Volume 2, Issue 22Oct. 29-Nov. 5, 2019

Worcester Scrabble Club News That’s a lotta scoring

Two weeks ago, all 11 games played at our club featured a winning score of 400 or more points. A 12th game, reported after last week’s news, also had a 400+ winning tally. Last week, the high-scoring trend continued as 16 of 17 games had the winner exceeding 400, with the average winning score besting the previous week by a bit, 457.9 points to 454.6. Perhaps this is why one curious onlooker on Tuesday, when asked whether she plays the game and might like to join us, remarked that she loves to play but doesn’t play “at this level!” Our Worcester Scrabble Club is, of course, always

welcoming and encouraging new players, but it is worth pausing from time to time to remark about the growth we have experienced. When we began reviving the club back in 2004-05 or so (I realize it predates that by a bit), we struggled to find four or five players each week. Today, we feature a solid core of regulars, have a great venue, and have seen many friendships

cemented over the game we love. The pie chart above summarizes the last three weeks of games at our club by winning score. Only three of the 41 games were won with a score less than 400 points, and more winners exceeded 500 than failed to reach 400! Given the group’s dedication, study habits, and overall brilliance, I look forward to ever higher averages and achievements in the weeks and months ahead. As for the next two weeks, however, you’ll have to do without me, as I’ll be travelling to and from Seattle, with no computer and little email. That means no newsletter for next week (and a welcome relief for my eyes and brain) but all the more news when I return. So keep those scores coming (email is fine), and keep studying. And

What’s FHRZDIP?Is it an ice cream novelty? A mid-winter swimming ritual? A sudden drop in temperature? No, it’s the sinking feeling you get when you see DFHIPRZ on your rack and your opponent bingoes out with the bag empty. Mike Wolfberg suffered FHRZDIP last week in a game with Carol McDonald, who was trailing by a good bit until the final play, when she made the 89-point play of CLEANIS(H) for a walk-off bingo, and caught Mike with that very point-rich rack. The 25 points doubled, of course, to +50 for Carol, leaving her with a 410-393 victory. While +50 steal at the end of the game is a lot of points, it is likely only the second-most points in a steal in any game at our club, shy of the 58-point FHJNOTZ steal that James Krycza achieved back in February in a game against Chris Kulig. Is there any way to insulate against FHRZDIP?

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The misuse of WARISONIn his win over Judi Boviard on Tuesday, Mike Wolfberg played the word WARISON for 70 points, en route to a 427-302 victory. If you look in the Scrabble dictionary, you find the definition “a bugle call to attack” and the note that the word is obsolete. But while this definition is now accepted — if hardly in widespread use outside Scrabble — it is not really correct. The OED notes that the word is from the Old French warison, a variation of g(u)arison, meaning wealth or possessions. A second definition listed is “to have in full possession,” used in the sense of “to give in warison,” or give a woman in marriage. From there, the word was also sometimes used to refer to an immaterial “treasure,” esp. a young woman’s honor. Other meanings in the OED are “a gift bestowed by a superior,” and “pre-servation or defense.” Why then a bugle call?

Well, the last definition in the entry in the OED clarifies the matter, noting “Misused by Scott for: A note of assault. The source of the mistake is prob. the line ‘Mynstrells, play up for your waryson,’ in The Battle of Otterbourne, a Scottish ballad that offers an account of a Scottish victory over the English in 1388. Merriam-Webster online (See, they DID win the dictionary wars!) reports: “When Sir Walter Scott first encountered the word warison around the beginning of the 19th century, it was a rare word that had been around for six centuries, occasionally used to mean either ‘wealth or possessions’ or ‘reward.’ In his 1805 poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Scott used the word to refer to a bugle call ordering soldiers to attack, probably because he misinterpreted what the word meant when he read it in ‘The Battle of Otterbourne’…” 

And there, I daresay, is more information that you will even need about WARISON. WARRISON# is good too, but only in Collins.

The heavy artillery of October 22Something like Big Bertha (the famous German artillery piece from World War I, shown above) was on display Tuesday night, as all 11 of the games had a winning score of 400+ points. In fact, Carol M. and Chris S. shared the low wins at 408, and the average winning score was a very healthy 454.6. This is probably the first time all wins have been 400+ in a sample of 10+ games in a club session. Another measure of success? There were 42 bingos in the 11 games, working out to 3.8 per game, or 1.9 per player per game. Chris S. recorded scores of 407 and 410 in losing efforts, Chris K. scored 465 points and lost to Seth’s 469! That game totaled 934 points, but was exceeded by the 953 points that Chris K. and Mike W. put up in the five-consecutive bingo game featured above. And while six games were decided by 100+ points, three were settled by under 10 points. There were two bingos of 100+ points, and two more of 90+ points. A lively club session!

Five straight bingos sets Worcester Scrabble Club recordCongratulations to Chris Kulig, who played five consecutive bingos in a 576-377 win over Mike Wolfberg. The plays — SILENCES, VERMEILs, IgUANIAN, CASEATED, and TITRATE — are the first time any player has achieved that feat at our club, and is just one shy of the record of six straight bingos for a club game, set by Jamie Ryan at the Lexington Scrabble Club in February 2014. The OWL tournament record is also six straight. It is very rare to play five (or more) straight bingos. Good tiles are obviously needed, along with an open board, strong word knowledge, and enough luck so that your opponent doesn’t block your opportunities. Five straight of anything is tough. Just ask baseball legend Ty Cobb (well, he’s dead), who had more batting titles than anyone, including five from 1911-1915. There is dispute as to who won the 1910 title. If Cobb did, his streak is still longer.