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Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board which is divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words which, in crossword fashion, flow left to right in rows or downwards in columns. The words must be defined in a standard dictionary. Specified reference works (e.g., the Official Tournament and Club Word List, the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) provide a list of officially permissible words.

Scrable is a sport played by two or more players on a square board. The objective is to scrub a ball through a

hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) high mounted to a backboard at each end. Basketball is one of

the world's most popular and widely viewed sports.

Part I

In 1938, American architect Alfred Mosher Butts created the game as a variation on an earlier word game he invented called Lexiko. The two games had the same set of letter tiles, whose distributions and point values Butts worked out by performing a frequency analysis of letters from various sources. The new game, which he called "Criss-Crosswords," added the 15×15 gameboard and the crossword-style game play. He manufactured a few sets himself, but was not successful in selling the game to any major game manufacturers of the day.

In 1948, James Brunot, a resident of Newtown, Connecticut – and one of the few owners of the original Criss-Crosswords game – bought the rights to manufacture the game in exchange for granting Butts a royalty on every unit sold. Though he left most of the game (including the distribution of letters) unchanged, Brunot slightly rearranged the "premium" squares of the board and simplified the rules; he also changed the name of the game to "Scrabble", a real word which means "to scratch frantically".

In 1984, Scrabble was turned into a daytime game show on NBC. Scrabble ran from July 1984 to March 1990, with a second run from January to June 1993. The show was hosted by Chuck Woolery. The show's tagline promotional broadcasts was, "Every man dies; not every man truly Scrabbles.“ In 2011, a new TV variation of Scrabble, called Scrabble Showdown, aired on The Hub cable channel, which is a joint venture of Discovery Communications, Inc. and Hasbro.

Scrabble was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 1952, unable to meet demand himself, Brunot sold manufacturing rights to Long Island-based Selchow and Righter, one of the manufacturers who, like Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley Company, had previously rejected the game. In its second year as a Selchow and Righter-built product, nearly four million sets were sold.Selchow and Righter bought the trademark to the game in 1972. JW Spears began selling the game in Australia and the UK on January 19, 1955. The company is now a subsidiary of Mattel. In 1986, Selchow and Righter was sold to Coleco, which soon after went bankrupt. Hasbro purchased the company's assets, including Scrabble and Parchees.

~1999~

It was made clear that: a tile can be shifted or replaced until the play has been

scored.

a challenge applies to all the words made in the given play.

Playing all seven tiles is officially called a "Bingo".

A change in the wording of the rules, could be interpreted as meaning that a player may form more than one word on one row on a single turn.

~1976~•It was made clear that the blank tile beats an A when drawing to see who goes first.•A player could now pass his/her turn, doing nothing.•A loss-of-turn penalty was added for challenging an acceptable play.•If final scores are tied, the player whose score was highest before adjusting for unplayed tiles is the winner; in tournament play, a tie is counted as half a win for both players

~1953~•It was made clear that:

•words could be played through single letters already on the board.•a player could play a word parallel and immediately adjacent to an existing word provided all crosswords formed were valid.•the effect of two word premium squares were to be compounded multiplicatively.

•The previously unspecified penalty for having one's play successfully challenged was stated: withdrawal of tiles and loss of turn.

Even though it’s a word game, the real story behind SCRABBLE® Brand Crossword Game is numbers. One hundred million sets sold world-wide. Between one and two million sold each year in North America. And, of keen interest to legions of passionate players, over 120,000 words that may be used in their scoring arsenal.

The story of the game’s evolution from underground craze to cultural icon is as American as, well, the SCRABBLE game. Alfred Mosher Butts, an out-of-work architect from Poughkeepsie, New York, decided to invent a board game. Analyzing games, he found they fell into three categories: number games, such as dice and bingo; move games, such as chess and checkers and word games, such as anagrams. Attempting to create a game that would use both chance and skill, Butts combined features of anagrams and the crossword puzzle. First called LEXIKO, the game was later called CRISS CROSS WORDS. To decide on letter distribution, Butts studied the front page of The New York Times and did painstaking calculations of letter frequency. His basic cryptographic analysis of our language and his original tile distribution have remained valid for almost three generations and billions of games played.

Established game manufacturers were unanimous in rejecting Butts’ invention for commercial development. Then Butts met James Brunot, a game-loving entrepreneur who became enamored of the concept. Together, they made some refinements on rules and design and, most importantly, came up with the name “SCRABBLE,” a real word which means “to grope frantically.” The game was trademarked SCRABBLE® Brand Crossword Game in 1948. The Brunots rented an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgington, Connecticut, where with friends they turned out 12 games an hour, stamping letters on wooden tiles one at a time. Later, boards, boxes and tiles were made elsewhere and sent to the factory for assembly and shipping.

he first four years were a struggle. In 1949 the Brunots made 2,400 sets and lost $450. As so often happens in the game business, the SCRABBLE game gained slow but steady popularity among a comparative handful of consumers. Then in the early 1950s, as legend has it, the president of MACY’S discovered the game on vacation and ordered some for his store. Within a year, everyone “had to have one” to the point that SCRABBLE games were being rationed to stores around the country.

In 1952, the Brunots realized they could no longer make the games fast enough to meet the growing interest. They licensed Long Island-based Selchow & Righter Company, a well-known game manufacturer founded in 1867, to market and distribute the games in the United States and Canada.

Even Selchow & Righter had to step up production to meet the overwhelming demand for the SCRABBLE game. As stories about it appeared in national newspapers, magazines and on television, it seemed that everybody had to have a set immediately. In 1972, Selchow & Righter purchased the trademark from Brunot, thereby giving the company the exclusive rights to all SCRABBLE® Brand products and entertainment services in the United States and Canada.

In 1986, Selchow & Righter was sold to COLECO Industries, who had become famous as the manufacturers of the Cabbage Patch Dolls. Three years later, COLECO declared bankruptcy, and its primary assets — most notably the SCRABBLE game and ParchesiTM — were purchased by Hasbro, Inc., owner of Milton Bradley Company, the nation’s leading game company.

Today the game is found in one of every three American homes, ranging from a Junior edition to a CD-ROM with many versions in between including: Standard, Deluxe with turntable, Deluxe Travel, Spanish and French.

Competitive SCRABBLE game play is widely popular much in the manner of chess and bridge. Every year, a National SCRABBLE® Championship is held in a major US city, and on alternate years the World SCRABBLE® Championship is hosted between Hasbro and Mattel. In addition, the National SCRABBLE® Association sanctions over 180 tournaments and more than 200 clubs in the US and Canada.

The next generation of SCRABBLE players is steadily growing with over a half million kids playing the game in more than 18,000 schools nationwide through the School SCRABBLE Program. Hundreds of these students currently compete in state and regional championships across the country. The first annual National School SCRABBLE®Championship was held in Boston on April 26, 2003. Classrooms can also subscribe to the School SCRABBLE® News which includes a teacher edition complete with tested ideas and a lesson plan designed to meet nationally mandated educational goals, and a student issue chock full of feature stories and puzzles.

Alfred Mosher Butts enjoyed playing the SCRABBLE game with family and friends to the end of his life. He passed away in April 1993 at the age of 93.

Visit link to source webpage:

http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/info/history.html

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Part II

GAME DETAILS

Game Details

The board is marked with "premium" squares, which multiply the number of points awarded: eight dark red "triple-word" squares, 17 pink "double-word" squares, of which one, the center square (H8), is marked with a star or other symbol; 12 dark blue "triple-letter" squares, and 24 light blue "double-letter" squares. In 2008, Hasbro changed the colors of the premium squares to orange for TW, red for DW, blue for DL, and green for TL. Despite this, the original premium square color scheme is still the preferred scheme for Scrabble boards used in tournaments.

The game is played by two to four players on a square board with a 15×15 grid of cells (individually known as "squares"), each of which accommodates a single letter tile. In official club and tournament games, play is between two players or, occasionally, between two teams each of which collaborates on a single rack.

Tiles are usually made of wood or plastic and are 19 by 19 millimeters (0.75 in × 0.75 in) square and 4 mm (0.16 in) thick, making them slightly smaller than the squares on the board. Only the rosewood tiles of the deluxe edition varies the width up to 2 mm (0.08 in) for different letters. Travelling versions of the game often have smaller tiles (e.g. 13 mm × 13 mm (0.51 in × 0.51 in)); sometimes they are magnetic to keep them in place. The capital letter is printed in black at the centre of the tile face and the letter's point value printed in a smaller font at the bottom right corner.

In an English-language set, the game contains 100 tiles, 98 of which are marked with a letter and a point value ranging from 1 to 10. The number of points of each lettered tile is based on the letter's frequency in standard English writing; commonly used letters such as vowels are worth one point, while less common letters score higher, with Q and Z each worth 10 points. The game also has two blank tiles that are unmarked and carry no point value. The blank tiles can be used as substitutes for any letter; once laid on the board, however, the choice is fixed. Other language sets use different letter set distributions with different point values.

Part III

Making a Play

Playing perpendicular to a word, e.g. JACK, then YEU(K)Y through the K.

Playing parallel to a word(s) forming several short words, e.g. JACK, then CON played under that to make (J)O and (A)N.

Any combination of these is allowed in a play, given that all the letters placed on the board in one play lie in one row or column and are connected by a main word. Plays must read either left-right or top-bottom. Diagonal plays are not allowed.

The first played word must be at least two letters

long, and cover H8 (the center square). Thereafter,

any play using one or more tiles can be formed by

Adding one or more letters to an existing word,

e.g. (JACK)S, HI(JACK), HI(JACK)ING.

"Hooking" a word(s) and playing perpendicular to

that word(s), e.g. IONIZES with the S hooked on

JACK to make (JACK)S.

Scoring Premium squares apply only when newly placed tiles cover

them. Any subsequent plays do not count those premium

squares.

If a player makes a play where the main word covers two

DWS/ TWS squares, the value of that word is doubled/tripled,

then redoubled/ retripled. Such plays are often referred to as

double-doubles/ triple-triples respectively. It is theoretically

possible to achieve a play covering three TWS squares,

although this is extremely improbable without constructive

setup and collaboration. Plays covering a DWS and a TWS

simultaneously are only possible if a player misses the center

star on the first turn, and the play goes unchallenged.

Finally, if seven tiles have been laid on the board in one turn,

after all of the words formed have been scored, 50 bonus

points are added.

Each new word formed in a play is scored separately,

and then those scores are added up. The value of each

tile is indicated on the tile, and blank tiles are worth zero

points.

The main word is scored. The letter values of the tiles

are added up, and tiles placed on DLS and TLS are

doubled and tripled in value, respectively. Tiles placed

on DWS or TWS squares double or triple the value of

the word/s that include those tiles.

If any "hook" words are played, the scores for each word

are added separately. This is common for "parallel" plays

that make up to eight words in one turn.

StrategiesIf you want to become a

better Scrabble player

quickly, you should

learn a few basic

Scrabble strategies.

The SCRABBLE

strategies are fairly

simply concepts. When

applied, they overnight

should help you score

higher and beat your

opponent more often.

Two Letter Words

Scoring with two letter words

is simple to understand. If

you have no other place to

play, a rare two-letter

SCRABBLE word will help

you score some points and

avoid a pass. Just as likely,

this word might help you

score a two-word score, by

making two parallel words

down the length of a word

already on the Scrabble

board.

Three Letter Words

Three letter words in SCRABBLE aren't

quite as important as the two-letters,

because they won't fit into as many

places and help you out of as many tight

jams. That being said, learning the three

letter words is quite important if you are

going to become a competitive player.

Shuffle Your Tiles Often

When you get your seven tiles, don't keep them in one order on your Scrabble rack. Shuffle them up and look at them in several different combinations. You'll find that seeing the letters in a different order will sometimes reveal a word or potential word that you otherwise wouldn't have noticed in the short time spans of a Scrabble turn.

Manage Your Letter Rack Playing holding only

vowels or only consonants at the end of their turn are asking for "bad luck" in their next tile draw. If you play all your vowels and get only consonants on your next draw, you will leave yourself in a bind. It might not be worth the points you just scored to have to redraw the next turn. Look ahead and anticipate your next Scrabble move.

Don't Set Your Opponent

Also anticipate the next move of your opponent. Try not to play words which obviously will set your opponent up for a double-word score or a triple-word score. You might total a big score by setting your opponent, but if that opponent is able to get triple the points on their next turn, it probably isn't worth it.

Maximize Your Power Tiles Power tiles are the rare letter

tiles. Because of their rarity

and the difficulty playing

these letters, the power tiles

are worth the most points.

When you get one of these

letters, try to maximize your

use of the letter by playing it

on a multiplier. A multiplier is

any square which multiplies

the value of the letter tiles.

This could be a double letter

score, triple letter score,

double word score or triple

word score.

In some Scrabble

dictionaries, you'll find

other Q-words that

don't need a U.

Consult your the

relevant Scrabble

dictionary before

playing a competitive

game.

Conserve Your Versatile

Tiles When you receive an "S" or

a "blank" tile, try to hold it until you can use the letter for maximum effect. It's generally a bad idea to use the S in the middle of a word as you would most any other letter. The blank tile is perfect for using 7 word combinations or bingos, or completing hard-to-complete word combinations. Both tiles may not score big points themselves, but can help you in scoring major points with a great word.

Bingo When You Can Tournament level

Scrabble players build much of their Scrabble strategy around scoring bingos. The player will hold on to a blank tiles with the hopes of scoring a bingo, while playing rare letters for low scores. Competitive SCRABBLE players might score three bingos per game, while beginners are quite lucky to score one bingo.

Build Bingo Stems Certain letters are so

common that they are especially useful in making a bingo. These letters are sometimes hoarded by a player, who wants to collect enough to form a "bingo stem". This is a collection of common letters which can be formed in several different combinations to form a word. The common letters useful for bingo stems are A, E, I, N, R and S.

When you receive a combination of these letters, try to hoard them into a bingo stem. Use the other letters you have on your rack, even if these don't score many points for you. When you have 6 or 7 of the common letters above, you'll be able to play them almost anywhere for a bingo.

“Defense is the Best

Offense” Once again, you might

sometimes need to

forego a high scoring

word for a low scoring

alternative. The

reason for doing this

is to limit your

opponent's ability to

play high scoring

words. This is called

playing defense in

Scrabble.

The offense-to-

defense ratio is a

delicate balance in

Scrabble. Obviously,

you need to score

points to win the

game. But a good

SCRABBLE player is

always aware of the

opportunities being

offered to one's

opponent, as well.

Lastly, Enjoy. PERIOD

‘Nuff said,

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