is used. (The Tenth came out in May 1993 and replaced
the Ninth on May 1, 1994.) The OSPD does include inflected forms of
up to eight letters whose roots words are longer.
In 1990, a second edition of the OSPD came out in hardcover. A
paperback of the OSPD2 came out in June 1993, but the paperback OSPD1
still may be on bookstores' shelves and should be avoided. Matchups
($1 + $1 shipping, see section 12.6) and Cygnus Cybernetics (see
section 12.1) each publish a complete list of the words added (and
the handful removed) in OSPD2.
The OSPD was created because in the 1950s Selchow & Righter sold the
right to put out Scrabble word lists to Jacob Orleans and Edmund
Jacobson, authors of Scrabble Word Guide, a 1953 book based on the
Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary. The official publication, Scrabble
News, is still circumspect about publishing word lists, tending to
print them in small chunks to conform to some idea of their remaining
rights.
Parallel to the OSPD for North America, the UK has Official Scrabble
Words ("OSW"), which lists all rules-acceptable words in the Chambers
Dictionary ("Chambers") whose uninflected roots have nine or fewer
letters, and words of nine or fewer letters which are inflections of
longer words. The third edition of OSW, including words from the
1993 edition of Chambers, came out in August, 1994. Challenges of
longer words are looked up in Chambers.
For trademark reasons, the OSPD is not sold outside North America,
and OSW is not sold in North America.
OSW is a richer lexicon at all lengths.
length OSW OSPD SOWPODS
2 109 94 119
3 1126 961 1224
4 4769 3857 5121
5 10697 8551 11733
6 18435 15055 20815
7 26539 22821 30983
8 30732 28000 37653
9 30456 24550 36517
3.3.3.1. Why are all those stupid/non-English/indecent words
allowed?
The OSPD was formed according to the rules of Scrabble, allowing all
non-capitalized words without apostrophes or hyphens which are not
designated as foreign. In a compromise between the number of words
in a standard college dictionary (such as Funk & Wagnalls, in use
before the OSPD) and an unabridged dictionary, the OSPD includes all
words found in at least one of five major college dictionaries,
including a total of nine editions, which in the judgment of Merriam-
Webster's lexicographers (contracted by the trademark holder to do
this) meet the rules.
The dictionaries used for OSPD2 are: Funk & Wagnalls Standard College
Dictionary (1973 printing), American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language (First College Edition and Second College Edition),
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (Merriam-Webster; Eighth and
Ninth editions), Webster's New World Dictionary (Second College
Edition and Third College Edition), Random House College Dictionary
(Original Edition and Revised Edition).
To some extent, this succeeds at capturing the language, not as some
set of Scrabble players would have it, but as it is -- according to
professional lexicographers.
3.3.3.2. Current corrections to the OSPD 2nd ed.
The cumulative corrections to the OSPD2, all corrected in the most
recent printings, are:
p16 ALIYAH: -YAHS (not -YAS)
108 CLAUGHT: -ING (not -INT)
109 CLEEK: CLAUCHT (not CLAUGHT)
213 FLANKEN: pl. FLANKEN
272 HONDLE: -DLED, -DLING, -DLES (not -DLIED or -DLIES)
273 insert HOOTY adj HOOTIER, HOOTIEST
321 LEAP: add LEPT as third past
359 insert MISENROLL v -ED, -ING, -S
364 MOJO: add MOJOES
424 PECORINO: -NOS, -NI
436 PINYIN: delete PINYINS
451 delete PREFROZE; insert PREFREEZE v -FROZE,
-FROZEN, -FREEZING, -FREEZES to freeze beforehand
481 delete REARMICE; insert REARMOUSE n pl. -MICE
reremouse
477 REFALL: add REFALLS
488 delete REREMICE; insert REREMOUSE n pl. -MICE a bat
(a flying mammal)
537 SJAMBOK: definition should be "to flog"
635 UNMESH: -ES (not -S)
638 UPFRONT adj
639 URB: pl. URBS
643 delete VANIR
675 insert XANTHATE n pl. -S a chemical salt
Some of these "corrections" muddy the rule that all uninflected words
in the OSPD have eight or fewer letters.
3.3.3.3. Current corrections to the Franklin Electronic OSPD
additions deletions
--------- ---------
AMNIA AMNIONIA
BRITISH
CAUDILLOS CAUDILLLOS
CHEERLEADED
CHINESE
CHRISTMAS
CLUBBERS
CRACKLES CRACKLEES
CRIOLLOS CRIOLLLOS
EXPIATING
GONIONIA
GRAMS
HALAZONES
HIGGLED
HONDLES HONDLIES
HORNBEAMS
IRISH
ITALIAN
MACHES
MISEATE
OPALESCING OPALESCESCING
OUTDRAGGING
OUTEATE
OVEREATE
OVERLIT
PECORINI
PINYINS
REFALLS
S
SISSIES SIES
UNCLOGGING
UNDEREATE
3.3.3.4. Expurgation of OSPD
The NSA intends to reissue OSPD2 in 1995 in what it terms a "family
edition", omitting approximately 150 words labelled as offensive to
specific ethnic, racial or sexual groups, such as the words "dago"
and "jew". Hasbro, the NSA's parent, gave as major reasons for the
change its desire to promote Scrabble in elementary schools using the
OSPD and complaints by offended ethnic groups.
In effect, adult players will have their playing vocabulary
restricted to those words considered safe for children. At the same
time some words (e.g. "gyp", "welsh") offend no interest group
recognized by Hasbro, and will not be removed.
This points out the incongruity of a business corporation asserting
control over the set of words acceptable for a game purportedly based
on the set of words in a natural language. In the UK, where (1) the
source of acceptable words is a dictionary (Chambers) prepared by
professional lexicographers with only lexicographic aims, and (2)
organized play is not under the sole control of the manufacturer,
this could not happen.
In a purported compromise, NSA has stated it intends to allow
competitive play to continue using the unexpurgated OSPD2, and to
supply the need for an in-print copy of the word list by making
All Words (section 5.3) or something similar an official, licensed,
publication.
3.3.4. Tournament pairings
Most North American tournaments are ranked according to win-loss
record first, followed by the total of point margin in each game. A
few tournaments score according to a predetermined number of credits
for winning and for each ten points of margin. Australian
tournaments use total game score as the secondary factor.
In small tournaments or ones in where the field is sufficiently
divided, each player plays every other once. This is called a round
robin.
In all the other tournament designs, whom one plays depends on where
one stands in the tournament so far. In the first round, generally
the players' pre-tournament ratings temporarily stand in for the
tournament rank.
The modified form of Swiss pairing used at North American Scrabble
tournaments is best described by example. Suppose 64 players are at
the tournament. In round one, the first player plays the 33rd, the
second plays the 34th, etc., and the 32nd plays the 64th. In round
two, the same top plays middle is used for the top and bottom halves
of the tournament separately: 1 plays 17, 2 plays 18, down to 16
plays 32, and 33 plays 49, down to 48 plays 64. This continues with
groups shrinking by a factor of two at each round.
Because determining the pairings between rounds can take so long in
this method (computers are fast, but data entry can be slow), often
the field is divided into four groups, instead of two. So with 64
players, 1 17 33 49 would be grouped together, as would 2 18 34 50,
and 16 32 48 64. These groups of four then each play a round robin.
Note that this "speed-pairing" method provides the better players an
advantage. Denote the four quartiles in order as A, B, C, D. Then
the A player plays a B, C and D, while the D plays an A, B and C;
this tends to reinforce the pre-tournament estimate of the players'
strengths, and thus detracts from the aim of a tournament -- to
recognize performance, not rank. A simple improvement has rarely
been tried, to have each A player also matched against an A from
another group, etc. This models the round robin in small, and seems
inherently fairer. (If anyone has references to scholarly treatments
of the fairness of tournament designs, I would be grateful to be
supplied with them.)
In the UK, most tournaments use a version of the Swiss method in
which at each round players are paired within groups consisting of
those with the same win-loss record.
3.3.5. Tournament ratings
Using a system based on the Elo system used in chess, North American
tournaments players get a rating in the range 500 to ~2150 which
indirectly represents the probability of winning against other rated
players. This probability depends only on the difference between the
two players' ratings as follows:
rating probability
difference of winning
400 .919
300 .853
200 .758
100 .637
50 .569
0 .500
-50 .431
-100 .363
-200 .242
-300 .147
-400 .081
This represents the area under the standard bell-shaped curve where
200*sqrt(2) points are taken as one standard deviation. (The table
shows some sample points on this curve, adequate for good
approximations of rating calculations by interpolation, although
actual calculations use the exact curve.)
To keep current on a player's actual quality of play, the rating is
updated in every tournament played. First, the number of games one
is expected to win is calculated. Let's use as an example a two game
tournament, in which player P begins with an 1800 rating, and plays
opponents rated 1900 and 1725. P's rating is 100 below the 1900
players, so P is expected to win .363 fraction of a game; P's rating
is 75 above the other player's, so P is expected to win .603 of a
game (halfway between .637 and .569).
So in the two games, P is expected to win a total of .966 games.
Let's say P won one game. That's .034 more than expected. P's
rating goes up some constant multiple of this number. Well, actually
it's not a constant, but depends on how many tournament games P has
ever played and how high P's rating is.
games played
Rating < 50 >=50
below 1800 30 20
1800-1999 24 16
2000 & up 15 10
The UK ratings are somewhat similar but simpler: the probability of
the better player winning is taken as 50% plus the rating difference
as a percent, but no larger than 90%.
The Australian rating system is the same as the North American.
3.3.6. Upcoming tournaments
For a listing of upcoming North American tournaments, see the
Appendix.
3.4. Organizations conducting Scrabble activity outside North
America and the UK
Membership in the Australian Scrabble Players Association, which is
independent of the trademark holder, is $10 per year, $15 overseas.
Its quarterly newsletter, 'Across the Board', has columns on playing,
and tournament listings. It may be reached at
The Scrabble Enquiry Centre
PO Box 405
Bentleigh Australia 3204
Tel: +61 (03) 578 6767
John Holgate
Australian Scrabble Players Association
14 Moodie Street
Farrer Australia 2607
jholgate@ozemail.com.au
In Israel, English language Scrabble is played by several clubs.
There is a large one in Jerusalem. Tournaments are rated under a
copy of the North American system. There are occasional national
tournaments. Sam Orbaum, who once wrote a weekly Scrabble column for
the Jerusalem Post, runs the Jerusalem club, which meets at ICCY, 12
Emek-Refaim St, Jerusalem at 7:30pm JST Tuesdays. He can be reached
at (02)767967 (H), (02)315678 (W).
The Thailand National English language Scrabble tournament has drawn
as many as 885 contestants, including some top North Americans. For
information on the January 26-29, 1995 tournament (OSPD-based, 22
minutes per player, entry fee $100), contact
Mr. Ravee Joradol
Thailand Crossword Club
645/1 Petchburi Rd
Payathai, Bangkok 10400
Thailand
(662) 252-9607, 252-8147
(662) 252-8147 fax
about the tournament and
Kintetsu International Express (U.S.A.) Inc.
Attn Jennifer Totte
Group Travel Dept
1325 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 2002
New York, NY 10019
(212) 259-9700
about travel arrangements.
Nigeria and Japan each have an active English language Scrabble
tournament scene.
For addresses of many English language Scrabble organizations and
contacts, see the Appendix.
3.5. Scrabble by surface mail
Postal Scrabble for residents of the US and Canada is conducted by
Nick Ballard (former publisher of Medleys), under the name "Letter
Getters". Letter draws are supplied in advance, but decoded upon
drawing tiles. For 2/4/6/8 game events, $13/$21/$29/$37 (+ $1 per
event for Canadian entrants). Players are rated in a system based
on the North American rating system. See section 5.1.3.3.
3.6. Crossword games on the Internet
3.6.1. Crossword games servers
Two servers dedicated to playing crossword games (with boards
configurable by the players) are available by telnet at
next7.cas.muohio.edu, port 8888 (this means to reach it under Unix,
type "telnet next7.cas.muohio.edu 8888") and seabass.st.usm.edu, port
7777. A FAQ for these servers is available for ftp at
seabass.st.usm.edu in /doc/doom/faq.
3.6.2. Crossword games mailing list
To be added to the crossword-games mailing list, write to
saint@mit.edu, asking to be placed on crossword-games@mit.edu.
Active tournament players can be on crossword-games-pro@mit.edu.
3.6.3. Crossword games related homepages
These crossword game entities have WWW homepages:
the Los Gatos, CA, club:
http://www.yak.net/kablooey/scrabble.html
Cygnus Cybernetics:
http://www.csn.net/~homan/cygcyb.html
The Australian Scrabble Players Association:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~aspa
4. Differences between Scrabble in North America and in the UK
OSW and Chambers govern Scrabble play in the UK. Australia is
moving toward "double dictionary" play, where words from either
Chambers or OSPD are accepted. Some clubs in North America are
considering making this at least optional. An added impetus for
this trend is the planned expurgation of OSPD.
In the UK, a player erroneously challenging suffers no penalty.
The UK has a second form of Scrabble play that is waning: high-score
tournaments, where only the total of one's own scores matters. Since
one's "opponents'" scores are irrelevant, play in this system aims
for open boards and encourages elaborate setups often independently
mined by the two players.
5. Publications on Scrabble
5.1. Periodicals
5.1.1. Scrabble News
This is a publication of the National Scrabble Association (see
section 3.1), and comes with the $15 annual membership.
Puzzles, contests, gossip, intermediate and advanced tactics,
official information from NSA and Milton Bradley, tournament listings
and tournament results.
5.1.2. Tourney News
This provides mostly tournament results listings, with bits of
discussion of tactics, issues and occasional word lists. $18 per
year in the US, $C24 in Canada, $35 US elsewhere.
Tourney News
Box 2013
Teaticket, MA 02536
70750.3724@compuserve.com
5.1.3. Non-North American periodicals
5.1.3.1. Onwords
Billing itself as the "Scrabble Enthusiasts' Magazine", this is the
only publication substantially written by more than one person. It
features numerous columns, lists, analyses, letters and tournament
reports. Subscriptions are #6 for 6 issues in the UK, #10 elsewhere.
Allan Simmons
Onwords Magazine
Shilling House
1 Woolmer Hill
Haslemere
Surrey, GU27 1LT
United Kingdom
5.1.3.2. APSP Newsletter
The newsletter of the APSP, section 3.1.
5.1.4. Defunct periodicals
5.1.4.1. Letters for Expert Players
This letter-form publication, which ceased in December 1986, still
forms a rich mine of top expert opinion on interesting positions.
Back issues may (possibly) still be available from:
Albert Weissman
11 White Rock Road
Westerly, RI 02891
5.1.4.2. Matchups
Besides detailed tournament results, Matchups picked up from the
Letters in using a panel of experts to annotate interesting
positions. Suspended publication in July 1991. Back issues may be
available. See section 12.6.
5.1.4.3. Medleys
Probably the highlight of this well-edited, entertainingly written
monthly were the game annotations. One game per month was annotated
in full. Three interesting positions were analyzed by readers, with
quotes. Word lists, study techniques, anecdotes, humor and opinions
rounded out the publication. The only drawback was a long-running
two page tournament advertisement in this 12 page newsletter.
For the 12 issues of 1991 and 1992, $34 each; for 1993, $36; plus $2
shipping ($3 US in Canada).
Also, compiled from the pages of Medleys, "The Art and Science of
Anamonics" [a memory-efficient method for studying which letter 6-
and 7-letter sets anagram to make words with; e.g., the letters of
SLANDER make an 8-letter word with those in CALL GOD A PIOUS CHUMP]
and "Complete 7+1 Anamonics #1-2100".
$5 and $29 respectively; plus $0, $2 shipping.
"Expert Analysis -- Consensus Game" #1, #2, #3, #4, and "Expert
Analysis -- Consensus Extras" vol. 1, vol. 2, $29 each; plus $2
shipping. Available August and September 1994, respectively.
The second and subsequent least expensive items are charged half the
above shipping costs.
Nick Ballard
536 Kirkham St
San Francisco, CA 94122-3611
(415) LOG-NICK
nack@netcom.com
5.1.4.4. Rack Your Brain
Subtitled "Analysis of your favorite crossword game", Brian
Sheppard's series of booklets deeply analyzed specific positions.
By the author of the program Maven (section 12.3), which is an
important tool for move analysis. $42 for one year, $5 each.
Brian Sheppard
296 Old Marlboro Road
Concord, MA 01742
5.2. Books
Everything Scrabble, Joe Edley & John D. Williams, Jr. 1994, Pocket
Books. In bookstores, $12.00, or from Cygnus Cybernetics, section
12.1. Practical advice for finding good plays plus practice word
puzzles on and off board. The first author was the 1980 and 1992
North American champion.
The Champion's Strategy for Winning at Scrabble, Joel Wapnick. 1986,
Stein & Day. Out of print. Best for advanced players, with
sophisticated analyses of many positions and good study techniques.
The author was the 1983 North American champion.
How to Win at Scrabble, Jacob Orleans & Edmund Jacobson. 1953,
Grosset & Dunlap. Out of print.
The Official Scrabble Player's Handbook, Drue K. Conklin. Harmony
Books. Out of print.
The Scrabble Book, Derryn Hinch. 1976, Mason/Charter. Out of print.
The Ultimate Guide to Winning Scrabble, Michael Lawrence & John Ozag.
1987, Bantam. Good for beginners to intermediates; covers many of
the basic approaches to analysis. Out of print, but may be available
>from Edward R. Hamilton, a mail-order remainder bookseller.
Scrabble Tournament Success, a booklet focusing on the thought
processes which can help intermediate players improve. Available
>from the author, an excellent player, for $7 + $1 shipping.
Darrell Day
Marketing Concepts
5 Westglen Place
Plano, TX 75074
World Championship Scrabble, Gyles Brandreth & Darryl Francis. 1992,
Chambers. Twenty-two annotated games from the 1991 World
(English language) Scrabble Championship, which was played using
words in OSW or OSPD. In bookstores, or $7.95 + $3.50 shipping from
Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.
The Word Game Power Workout, Rita Norr & Audrey Tumbarello. 1993,
Perigee, Putnam Publ. Endeavors to teach words "through trivia, word
meanings, riddles, mnemonics, and geography." This book appears
useful for breaking the reader through to thinking in terms of
anagrams, hooks, prefixes, suffixes and extensions. Also includes
four pages of well thought out, dense suggestions for better Scrabble
play. In bookstores, or $10.95 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
Cybernetics, section 12.1.
The Literate Puzzler. Rita Norr & Audrey Tumbarello. 1994.
Sterling Pub. Co. More puzzles using words from OSPD. In
bookstores, $4.95.
British Scrabble books:
Official Scrabble Words (Chambers)
Comprehensive listing of 2- to 9-letter words in the official
Scrabble word reference, the Chambers dictionary.
Championship Scrabble, Alan Richter
Play Better Scrabble, Michael Goldman
Scrabble, Darryl Francis
The Scrabble Book, Gyles Brandreth
covers both British & North American Scrabble
available, $5.99 + $4 shipping, from Cahill & Co., (800) 755-8531
The Scrabble Puzzle Book, Gyles Brandreth
5.3. Word lists
Since the list of words from a dictionary has uncertain copyright
status, people having lists of the words from the major dictionaries
for personal use shy away from sharing them. There is, however, a
copy of the OSPD2 two to eight letter words available for ftp from
gatekeeper.dec.com in /.3/msdos-misc/crossword-archive. Also
available for ftp is a large list of Anamonics (section 6), compiled
by John J. Chew III, at seabass.st.usm.edu:/doc/doom/anamonics.
Numerous lists and other items are available from Cygnus Cybernetics
(see section 12.1).
Sheppard Company, Inc., maker of Maven (see section 12.3) sells lists
(charging $5 + $1 for each additional list for shipping) including:
2-, 3- and 4-letter words with hook relationships, $7.95.
5-letter words by consonant content, $7.95.
Bingo frequency list, $12.95 each for 7- and 8-letter words.
Bingos grouped by anahooks (see section 6), $12.95 each for 7-
and 8-letter words.
Vowel-heavy words, $7.95.
The Blank Book, 2nd ed., Alan Frank
Shows all letters with which each set of six and seven letters
anagrams to make a word. Also specifies whether more than one word
can be formed. Spiral bound. $20 + $3 shipping from Matchups,
section 12.6.
The Olde-Fashioned Anagram Book, Alan Frank
All 2- to 8-letter words anagrammed according to their alphabetized
letter sets. Spiral bound. $15 + $3 shipping (or $32.50 + $4.50
shipping together with the Blank Book 2nd ed. above) from Matchups,
section 12.6.
The Weird Book, Alan Frank
Features such retrograde lists as words with weird trigrams, high
probability racks forming 7- and 8-letter words with only one low
probability tile, and words displaying all ways of forming plurals
(e.g. LIKUTA MAKUTA, ZLOTY ZLOTYCH). $10 + $2 shipping from
Matchups, section 12.6.
The Complete Wordbook, Mike Baron & Brian Sheppard
Contains (1) specialty word lists: the most efficient lists to
study (vowel heavy words; JQXZ 2..6s; -S and non-S surprise shorts;
7s & 8s grouped by studying priority; -INGS, -LIKE, -ABLE, -IBLE
lists); (2) hooks: 2-to-make-3s ... 8-to-make-9s; and (3)
alphagrams: all 3s ... 8s unscrambled. In US, $24.00 + $2.50
shipping. In Canada, add $5 per address, elsewhere $10. Wordbooks
& Listmats, P.O. Box 2848, Corrales NM 87048-2848.
The Complete Blankbook, Mike Baron & Jim Homan
Lists all 6- and 7-letter sets forming 7- and 8-letter words and
all bingos formed. In US, $35.00 + $4.95 shipping ($2.95 shipping
each for 10 or more). Includes a copy of The Complete Wordbook.
In Canada, add $5 per address, elsewhere $10. Wordbooks &
Listmats, P.O. Box 2848, Corrales NM 87048-2848.
All Words, Jim Homan
All 2- thru 9-letter words accepted in North American play. $12 +
$3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.
Back-Words, Jim Homan
All 2- thru 9-letter words accepted in North American play
alphabetized from the back. $12 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
Cybernetics, section 12.1.
9-Letter Hooks and Anagrams, Jim Homan
Shows what letters extend 8- to 9-letter words, and letter sets
forming all 9-letter words. $10 + $3.50 shipping from Cygnus
Cybernetics, section 12.1.
High Probability Bingos, Jim Homan
The 1000 most likely 7- and 8-letter words to draw to an empty
rack. Also, the 1000 7- and 8-letter words most often played by
a computer in a substantial sample of games. $3.25 + $3.50
shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.
JQXZ Bingos, Jim Homan
7-, 8- and 9-letter words containing the four top tiles. $3.25 +
$3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1.
Various word list books, Sheppard Company, Inc.
Short words, JQXZ words, 5-letter words, vowel-heavy words,
7- and 8-letter anamonics, 7s and 8s in frequency order,
5-vowelled 8s, 5-to-make-8s, front hooks. Section 12.3.
The Family Bingo Tree
Similar to the two above, it groups together all 7- and 8-letter
words formable from each 6-letter set. $45 from Randy Hersom
(section 5.4).
hookiesT
2-to-make-3 thru 7-to-make-8 hooks. $22 from Randy Hersom
(section 5.4).
Double List Word Book, Ethel Cannon Sherard
OSPD1 based, alphabetically by word length and by last letter. Has
numerous omissions. Gwethine Publishing Co, P.O. Box 41344, Los
Angeles, CA 90041.
The Scrabble Word-building Book, Saleem Ahmed; $5.99
Inconsistent in inclusion of new OSPD2 words; numerous errors.
The Official Scrabble Word Finder, Robert W Schachner; $7.00
This is useless for Scrabble.
Official Scrabble Word Guide. Grosset & Dunlap, Jacob Orleans; $6.95
This 1953 book, still found in stores, is based roughly on the Funk
& Wagnalls dictionary then current.
Official Scrabble Lists
For the UK; lists based on OSW; many useful playing hints. A
second edition will come out in 1995, containing the words from
OSW3. Available in the same places as OSW.
Griffon Word List 1995
Based on OSW + OSPD, listing all words up to 8 letters in length.
Aus $28 includes international air mail, Aus $20 each for ten.
Geoff Wright
PO Box 13
Brunswick Australia 3056
Barry Harridge
barry@torps.apana.org.au
Official Scrabble Words on Compact Disk
This is supplied for Sony's Data Diskman. Search facilities are
reportedly poor.
Official Scrabble Players Electronic Dictionary
Produced by Franklin, this credit-card sized device contains the
OSPD2. It does anagram queries and queries with blanks in fixed
position. Some proper nouns have crept in as acceptable words,
apparently from careless scanning of the printed OSPD2. Available
for $48.00 + $5.00 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics (see section
12.1; this is the only supplier that ships each device with a card
listing all the current corrections -- for which, see section
3.3.3.3), or $59.99 from Radio Shack.
It was rumored in 1993 that the Franklin OSPD might be withdrawn
because of wrangling between Franklin and Milton Bradley about the
proceeds, but nothing has been heard about this since.
5.4. Word study software
Word Study System (IBM PC), $99 at last information, is at least a
bit difficult to configure, but a very effective study system.
Jeff Widergren
19397 Zinfandel Ct.
Saratoga, CA
LexAbility (IBM PC), besides an anagram study system, includes a
feature allowing play of Scrabble by modem. $50 postpaid in US and
Canada.
Randy Hersom
115A Rhyne St
Morgantown, NC 28655
rhersom@delphi.com
Puzlpack (IBM PC), $25 + $3 shipping; also from Cygnus Cybernetics
(see section 12.1).
Chuck Fendall
Recroom Recware
P.O. Box 307
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Anna (IBM PC), $99 + $5 shipping, quizzes on anagrams, emphasizing
words missed over time, allows custom lists as well as functioning
as an anagrammer.
Mary Rhoades
2325 Shady Grove Dr
Bedford, TX 76021
(817) 545-3216
LeXpert (Windows), $59.95 (+ $4.95 shipping), tests on or presents a
timed slide show of various predefined anagram and hook word lists;
lists words containing patterns or letter sets. Current users will
receive an upgrade soon offering more flexibility, such as random or
alphabetic presentation of letters, and more defined lists (by number
of vowels, by number of anagrams).
Everything's Possible
6632 Telegraph Rd, Suite 166
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
(810) 489-9422
(810) 489-9423 fax
Word Ear-Obics, $10 for each of three cassettes, which contain high-
frequency seven-letter words from common six-letter stems, eight-
letter words from the stem AEINST, and four and five letter JKQXZ
words with hooks.
4414 Sparta Way
N Las Vegas, NV 89030
(702) 656-7570
6. Basic tactics and methods
Rack Balance
Some groups of letters combine well, others poorly. Most
obviously, racks full of vowels or of consonants are usually hard
to play. Also, racks with duplicate letters -- even "good" letters
(except most often S and sometimes E) -- reduce flexibility.
Therefore, give weight in evaluating possible plays to how well the
leave combines.
As a corollary, also consider what replacement tiles you're likely
to draw. For example, if the choice between playing FARM and FORM
is otherwise indifferent, and there are many "A"s unplayed but few
"O"s, use the A to minimize the likelihood of duplication on the
next rack.
The simplest application of attending to leave is attempting to
keep good tiles. On average, S, E, R, and so on form words most
flexibly, and are particularly conducive to bingos. Choices
between letters lower down also matter: P is better than B. But
racks with Z or X tend to score high without playing long words.
Which type of "good" letter is best to keep varies.
In applying all these ideas, consider the board situation. If
there is a prime spot for a T, not used by the candidate plays, but
none for an S, prefer to play off the S. If the letters available
to be played through are mostly consonants, lean further toward
keeping vowels.
Tile-tracking
Since the set of tiles in a game is always the same, knowing what
is left is as useful to the Scrabble player as to the card-counting
blackjack player -- only easier. While some find tracking hurts
their concentration, after practice, most do it without disruption.
Others count only when they see a specific need.
Tracking allows better rack balancing: knowing there are many more
"A"s than "O"s outstanding allows one to lean toward playing an A.
It keeps one aware of whether the Q is outstanding, and of the risk
and opportunity in other tiles which fit particularly well or
poorly with the board.
Finally, once no tiles remain in the bag, tracking determines what
exactly is on the opponent's rack. Just before the bag is empty,
it allows fairly confident guessing what the opponent has. These
allow all kinds of end-game play: set-ups, plays to assure the
opponent cannot go out and enable one to throw out all rules of
thumb and simply analyze cases for how to win.
Challenging
One of the tactical considerations for challenging is not special
to Scrabble. If the only way you can lose is to challenge your
opponent's word, refrain. If winning requires a successful
challenge (plus perhaps some further luck) and there is any chance
the word is phony, challenge.
It is generally best not to challenge a bingo if an alternative
bingo was playable. I once played (P)SCHENT for several fewer
points than CH(A)STEN because I knew my opponent would be outraged
that I'd try such a stupid word on him. He should have calmed his
emotions and considered my alternatives. Of course, had he found
the over ten point better play, he might have inferred I had missed
it, and challenged.
Consider the possibility that you are better off with the
(possibly) phony word on the board. If it creates a lucrative
opening for you, makes especially good use of your rack, or wastes
your opponent's blank, offset the point benefit to you against the
benefit to opponent of not losing this turn. Weight this
calculation using your degree of certainty as to whether the word
is good.
Use your right to challenge all words formed. Since the director
gives only one ruling on the acceptability of all challenged words,
your opponent may be uncertain which word was phony and try the bad
word again.
Study
The great variety in learning styles prevents any definitive
recommendation of study methods, but there are some principles.
Study the words most likely to occur. Know the two-letter words
cold, since they are essential to common parallel plays. On the
way to learning the three-letter words solidly, learn all front and
back extensions for the twos. Learning the part of speech and the
meaning of the two-letter words helps many people assimilate this;
it is a technique that allows many to derive dual benefit from all
kinds of study.
Also extra likely to occur because of the reward, as well as worthy
of special study simply because of the reward, are the seven- and
eight-letter words. Many techniques are possible.
One top player has memorized an ordered list of these words each of
which is the first element of one of a set of subsidiary lists
which encompass the entire set of bingos. That method is only for
the very dedicated. Practice anagramming by matching the remaining
letters to a common suffix or prefix. Some claim success in
extending this technique to allow recognition of words which, for
example, contain the letters ING but form only a non-"-ING" word,
such as LINGOES.
Unless you have a photographic memory, try to learn words in small
enough sets that you can master them to the point that you
recognize both when you can and cannot anagram to one of them. For
example, learn the list of all eight letter words containing
exactly the vowels EEIIO (EOLIPILE and others). Then the phony
OLEINIZE will not get by you, nor will you try it yourself.
Try Anamonics, an efficient technique for learning, positively and
negatively, whether a letter set anagrams to a word. For example,
the letters of SLANDER make an 8-letter word with each of those in
CALL GOD A PIOUS CHUMP. For this and other very effective
techniques, see back issues of Medleys (section 5.1.5.3).
Practice anagramming at any time there are words around you whose
meaning you do not need to concentrate on. This will soon take
over your life so that even reading the newspaper, SENATOR will
translate to TREASON and ATONERS, deeply affecting your world-view.
7. Typical games
7.1. Typical scores
In a 27 game, 194 participant tournament in 1988, the average score
was 368.6, standard deviation 60.6 and the distribution of scores:
180 2 420 214
190 1 430 165
200 2 440 141
210 5 450 101
220 26 460 100
230 27 470 58
240 19 480 63
250 56 490 53
260 78 500 34
270 101 510 24
280 137 520 19
290 185 530 12
300 205 540 6
310 257 550 6
320 309 560 4
330 325 570 7
340 336 580 1
350 345 590 1
360 325 600 2
370 331 610 0
380 325 620 0
390 328 630 0
400 276 640 0
410 225 650 1
7.2. Frequency of bingos
In the 1983 national championship among 32 selected players, players
got 2.9 bingos per game between them in games that happened to be
annotated.
8. Scrabble records
8.1. Actual
The following records are for sanctioned (that is, in an official
club or tournament) North American play.
The high combined score and the high individual score were both
obtained in a 1993 California tournament by Mark Landsberg, who
scored 770 against his opponent's 335.
The high margin of victory including phonies was by Ken Lambe of
Michigan, who scored 716 versus his opponent's 147, using a single
phony.
The high single turn, 302 points, has been achieved by both Jeff
Clark of Michigan and Ron Manson of Ontario.
Longest consecutive opening sequence of bingos by one player:
Jeremiah Mead of Massachusetts played five in a 1989 North American
championship tournament game.
8.2. Theoretical
These records allow words only from the OSPD (1st ed.) and
Merriam-Webster (9th ed.).
The highest single scoring play, found by Kyle Corbin of North
Carolina, shown with the hooked words:
A1 OXYPHENBUTAZONE 1458
1A OPACIFYING 63
2A XIS 10
4A PREINTERVIEWED 26
8A BLADDERLIKE 57
11A AFORETHOUGHT 18
12A ZONETIME 29
15A EJACULATING 63
+bonus 50
The highest combined score, found by Steven Root of Massachusetts:
H2 LANKEST 74
8F METRICAL 60
8A GRAVIMETRI(C)ALLY 293
2F SULTANA(S) 61
1E HE, ES 7
1E HEN, NU 8
1I UT, UT, TA 6
1I UTA, AN 5
1M ON OS 3
L2 AR 2
L2 ARF 12
1A OXYPHENBUTAZONE,
BLANKEST, ZARF 1576
5E GINKGOES, ZARFS 123
B1 XI 18
O7 PYRUVATE 67
N14 WE, WE 20
D8 VERDITER 76
13B DIT 8
B13 DE 6
B13 DEI 4
15D ROT 3
G14 OE, ROTE 6
13G JOE, JO 35
I13 BA, JOB 22
I13 BAH 8
14I AI 4
K14 LI, AIL 5
11D DEADWOOD 106
15A MICROTECHNIQUES,
IN, PYRUVATES 1264
+2 times "F" 8
----
3642
8.3. Blocked games
The position from which no play is possible no matter what tiles are
held, which is reached with the fewest plays and tiles (found by Jim
Geary of Arizona) is:
(K)
K E V
V O X
(X)U
Without using blanks, the smallest, found by Rick Wong of California,
is:
F
HUP
FUCI
PIU
9. Scrabble variants
In Anagram Scrabble (Clabbers, to some), where in the usual game, a
word in the dictionary may be used, the adjacent tiles need only
anagram to such a word. If there is a challenge, the challengee must
come up with a single word to which the challenged set of letters
anagrams. Tiles are still fixed in position once placed.
In an idea discussed in Medleys, called New Scrabble, the role of
luck in the draw of blanks is reduced in that both players have one
blank, not in the bag, which they may use to replenish their rack
once during the game.
Ecology Scrabble allows recycling blanks, in accordance with a common
"house rule". See section 3.3.2.
In Duplicate Scrabble, players all play the same board, competing for
high score on each move. Duplicate tournaments are held in France.
10. Play-by-mail games
Open-book Scrabble by snail mail is run by Medleys. (See section
5.1.5.3 for its address.) Medleys charges $5 for a round, plus $3
per game in a round; players participate in from 2 to 8 simultaneous
games.
In the UK, the Postal Scrabble Club is very active. See the Appendix
for a contact.
11. Scrabble paraphernalia
11.1. Tiles
Milton Bradley will replace without charge individual lost tiles from
in-print sets sold in North America. Write to
Milton Bradley Co
Attn Customer Service Dept
443 Shaker Rd
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
specifying the tiles, set type, and item number of the set.
Standard-issue tiles are "braillable", that is, particular letters
(and especially blanks) can be distinguished inside the bag by feel,
and "false blanks" may be played, since the back of all tiles is the
same as the front of a blank. Protiles, which are preferred
according to tournament rules, prevent this. They are long-lasting,
and the seller replaces lost tiles without charge. Available for $18
+ $3.50 shipping from Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1, or for $18
per set (10% off for 10 or more) from
Robert Schoenman
Box 408
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
For $8.50 per set, Nate Kates will imprint the back of plastic
Protiles with a name of up to 4 or 5 letters.
Nate Kates
8170 Reche Canyon Rd
Colton, CA 92324
In the UK, Spear makes Tournament Tiles, which besides having
thinner, harder to braille ink than the regular Spear tiles, do not
wear as quickly, nor smudge when wet. Available from Philip Nelkon
(section 3.2) for #6.
11.2. Clocks
Chess clocks, used to time games at clubs and tournaments, are
available where chess paraphernalia is sold, but avoid those analog
models on whose faces the individual minutes past zero are not
marked.
Analog quartz clocks are sold by Cygnus Cybernetics, section 12.1,
for $45 (or $52 for a see-through case) + $5 shipping, and also by
Matchups, $67.50 + $5 shipping, section 12.6. Wind-up clocks are
sold by Matchups for $42.50 + $5 shipping.
A digital model well suited to Scrabble, called the "SamTimer",
having very large (1 inch) numbers and a slanted face, is sold for
$135 (+$10 for padded bag) + $3 shipping by
Sam Kantimathi
Box 5236
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-5236
In the UK, the APSP sells wind-up clocks for #19.
11.3. Miscellaneous
Braille Scrabble is sold in North America by Milton Bradley. Blind
players do play in tournaments, bringing their own braille sets,
which have visible printed letters.
The Franklin Mint sells a Scrabble set (complete with a copy of the
OSPD2) for $495. No serious tournament player I know owns one,
except for the winner of a Franklin-sponsored tournament set up to
promote this garish item and the 1993 World (English language)
Champion. This set is also available in the UK at an even higher
price.
Mary Lou Thurman sells several things, including: a cover of light
plastic mesh for the Deluxe edition of Scrabble allowing collecting
tiles from the board all at once, $2.50; tote bags, $12-$15; tile
bags, $6; chess clock bags, $7; OSPD book covers, $4-$6; Wordbook
covers, $7; all optionally decorated or embroidered with names.
Mary Lou Thurman
2627 24th St
Lubbock, TX 79410
(806) 744-7702
Cygnus Cybernetics supplies a device called TopSpin to make your
supposedly freely turning deluxe Scrabble set turn better. It is
really just a pair of ball-bearinged metal plates stuck to the base
and top of the board with two-sided thick tape, available at hardware
stores. From Cygnus (see section 12.1), it is $7.50 + $3.50
shipping.
Punch bound books of 100 scoresheets in various colors and tracking
orders, with or without board diagrams, are available for $5.00 each
plus $3.00 shipping for up to 3 books from
Danny Gatlin
191 Lakeshore Rd
Jackson, MS 39212
12. Computer versions of Scrabble
There are (1) Scrabble-playing programs licensed in the US and UK;
(2) "crossword game" programs which can be configured to play
Scrabble; and (3) programs which ignore the trademark and copyright
issues. All are represented below.
For a citation to a publication on efficient Scrabble move finding,
see section 12.13. An improvement on the method described there
appears in:
A Faster Scrabble Move Generation Algorithm
Steven Gordon
Software Practice and Experience, 24:2, Feb 1994, pp.
219-232
The following paper compares approaches for move selection:
A Comparison Between Probabilistic Search And Weighted
Heuristics in a Game with Incomplete Information
Steven Gordon
AAAI Fall 1993 Symposium on Games: Playing and Learning,
AAI Press Technical Report FS9302, Menlo Park, CA
12.1. CrossWise (IBM PC)
A ridiculously fast player which plays at the highest level, twice
having won the international Computer Olympiad at Scrabble. Highly
configurable, with a professionally programmed interface. Contains
all OSPD2 words, but no others over eight letters. (An augmentation
of the dictionary to cover all words up to 15 letters is $12.50.) No
setup capability; hinting ability is "limited" to showing all moves
in score order. $35 + $4.50 shipping.
Cygnus Cybernetics Corporation
2013 Weathertop
Fort Collins, CO 80526
(800) 357-8168
(303) 493-5370 fax
info@cygcyb.com
http://www.csn.net/~homan/cygcyb.html
A UK variant of CrossWise is described in section 12.7.
Note that the shipping charge for orders of multiple items is $3.50
for the first $29.99 of merchandise, plus $.50 for each $10.00 up to
a maximum of $6.00.
12.2. Gameboy Super Scrabble (Nintendo)
Based on American Heritage Dictionary, not OSPD.
12.3. Maven (Macintosh)
An extremely strong and intelligent player. Never having entered the
International Computer Olympiad, its strength can't reliably be
compared to CrossWise's. It includes excellent facilities for
position analysis. The program keeps track of various statistics
about the registered player, so orders must include the name of the
player, and (if available) their current rating. $75 (+ $5 for non-
US shipment).
Sheppard Company, Inc.
60 Thoreau St #187
Concord MA 01742-9116
(508) 287-0055
(508) 287-4583 fax
SheppardCo@aol.com
An IBM PC version was supposed to have been out during 1994; its
issue date is uncertain.
12.4. Monty Plays Scrabble (hand-held)
Ritam Corporation. Originally available for the IBM PC and Apple II,
since 1987 only as a hand-held unit. Comes with 20,000 words from
OSPD1, upgradable to about 40,000, which is still incomplete.
Deplorable strategy. The hand-held version requires scrolling around
a small screen to find the board area of interest. Reportedly
sometimes changes the letter represented by a played blank.
Apparently no longer licensed by Milton Bradley, its current
availability is unknown.
12.5. Scramble (IBM PC)
This is a very pretty game. But note this from the documentation:
"Q. How come I can see my opponent's rack? Shouldn't it be hidden?
A. You must be thinking of some other crossword game. This is
Scramble. In Scramble, you get to see your opponent's rack." The
machine player plays for high score on each turn. While substitution
of a user-provided dictionary for the quite incomplete one supplied
is provided for, this slows down an already slow game.
Ted Gruber Software
P.O. Box 13408
Las Vegas, NV 89112
12.6. Tyler (IBM PC, Macintosh)
Written for the IBM PC and ported to the Macintosh (not very
smoothly, I am told), this version is distinguished by a complete
OSPD2 and Merriam-Webster dictionary up to 15 letters, with a UK
dictionary also available, by good strategy and by good setup and
hint facilities. (I regularly use it to automatically critique my
tournament games.) Unfortunately, the latest version, 3.04 is flaky,
and the author has not been upgrading as frequently as he had been.
$50 + $2 shipping.
Matchups
35 Gardner St
Arlington, MA 02174
(617) 661-1007
alf@world.std.com
12.7. US Gold Scrabble (IBM PC, Amiga, Atari ST)
Licensed for sale in the UK, this is essentially similar to CrossWise
(section 12.1), but comes with the complete contents of the OSW.
Reviews in the APSP newsletter say "a splendid opponent ... speed is
quite astonishing ... graphics and facilities are excellent." Cost
is around #30.
12.8. Vic Rice's Game (IBM PC)
This goes under the name "Scrabble" but for clarity, I'm denominating
it according to its author's name. Available from
Vic Rice
4026 Bayou Grove Dr.
Seabrook, TX 77586
and from the bulletin board system (BBS) where the author resides:
Ed Hopper's PC Board
(713) 782-5454
12.9. Virgin Mastertronic (IBM PC, Macintosh)
Licensed for sale in the US. Sold in three versions, about $15, $25
and $35. The standard version has about 20,000 words from the OSPD1.
The two deluxe versions have the complete OSPD1 with some errors. In
the IBM PC program, the deluxe version adds VGA graphics. The $35
version is the deluxe for Windows, which stops running when in the
background. Reportedly plays at the level of a middling tournament
player, but with no discernible strategy. Also reportedly very slow,
with the deluxe versions, holding the full OSPD1, taking two to three
minutes per move on a 386/33. Windows deluxe version is available
for now at $18.95 from Surplus Software, (800) 753-7877.
12.10. WordsWorth (IBM PC)
Shareware version, available for ftp from ftp.aztec.co.za in
/pub/gram/wwdem.zip, uses the OSPD2 restricted to words of up to six
letters. Registration brings the complete OSPD2 and Merriam-Webster,
and costs 75 S. African Rand, $25 US or #20. Currently in version
1.3.
Graham Wheeler
P.O. Box 6680
Roggebaai
Cape Town 8012
South Africa
gram@aztec.co.za
12.11. STrabbler (Atari)
Shareware, it is available for ftp from atari.archive.umich.edu in
the directory /atari/Games. It requires at least 1MB of memory.
Words are played by click-and-drag using the mouse. The program
plays solely for high score. It contains a 45,000 word editable and
browsable dictionary.
12.12. Unix Scrabble (Unix)
Available by ftp from ftp.doe.carleton.ca in the directory
/pub/scrabble. This program, by James A. Cherry, has to be compiled
for the target machine. It comes with an American Scrabble
dictionary, for which a single word file in simple ASCII may be
substituted. Currently in version 1.31. The player faces from one
to three computer opponents which play for highest score at each
move.
12.13. CRAB (Unix, Sun, Vax and Macintosh)
Based on their article in a research journal:
The World's Fastest Scrabble Program
Andrew Appel and Guy Jacobson
Communications of the A.C.M. v.31 no.5, May 1988
this product from Jacoppel Enterprises (the Unix, Sun, Vax version of
which is currently in version 1.3) appears primarily designed to
demonstrate the speed of their move-finding method, but does permit a
real, player-versus-machine game to be played. Their method is no
longer the fastest (their timings on more sophisticated machines are
far outdone by CrossWise on a lowly IBM PC), but illuminating
nonetheless. The Mac version is available at any mirror of the
Info-Mac archive, including mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu, directory
/pub/info-mac/game, in the file crab.hqx.
12.14. Scrabble Door (IBM PC BBS)
When installed by the system operator, allows playing others on an
IBM-PC based BBS. Player, logged on to the BBS, need not be using a
PC. Shareware, $25 payable by sysop. Registered version includes
built-in dictionary based on OSPD2, and allows sysop-supplied ASCII
dictionary. Rather than challenges, plays with phonies are rejected,
costing a player's turn only after 3 bad attempts.
Christopher Hall
P.O. Box 165507
Irving, TX 75016-5507
chall@computek.net
13. Glossary
Bingo: A play that uses all seven of a player's tiles, earning a
50-point bonus. Good tournament players average one to two such
plays per game. The unlovely term "bingo" is used by North American
players. British players say "bonus play" or just "bonus".
Double-Double, Triple-Triple: A play that covers two double word
scores, or triple word scores, respectively, scoring quadruple or
nonuple ("hey, it's in Chambers") the raw score of the word. In the
UK, "4-timer" and "9-timer".
Exchange: A turn in which a player trades letters rather than
playing on the board. This is allowed only when at least 7 tiles
remain in the bag. In the UK, "change".
Hook: A play adding one letter to one end of of a word already
played, while creating a main word perpendicular to the extended
word.
Leave: The tiles remaining on a player's rack after their play.
Parallel Play: A play making several words perpendicular to the main
word by extending existing words or inserting letters between
existing tiles.
Pass: A turn in which a player does nothing. Compare with exchange.
Phony: A word played that is not in the official dictionary or
dictionaries.
A0. Copyright
This article is copyright 1994 Steven Alexander. It may be copied
and distributed for non-commercial purposes only, provided that this
notice and the instructions for retrieving a current copy are
included. Archives should offer a current copy, and to that end,
I will e-mail updates to public archive sites which need that.
A1. Credits
Many thanks to John J. Chew III, Jim Homan and Graeme Thomas for
numerous corrections and improvements. Also to Barry Harridge and
Philip F.X. Ryan for information on Australia. Thanks also to Edith
Berman, Gary Dismukes, Steven Gordon, Adam Logan, Maggie Morley,
Larry Sherman and Harriet Strasberg for helpful comments.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Steven Alexander
stevena@cs.berkeley.edu
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!uwm.edu!lll-winken.llnl.gov!overload.lbl.gov!agate!stevena
From: stevena@qin.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Steven Alexander)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board,rec.puzzles.crosswords,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Scrabble FAQ - Club and Tournament Supplement
Supersedes: <3htqpp$om0@agate.berkeley.edu>
Followup-To: rec.games.board
Date: 16 Mar 1995 02:53:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 2026
Sender: stevena@cs.berkeley.edu (Steven Alexander)
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: Fri, 17 Apr 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <3k8985$nl9@agate.berkeley.edu>
References: <3k88qr$nhf@agate.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: stevena@cs.berkeley.edu (Steven Alexander)
NNTP-Posting-Host: qin.cs.berkeley.edu
Summary: This supplement to the Frequently Asked Questions concerning
Scrabble lists clubs and upcoming tournaments within North
America, and contacts for outside.
Keywords: Scrabble, crossword game
URL: http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~stevena/faq.html
Originator: stevena@qin.CS.Berkeley.EDU
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu rec.games.board:39909 rec.puzzles.crosswords:2570 rec.answers:10754 news.answers:37127
Last-modified: 11 March 1995
Archive-name: games/scrabble-faq/supplement
This and the companion article are available by
ANONYMOUS FTP to rtfm.mit.edu (18.181.0.24) and get the files
/pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/general
/pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/supplement
EMAIL (for those without ftp access) send
To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Subject:
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/general
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/games/scrabble-faq/supplement
A hypertext version is available in
"http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~stevena/faq.html".
A2. Roster of clubs in the US and Canada
ALABAMA
No. 9 MOBILE, AL
Call for information
Sarah Fields (205) 473-2633
453 W Creek Circle Dr
Mobile, AL 36617
Eliza Cooper (205) 457-9416
No. 362 BIRMINGHAM, AL
1st & 3rd Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM
Sharpsburg Manor Clubhouse
Call for information
Jim Pate (205) 822-2438, 226-3644 (W)
701 Bluff Park Rd
Birmingham, AL 35266
Becky Hoffman (205) 853-6528
No. 410 MOBILE, AL
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
Quincy's Family Steak House
3871 Airport Blvd
Mobile, AL 36617
Sarah Fields (205) 473-2633
Ervin Byrd (205) 660-6152
ARIZONA
No. 100 MESA, AZ
Saturdays @ 5:00 PM
Call or write for information
May Haney (602) 969-1806
1608 E Main St #104
Mesa, AZ 85203
No. 110 MESA, AZ
Saturdays @ 1:00 PM
Call or write for information
May Haney (602) 969-1806
1608 E Main St #104
Mesa, AZ 85203
No. 123 PHOENIX, AZ
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Washington Adult Ctr
2240 W Citrus Way
Call for information
Barbara Van Alen (602) 993-7535
Jerry D'Angelo (602) 973-7014
No. 231 SUN LAKES, AZ
Mondays @ 1:00 PM
Club House
25601 N Sun Lakes Blvd
Call for information
Ruth Sturrus (604) 895-1250
9316 N Cactus Ln
Sun Lakes, AZ 85248
No. 303 TUCSON, AZ
Call for information
Naurlene Canterman (602) 886-9258
No. 390 TUCSON, AZ
Call for information
Lewis Saul (602) 623-3957
1263 S Bison Dr
Tucson, AZ 85713
No. 405 SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM
Scottsdale Pima Motel
7330 N Pima Rd
Bonnie Rudolph (602) 946-5326
Lillian Goldfine (602) 860-0890
Florence Ziegler (602) 994-1172
ARKANSAS
No. 249 JONESBORO, AR
1st & 3rd Tuesdays @ 1:30 PM
Mercantile Bank
300 S Church St
Jonesboro, AR
Billie P Garver (501) 486-5857
Rte #2 Box 256
Leachville, AR 72438
Naomi Wallace (501) 486-2728
Eunice Czapla (501) 932-6212
No. 336 NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS, AR
Mondays @ 10:30 AM
Nettie's Cafeteria
College Plaza
Mountain Home, AR
Marie Moore (501) 425-7729
1008 E Locust
Mountain Home, AR 72653
CALIFORNIA
No. 21 LOS GATOS, CA
Saturdays @ 11:00 AM
Pollard Round Table Pizza
1472 Pollard Rd
Los Gatos, CA
Rick Wong (408) 923-8388
454 Porter Ln
San Jose, CA 95127-2553
kablooey@sharyl.mailstop.com
http://www.yak.net/kablooey/scrabble.html
No. 34 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA
Tuesdays @ 6:15 PM
The Huntington Terrace
18800 Florida St
Call for information
Penny Baker (909) 683-0989
Terry Lee (714) 968-1200
No. 40 OAKLAND, CA
Saturdays @ 12:15 PM
Montclair Park Clubhouse
6300 Moraga Av
Mountain Blvd betw. that & Moraga, near Thornhill
Victor Havens (510) 482-1109
1517 MacArthur Blvd #5
Oakland, CA 94602
Cynthia Pughsley (510) 839-4090
No. 44 LOS ANGELES, CA
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Westside Jewish Comm Ctr Solarium
5870 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Alan & Ruth Stern (818) 951-1745
10000 La Canada Way
Sunland, CA 91040
Bruce D'Ambrosio (310) 641-2879
No. 69 SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CA
Mondays @ 6:45 PM
N Valley Jewish Comm Ctr
16601 Rinaldi St (at Hayvenhurst)
Granada Hills, CA
Deborah Sapot (818) 702-9218 (H)
22814 Av San Luis
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
No. 76 SAN DIEGO, CA
Mondays @ 6:15 PM
Doyle Park Rec Ctr
8175 Regents Rd
(619) 552-1603
Carol Kaplan (619) 535-1262
Betty Schulman (619) 423-8845 (H), 238-0303 (W)
No. 85 LAGUNA HILLS, CA
Mondays @ 1:00 PM
Leisure World Clubhouse #5
Call for information
Geraldine Wenk (714) 837-7223
3459-A Bahia Blance
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Sylvi Gruzen (714) 859-0555
2302 E Via Puerta
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
No. 95 SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM
Carl's Jr. Restaurant
4 Embarcadero Ctr
Robin Levin (415) 467-9464
623 Campbell
San Francisco, CA 9134?
Stu Goldman (415) 864-2463
stu@netcom.com
No. 176 LAGUNA HILLS, CA
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
California Federal S & L Bldg
Moulton Pkwy & El Toro Rd
Laguna Hills, CA
Call for information
Gina du Mez (714) 586-2378
23216 Orange Av #5
Lake Forest, CA
Tom Singleton (714) 831-9135
No. 183 RIVERSIDE, CA
Saturdays @ 12:15 PM
Olive Grove Senior Resort
7898 California Av
Penny Baker (714) 683-0989
1235 Via Pintada
Riverside, CA 92507
Pat Reed (909) 780-7888
No. 195 LOS ANGELES, CA
Saturdays @ 9:45 AM
Felicia Mahood Senior Ctr
11338 Santa Monica Blvd
Don Knutzen (213) 838-3928
3822 Prospect Av
Bruce D'Ambrosio (310) 641-2879
Beth Fleischer (310) 330-7570
Lou Block (310) 836-3173
No. 235 SANTA ROSA, CA
Call for information
Fred Holden (707) 538-4874
1342 Rivera Ct
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
No. 242 SEAL BEACH/LONG BEACH, CA
4th Sunday @ 12:30 PM
Fidelity Federal Bank
13820 Seal Beach Blvd
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Deborah Sapot (818) 702-9218
Esther Kisich (213) 433-5233
No. 244 SAN JOSE, CA
Sundays @ 1:00 PM
Schotsky Deli
Westgate Shopping Mall, Saratoga Av
Call for information
Johnny R Nevarez (408) 379-5845
4804 Bannock Circle
San Jose, CA 95130
Jeff Widergren (209) 826-2523
No. 271 SANTA BARBARA, CA
Call for information
Jason Sommer & Sherry Schaff (805) 688-6252
1493 Aarhus Dr #16
Solvang, CA 93463
Marian Koonce (805) 682-5660
No. 329 EAGLE ROCK (LOS ANGELES), CA
2nd, 4th & 5th Wednesdays @ 6:45 PM
Yosemite Rec Ctr
1840 Yosemite Dr
George Heussenstamm (818) 248-0537
5013 Lowell Av
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Gwen Bishop (213) 258-6667
No. 357 CARLSBAD, CA
Saturdays @ 10:30 AM
Stagecoach Park Rec Ctr
3420 Camino De Los Coches
Carlsbad, CA 92009
Sue Kaye (619) 942-9922
No. 377 FRESNO, CA
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Round Table Pizza
5763 N First St @ Bullard Av
Carlynn Moreno (209) 439-6947 (H), (209) 445-5424 (W)
No. 383 SANTEE, CA
1st & 3rd Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Santee Fire Station
8950 Cottonwood Av
Santee, CA
Sandee Reynoldson (619) 463-4513
P.O. Box 712262
Santee, CA 92072
No. 393 MILL VALLEY, CA
Thursdays @ 6:00 PM
Round Table Pizza
Belvedere Dr
Norma Fisher (415) 435-8197
No. 406 HAYWARD, CA
Sundays @ 11:00 AM
Hayward Senior Ctr
22325 N Third St
(510) 881-6766
Kate Mendell (510) 783-6576
No. 423 LONG BEACH, CA
Fridays @ 6:00 PM
Bixby Knolls Towers
3737 Atlantic Av
Esther Kisich (310) 433-5233
No. 433 SACRAMENTO, CA
Sundays @ 11:30 AM
Sacramento Senior Citizen Ctr
16th & Jay St
Sam Kantimathi (916) 933-3360
COLORADO
No. 185 DENVER, CO
1st, 3rd & 5th Tuesdays @ 6:30 PM
Kirk of the Bonnie Brae
1300 Steele St
Laura Scheimberg (303) 979-0167
No. 351 BOULDER, CO
2nd & 4th Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
St Aldan's Episcopal Church
2425 Colorado Av
Call for information
Dennis Kaiser (303) 444-8405, (303) 447-8393
P.O. Box 28
Jamestown, CO 80455
Bill Palmer (303) 442-8618
CONNECTICUT
No. 112 MANCHESTER, CT
1st Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
Community Baptist Church
585 East Center St
Ann D McClain (203) 643-7549
64 Holl St
Manchester, CT 06040
No. 134 WEST HARTFORD, CT
Thursdays (except 1st & Jewish holidays) @ 7:00 PM
Emanuel Synagogue
160 Mohegan Dr
Dave Carlson (203) 647-1888
Harry F Leonard (203) 667-1966
FLORIDA
No. 18 MIAMI, FL
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Stephen Clark Comm Bldg
1650 NW 37th
Robert Mulet (305) 531-1254
1025 Michigan Av
Miami Beach, FL 33139
No. 131 BOCA RATON, FL
Thursdays @ 6:45 PM
Patch Reef Park Comm Ctr
2000 NW 51 St
(407) 997-0791
Florence Behl (407) 499-5575
No. 197 ORLANDO, FL
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Call for information
George & Linda Lennox (407) 366-5724
No. 276 LAUDERHILL, FL
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Veteran's Park
7600 NW 50 St
Sandee Bloom (305) 752-8190
Ann Robin (305) 484-4559
No. 314 JACKSONVILLE, FL
Wednesdays @ 1:00 PM
Quincy's Restaurant
3814 University Blvd W
Call for information
Jean Goodman (904) 733-1565
No. 330 VENICE, FL
Call for information
Elspeth Abbate (813) 426-2333
No. 335 MARGATE, FL
Fridays @ 7:15 PM
Call for information
Larry Gradus (305) 974-8445
609 S State Rd 7 #2G
Margate, FL 33068
xdxs75a@prodigy.com
No. 353 FT PIERCE, FL
Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Call for information
Doris Ripp (407) 489-2314
2430 Harbour Cove Dr
Ft Pierce, FL 34949
No. 369 GAINESVILLE, FL
Mondays @ 6:30 PM
Books, Inc
505 NW 13 St
Phil Haisley (904) 374-4241
817 NW 21 Terr
Gainesville FL 32603
No. 372 VERO BEACH, FL
Call for information
Bob Lipton (407) 778-4176
760 23rd Pl, SW
Vero Beach, FL 32962
No. 381 MELROSE, FL
Tuesdays @ 1:00 PM
Friendship Bible Church (W Wing)
Corner of Orchard St & S.R. 21 S
Keystone Heights, FL 32656
Call for information
Lorayne Pate (904) 475-2724
Rte #3 Box 1212
Melrose, FL 32666
No. 384 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Tiffany House
2900 Rio Mar St
Tim Wise (305) 942-6319
Claire Ullman (305) 563-3116 x250
No. 388 INDIAN HARBOR BEACH, FL
Tuesdays @ 5:30 PM
Friendly's Restaurant
A1A Hw & Eau Galle Blvd
Mondays @ 12:00 noon
Mady Garner (407) 676-0815
170 Allan Ln
Melbourne Beach, FL 32951
No. 407 PALM HARBOR, FL
Sundays @ 2:00 PM
Palm Harbor Rec Ctr
1631 9 St
(813) 785-9562
Jan Fisher (813) 786-4065
Jane Welch (813) 535-4373
No. 424 JACKSONVILLE, FL
Thursdays @ 1:00 PM
Regency Sq Library
Call for information
Anita Coan (904) 641-7384
No. 426 DAVIE, FL
Sundays @ 1:00 PM
David Posnack Jewish Comm Ctr
5850 Pine Island Rd
(305) 434-0499
Ruthie Levitts (305) 432-8754
7610 Stirling Rd
Hollywood, FL 33024
No. 432 MIAMI, FL
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
Temple Beth Shira
7500 SW 120 St
Carl Stocker (305) 270-3388
Natalie Liebman (305) 235-0467
No. 438 ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL
Call for information
Judith Segall (407) 331-5008
GEORGIA
No. 84 ATLANTA, GA
Call for information
Barbara Jordan (404) 627-4824
1627 Van Vleck Av SE
Atlanta GA 30316
Gloria Blackwell (404) 378-2066
2426 Glenwood, SE
Atlanta, GA 30317
No. 237 ATLANTA, GA
Call for information
Jerri Bergeron (404) 691-8734
989 Fairburn Rd, NW
Atlanta, GA 30331
No. 392 DECATUR, GA
Thursdays @ 10:00 AM
Mason Mill Ctr
1340-B McConnell Dr
Toni Douglas (404) 874-6508
Betty Camp (404) 267-8444
HAWAII
No. 145 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND, HI
Thursdays @ 1:00 PM
Pahoa Comm Ctr
2nd & last Sunday @ 1:00 PM
Ken's Pancake House
1730 Kam Av
Mark Pistolese (808) 965-6427
P.O. Box 672
Pahoa, Big Island, HI 96778
Lee Nigro (808) 982-5716
No. 341 HONOLULU, HI
Mondays @ 9:15 AM
Call for information
Peg Chesley (808) 923-9060
2937 Kalakaua Av #37
Honolulu, HI 96815
Mary Ellen Lester (808) 923-6063
No. 439 HAILULU, HI
Fridays @ 6:00 PM
Maui Comm Coll
310 Kaahumanu Av Rm L02
Dane Jay Barnhard (808) 243-9521
627 Pio Dr
Wailulu, HI 96793
IDAHO
No. 386 Meridian, ID
Call for information
Evelyn Mull (208) 884-1204
401 E Washington Av
Meridian, ID 83642
Ron Barker (208) 343-4274
ILLINOIS
No. 259 CHICAGO, IL
Fridays @ 6:00 PM
Community Rm, 1st fl
170 West Oak
Call for information
George G Stone (312) 787-6723
170 West Oak, #3-D
Chicago, IL 60610
No. 340 SKOKIE/NORTHBROOK, IL
Thursdays at 11:30 AM
Smith Activities Ctr
5120 Galitz
Skokie, IL 60077
(703) 933-8208
NORTHBROOK, IL
Sundays @ 12:00 noon
Olive Garden Restaurant
755 Skokie Blvd
(708) 291-1250
Call for information
Robert Denn (708) 945-7150
INDIANA
No. 275 INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Tuesdays @ 5:45 PM
Christian Park Rec Ctr
4200 English Av
Jerry Miller (317) 736-7472
719 S Home Av
Franklin, IN 46131
No. 360 NEW ALBANY, IN
1st Saturdays @ 1:00 PM
Floyd County Public Library
180 Spring
New Albany, IN
Call for information
Daniel & Therese Bibb (812) 969-2728
5885 Sand Hill Rd SE
Elizabeth, IN 47117
No. 376 HAMMOND, IN
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Woodmar Methodist Church
173rd SE Av
Hammond, IL 46324
Sylvia Strong (219) 465-1648
IOWA
No. 385 CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
Call for information
Janet Schallau (319) 393-8106, 365-7501(W)
4747 F Av NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
KANSAS
No. 186 WICHITA, KS
Saturdays @ 1:00 PM
Indian Hills Clubhouse
2740 W 13 St N
Call for information
Ruby O'Connor (316) 942-6855
Connie Servis (316) 554-0281
KENTUCKY
No. 256 LEXINGTON, KY
Call for information
Charles Faber (606) 223-1650
3569 Cornwall Dr
Lexington, KY 40503
No. 302 DANVILLE, KY
2nd Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
4th Sundays @ 1:30 PM
Call for information
Elaine Jacobus (606) 236-5704
835 Boyd Av
Danville, KY 40422
Virginia Porter (606) 236-5758
No. 342 ELIZABETHTOWN, KY
4th Saturday @ 12:00 noon
Nolin RECC
Call for information
Ted Blevins (502) 862-4722
Joe Galloway (502) 737-3346
LOUISIANA
No. 90 LAFAYETTE, LA
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Call for information
David Johnson (318) 981-3489
404 Guilbeau Rd #E128
Lafayette, LA 70506
No. 188 GONZALES, LA
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
Call for information
Gloria Simoneaux (504) 647-6424
42226 Bayou Narcisse Rd
Gonzales, LA 70737
Josephine Hatchell (504) 665-5337
No. 322 ALEXANDRIA, LA
Call for information
Dorothy Hathorn (318) 442-4203
MAINE
No. 254 N YARMOUTH, ME
Call for information
Gay Hoyt (207) 829-5744
85 Sligo Rd
N Yarmouth, ME 04097
MARYLAND
No. 7 BALTIMORE, MD
Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM
Foster's Restuarant
606 S Broadway
Fells Point, MD
Jonnathon Jensen (410) 254-7014
No. 50 BALTIMORE, MD
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
Call for information
Joanne Cohen (301) 363-7520
24 Romney Ct
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Diana Grosman (410) 526-6788
4 Pleasant Brook Ct
Reisterstown, MD 21136
No. 172 COLUMBIA, MD
Mondays @ 7:30 PM
Call for information
Janice Beck (301) 596-3167
10105 Windstream Dr, #5
Columbia, MD 21044
No. 378 DAVIDSONVILLE/BOWIE, MD
2nd Friday @ 7:30 PM
Holy Familiy Church
Central Av & Rte 24
Davidsonville, MD
4th Friday @ 7:30 PM
Bowie Comm Ctr
Rte 450
Bowie, MD
Call for information
Mary Lou Goetz (410) 798-7855
1548 Patuxent Manor Rd
Davidsonville, MD 21035
MASSACHUSETTS
No. 59 BOSTON, MA
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Allston-Brighton Police Station
301 Washington St
Brighton, MA
Call for information
Hilda Siegel (617) 323-9889
123 Kittredge St
Roslindale, MA 02131
Michel Cohen (617) 628-3213
No. 108 LEXINGTON, MA
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
First Parish Church
Harrington St
Judy Swank (603) 888-9114
4 Louisburg Sq Apt 3
Nashua, NH 03060
judyswank@delphi.com
Ellen Miller (617) 287-4776
No. 194 HYANNIS, MA
Wednesdays @ 11:45 AM
New World Bank Comm Rm
Hyannis Airport Rotary
Cliff McGauley (508) 362-1326
P.O. Box 426
Cummaquid, MA 02637
Verna Appleby (508) 775-8787
FALMOUTH, MA
Mondays @ 7:00
Stop & Shop Comm Rm
Jones Rd & Rte 28
Lee Cooper (508) 548-6687
4 Crown Av
Falmouth MA 02540
lcoop@ccsnet.com
YARMOUTH, MA
1st Wednesdays @ 10:45 AM
Yarmouth Senior Ctr
528 Forest Rd
(508) 790-3480
Call for information
Cliff McGauley (508) 362-1326
Verna Appleby (508) 775-8787
BOURNE VILLAGE, MA
Alternate Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Call for reservations
Edie Miller Berman (508) 759-2561
70750.3724@compuserve.com
ORLEANS MA
Thursdays @12:30 PM
Orleans Senior Ctr
Rock Harbor Rd
Edie Miller Berman (508) 759-2561
70750.3724@compuserve.com
Irving Samuels (508) 255-8221
No. 221 SPRINGFIELD, MA
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Foster Memorial Church
1234 Parker St
Avalon Newell (413) 782-0494
32 Spikenard Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
No. 226 FRAMINGHAM, MA
Tuesdays (except last) @ 6:30 PM
St Andrews Episcopal Church
Buckminster Sq
3 Maple St @ Union
Jeanne Hedberg (508) 429-2758
129 Locust St
E Holliston, MA 01746-1337
MICHIGAN
No. 49 SAGINAW, MI
Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Saginaw Villas Club House
2759 Samuel Dr
Teresa Maynard (517) 777-5676
2832 Gemini St
Saginaw, MI 48601
Irene Garrison (517) 777-1781
No. 104 PORT HURON, MI
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
St Claire County Comm Coll
323 Erie St
Joyce Spalding (810) 325-1778
3250 Garlick Rd
Ruby, MI 48049
No. 115 LIVONIA, MI
Tuesdays @ 6:45 PM
Sheldon Ctr
10800 Farmington Rd
Livonia, MI
Florence Laatz (313) 386-8416
No. 178 WEST OLIVE, MI
Call for information
Chet Bartels (616) 875-8373
No. 192 BAY CITY, MI
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Texan Restaurant
3000 Center Avenue Rd
Essexville, MI 48732
Peggy LeMay (517) 893-3087
212 S Warner
Bay City, MI 48706
Marthe St Laurent (517) 893-7288
No. 213 LANSING, MI
1st & 3rd Saturdays @ 11:00 AM
Friendship Manor
200 Friendship Circle
Doris Munro (517) 351-0816
Vince Houston (517) 694-5249
No. 222 SOUTHFIELD, MI
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Whitehall Apts Clubhouse
16176 Cumberland
Esther Norber (315) 559-7157
23237 Providence Dr
Southfield, MI 48075
Pat Pilling (313) 644-5929
No. 317 FLINT, MI
Sundays (except holiday weekends) @ 2:00 PM
Ramada Inn
I-75 @ Peirson Rd
Flint, MI
Mary Ellen Raleigh (517) 770-4178
3605 W Gary Rd
Montrose, WI 48457
Pat Badgley (313) 235-3834
No. 350 WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
Greater Detroit Jewish Comm Ctr
6600 W Maple Rd @ Drake
(810) 661-1000
Gary Moss (313) 489-9422
No. 371 GRAND RAPIDS, MI
Call for information
Sandra Peters (616) 452-4521
No. 412 STERLING HEIGHTS, MI
Kingsley Apts Clubhouse
Call for information
Keith Cejmer (810) 542-8471
Erica Norris (810) 939-7520
No. 437 HAZEL PARK, MI
Call for information
Rosemarie Geci & Keith Cejmer (810) 542-8471
MINNESOTA
No. 42 MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL, MN
Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Friend's Meeting
1725 Grand Ave
Carol Dustin (612) 424-1461
No. 327 MINNETONKA, MN
1st & 3rd Fridays @ 6:30 PM
Minneapolis Bridge Ctr
6020 Nicollet Av S
Jeff & Colleen Prentiss (612) 933-8740
Bob Prentiss (612) 595-8628
MISSISSIPPI
No. 427 JACKSON, MS
1st Saturday @ 11:00 AM
Southside Church
665 Raymond Rd
Jackson, MS 39204
Danny Gatlin (601) 371-7333
191 Lakeshore Rd
Jackson, MS 39212
MISSOURI
No. 198 ST LOUIS, MO
Mondays @ 6:30 PM (except holidays)
St Louis County Library
1640 S Lindbergh Blvd (at Clayton)
(314) 994-3300
Call for information
James Barrow (314) 727-2962
6627 Alamo
Clayton, MO 63105
Virginia Wood (314) 739-8958
NEVADA
No. 328 LAS VEGAS, NV
Tuesdays @ 4:00 PM
Call for information
Gerry Greenside (702) 454-0620
3047 Zane Circle
Las Vegas, NV 89121
No. 349 LAS VEGAS, NV
Sundays @ 1:00 PM
Wednesdays @ 11:00 AM
Gay Burch (702) 873-8854
4517 Del Oro Dr
Las Vegas, NV 89102
No. 391 LAS VEGAS, NV
Sundays @ 1:00 PM
Call for information
Dorothy Halprin (702) 256-3220
2805 High Range Dr
Las Vegas, NV 89109
No. 413 NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV
Mondays @ 6:00 PM (except holidays)
4414 Sparta Way
Paul Terry (702) 656-7570
NEW HAMPSHIRE
No. 108 NASHUA, NH
See Lexington, MA
No. 331 MERRIMACK, NH
Thursdays @ 1:00 PM
Merrimack Meadows Clubhouse
Rte 3a
Merrimack, NH
Call for information
Stella Russell (603) 622-9332
NEW JERSEY
No. 67 PARK RIDGE, NJ
Call for information
Ted Von Zwehl (914) 623-3137
13 Inwood Dr
Bardonia, NY 10954
No. 251 TEANECK, NJ
Thursdays @ 7:30 PM
Teaneck Town House
Forest Av & Teaneck Rd
Selig O Wassner (201) 836-1949
P.O. Box 2157
Teaneck, NJ 07665
Maurice DeCanio (210) 384-9528, (201) 385-4661
No. 398 SOUTH JERSEY/BERLIN, NJ
Thursdays @ 6:00 PM
Saturdays @ 1:00 PM
Berlin Baptist Church
90 E Broad Av
Betty C McDaniel (609) 728-9446
11 Pinewood Ln
Sicklerville, NJ 08081
(609) 728-9446
No. 411 MILLBURN, NJ
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Millburn Library
Glenn Av
Call for information
Herb Greenberg (201) 467-1033
Marjorie Bash (2012) 376-0625
NEW MEXICO
No. 129 ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Village Inn Pancake House
5505 Central Av NE
Patty Wayne (505) 877-6646
Gertrude Savadge (505) 299-2965
No. 397 ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Sundays @ 2:00 PM
Call for information
Stanley Luz Miranda (505) 256-3850
1109 Georgia St NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
NEW YORK
No. 23 PITTSFORD, NY
Mondays @ 6:30 PM
Spiegel Comm Ctr
35 Lincoln Av
(716) 248-6280
Ted Rosen (716) 633-7308
517 University Av #203
Rochester, NY 14607
No. 28 BROOKLYN, NY
Call for information
Alan B Hecht (718) 338-8564
No. 32 MASSAPEQUA, NY
Wednesdays @ 12:00 noon
Call for information
Ed Ugarte (516) 798-8181
63 Autumn Ln
Hicksville, NY 11801
No. 56 NEW YORK, NY
Thursdays @ 7:15 PM
Beverly Bridge Club
130 E 57 St, 3rd fl
New York, NY 10021
Call for information
Ron & Susi Tiekert (212) 689-4046
Michael Martin (212) 787-1260 x322
No. 67 PARK RIDGE, NJ-NY
Call for information
Ted Von Zwehl (914) 623-3137
13 Inwood Dr
Bardonia, NY 10954
No. 125 SCHENECTADY, NY
Call for information
Norma Shelly (518) 346-3773
1639 Eastern Pkwy
Schenectady, NY 12309
No. 157 RIVERDALE, NY
Fridays @ 7:30 PM
Call for information
Carol & Ed Halper (914) 736-2758
81 Gallows Hill Rd
Cortlandt, NY 10566
Maris Brody-Greenwald (212) 884-0688
No. 174 SHIRLEY, NY
Thursdays @ 7:30 PM
Call for information
Jerry & Ginger White (516) 399-2579
10 Huron Rd
Shirley, NY 11967
No. 284 BROOKLYN, NY
Sundays @ 3:00 PM
Call for information
Shirley Zacot (718) 837-8239
c/o Tenzer
8301 Bay Pkwy, #304
Brooklyn, NY 11214
Gary Hurzer (718) 648-7553
No. 324 NEW HARTFORD, NY
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
First United Methodist Church
105 Genesee St
New Hartford, NY
Call for information
Don & Heather Drumm (315) 853-3192
P.O. Box 151
Clinton, NY 13323
No. 338 HAMBURG/BUFFALO, NY
Mondays @ 6:30 PM
Frontier Middle School Cafeteria
2751 Amsdell Rd
Hamburg, NY
Wannell Kelsey (716) 627-9590
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Polonia Hall
385 Paderewski St
Buffalo, NY
Jerry Scheiten (716) 885-0462
84 Albany St
Buffalo, NY 14213
Mark Przbyszewski (716) 896-4980
Joan Tondra (716) 847-0391
No. 355 MASSAPEQUA, NY
Thursdays @ 12:00 noon
John Burns Park
Call for information
Ed Ugarte (516) 798-8181
63 Autumn Ln
Hicksville, NY 11801
No. 356 MASSAPEQUA, NY
Tuesdays @ 12:00 noon
Plainedge Public Library
Call for information
Violet Ditommasso (516) 798-8181
88 Boston Av
Massapequa, NY 11758
Ed Ugarte (516) 796-5737, 798-8181
63 Autumn Ln
Hicksville, NY 11801
No. 389 MANHATTAN, NY
Newcomers' club
1st & 3rd Sundays @ 5:30 PM
Beverly Club
130 E 57 St, 3rd fl
New York, NY 10021
Susi Tiekert (212) 689-4046
No. 404 ALBANY, NY
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Jewish Comm Ctr
340 Whitehall Rd
Albany, NY
David Goodman (518) 233-9347
Kurt Kopitz (518) 237-8782
John Morse (518) 434-3819
No. 428 PLATTSBURG, NY
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
St Peter's Upper Rm
5171 N Catherine St
David Abolafia (518) 566-0412
102 Sailly Av #11
Plattsburg, NY 12901
OHIO
No. 62 FREMONT, OH
1st & 3rd Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Call for information
Flossie Swint (419) 334-2746
Jackie Lease (419) 332-4186
No. 154 INDEPENDENCE, OH
Saturdays @ 12:00 noon
Angie's Restaurant
6932 Hillside Rd
Independence, OH
Walter Konicki (216) 524-8100 (W) 526-4677 (H)
381 E Sprague Rd
Seven Hills, OH 44131
No. 294 DAYTON, OH
Mondays @ 6:00 PM
2nd & 4th Monday Evenings
Main Dayton Public Library
215 E 3 St
Dayton, OH 45402
(513) 227-9500
Nancy Mills (513) 278-9730
No. 313 CINCINNATI, OH
Call for information
Julie Wilson (513) 353-2423
No. 364 CINCINNATI, OH
Write for information
Altha Stewart
P.O. Box 36026
Cincinnati, OH 45236
No. 379 CINCINNATI, OH
Call for information
Phyllis Prather (513) 761-0304
OKLAHOMA
No. 243 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
Call for information
Glenda Short (405) 842-6523
2301 Westchester
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
OREGON
No. 308 PORTLAND, OR
Tuesdays @ 6:45 PM
Lakewood Ctr
368 S State St
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Ruth Hamilton (503) 638-7103
Karen Merrill (503) 635-7424
T Vail Palmer (503) 659-8045
No. 370 PORTLAND, OR
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
My Father's Place
523 SE Grand Av
Portland, OR
(503) 235-5494
Ruth Hamilton (503) 638-7103
T Vail Palmer (503) 659-8045
No. 419 FLORENCE, OR
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
New Life Lutheran Church
21st & Spruce St
Vy Johnson (503) 997-2920
PENNSYLVANIA
No. 55 READING, PA
Call for information
Doris Carney (215) 373-0505
918 N 12 St
Reading, PA 19604
No. 141 WARMINSTER, PA
Call for information
Raymond Rauanheimo (215) 674-0447
189 Newtown Rd
Warminster, PA 18974-5219
No. 333 EXTON, PA
Mondays @ 6:00 PM
Comfort Inn
Rte 100 & Rte 113
Call for information
Phyllis Patukas (215) 269-1723
Teri Gillstrom (215) 358-1268
No. 352 PITTSBURGH, PA
Saturdays @ 12:00 noon
Northland Library
300 Cumberland Rd
Pittsburgh, PA
Luise Shafritz (412) 935-5896
2740 Meadowcrest Ct
Wexford, PA 15090
jays+@pitt.edu
No. 358 DELAWARE COUNTY/PHILADELPHIA, PA
Call for information
Marilyn Everett (215) 586-8488
620 Felton Av
Sharon Hill, PA 19079
SOUTH CAROLINA
No. 431 MYRTLE BEACH, SC
Call for information
Wendell Smith (803) 448-8516
P.O. Box 617
Myrtle Beach, SC 29578
SOUTH DAKOTA
No. 361 SIOUX FALLS, SD
2nd & 4th Wednesdays
Call for information
Mark Oppenheimer (605) 332-8404 PM only
4704 Pasque Circle
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
TENNESSEE
No. 238 MEMPHIS, TN
Mondays @ 6:30 PM
Call for information
Dave Leifer (901) 753-4446 (H), 922-5557 (W)
1785 Candle Ridge Dr
Cordova, TN 38018
TEXAS
No. 71 ABILENE, TX
Mondays @ 6:00 PM
First Methodist Church
1318 S 2nd St & Butternut St
Mary Lee Couey (915) 692-6565
1958 S 20 St
Abilene, TX 79602
Hildagard Powell (915) 572-3318
No. 124 LUBBOCK, TX
Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM
Caprock Home Health Services Bldg
3411 Knoxville St
Mary L Thurman (806) 744-7702
2727 24 St
Lubbock, TX 79410
Marion Wooten (806) 744-0326
Dennis Major (806) 793-3918
No. 234 AUSTIN, TX
Fridays @ 6:30 PM
Austin Rec Ctr
1301 Shoal Creek Blvd
(512) 476-5662
Caesar Jaramillo (512) 441-8306 (H), 891-2564 (W)
4004 Victory Dr
Austin, TX 78704
No. 248 BEDFORD, TX
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Barnes & Noble Bookstore
8025 Airport Fwy
North Richland Hills, TX
(817) 281-7042
Mary Rhoades (817) 283-1282, 545-3216
2325 Shady grove
Bedford, TX 76021
Charlie Bond (817) 370-9832
No. 270 SAN ANTONIO, TX
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Jason's Deli
25 NE Loop 410
T A Sanders (210) 303-5731
P.O. Box 669
La Verna, TX 78121
Nancy Scott (210) 658-2994
No. 319 DALLAS, TX
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
Shoney's Restaurant
2310 Stemmons Trail
Dallas, TX
Call for information
Mike Willis (214) 340-7772
No. 359 HOUSTON, TX
Sundays @ 2:00 PM
Kettle Restaurant
Hwy 290 & Hwy 6
13280 W FM 1960
James Bodenstedt (713) 492-6760
2427 Creek Meadow Dr
Houston, TX 77084
Kris Tabrizi (713) 579-7854
No. 436 DALLAS, TX
Tuesdays @ 6:30 PM
Barnes & Noble
14999 N Preston Rd
Call for information
Michael Chitwood (214) 205-0187
UTAH
No. 173 SALT LAKE CITY, UT
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Sandy Rec Ctr
440 E 8680 South St
Sandy, UT
Call for information
Jim Fischer & Jane Larkin (801) 272-3813
Mike W Howlett (801) 942-5515
VIRGINIA
No. 299 WOODBRIDGE, VA
Call for information
Dennis Rowe (703) 883-5883 (W), 680-1408 (H),
(202) 287-7118 (W)
4924 Kirkdale Dr
Woodbridge, VA 22193
WASHINGTON
No. 253 SEATTLE, WA
Tuesdays @ 6:15 PM
Josephinum Hotel Dining Rm
1902 2nd Ave & Stewart
Ann Ferguson (206) 771-5483
Ken & Starlite Clark (206) 854-5636
WASHINGTON, DC
No. 143 WASHINGTON, DC
Thursdays @ 6:00 PM
Langdon Park Rec Ctr
20 St & Rhode Island Av NE
Call for information
Robert Kilpatrick (202) 583-7586, 401-3580 (W)
4314 Bowen Rd, SE
Washington, DC 20019
Rose Noel (301) 322-4867
No. 171 WASHINGTON, DC
Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM
Chevy Chase Comm Ctr
5601 Connecticut Av, NW
Call for information
Robert Linn (301) 309-2629 (W), (800) 950-0061 (W)
WISCONSIN
No. 247 MADISON, WI
Wednesdays @ 6:30 PM
Call for information
Richard Lauder (608) 233-2617
Barb Besadny (608) 233-7410
No. 265 MILWAUKEE, WI
1st & 3rd Saturdays @ 1:00 PM
Y-NOT II
706 E Lyon St
Charlotte Morris (414) 541-2833
No. 318 NEW BERLIN, WI
Call for information
Warren Kaminsky (414) 786-0345
No. 363 MILWAUKEE, WI
Tuesdays @ 6:30 PM
Gas Lite on North
60th & North Av
Call for information
Pat Krohn (414) 353-4152
Ed Meyer (414) 643-1163
Warren Kaminsky (414) 786-0345
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
No. 190 CHARLOTTE AMALIE, USVI
Thursdays @ 6:00 PM
Taco Maker at Nisky Ctr
St Thomas, USVI
Call for information
Virginia Monsanto (809) 776-2035
5143 Dronninges Gade, Ste 3
St Thomas 00802
MEXICO
No. 396 CABO SAN LUCAS
Thursdays @ 6:45 PM
Caffee Todos Santos
Carle Centenario
Todos Santos
Write for information
Lee Moore 52-114-50718
A.P. #1
23300 Todos Santos
B.C.S. Mexico
CANADA
No. 3 TORONTO, ONTARIO
Wednesdays @ 7:30 PM
Earl Bales Park Comm Ctr
Bathurst St (S of Sheppard Av W)
Call for information
Mike & Lynda Wise (416) 225-3535
37 Rockland Dr
Willowdale ON M2M 2Y8
No. 83 MONTREAL, QUEBEC
Mondays @ 7:15 PM
Centennial Park Chalet #3
6975 Mackle Rd
C(^)ote St Luc, Montreal
(514) 485-6824
Bernard Gotlieb (514) 484-0824, (514) 484-2660
5770 Hudson Av
C(^)ote-St-Luc QC H4W 2K6
Fran Silver (514) 481-2813
No. 177 VANCOUVER, B.C.
Call for information
Robert Fancett (604) 325-9940
No. 193 BRANTFORD, ONTARIO
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
St Mark's Anglican Church
155 Memorial Dr off Dunsdon
Glenn Dunlop (519) 752-2242
55 Brunswick St
Brantford ON N3T 1E9
Pat Tolhurst (519) 753-7232
No. 252 HAMILTON/DUNDAS, ONTARIO
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
Carnegie Gallery Library
Ogilvie & King St
Barry Spinner (905) 528-3776
Vivian Minden (905) 628-2888
No. 263 OSHAWA, ONTARIO
Mondays @ 7:30 PM
Woodview Comm Ctr
Cadillac Av
Oshawa ON
Linda Gomes (905) 579-1850
Trevor Sealy (905) 432-8828
No. 264 MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN
Mondays @ 7:00 PM
Fridays @ 1:30 PM
Cosmo Senior Citizen Ctr
235 3rd St NE
(306) 692-6072
Dorothy L Evans (306) 693-5949
971 Coteau St W, #5
Moose Jaw SA S6H 5G1
Muriel Allcock (306) 693-2375
No. 307 COURTENAY, B.C.
Thursdays @ 7:00 PM
16-1440 13th St
Call for information
Winnie & Ed Skalazub (604) 338-6619
No. 374 CALGARY, ALBERTA
Wednesdays @ 7:00 PM
Riverview United Church
824 Imperial Way SW
Siri Tillekeratne (403) 281-2459
16 Cedarwood Pl SW
Calgary AB T2W 3G6
Marjorie Gross (403) 245-0554
No. 402 VICTORIA, B.C.
Thursdays @ 6:30 PM
Call for information
Helga Williams (604) 380-9962
abwillia@sol.uvic.ca
Don Malcolm (604) 479-4932
No. 422 MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
Thursdays @ 7:30 PM
Presbyterian Church
353 S Common Ct
Shaun Goatcher (905) 821-9726
6953 Pamplona Mews
Mississauga, ON L5N 1S5
Dan Fuller (905) 274-4433
A3. Upcoming North American tournaments
Feb 24-26, Atlanta, GA
Friday 6:00 pm
15 gm, 4 div DA ~1750/1350/1000
EF $40/35/30/25 + $5 commuters, by 2/10, no walk-ins
Holiday Inn Airport S, 5010 Old National Hwy, Atlanta, GA
30349, (404) 761-4000, (800) HOL-IDAY
HR $62/rm by 2/3, code "SCRABBLE"
Info: Jerri Bergeron, 989 Fairburn Rd NW, Atlanta, GA,
30331, (404) 691-8734
Feb 26, West Bloomfield, MI
Sunday 9:00 am
7 gm RR
EF $20 + $5 after 22nd of month
Jewish Comm Ctr, 6600 W Maple Rd
Info: Gary Moss, 32240, 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI
48334, (810) 489-9422
Mar 4-5, New Orleans, LA
Saturday 12:30 pm
10 gm, 3 div DA 1600/1300
EF $30/25/20 + $5 after 2/25, must register by 2/27
Comfort Inn New Orleans Airport, 1700 I10 Service Rd,
Kenner, LA 70065, (504) 467-1300
HR $46/rm
Info: Pam Holzenthal or Aline Jeansonne, 4501 Turnbull Dr,
Metairie, LA 70002, (504) 456-2247
Mar 10-12, Long Island, NY
Friday 8:30 pm
12 gm, 3 div DA top 12/1250
EF $45/35/30 + $15 commuters, by 2/24
Danfords Inn, LIE exit 62N/64N, Port Jefferson, NY
HR $165/ppdo, $144/ppto, $265/single
Info: Ginger White, 10 Huron Rd, Shirley, NY 11967, (516)
399-2579
Mar 11, Lansing, MI
Saturday 10:00 am
7 gm, RR of 8
EF $15 ($18 at door)
Gier Comm Ctr, 2400 Hall St, Lansing, MI 48906
Info: Gary Jacob, (517) 483-4313
Mar 12, Oakland, CA
Sun 1 pm
6 gm, RR of 6-8
EF $15 cash at door
Village Restaurant, 273 E 18 St, Oakland
Info: Cynthia Pughsley, (510) 839-4090, Stu Goldman, (415)
864-2463, stu@netcom.com
Mar [middle], San Antonio, TX
Info: T A Sanders, P.O. Box 669, La Verna, TX 78121, (210)
303-5731
Mar 25, Calgary, AB
Saturday 9:00 am
7 gm, 2 div DA 1100
EF $10 (CAN) $8 (US)
Riverview United Church, 824 Imperial Way SW
Info: Siri Tillekeratne, 16 Cedarwood Pl SW, Calgary AB T2W
3G6, (403) 281-2459
Mar 25-26, Twin Cities, MN
Saturday 9:00 am
12/10/10/10 gm, 4 div DA 1700/1350/1000
EF $30/25/20/15
Har Mar Mall Auditorium, N Snelling & Co Rd B, Roseville,
MN
Info: Tim Adamson, 1703 Laurel #4, St Paul, MN 55104, (612)
649-1649
Mar 26, West Bloomfield, MI
same as above
Mar 31-Apr 2, Waltham, MA
Friday 8 pm
13/12/12 gm, 3 div DA at top 14/1750/1400; RR/Swiss/Swiss;
also 6-gm Saturday-only <1100 newcomers' tournament
9:45 am, credit system
EF $27/27/22 [$10 newcomers] + $10 nonresidents not staying
at hotel
Guest Quarters Suite Hotel, 550 Winter St, Waltham
HR $145/ppdo, $256/single, $122/ppto
Info: Edie Miller Berman, 26 Ships Way, Bourne Village, MA,
02532, (508) 759-2561, 70750.3724@compuserve.com, Alan
Frank, (617) NIT-TLED, alf@world.std.com
Apr 1-2, Moose Jaw, SK
Saturday 9:30 am
10 gm, 3 div
EF $20
Cosmo Senior Citizens Ctr, 235 3rd Av NE, (306) 692-6072
Info: Jean Button, 201-250 Atha St E, Moose Jaw, SK S6H 0L5,
(306) 692-9880, Dorothy L Evans, 971 Coteau St W, #5,
Moose Jaw SA S6H 5G1, (306) 693-5949
Apr 1-2, Kalamazoo, MI
Saturday 10:00 am
12 gm
EF $25
John Bernhard Ctr, West Michigan Univ
Info: Sandy Peters, 612 Vries SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49509,
(616) 452-4521
Apr 8, Mississauga, ON
Saturday 9:00 am
7 gm, RR of 8
EF $25 CAN/$20 US, no walk-ins
Eden United Church, 3051 Battleford Rd, Mississauga ON
Info: Shaun Goatcher, 6953 Pamplona Mews, Mississauga ON L5N
1S5, (905) 821-9726, c/o John Chew,
jjchew@math.utoronto.ca, Dana Fuller +1 905 274-4433
Apr 8-10, Gatlinburg, TN
Saturday 9:30 am
18 gm, RR of 20-22
EF $65 by 3/25
Gatlinburg Holiday Inn, 520 Airport Rd, P.O. 1130,
Gatlinburg, TN 37738, (800) 435-9201
HR $68/rm
Info: Mady Garner, 170 Allan Ln, Melbourne Beach, FL 32951,
(407) 676-0815
Apr 9, Oakland, CA
same as above
Apr 22-23, Alexandria, LA
Saturday 12:30 pm
10 gm, 3 div DA 1600/1300
EF $30, $25 postmarked by 4/15
Best Western Motel, 2720 W MacArthur Dr, Alexandria, LA (318)
445-5530
HR $46/rm
Info: Dorothy Hathorn, 307 Sweetbriar Dr, Alexandria, LA
71303, (318) 442-4203
Apr 22-23, Estes Park, CO
Saturday 12:00 noon
11 gm, 2 or 3 div
EF $30 + $10 at door
YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park Ctr, 2515 Tunnel Rd near
Hwy 66
HR $86.52/ppdo 2 nights
Info: Laura Scheimberg, 8001 S Yarrow St, Littleton, CO
80123, (303) 979-0167
Apr 22-23, Irvine, CA
Saturday 9:00 am
13 gm, 3 div DA 1700/1300
EF $60/50/50 + $5 after 4/14, + $10 at door
Atrium Marquis Hotel, 18700 MacArthur Blvd, Irvine, CA, (800)
854-3012
HR $59/rm, code "SCRA"
Info: Gina du Mez, 23216 Orange Av #5, Lake Forest, CA, (714)
586-2378
Apr 28-30, Whitehaven, PA
Friday 8:30 pm
11 gm, 3 div
EF $25, $35 commuters, by 3/26, no same-day entries
Mountain Laurel Resort, Rte 940, Whitehaven, PA
HR $149/ppdo, $125/ppto, $112/ppqo, $192/single
Info: Margaret Maneth, 8 Livingston Av, Kearny, NJ 07032,
(201) 991-1499 (12-6 pm), (410) 529-4053 (10-6 pm)
Apr 29, Flint MI
Saturday 10:00 am
6 gm, RR
EF $25 to Mary Ellen Raleigh by 4/18, no walk-ins
Ramada Inn, I75 at Pierson Rd, Flint, MI
HR $54 ppdo
Info: Mary Ellen Raleigh, 3605 W Gary Rd, Montrose MI 48457,
(517) 770-4178, Pat Badgley, 3343 Walton Av, Flint MI
48504, (810) 235-3834
May 6-7, Jonesboro, AR
Saturday 10:00 am
10 gm RR of 10
EF $25 top, $20 others
Wyatt's Cafeteria at Indian Mall, Caraway & Highland,
Jonesboro, AR
Info: Billie P Garver, Rte #2 Box 256, Leachville, AR 72438,
(501) 486-5857
May 6-7, New Hartford, NY
Saturday 10:00 am
10 gm, 2 div
EF $36 + $4 at door
Ramada Inn, 141 Campion Rd, New Hartford, NY, (315) 735-3392
Don or Heather Drumm, P.O. Box 151, Clinton, NY 13323, (315)
853-3192
May 6-7, Sioux Falls, SD
Saturday 9:00 am
12 gm, 3 div DA 1600/1200
EF $35/35/25 by 4/20
Best Western Townhouse Motel, 4000 S Main Av, (800) 888-2594
HR $48/ppdo, $38/single
Info: Mark Oppenheimer, 4704 Pasque Circle, Sioux Fallx, SD
57105, (605) 332-8404
May 7, Oakland, CA
same as above
May 13, Berlin, NJ
Saturday 9:00 am
7 gm, RR of 8
EF $35
Berlin Baptist Church, 90 E Broad Av, Berlin, NJ
Info: Betty C McDaniel, 11 Pinewood Ln, Sicklerville, NJ
08081, (609) 728-9446
May 13, Lansing, MI
Saturday 10:00 am
7 gm, RR of 8
EF $15 ($18 at door)
Gier Comm Ctr, 2400 Hall St, Lansing, MI 48906
Info: Gary Jacob, (517) 483-4313
May 18-25, Alaskan Cruise, Vancouver, B.C. to Sitka, AK
11-15 gm
EF $50
HR $879+
Info: Cruises Cruises Cruises, 29202 Agoura Rd, Suite A2,
Agoura Hills, CA 91301, (800) 745-7545, Penny
Baker, 1235 Via Pintada, Riverside, CA 92597, (909)
983-0909
May 20-21, Durango, CO
Saturday 12:00 noon
10 gm, 3 div
EF $35/25/20 -$5 before 5/10
Tamarron Resort, 40292 US 55 N, (800) 678-1000
HR $75/rm
Info: Bobby Sageser, 2609 N College Dr, Durango, CO 81301
May 27, Minneapolis, MN
May 27-29, Santa Clara, CA
Saturday 9:30 am
16 gm, 3 div DA 1700/1300
EF $65/60/60
Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge, 5405 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa
Clara, CA, (408) 257-8600
HR $50/rm
Info: Johnny R Nevarez, 4804 Bannock Circle, San Jose, CA
95130, (408) 379-5845
Jun 3-4, Mid-Cities, TX
Jun 9-11, Stamford, CT
Friday 7:15 pm
14 gm RR/Swiss DA 1800 and remaining div of 24
EF $60 top div, others $45, + $25 not using hotel package +
$10 postmarked after 5/15, after 5/22 may be refused,
no walk-ins
PR estimated <66%
Stamford Marriott, 2 Stamford Forum, I95 exit 8
HR $122 ppdo, $197 single
Entry: Paul Avrin, 325 W 77 St #9D, New York, NY 10024, (212)
799-6092, pavrin@netcom.com
Info: Paul Avrin, 325 W 77 St #9D, New York, NY 10024, (212)
799-6092, pavrin@netcom.com, Susi or Ron Tiekert, 152 E
35 St #4E, New York, NY 10016, (212) 689-4046
Jun 10-11, Buffalo, NY
Saturday 9 am
12 gm RR of 12
EF $25 ($33 CAN) by 6/7, no walk-ins
Chief Petty Officers' Club, 5 Porter Av, Buffalo, NY 14201
Hotel Lenox, 140 North St at Delaware Av, Buffalo, NY, (800)
82LENOX
HR $59/room single/double, $60/room triple/quad by 5/5
Info: Mark Przybyszewski, 56 Lathrop St, Buffalo, NY 14212,
(716) 896-4980, Jerry Scheiten, (716) 885-0462
Jun 11, Eagle Rock, CA
Sunday 9:30 am
10 gm, 4 div DA 1700, remainder equally
EF $32 by 5/31
Yosemite Rec Ctr, 1840 Yosemite Dr, Eagle Rock, CA
Info: George Heussenstamm, 5013 Lowell Av, La Crescenta, CA
91214, (818) 248-0537, Gwen Bishop, (213) 258-6667
Jun 17-18, Milwaukee, WI
Jun 24, Long Island, NY
Jul 4, Reno NV
Tuesday 8:00 a.m.
8 gm
EF $25 cash at door
Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N Arlington Av, Reno, NV
89501, (800) 648-3553 code "SCR702"
HR $42, by 6/24
Info: Johnny R Nevarez, 4804 Bannock Circle, San Jose, CA
95130, (408) 379-5845
Jul 5-9, Reno NV
Wednesday 8:00 am
31 gm, RR4, RR6, RR4, RR6, RR4, RR4, 3*KOTH, 4 div DA
1700/1400/1100
EF $100 >=1700, $75 <1700 sent to Darlene Nevarez by June 28,
no walk-ins
Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N Arlington Av, Reno, NV
89501, (800) 648-3553 code "SCR702"
HR $42 Sun-Thu, $59 Fri-Sat, by 6/24
Info: Johnny R Nevarez, 4804 Bannock Circle, San Jose, CA
95130, (408) 379-5845
Jul 22-23, Houston, TX
Saturday 11:30 am
10 gm, 3 div DA 1600/1300
EF $30/25/20 + $5 after 7/14
Holiday Inn-Intercontinental Airport, 15222 John F Kennedy
Blvd, Houston, TX 77032, (713) 449-2311
HR $49, code "4WHS"
Info: Jim Bodenstedt, 2427 Creek Meadow, Houston, TX 77084,
(713) 492-6760
Jul 29-31, Holtsville, NY
Saturday 9 am
18 gm RR
EF $65 + $15 not hotel guests, by 7/14
PR <66%
Best Western Hotel, 1730 N Ocean Av, Holtsville, NY
HR $130/ppdo, $105/ppto, $215/single by 7/14
Info: Ginger White, 10 Huron Rd, Shirley, NY 11967, (516)
399-2579
Aug 4, Baltimore
Info: Tim Maneth, 116 Bourbon Ct, Baltimore, MD 21234 (410)
529-4053 after 10 am
Sep 1-4, Bossier City, LA
Friday 7:30 pm
21 gm RR, 3 div DA 1700/1400, plus Scholastic division (8 gm
on 9/2)
EF $60 ($10 Scholastic), recd by 8/7
PR estimated ~100%
Grande Isle Hotel, Bossier City, LA, (318) 747-2400
HR $78/rm up to 4 people
Info: Michael Chitwood, 3131 Turtle Creek, Suite 303, Dallas,
TX 75219, (214) 205-0187
Sep 2-3, Albuquerque, NM
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Key to abbreviations:
EF=entry fee, DA=divided at, div=divisions, gm=game(s),
HR=hotel rate, ppdo=per person double occupancy, PR=prizes
returned, RR=round robin
A4. Contacts for major Scrabble organizations worldwide
English Language
John Holgate
Australian Scrabble Players Association
14 Moodie St
Farrer Australia 2607
jholgate@ozemail.com.au
Shiraz Amith
Bahrain Scrabble League
P.O. Box 20725
Bahrain
Lorton Graham
Claybury
St John
Barbados
National Scrabble Association of Liberia
James Flomo, President
c/o West African Exam Council
Box 2883
Monrovia
Liberia
Jeff Grant
Waipatu Settlement Rd
RD2
Hastings
New Zealand
Femi Awowade
P.O. Box 20307, U.I.
Post Office
Ibadan, Nigeria
National Scrabble Association of Phillippines, Inc
Rosario B Lambino
2-H Gatdula Bldg
2 Katarungan St
Mandaluyong
1500 Metro Manila
Phillippines
Candido Filio
4 Matimtiman St
Teacher's Village
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines 1101
Larry Benjamin
P.O. Box 891189
Lyndhurst Tvl. 2106
Republic of South Africa
Trevor Duke
405 Majestic Gate
38 Empire Rd
Parktown, Johannesburg
Republic of South Africa
Tony Sim
Block 27 Marine Crescent
#09-07 Singapore 1544
Singapore
Missaka Warusawitharana
11 De Silva Rd
Kaluboloila
Sri Lanka
Amnuay Ploysangngam
Director, Thailand Crossword Club
645/1 Petchburi Rd
Phayathai
Bangkok 10400
Thailand
(662) 254-9607, 252-8147, fax 252-8147
Robin John
23 Schneider Gardens
Petit Valley
Trinidad and Tobago
Diane Pratesi
Postal Scrabble Club
33 Amberley Rd
Leyton
London, E10 7ER
United Kingdom
Other Languages
Franck Manniquant, Secretary
Fe'de'ration Franc5aise de Scrabble
96 Boulevard Pereire
75017 Paris
France
Tel (1) 43 80 40 36
Fax (1) 47 64 36 88
Fe'de'ration Internationale de Scrabble Francophone
Boulevard Saint-Lazare, 4
Boi^te 16-1210
Bruxelles
Belgium
Tel (02) 219 1587
Fax (02) 223 0482
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Steven Alexander
stevena@cs.berkeley.edu