Back to Commentary

A bit about the playing room: it is gorgeous and large, less long than the playing room in Chicago, but more wide. This width means that the players' tables are set nice and far apart. Even I can get between every table during rounds since the aisles are so wide. It is a dream to work and word judge in such a spacious room! Since the building is only 7 years old, the lighting is diffuse and not overdone and there are NO chandeliers, which can create that annoying glare. [John: When I first saw the room, it looked to me like a scene from a science fiction film. I expected to run into a matte painting as I crossed the room!]

At table 18 in division 5, Waheed Thompson had a smoking win against Joanne Poplogar, 534-331. He played JINGLERS through the R for a triple-triple worth 203 points! He also got down INGRaTE. Joanne played UNLOADs, which was an outplay, for 62 points. At least she got to catch him with some tiles.

Vicki Blizzard (div 5) had a heartbreaking loss to Carol Kupsch, 359-379. The board's bingos were NUTTIEr and ReBORES. Carol's outplay tied the game and then she won with the tiles on Vicki's rack: LNDHIT.

Division 4's Celia Lopez defeated Richard Solomon, 371-344. She opened with WHEEDlE, which drew a challenge. The word is acceptable. Richard made a lovely play of FERNS/SHORTY, the latter on the triple lane, for 44, but he just couldn't ever overcome the initial 97-0 lead she built up.

At table 1 in division 6, Andrea Ross-Greene beat Adam Fleming, 410-354. She got down RATLINs, OOGONIA, and the double-double DALLIERS through an L. Her outplay, which I'm sure resonated with her opponent was CRiNGE. No slouch himself, Adam played EMBEDS on the triple and got the best of Andrea in a parallel play battle. He played WARP, she played JEE beneath, then he played LIES beneath that to the triple for 47 points. This play created LIES, HAJI, REE, and PES!

Division 1's John Luebkemann felled Trey Wright, 411-402. Head in hands, Trey bemoaned how he'd lost the game in two different ways. John agreed and said it was the first "gift" game he'd been given thus far in the tournament.

Merrill Kaitz (div 1) had a nice win over Dave Wiegand, 389-345. Dave opened with BRAVO, which Merrill rewarded with GOLgOTHA, playing through the O. Dave challenged, the play stood. Merrill also played TIPPLER on the right triple lane, one short of the top triple square. On his next play, he put down CELS/STIPPLER for 63 points! David played VIOLENCE and I saw the double-double UNLASHED through the LA for 48 points . Merrill said, "I thank Jesus for the game." (golgotha is defined as "the name of the mount of the crucifixion." Merrill is so clever, I had to look that up to even explain the reference to myself!)

Division 1's Jan Dixon just lost what she called the worst game of her life to Pat Barrett, 510-283. Jan points out that after six turns, Pat had 365 points. From her bad two-O first rack, Jan put down ROOF and Pat bingoed to the triple with OUTDROVE. Other plays were TUTORIaL from the first T and SCrAWLED to the D. Jan dumped the Q twice in the game and is thankful she stuck Pat with it to help with the game's spread!

In a division 4 game between Maneck Contractor and Paula Cantanese, Maneck lost 293-449. In he last two draws she picked three Ss, but couldn't use a one of them! She managed to get down the phoney INsPITE and Paula played HEADINGs through a D. I also spotted FRIZ on the triple for 70 points!

Lisa Odom (div 1) was walking to the front of the room to drop off a winning slip. She beat Jean Carrol, 410-365. Neither one of them is having a great tournament so far.

Division 1's Brian Cappelletto fell to Sam Kantimathi, 540-274. Brian got down SYMBIOTE to the E on the triple lane and Sam teasingly suggested I mention Brian's RETINAS playl. Sam got down AEROdUCT and PEAKIEST through the K.

Ida Shapiro said she wants to vote for SOWPODS now. In this round, she was stuck in the engame with QI (that word is acceptable in SOWPODS, but not in our current tournament dictionary: Official Tournament and Club Word List ), and she could have played it to win the game!

Randy still leads div 1, 14-2, but Joe Edley and Sammy Okosagah are right behind him with 13-3.

Cynthia Seales is atop div 2 with 14-2 and John Van Pelt, David Johnson, and Bob Lundegaard and right behind he with 13-3.

Dean Cullen is atop div 3, 15-1 (how does he do it!?), and Rusty Peltz is behind with 14-2.

Michael Ecsedy has taken over the lead in division 4 with a 13-3 record. Charmaine Wolfe, Rosalind Gold, Harvey Wilson, and Dennis Fenichel at 12-4 would be happy to relieve him of his leading duties.

Rob Matthews is 13-3 in division 5. Norbert Saldanha, Jeff Myers, and Rebecca Soble are at 12-4.

The blazing Andrea Ross-Greene is still atop div 6 with a 15-1 (are we tired of hearing this yet?). Connie Creed is right behind her 14-2.

HASBRO is the owner of the registered SCRABBLE^® trademark in the United States and Canada. © 2008 HASBRO. All rights reserved. "SCRABBLE^® Brand Crossword Game" is the proper way to refer to this unique group of word games and related properties marketed by HASBRO. "SCRABBLE^®" is not a generic term. To use it as such is not only misleading but also does injustice to the company responsible for the trademark's longtime popularity. All we ask is that when you mean SCRABBLE^® Brand Crossword Game, you say so. 

The SCRABBLE^® trademark is owned by J.W. Spear and Sons, PLC, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. outside of the United States and Canada. 

For more information about SCRABBLE^® or the NSA, or to comment on or correct the contents of this page, please e-mail: info@scrabble-assoc.com 
To report technical difficulties in reading this page,  please contact webmaster John Chew at: jjchew@math.utoronto.ca