SCRABBLE: Use The Right Words
As a scrabble club director, because we play One-On-One at club, I often sit out when the number of players is odd. When I sit out, in order to amuse myself, I walk around the players and peek over their shoulders at their racks.
(It is always easier to see a good or great play on someone else’s rack, than on your own.)
But the thing that pains me most is when one of the long term club players has a rack like:
I watch them move the tiles around, looking for their best play. Even though ‘coffee-housing’ is not proper etiquette, the player may utter, “I know that there is something here.”
(If they had been paying even the slightest bit of attention to my preaching over the years, they would see that they have a ‘SATINE+?’ rack. They would know that there are ’69′ 7-Letter-Words in this set of letters.
Then, after 3 – 4 minutes running off of their clock, they play:
They use their BLANK for an ‘R’ and earn 18 – 22 points. I run for a ‘barf bag’, trying not to be conspicuously distraught.
What were they thinking? Obviously, they were not thinking. Here is the list of bingos that they had on their rack. Even if they didn’t know some of the 69 words, there are surely others that should have jumped out and bitten them in the behind:
ENTASIA, TAENIAS, BANTIES, BASINET, ACETINS, CINEAST, DESTAIN, DETAINS, INSTEAD, NIDATES,
STAINED, ETESIAN, FAINEST, EASTING, EATINGS, INGATES, INGESTA, SEATING, TEASING, SHEITAN, STHENIA, ISATINE, INTAKES, ELASTIN, ENTAILS, NAILSET, SALIENT, SALTINE, SLAINTE, TENAILS, ETAMINS, INMATES, TAMEINS, INANEST, STANINE, ATONIES, PANTIES, PATINES, SAPIENT, SPINATE, ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STEARIN, ENTASIS, NASTIES, SEITANS, SESTINA, TANSIES, TISANES, INSTATE, SATINET, AUNTIES, SINUATE, NAIVEST, NATIVES, VAINEST, TAWNIES, WANIEST, ANTISEX, SEXTAIN, ZANIEST, SAINTED, ZEATINS
New club players usually do not think in these terms when they first begin to compete. But once a player is told the secret of how to achieve higher scores, it is incumbent on them to digest the information and put it into practice.
Use Some Of The Right Words.