…with Gary Moss

Some people think that all there is to playing scrabble is to shuffle some tiles around and find a word to play on the board. But any club player will quickly tell you that it is also necessary to be able to identify phoneys (words that are not acceptable) played by your opponent with a certainty to be willing to challenge them off the board.

If you challenge a word, and that word happens to be acceptable, the challenger loses a turn. With an average of only 17 turns per player in the game, a lost challenge can equal 6+% of your eventual score. Most players do not play phoneys on purpose but it is permissable, much like bluffing, in poker.

In the title above, two of the four words are phoney. Did you notice?

Some people shy away from ever coming to a scrabble club because they think of themselves as poor spellers. But it is my experience that when people are poor spellers or poor at math, there is something else behind it. There are so many variances and ‘exceptions to the rules’ in spelling that it seems obvious to me that good spelling is simply all about memory.

I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that it would be to the advantage of me and you and all others to expand and exercise our memory. Seek out a scrabble club in your community. Need help? Email me and I’ll help you find one. Click on ‘contact us’ on the top bar.

English spelling can seam like a maize,
And put won strait into a hays,
Butt now never fear,
The spell-checker is hear.
And its sew well-deserving of prays,
Butt let awl pore spellers bee ware
Of the checker and ewes it with care,
Lest yore hair be turned into a hare.
~ Anonymous