Go to: Commentary Games Players Photos Standings Merchandise

Back to 2005 Canadian National SCRABBLE® Championship Live Coverage

2005 Canadian National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 4

Congratulations to the first-ever two-time Canadian Champion, Adam Logan!

Go to: Registration, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3, Final Round 4, After the Finals.

Round 4

Trevor Sealy (Oshawa ON) had a nice win against Jim Carlton (London ON) this round, 378-310. I see Trevor's BASKEtS for 76 and SQuADS. Jim got down WEIRDO along the triple, which I think is a fun play. Not that I'm accusing Jim of name calling or anything....

I caught John Dungey (Mitchell ON) and Fran Silver (Cote Saint-Luc QC) returning from the challenge machine. Before I can see what transpired, I see John pulling tiles up from the board. I walk over to the computer and spy GARNADE* in the basket, ruled unacceptable.

Joel Wapnick (Montréal QC) had his way with the young Dean Saldanha (Richmond BC) this round, winning 399-344, at table 1 on the stage. Players who milled by were impressed to see Joel's 81-point MaGUEYs. He also got down LOONIER for 66 and Dean played SEALANTS through the L for 66 and SKELTER for 79.

Adam Logan (United Kingdom) points out a nice bingo on his board. It was his opponent's play of MEZQUITE from the M for 80 points. Thinking Adam's luck must have run out, he explained that he'd won despite Shaun's nice play, 528-293. Adam got down FEEDbAG for 90 (he made me struggle to figure out that blank), POLENTAs through the E for 86, ERMINES for 72, and the fun, high-scoring BUTEO for 37. Shaun also got down the 40-point QUICK. Adam's scores thus far in the event: 483, 431, 503, and 528, with a cumulative spread of +674. We'll see just how long this can last.

Sitting at the board next door, George MacAulay (Saskatoon SK) sees me stop by his last game vs. David Boys (Dorval QC). It was Dave's win, 406-386. Dave played PILSNeRS and LINTIER while George got down AIGRETTE and DECRIaL. Nice bingos George!

Ever the good sport, Andrew Golding (Verdun QC) welcomes my interest in his loss to Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON), 315-437. Holding IOOUNP?, Craig played down the triple to an I. Can anyone figure out Craig's play?* Andrew tells me that Craig's MELANIST for 78, played through the E, blocked his bingo of PEDIGREE. Later in the game, Craig saw two bingo lines that needed to be blocked, so he played CORDAGE through the AG, blocking up the board just fine.

Lou Cornelis (Ottawa ON) defeats Jeffrey Parsons (Logy Bay NL), 412-385. The board has two OID bingos: Jeff's SIALOID for 70 and Lou's aUTOCOID for 72, played through the O. Lou alos got FURANES for 72.

Long after their game is over, I see Libero Paolella (Toronto ON) sitting quietlly at his finished board. A very pretty play catches my eye, ExILIAn for 72, played by Tony. I'm told he also got down CRITTERS from the C for 70. Libero played HARVEST for 85, but couldn't quite catch up. He lost, 362-398. The interesting thing? Libero was caught with QI in his rack. According to the dictionary we are using as the official word source in this event, Official Tournament and Club Word List, published by Merriam Webster, this word, QI*, is not acceptable. But, once we adopt the new dictionary, which is available now at the NSA's Word Gear site, this word will be acceptable in tournament play. The new dictionary is called The Official SCRABBLE^® Players Dictionary, Fourth Edition.

*Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) got down dOUPIONI for 86 points!

HASBRO is the owner of the registered SCRABBLE^® trademark in the United States and Canada. © 2005 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