…with Gary Moss

Archive for May, 2009

Sometimes, (for me) the best way to learn something is by doing it wrong the first time. While playing scrabble, some of the words that stick with me best are those words that were phoney during the game, that I looked up after the game. I give those words greater attention and rarely make the same mistake a second time (I just make different mistakes). Another set of words that I find easy to remember are the words with unusual combinations like: ‘ngwee’ or ‘gjetost’ or ‘mbira’. There are so many interesting sets of words. Did you know that only 20% of words that end with ‘ing’ can take an ‘s’ (‘ings’)? Do you know which can and which can’t? Did you know that the OWL2 dictionary has been changed four times during the last 20 years? Are you using the most current ‘Official Dictionary’? Some players continue to use ‘da’. That word was removed from the official list in 1998. Where do you look for interesting word lists? There are ‘free’ list of words at: http://web.mac.com/jftsoi/Word_Lists/Table_of_Contents.html

I was the benefactor of someone else ‘doing it wrong’. It was May 1997. I was a regular weekly player at ‘The Killer Club’ (Alan Stern’s Wednesday Club in West LA). It is called ‘the killer club’ because the level of play is brutal. The makeup of the field of players included some of the best in the nation. I was ranked near the bottom of the pack when it came time for their end of year Club Championship Tournament. My expectation, from the start, was to play my best game and win a few of the 8 games. Something special was about to occur to me. I entered a space in time that others have described as ‘a zone’. When you’re in that ‘zone’ you can do no wrong. Bingos appeared on my rack every time I drew tiles from the bag. Multiple bingo lines were open on the board and begged me to play my next 7-Letter-Word here. My tile tracking was without flaw. I drew most of the power tiles. When my opponent made a good play, I made a better play.
On week #1 of the event, I won 4 of 4, beating some of the best players in the mix. I was so pleased with myself I could hardly stand it. People congratulated me, shook my hand, and asked me for advice. How silly! Me giving advice to these pros. There was an entire week before the last 4 games. I had no illusions of becoming the champion; I was just very please by the showing I had made. When the following Wednesday finally arrived I was very nervous. But just like the week before, I was in that ‘zone’ again. I won 2 of the first 3 games that evening, putting me into the final battle for the title in game #8. Of all people, I had to play against Rita Norr, a past NSA National Champion. I had only played Rita a few times and had never beaten her. It was a cat and mouse game. The lead went back and forth. The score remained very close right down to the end. It was Rita’s turn; she needed only one small score to secure the victory. She made her play; I said, “Hold!” I turned the board and and looked at her play. She had played a small 3-Letter-Word in the lower right hand corner of the board to the TWS. But. . . she had hooked an ‘o’ to an ‘i’. ( In 1997 ‘oi’ was not on the official word list. Rita had been studying SOWPODS at home, preparing for the WORLD TOURNAMENT. ‘oi’ was a SOWPODS word at that time.)
I challenged her play, won the challenge, and went out. I became the 1997 Club Champion at The Killer Club. I enjoyed fond memories of that experience when ‘oi’ was added to the OWL2 in March of 2006.

Scrabble at home with the family, around the kitchen table, is just a game. But as soon as one of the players at the table begins to get a little better than the rest, or a lot better than the rest, that player begins to think that they are the next world champion scrabble player. Maybe so, but rather unlikely.

Many players show up at clubs and tournaments fresh from the ‘kitchen table’. They usually do a ‘scrabble’ search on Google and find my name and clubs listed. They call. We have a conversation about scrabble and their personal playing experience. I try to be both encouraging and realistic. I want new players to come to my clubs and tournament. And I want those players to have a good time and come back often.

Unfortunately, many of the players who come out, expect to win every game, most become very disappointed, and too often they can’t handle the learning curve. Many never come back a second time.

Let’s say that you enjoyed riding bicycles. Every weekend you rode 10 miles with family and friends. You were the strongest cyclist in the group. Others in your group looked up to your as their leader and the best. Now let’s say Lance Armstrong was coming through town and you were chosen to ride on a 75 mile day trip. How would you keep up?

Well it’s sort of like that when you begin to play club and tournament, competitive scrabble. It’s up to you to decide that you want to do the things that are necessary to keep up. There are skills to be learned and word lists to be entered into your memory. The game is the same, but it is completely different. You have to be able and willing to look at things differently.

For those of us who enjoy learning and competition, the scrabble scene is a wonderful place to be. Come join us. Come swim with the crocs.

I thrive of a diet of good food, chocolate, and stimuli. Here are a few recipes that help make my life worth living.

VEAL PARMESAN
1 egg
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. seasoned dry bread crumbs
6 scallops, pounded veal
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 med. minced onion
1 med. clove minced garlic
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1/4 c. water
1 tbsp. crumbled dried parsley
1 tsp. crumbled dried oregano
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
8 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Beat egg in shallow dish. Combine 1/2 cup Parmesan and bread crumbs in another shallow dish. Dip veal in egg and then in crumb mixture to coat. Heat 1/4 cup oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute veal until just browned, about 45 seconds on each side. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.
Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft, about 7 minutes. Add tomato sauce, water, parsley, oregano and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer sauce for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon half of sauce into 9 x 13 inch ovenproof glass baking dish. Arrange veal over sauce. Top each veal scallop with mozzarella. Pour remaining sauce over. Bake until bubbly, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately. Pass Parmesan separately.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

SCRABBLE RECIPE Ingredients:
2 or More scrabble enthusiasts
1 deluxe or custom scrabble board (with the deep ridges to prevent sliding tiles)
1 set of PROTILES per board (black on white preferred for easy reading)
1 digital chess clock with 25 minute settings (Samtimer or Adjudicator)
1 OWL2 (official word list: in print or an up to date computer version)
Score Pads with Tracking sections.
Pens & Pencils
Challenge Slips
Blank Designation Slips
An Official Rule Book
To improve your game dramatically, use Whiz Cards and other study tool from JFTSOI and/or choose to be coached by Gary Moss, educator and club/ tournament director.

Today I had my annual eye exam. ‘They’ say that everyone should have their eyes checked once a year. (The ‘they’ are the opthamologists.) The exam began with a technician having me look at the standard Snellen Eye Chart and call off rows of letters, first covering one eye and then the other. At one point she asked for the very tiniest row and I rattled of the 6 letters that I thought I was seeing. I asked if I got them right and she replied, “No that row was all numbers.”

It was cause enough for me to bust out into uncontrollable laughter. That alone made the whole trek worthwhile.

As I was laughing, I realized just how good laughing felt. I guess that realization stemmed from the fact that I don’t seem to find as many belly laughs in life now, as in the past. Somehow, I’ve become more somber and serious over time. The inescapable media provides us with very little to laugh about and it always seems to be within earshot.

One of the things that I like most about playing scrabble are the laughs. Without trying too hard, one can find some wit or a pun on every board. Some of the best punsters in the southern California scrabble circle, besides myself, include Alan Stern, Margie Gordon, Paul Trachtenberg, and Darth Vader.

I despise TV shows with canned laughter. Most of the stuff is not really funny at all. But since laughter is contagious, the canned laughter is what makes us laugh. . . and since we are then laughing, we assume that the show itself was funny.

One of the funniest things I seen on TV lately occurs on the Rachel Ray morning show. It is obvious to me that they prompt the audience to respond. The most bizarre response occurs when Rachel is preparing food. She shares, aloud, the ingredients that she is adding. The audience applauds feverishly when she adds garlic and/or grated cheese. (That makes me laugh.)

Chevy Chase movies used to make me laugh no matter how many times I saw them. I think I’ll rent one tonight and see if it still does the trick.

What makes you laugh? Have you had a good laugh today?

Step outside the box. Most novice scrabble players play everyday/common words. There’s nothing wrong with that. At times, those words may achieve the most points for a turn. But one of the pieces of the game, the challenge, provides an opportunity for one player to stump the opponent and win an extra turn. This always occurs when the opponent thinks that you have misspelled a word or played a ‘phoney’, and challenges the play. If your word is adjudicated to be correct, you earn the points for the play and you get an immediate extra turn.
You will rarely be challenged when you play words like ‘where’ or ‘family’ or ‘quarter’. But what would you do if your opponent played ‘grosz’? Would you challenge? What would I do, you ask? First I would consider who played it. If my opponent always played common words then I might say challenge. But first, I would see how many points were scored. If the play earned 20 – 25 points, I might not challenge and play my own word to the ‘z’ or the ‘s’.
If I knew the word (grosz: a Polish coin), I might also know that other forms of that word are ‘grosze’ and ‘groszy’. I could hook it with my own comeback play.
Who would ever know a word like ‘grosz’? Well, a few years ago when I wanted to gain an edge in the game, I allowed my curiosity to take over and steer for a while. At one point I searched the dictionary for words that relate to monetary units. Penny, nickel, and dime would never be challenged. But how about ‘ngultrum’ or ‘ekpwele’ or ‘ngwee’?
Once my opponents saw that knew more than the average bear, they were less likely to challenge my plays. I even got away with some phoneys because others were afraid to challenge me.
What are you interested in? animals? herbs? fish? chemical compounds? Take a peek at all the words in the dictionary and see how much you never noticed before.
Did you know that the average person only knows about 5% of the words in the dictionary. Build yourself an arsenal of words from the other 95% and you’ll be way ahead of the pack.

Do you want some help to build your game? CLICK HERE! href=”http://web.mac.com/jftsoi/SCRABBLE_101/Attitude_%26_Commitment.html”>

I was playing scrabble online last night. I play on a sight where players are paired randomly. Sometimes I find that my opponents are experts; sometimes they are novices; and other times they are people who are playing with the aid of an electronic dictionary that finds the best word for them. I can tell a lot about them after their first play or two. The person using the electronic device will play bingos that will make your head spin, but will hook with phoney two letter words (an instant giveaway). The expert will place words in strategic defensive places. The novice will play phoney after phoney, become frustrated after being challenged, and usually quit in the middle of the game.
Players have the option to chat back and forth via instant messages. Sometimes I drop a comment. Most times, if I drop a suggestion, other than praise, my opponent will take offence, and shoot back a put down. Last night after a few back and forth chats with a raw novice, we had a pleasant exchange.
I find that people want to be ‘right’; people want to ‘win’; people want to be the best ‘NOW’. Most do not especially want to pay their dues by investing time and energy to become something more. If it doesn’t come easily, they will abandon an endeavor and do something else instead. Maybe it’s because I love the game of scrabble so much that I don’t quite understand the attitude of those who throw in the towel early on. They’ll say things like, “I can’t spell”. And never come back again.
I guess I was like that for a while when it came to ‘Sudoku’. But, I hated the fact that I couldn’t do them. And one day I made a decision to learn. And now I can handle sudoku up to level four.
The bookmark shown here is one of the study tools that I developed to assist scrabble players who want to move up in the ranks. When you decide to become even better, you will.

For some, a Mozart concerto is the ultimate. For others it’s the L.A. Lakers. While I enjoy both Mozart and Kobi, there is nothing that lures me more than another game of scrabble. Every game is the same and yet, every game is different. Since ‘qi’ and ‘za’ were added to the OWL2 Dictionary in March 2005, the game has changed dramatically. Few players get stuck with the ‘q’ any longer.
I never imagined, when I first began playing competitive scrabble at clubs, that I would find the pleasure that I do from scrabble. At first I was the fresh meat on the plates of every opponent. But with time and perseverance I expanded my word power and my personal wins grew too.
With as many scrabble players as there are, I still find it amazing that relatively few players know about the local clubs that exist in many communities. When people first find my clubs they are often apprehensive to play, for fear of looking bad. But you’ll find that clubs do not judge newbies harshly. In fact, we applaud first timers for coming out and taking the challenge.
Most people only become good at golf, or bridge, or scrabble after doing it a while. Seasoned players still have their good days and bad days. Did you know that the ‘LUCK FACTOR’ in scrabble is guest-a-mated to be as high as 30%. With that said, ‘The More You Know, The Luckier You Will Become.’
Most major cities and a whole lot of smaller communities are blessed by having scrabble clubs meeting in book stores, at cafes, and community centers. Directors, like myself, facilitate the event and do the pairings and officiating. You’ll find novices to experts playing in most clubs. My advice to you, if you want to improve, is to play against the toughest play in the room, and make mental notes while playing. The sting of losing the game will go away, but the knowledge that you will gain will be priceless.
If you are moved my scrabble. . . PLAY ON THROUGH.

Many people are just holiday scrabble players but it can take much more than a couple of hours, every now and then, to become a good player and master the game. Some people simply enjoy the fun of finding words that fit onto the board and don’t care if they win or lose the game. Serious scrabble buffs refer to them as the ‘casual crowd.’ There are other players who enjoy playing the game but hate to lose; they especially hate it when their opponents play words that they don’t know, not everyday words. If playing online, when they fall behind, they usually quit before the game is over.
Then there is that other breed. People who truly enjoy the journey called ‘learning’. They can play several times a week for years and always seem to find something new to learn in every game: a new word; a new strategy; a new word list. Those learners are sponge-like. They know that total immersion might be just what it takes to reach critical creative mass.
As a professional educator I haven’t been able to sit by idly and watch word mavens search for study tools. So, I took the bull by the horns and created endless study tools: word lists; Whiz Cards; bookmarks, and more, available at http://www.wordgifts.net If you are obsessed by words and scrabble you’ve come to the right Blog.

#10 – Chocolate Chip Cookies & Milk

For me, when I begin to clean thing always seem to get much worse before they begin to get better. I’m not talking about the kind of cleaning when you scrub the tub or clean the microwave oven.

My cleaning is more often about the clutter that I’ve accumulated over time. Those nasty things that come in the mail or the stuff I pick up when I’m out and about and bring home. Things that I initially save because I think they may be important but there is no immediate urgency.

Sure I put them all in a pile (a pile that I never refer back to). A pile grows on one table until it become high and tippy. Then I begin a second pile, then a third, etc. I live alone, so there isn’t anyone here nag me to pick up after myself. That’s a good thing.

Oh yeah, I create a lot of stuff too. Mostly scrabble related: word lists; fliers for events; templates for my whiz cards. I find it very difficult to dispose of the things that I have created, even after they are outdated and of no use any longer. So I put them in boxes on shelves of in storage crates. The problem is. . . . one room has become wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling containers. Ooops.

This week I took the first few steps in the 12 step program.
1. I admitted that I was powerless to handle this on my own. I had begun to tackle the situation so many times on my own, only to tire or become distracted, and ultimately to settle back down in front of the TV with my laptop on my lap, a icy beverage within reach, and that was that until the next time.
2. I hired some help. I asked around and found a cleaner to help me. My big concern that had stopped me from asking for help was that a 3rd party would know which of my stuff to save and which to throw away. Finally, I was willing to not care. (The truth is, if any or all of the stuff disappeared, there is nothing specific that I really needed.)
3. While the stuff was the main issue, other things needed cleaning too. So I assigned the cleaner to deal with the kitchen and the bathrooms while I took trash bags and sorted through boxes and shelves and storage containers. Some of this was very painful for me at first. But as I got into it I was able to let go of more and more. By the time the third trash bag was in the garbage bin I was feeling more at ease.
4. Giving away to other became a priority. There were many items that were sitting in my storage bins that had value. I recognized that those items would serve others well and free up space in my home. I decided that anything I could not give away directly to a friend would be donated to Good Will. I made a few calls and identified a new school that would appreciate any donation.
5. I set out 1 container for the school, a bag for trash, and a third container for things too precious to give away today.

I am far from being finished. But I have made a significant dent in the project. I anticipate completion by the end of next week.

And what do you think is the reason for this long overdue change?

My mother is coming to California and will stay with me for a few days at the end of the month. I just couldn’t imagine hearing her telling me, at my age, to clean up my room.

What does this have to do with scrabble? Nothing and Everything. Seasoned players accumulate all kinds of study tools that end up on shelves and in storage boxes. At one time they helped us build out word knowledge but we became tired or lazy. If we go through those items and relight our passions, we can become even greater. And for the stuff that we no longer need. . . give it away to some newbie and light a fire under them.