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15 September 2024
Seattle Club sessions to resume October 3rd...at new location and day
Seattle Scrabble Club is back!
Weekly meetings start Thursday October 3, 2024, at 6:00pm - 9:00pm with a welcome back celebration at the Woodland Park Lawn Bowling Clubhouse, 6150 Whitman Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103, located between Woodland Park Zoo and Green Lake.
Note that some navigation apps cannot find the clubhouse, so you can check the WPLBC website for maps and directions. Their website does not include directions for bus riders, but the Rapid Ride E line stops nearby, just off Aurora Ave N, at N. 65th St and Woodland Pl. N. Bicyclists can use the Green Lake bike path or West Green Lake Way North.
We will meet every Thursday thereafter at the same time (6pm-9pm). Please join us!
If you have questions, please contact Jane Bissonnette at 206-683-3071 or by email: hjbissonnette@comcast.net.
COVID: players are encouraged to wear masks and get updated vaccinations. Please don't come to club if you are not feeling well.
Note: the club website will be updated to reflect the new location and day.
22 August 2021
Jane Jackson 1928 - 2021
Very sorry to let you know that Jane Jackson died yesterday, at her home. She had been in declining health for the last few years, but was not suffering.
Jane Jackson started coming to club in the 1990s. Her husband, Bob Jackson joined her soon after, and they both attended club regularly for many years. They were both welcoming to new players and enjoyed sharing their love of the game. Jane will be missed.
There are no plans for a memorial or other service.
You can send notices for the club Memorial page to Rebecca.
25 May 2021
Seattle Club sessions still on hold...
TL;dr: in-person club sessions are not resuming any time soon.
With the CDC announcing the relaxation of mask requirements, on May 20th NASPA announced that "as of June 1st, 2021, small groups of fully vaccinated players can participate in sanctioned tournaments and club sessions." Please check out the NASPA website for complete details on "Vaccinated Play".
So, what does that mean for Seattle Scrabble Club? Club directors Rebecca Slivka and Ken Clark have discussed the issues and neither is comfortable restarting in-person club sessions any time soon. We feel the risks are too great at this time. We don't think we can even consider meeting in person until the percentage of population that's been vaccinated is much higher (at least 70-80%) and the incidence of the virus in the local population is much lower.
When we do restart sessions, we'll have to require proof of vaccination and require wearing of masks, and screen people every session. But even so, sitting in an enclosed space that close to other people for several hours is still a huge transmission risk-- especially since vaccinated people can still carry and transmit the disease. And we won't have any way of knowing how careful folks have been to avoid people who might be infectious. Handling/sharing of equipment is also a consideration, but the proximity to other people breathing is the biggest issue.
Rebecca has been vaccinated, is still taking precautions since she is a caregiver for someone whose health is more fragile (even though vaccinated as well). And she knows people who are immune-compromised (e.g., kidney transplant recipient on immunosuppressant medications), so doesn't want to risk transmitting the disease to them or their family members. Ken is also not yet willing to meet in person with non-family members, even though he also has been vaccinated.
If you want to meet up with other Seattle club members in person, and are willing to accept the risks that entails, you might try to connect on our club's Facebook group.
Sorry we don't have a more definite answer for when club will reopen.
We encourage you to get vaccinated (if you haven't already), continue to wear a mask, and let's see where we are in a few months.
In the mean time, many club members are playing on The Internet SCRABBLE® Club, so you can get your Scrabble fix there. If you are new to ISC, check out our FAQ page for tips on having a good experience there.
Stay Safe!
17 June 2021 update: NASPA lifts cap on club and tournament limits (while abiding by federal/local health directives).
See NASPA website for details.
23 December 2020
Dinah Breda 1934 - 2020
Sad to announce that Dinah Breda died this morning at her home, after a long struggle with health issues.
Dinah came to Scrabble club for many years with her husband, Uri Breda, until it became too difficult for her to attend. She and Uri often played Scrabble at Third Place and hosted players in their home.
She will be laid to rest at Herzl Memorial Park on Sunday, 27 December, at 10:45 am.
You can send notices for the club Memorial page to Rebecca.
15 October 2020
Tobin Lathrop 1967 - 2020
I'm sad to let you know that Tobin Lathrop, former Seattle Scrabble Club member, died last week from pancreatic cancer. He was 52.
Tobin was married to Christina O'Sullivan, who was very active at club and created the club's first website. Their son Charles is 19.
Condolences can be sent to Christina and donations in Tobin's memory can be sent to the American Cancer Society.
* * Also, David Firstman has set up a GoFundMe page to help Christina with a huge pile of medical bills. Please consider pitching in, if you can. * *
You can send notices for the club Memorial page to Rebecca.
20 April 2020
Seattle Club sessions CANCELLED indefinitely
It's been over a month since we cancelled club, so time for an update. The good news is that physical distancing and other measures (staying home, avoiding non-essential transit trips, washing your hands, wearing a face mask, etc.) have slowed the spread of COVID-19 in Washington State. We have successfully "flattened the curve" here, meaning: we've kept the number of cases below the availability of equipment (hospital beds and ventilators) needed to treat the infected.
In order to sustain this progress, we need to continue physical distancing until health professionals declare it safe for social groups to meet again in person. It will likely be months before this will happen (the most optimistic projections don't show a relaxation of restrictions until June at the earliest), so don't expect club to reopen before then.
In the mean time, many club members are playing on The Internet SCRABBLE® Club, so you can get your Scrabble fix there. If you are new to ISC, check out our FAQ page for tips on having a good experience there.
If you are looking for other stuff to do while at home, please check out our Diversions Page for links to cool videos, games, puzzles, etc.
If you are looking for reliable information about the pandemic and what you can do, please check out our COVID-19 Page.
26 March 2020
Seattle Club sessions CANCELLED through April (at least)
Club sessions will continue to be CANCELLED through at least the end of April. We will resume regular in-person club sessions only when advised it is safe by local health authorities.
Social distancing (stay home, avoid all unnecessary outings, wash your hands, if you must go out - keep at least 6 feet away from other people) is our most effective method to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This means we are all making changes in how we function, but if we make these changes now it will significantly reduce the number of people who get sick and die.
If you are looking for reliable information about the pandemic and what you can do, please check out our COVID-19 Page.
If you are looking for stuff to do while at home, please check out our Diversions Page for links to cool videos, games, puzzles, etc.
18 March 2020
NASPA cancels all sanctioned clubs and tournaments
NASPA has announced that all sanctioned club and tournament activity should be cancelled or postponed (read the full text of their announcement).
Thanks John Chew for making the right decision! Thanks also go to Mina Le, who spearheaded an effort last week to get NASPA to do just this.
15 March 2020
One-Day Tournament scheduled for March 28th has been CANCELLED
Chris Sjoholm has announced that the March 28th tournament has been cancelled. His message:
Given the current situation, I don't feel that it's feasible to proceed with the March 28th tournament, and I've asked that it be removed from the NASPA calendar. Once it looks like restrictions on public gatherings will be eased, I will work on scheduling more tournaments in the Lynnwood area and let everybody know the dates I come up with. I apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to see y'all as soon as the situation improves.
Stay healthy!
11 March 2020
Seattle Club sessions CANCELLED for the rest of March
In light of the most recent information on coronavirus and recommendations from the Governor and the CDC, we will be CANCELLING Seattle Scrabble club for the next 3 weeks (March 17, 24, and 31 sessions cancelled).
While most people who get coronavirus will have only mild symptoms, a significant portion of our players are in the high risk cohort (over 60 and/or underlying health issues), and we want to do what we can to prevent the spread of this disease, so it makes sense for us to stop meeting for a while.
We plan to reassess the situation at the end of March and see how we should proceed at that point.
More information:
- NASPA information on COVID-19
- Seattle Times article about steps being taken to slow the spread of COVID-19
- CDC COVID-19 (Coronavirus) info
- CDC Recommendations for Seattle
- Facts about novel coronavirus and how to prevent COVID-19 - Seattle Times
- Playing Scrabble in a Pandemic - Stefan Fatsis, Slate
Meanwhile, check out the club FAQ page for suggestions on where to play SCRABBLE online.
4 March 2020
No more early access to the University Friends
Due to a scheduling change with the UFM caretaker, he will no longer be able to let us in early. Background: as a courtesy, they were opening the building to us at 5:45pm, even though we are scheduled (and pay) for 6-10pm.
We still have the playing room from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, but we won't be getting early access for the forseeable future. Please adjust your arrival time accordingly.
10 January 2020
Nancy Roeder 1945 - 2020
I just heard from Jane Jackson that long-time club member Nancy Roeder has died. Jane didn't know much, but apparently Nancy hadn't been feeling well for a few days and then died suddenly.
An informal memorial service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home at 11111 Aurora Ave N, Seattle on Friday, January 17, at 3:00 PM (there will be coffee and light refreshments after, no need to bring anything).
Nancy's husband would appreciate it if folks would send remembrances of Nancy (I'll post his contact info when I get it). You can send notices for the club Memorial page to Rebecca.
January 18th update: Lots of club members attended the memorial for Nancy. We heard many lovely stories and memories.
Obituary:
Also, if you are looking to make a donation in Memory of Nancy, her husband recommends contributing to The Nature Conservancy, which she supported in her will.Nancy Lee Roeder
Nancy Roeder died in Lake Forest, CA, on Sunday January 5, 2020.
Nancy was the second of 4 daughters born to Robert and Eleanor Newman in Akron Ohio. She was born on April 19, 1945. Nancy received a BS in Psychology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. She was married to Charles Roeder for 50 years, and has one son, Michael Roeder, and two grandchildren, Oliver Roeder and Cosette Roeder, living in Lake Forest, CA.
Nancy enjoyed gardening, playing scrabble and accumulating dishes and glassware. She was dedicated to her two grandchildren, and was a very loyal and loving wife and mother. Nancy is survived by her younger sister, Janet, living in Charlotte, NC, and her husband, son and grandchildren.
An informal memorial service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home at 11111 Aurora Ave N, Seattle on Friday, January 17, at 3:00 PM.
Published in The Seattle Times from Jan. 10 to Jan. 11, 2020
24 and 31 December 2019
No Club December 24th or 31st
Because of holiday closures of University Friends, there will be NO club session December 24th or December 31st.
So December 17th will be the last session of the year (i.e., your last chance to affect your stats for the year).
24 October 2019
Chris Sjoholm to begin directing tournaments
Chris Sjoholm is now a NASPA director and will begin organizing and directing one-day tournaments in the Seattle area. Chris has said his goal is to direct regular (monthly?) tournaments with low entry fees, similar to the almost monthly one-day tournaments hosted in the Portland area. As a new Apprentice Director, Chris will be mentored by Adam Henderson.
His directorial debut tournament is scheduled for November 30th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, at a restaurant in Lynnwood. It will be limited to just 12 players, so sign up soon if you want to attend! See the Tournament page for more details.
Good luck Chris!
21 September 2019
Portland v. Seattle Challenge Results
Congratulations to Alec Sjoholm and Chris Sjoholm for winning their divisions. And congrats to Ken Clark for finishing second in the top division and Byron Nelson for winning High Play. Thanks also to Portland's Mike Baker for directing the tournament.
Complete results are available at cross-tables. Prize winners are shown below.
Div 1: Sjoholm, Alec 1st Place $170 Wins: 6.5 Spread: 583 Clark, Ken 2nd Place $120 Wins: 6 Spread: 523 Walton, Noah 3rd Place $60 Wins: 6 Spread: 404 Jacobi, Gunther High Game $10 613-280 vs Slivka, Rebecca (Round 7) Jacobi, Gunther High Play $10 WEAVINGS - 176 Div 2: Sjoholm, Chris 1st Place $170 Wins: 6 Spread: 445 Ross, Robin 2nd Place $120 Wins: 6 Spread: 239 Logullo, Mary 3rd Place $60 Wins: 5 Spread: 350 Logullo, Mary High Game $10 508-267 vs Nelson, Byron (Round 5) Nelson, Byron High Play $10 CLEVERER - 101Despite Seattle players at the top of the prize money, Portland still managed to win 56 games to Seattle's 42.
(We tied in Div A: 24.5 - 24.5, but Portland dominated in Div B: 31.5 to 17.5 )
24 July 2019
Congratulations to Alec Sjoholm, 2019 NASPA Champion!
Clubmember Alec Sjoholm has won the 2019 North American SCRABBLE Championship (and $10,000!), held this year at the Silver Legacy Resort, Reno, NV, from July 20-24.
At 21 years old, Alec is the youngest person to have won the championship. Congratulations Alec!
Alec has been attending the Seattle Scrabble Club since 2012, when he first started coming with his father, Chris Sjoholm.
See Alec's record at the tournament.
You can also see the annotated games that Alec played.
- Round 4 : Alec Sjoholm vs. Christopher Syke
- Round 5 : Alec Sjoholm vs. Joshua Sokol
- Round 6 : Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar
- Round 12 : Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm
- Round 17 : Alec Sjoholm vs. Will Anderson
- Round 21 : Matt Graham vs. Alec Sjoholm
- Round 27 : Will Anderson vs. Alec Sjoholm
- Round 30 : Alec Sjoholm vs. Will Anderson
- Round 31 (Final Round 1): Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm
- Round 32 (Final Round 2): Alec Sjoholm vs. Carl Johnson
- Round 33 (Final Round 3): Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm
Photo of the deciding game 3 of the finals (right) courtesy of Oliver Roeder
Photos below are of a special Scrabble cake made by the Sjoholms in honor of Alec's win, and brought to club 30 July 2019 to share. The board design is from Dan Stock's display at the tournament.
9 July 2019
Scrabble at Freeway Park in July
Once again, our club has been invited to participate in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's "Music Under the Stars" events at parks in Seattle this summer. They are in a new location within the park, the "East Plaza", and starting later. The dates this year are: July 5, 12, 19, and 26 (all Fridays), at Freeway Park, from 7:30pm until 9:00pm (or dark). They will have tables and chairs for us, free BBQ (and they've said you can bring your own food to grill as well). Each night, there will be a live student performance, followed by KING-FM's broadcast of a Seattle Chamber Music Society concert streamed directly from Benaroya Hall.
You'll of course need to bring your own equipment (board, tiles clock, score sheets, writing instruments) each time you attend.
More info at: Music under the Stars Facebook page
8 May 2019
First Round pairings - trial change
Starting next Tuesday, May 14th, we're going to try a new method for pairing the first round of play: choosing opponents at random instead of players picking their own opponents. The plan is to try it for a week or so, and see how it goes.
Why the change? Players arriving before 6pm have to sit out when we are uneven - and we are trying to avoid having this happen to the same player(s) repeatedly. This will also randomize the first pairings instead of the same folks playing each other every week.
How will it work? Each player will draw a tile out of a special bag (with just tiles A - Z) and will be paired using that instead of choosing their own opponent for the first round.
Note: this only applies to the pairing of the first round; subsequent rounds will be paired as usual (using standings for the evening, while avoiding repeats, etc.) Also, there will be an exception for new players: the director will continue to choose opponents for new players.Steps:
- Players set up tables and boards as usual (but DO NOT select an opponent and do not start a game).
- Each player fills out a card with their name and places it in the red basket
- At 5:55pm, the director will start the drawing process (this should give us enough time to get everything set up and most players will have arrived)
- Each player will draw a tile out of the special bag (orange, with just one each of A, B, ... Z).
- After all players have drawn a tile, players will be paired in alphabetical order by drawn tile with the first two closest to A, then the next pair, and so on.
- If we are uneven, the Director will consult the Players Sitting out list to see who is next to sit out ( if there is a tie, the player with the letter closest to Z will sit out). The player that sits out will be recorded as a regular sit out in the folder.
- Players find their opponents and games start by 6:00pm
- Player arriving after games have commenced will still have to sit out (unless we were uneven, of course)
22 May 2019
Alice Goodwin Memorial/Celebration of Life
Alice's memorial will be on May 22 (the Wednesday before Memorial Day Weekend) at 1:00PM in the clubhouse at Alice and Dan Goodwin's condo complex, Noble Firs. The address is: 1600 NE 143th St., Seattle, WA 98125.
Please RSVP to Dan's brother William by email and he will give more explicit directions and info on parking.
Remembrances of Alice can be found on our Memorial Page.
May 13th, Message from Dan and William Goodwin:
To friends of Alice Goodwin:
On May 22, there will be a memorial/celebration of life in honor of our mother, Alice Goodwin, who passed away on March 11.
The event will take place in the Noble Firs Condo Association Clubhouse from 1:00-3:30pm. There will be a buffet lunch.
This will be an opportunity for people to share memories of our mom, and to enjoy the company of others who knew her.
We would appreciate responses sent to: goodwwilliam@gmail.com from those who plan to join us, so that we can plan appropriately.
We will reply to all responses with specific directions regarding locating the event and parking information.
Thank you all for your kindness since her passing on March 11,
William and Daniel Goodwin
Someone made this incredible Scrabble "board" for the memorial (please let me know who should be credited):
11 March 2019
Alice Goodwin
It is with heavy heart that I share the news that club member Alice Goodwin died this afternoon, from "the discourtesy of a particularly fast-moving pancreatic cancer" (her son Daniel's words). The disease acted so quickly, that it's still hard to believe she is gone.
Alice has been a fixture at the Seattle club for over 20 years, coming regularly almost every week. The rare times she was away, she was off to a Scrabble tournament, or visiting family, or traveling around the world to experience something interesting or new (from a solar eclipse to visiting Machu Picchu).
Alice was a pleasure to play with, and was comfortable playing with anyone. She was particularly good with players new to club, welcoming them into our world.
We will miss her.
March 13th update: Dan said that they are expecting to have a memorial for Alice, but probably not until May. Read Dan's post and remembrances of Alice on our Memorial Page.
25 February 2019
New Words effective March 1st, 2019
The new words (what we have been calling OWL4 and what NASPA is calling OTCWL2018) are authorized for club and tournament play starting March 1st, 2019. We will start using the new words at the February 26th club session, with players getting free challenges (with respect to the new/changed words only) for the first month (through March).
For the full list of changes, you can login to the NASPA website and download the list and print it for yourself (after logging in to the Member Services page, scroll down until you find the list of OTCWL2018 documents).
NASPA's document is 16 pages long(!), so we've made a more compact version (just 10 pages) with all the changes that you need: OTCWL2018 Update.pdf Our document also lists the deletions, the number of new words by length, and the words added to OTCWL2018 but not added to OSPD6. The first page is just all the new 2s-8s and the deletions, if that's all you want to start (we'll have copies of the single sheet at club).
How "free challenges" during the transition period will work:
- Players can use and refer to the list of new words (and deletions) while playing, during the transition period.
- If you challenge a play that includes a new word and the play is ruled acceptable then you don't lose your turn.
- If you make a play that includes a deleted word* and your opponent challenges successfully (because that word is now no longer good), you can take back the play and make another play, with no loss of turn.
*Deleted words:
CAZHER CAZHEST DREKKISH HALIOTES HALIOTISES INAPTER INAPTEST RABIESES SAPIDER SAPIDEST SUETIER SUETIEST
23 February 2019
Club Fee goes up to $10 due to rent increase
We have been informed by UFM that our monthly rent will go up from $260 per month to $350 per month, starting in April. This is the first rent increase in over 9 years (the last increase was in October 2009). The increase works out to approximately $21 more per week [($350-$260)*12/52 = $20.77], so we need to increase the club fee to cover the difference.
Starting next Tuesday, February 26th, the club fee will go up two dollars to $10. The discounted rate for the club director (Rebecca Slivka) and club statistician (Ken Clark), will increase from $4 to $5.
The price increase last summer has stabilized the club cash flow at our current attendance rates, so this increase to cover the higher rent should allow us to maintain the current level of operations without any other changes.
Thank you for continuing to come and support the club!
23 February 2019
Steve Wilkie
Steve Wilkie died early in the morning on February 20th. Kathy Wilkie (Steve's mother): He is finally free, we are so glad for his suffering to be over.
Steve was a regular at Seattle club until April 2003, when he was attacked on the way to work. The injuries were severe and debilitating, and Steve required full-time care ever since. (see: news articles about Steve).
There are no plans for a public memorial.
11 February 2019
No Club February 12th - cancelled due to weather & road conditions
Due to continued snow and icy conditions, club for February 12th has been cancelled.
After last week's closure due to icy conditions, we'd hoped to meet this week - but no such luck. At this point, we're hoping things clear up enough to meet next week. We'll keep you posted!
Stay warm and safe!
11 December 2018
No Club December 25th, Yes Club January 1st
UFM will be closed on December 25th, so there will not be a club session that day.
Club will be in session as usual on Tuesday, 1st of January, 2019.
29 September 2018
Portland v. Seattle Challenge Results
Congratulations to Chris Grubb and Jennifer Summerville for winning their divisions. This was Jennifer's first tournament and she went 6-1 to earn an initial rating of 1478. Way to go Jennifer! And congrats to Adam Henderson and George Bissonnette for finishing in the money (fourth place for each).
Complete results are available at cross-tables. Prize winners are shown below.
Div 1: Chris Grubb: 100$ Carl Johnson: 80$ Noah Walton: 60$ Steven Alexander: 40$ Dave Johnson: 20$ Div 2: Mike Baker: 100$ Mitch Bayersdorfer: 80$ Ronak Singhal: 60$ Adam Henderson: 40$ Ruth Hamilton: 20$ Div 3: Jennifer Summerville: 90$ Mary Logulo: 70$ Jesse Wornum: 50$ George Bissonnette: 30$Games won per team: Portland 65.5, Seattle 47.5
Note: unrated Seattle clubmember Jennifer Summerville played for the Portland team to even things up when two Portland players dropped out at the last minute, so her wins don't count for Portland. (and yes, if she had played for the Seattle team, Portland still would have won)
26 September 2018
New Words? OSPD6 is out, what about OWL4?
TL;DR: nothing is changing any time soon. See our OWL4 page for more info and updates. new OSPD6 words
In April 2018, Merriam-Webster announced an update to the OSPD (Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) to be released in September of 2018. At that time, NASPA had NO information about when the official word list used for club and tournament play (the OWL) would be updated, and gave no answers to questions about the schedule for release of print OWLs or updates to Zyzzyva.
Fast forward to now, and the new edition, OSPD6, was officially published 1 September 2018, but still no details yet from NASPA about when we can expect an update to the OWL. According to a NYT article, John Chew said that the OWL "won't be updated with the new Merriam-Webster additions until early next year" (i.e., 2019).
So, you can look at OSPD6, but we don't know if all the OSPD6 words will be in the new OWL (OWL4?), or what additional words will be added or removed from the OWL until there is an official release from NASPA. We also don't know if the numerous discrepancies between OSPD5 and OWL3 will be resolved (perhaps someone with OSPD6 can look through it and at least see if they added some of the OWL3 words to OSPD6?).
When OWL3 was released in August 2014, NASPA did NOT provide a list of the new words, forcing players to mine the dictionary themselves to develop the list of the changes. Ideally, NASPA will have learned from the negative experience of the OWL3 transition and this time around they will publish the new words, but if they don't then we'll have our work cut out for us again.
Some observations: The new words can't go into effect for tournament (and club) play without giving players at least a few months between the release date of the OWL and the effective date - to give folks enough time to learn them. Ditto for the new words being available on Zyzzva (for word adjudication and study).
By my estimation, if they want the new words to be in use for National's next year, they'll have to release the OWL and a working version in Zyzzyva! no later than April 2019. If they can't make that date, then they'll probably wait until after National's - or release it at National's for an effective date late in 2019, or even into 2020. Remember, OWL3 was released in August 2014 and was supposed to go into effect December of that year, but the effective date was delayed an additional 5 months(!), to April of 2015.
16 August 2018
NASC Recap : Alec Sjoholm finishes 9th
Chris Sjoholm writes about his and Alec Sjoholm's experiences at this year's North American SCRABBLE Championship in Buffalo:
Alec and I had a great time at NASC 2018 in Buffalo!
Alec started off strong, winning five of his first six games - the other game was a tie - and leading the field after rounds 3, 4, and 6. He hit a rough patch after that, but was able to recover and finish 18.5 - 12.5, in ninth place. A familiar name, Nigel Peltier, finished just ahead of him in eighth place. I went 17-14 in Division 3 to end up in 26th place out of 105 - which was a pretty good comeback, since I was in 98th place after 16 rounds.
The Puget Sound region was also represented by Evans Clinchy, who dominated the Collins division at 23-8, winning the Collins title two games ahead of 2nd place. Bharath Balakrishnan of Redmond also played in Collins.
On the TWL side, former Seattle club player Rafi Stern finished 17th, and Tom Bond also played in Division 1. Mark Peltier went 16-15 in Division 2, and Michael Kirkland went 16-15 in Division 4 in only his second tournament.
If you want to review some of Alec's games, here are some links:
- Round 5 vs. Orry Swift
- Round 6 vs. Jackson Smylie (Watch on youtube with commentary!)
- Round 11 vs. Thomas Reinke
- Round 13 vs. Joey Mallick
- Round 23 vs. Jackson Smylie
Additionally, Alec was featured on the Twitch Stream on the fourth day of the tournament (there are interviews of Alec at 47:15 and 2:03:30 into the video).
-- Chris
6 August 2018
Club Fee Changes
Starting next Tuesday, August 7th, the club fee will go up one dollar to $8. Additionally, the club director (Rebecca Slivka) and club statistician (Ken Clark), will pay a discounted rate of $4 (they had been paying nothing for the past few years, as a small perk for their contributions). We will also stop giving out the $1 category prizes (the only prize we've given out for several years now).
This price increase is necessary to bring in enough to cover the club's monthly expenses - and hopefully will be the last increase for a while. As we discussed at club last week, our attendance the past few years has not been enough to cover all the club costs without dipping into the club savings.
Thank you for continuing to come and support the club!
23 June 2018
Ann Ferguson 1950-2018
Seattle Scrabble Club co-founder Ann Ferguson died on June 20, 2018. Ann not only helped found our club (in 1985), but was the primary director of the club until 2000. She enjoyed the game and camaraderie of the club. We will miss her.
You can read more about Ann's life in her obituary.
If you want to share remembrances of Ann, you can email Rebecca and she will post them on the club Memorial page.Funeral services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mountlake Ward (22015 48th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace), June 23, 2018. A viewing will begin at 10:00, and services will begin at 11:00. A graveside service and final interment will take place the following week at the Taylor Cemetery near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
19 May 2018
Scrabble at Freeway Park in July
Once again, our club has been invited to participate in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's "Music Under the Stars" events at parks in Seattle this summer. The dates this year are: July 6, 13, 20, and 27 (all Fridays), at Freeway Park, from 6:30pm until 9:00pm (or dark). They will have tables and chairs for us, free BBQ (and they've said you can bring your own food to grill as well). Each night, there will be a live student performance, followed by KING-FM's broadcast of a Seattle Chamber Music Society concert streamed directly from Benaroya Hall.
You'll of course need to bring your own equipment (board, tiles clock, score sheets, writing instruments) each time you attend.
Directions: enter Freeway Park from Seneca Street, between 6th Ave and 7th/Hubbell Place.
If you can't take the bus, then your best bet to find parking is up the hill.
4 November 2017
One-Day Tournament Results
Adam Henderson ran another successful one-day tournament on November 4, 2017. Lynn Dreyer took first place in the second division. Chris Grubb, Chris Sjoholm, and Norm Garvin placed second in the top, middle, and bottom divisions, respectively.
See full results on cross-tables or NASPA crosstable.
14 October 2017
Club Fee Increases by $1
Starting next Tuesday, October 17th, the club fee will go up one dollar to $7. This is the first fee increase since 2010.
As we discussed at club last week, our attendance the past few years has not been enough to cover all the club costs without dipping into the club savings, but this small increase should allow us to keep going without any other changes.
Thank you for continuing to come and support the club!
30 September 2017
Portland v. Seattle Challenge Results
Mike Baker directed the Annual Portland v. Seattle Interclub Challenge this year. We had 34 players (17 on each team).
Congratulations to Adam Henderson for winning Division B and George Bissonnette for winning Division C. Congrats also to Chris Grubb and Rachel Christensen for placing second in Divisions A and B, respectively. Adam also won prizes for high game and high play, and Tom Bond got high play prize as well.
Final standings with prizes shown below (*note that Div C prizes were slightly lower because there were only 10 players in that group). You can also view the results at cross-tables.com.
Division A Rank Name (Seed) OldR Wins Sprd PerfR NewR Prize 1. Walton, Noah (P) (A001) 2003 5.0 464 2052 2005 $125 2. Grubb, Chris (S) (A005) 1848 5.0 195 2168 1874 $90 3. Peltier, Nigel (P) (A004) 1892 4.0 417 1824 1886 $60 4. Johnson, Carl (P) (A003) 1994 4.0 351 1868 1984 5. Sjoholm, Alec (S) (A002) 1998 4.0 263 1962 1995 6. Alexander, Steven (P) (A006) 1801 4.0 140 1828 1803 7. Clark, Ken (S) (A009) 1713 4.0 25 1946 1738 8. Jacobi, Gunther (P) (A007) 1757 3.0 115 1606 1741 9. Baker, Michael (P) (A010) 1624 3.0 -37 1612 1623 10. Goodwin, Daniel (S) (A008) 1740 2.0 -540 1541 1721 11. Bond, Tom (S) (A012) 1529 2.0 -637 1534 1529 12. Slivka, Rebecca (S) (A011) 1570 2.0 -756 1512 1565 High Game: 582, Noah Walton $20 High Play: 176, Tom Bond $20 Division B Rank Name (Seed) OldR Wins Sprd PerfR NewR Prize 1. Henderson, Adam (S) (B003) 1456 6.0 819 1945 1503 $125 2. Christensen, Rachel (S) (B004) 1423 5.5 235 1766 1455 $90 3. Kaplan, Charley (P) (B007) 1335 4.0 -33 1388 1341 $60 4. Bayersdorfer, Mitch (P) (B002) 1458 4.0 -93 1427 1455 5. Meyer, Alan (P) (B006) 1380 4.0 -194 1399 1382 6. Brown, Stephanie (P) (B008) 1302 3.5 -11 1329 1305 7. Dreyer, Lynn (S) (B011) 1186 3.5 -105 1357 1204 8. Hamilton, Ruth (P) (B001) 1464 3.0 29 1198 1436 9. Bissonnette, Jane (S) (B005) 1381 3.0 -59 1250 1367 10. Howard, J Midori (S) (B009) 1267 2.0 -78 1072 1248 11. Sjoholm, Chris (S) (B012) 1166 2.0 -175 1084 1158 12. Wornum, Jesse (P) (B010) 1228 1.5 -335 904 1199 High Game: 533, Adam Henderson $20 High Play: 104, Adam Henderson $20 Division C Rank Name (Seed) OldR Wins Sprd PerfR NewR Prize* 1. Bissonnette, George (S) (C003) 1150 5.0 360 1416 1177 $100 2. Manson, Joanne (P) (C004) 1125 5.0 264 1298 1142 $75 3. Singhal, Ronak (P) (C001) 1212 5.0 146 1193 1210 $50 4. Southwick, Ron (P) (C006) 1026 5.0 26 1193 1042 5. Fiorini, Georgianne (S) (C009) 865 3.0 -7 1033 882 6. Goodwin, Alice (S) (C007) 1009 3.0 -86 1028 1011 7. Garvin, Norm (S) (C010) 731 3.0 -86 1033 760 8. Bergeron, Leesa (S) (C002) 1170 3.0 -159 830 1135 9. Smith, R Scott (P) (C005) 1100 2.0 -153 656 1055 10. Lemoine, Norman (S) (C008) 905 1.0 -305 573 880 High Game: 476, Ronak Singhal $20 High Play: 87, Ronak Singhal $20
Mike Baker's report:
Yesterday, we staged the 30th edition of the Portland - Seattle Interclub Challenge at a midway location - Chehalis, Washington.
Portland had an average rating advantage of over 100 points, but Seattle and Portland players meet so often that the ratings don't always tell the story. However, Portland overcame its ratings advantage this year to pull out a 63 game to 56 game victory after 7 rounds. In the A division, Portland had been ahead by 14 games after round 5, but Seattle gave us a nasty scare by winning 11 of the remaining 12 games.
Thanks to Noah Walton and Carl Johnson for assistance in setting up the venue, Dan Goodwin for tracking the team standings and especially to Rebecca Slivka for organizing the Seattle team and helping with the data entry throughout the day.
Note about Kit Carson: Many people were unhappy with the very limited menu they had us order from in the back room (no vegetarian options, no breakfast, etc.), so we will talk with the venue to make sure that doesn't happen again next year. Also, the bar didn't open until later, and that was also a concern we will share.
21 August 2017
Safely Viewing the August 21st Solar Eclipse
Although Seattle will not be in the path of totality, the sun will be partially obscured by the moon during the eclipse and that is the most dangerous time to look at the sun without adequate protection (because your eye perceives that the sun is not as bright so it might not hurt to look at the sun, but the sliver of sun that IS visible can still do just as much damage as the full disk).
The solution is simple:
- get yourself some solar viewing glasses or
- build a pinhole camera for indirect viewing.
You can also use binoculars on a tripod as a solar viewer (see image at right)Check out the NASA website for details on Eclipse Viewing Safety.
Science Friday also has good information and links.Solar viewing glasses are relatively inexpensive ($2 or $3 - cheaper if you buy in bulk), and are available at:
- Fry's
- Lowes
- Math 'n' stuff 8926 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
- REI online only, set of 4
The American Astronomical Society has published a list of Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters and Viewers.
Don't wait until they're sold out! Order yours now.Obligatory SCRABBLE content:
ECLIPSE + ? = A : CALIPEES R : ECLIPSER ESPECIAL PRESLICE RESPLICE D : ECLIPSED PEDICELS S : ECLIPSES PEDICLES X : EXCIPLES M : SEMPLICE
12 August 2017
Seattle Players Clean up at Portland One-Day Tournament
At the August 12th one-day tournament in Portland, Alec Sjoholm won all his games (including besting Dave Wiegand twice) to dominate in the top division. Adam Henderson won the second division, and Chris Sjoholm came in second place in the bottom division. Nice job, guys!
25 July 2017
Alec Sjoholm finishes 4th at Nationals!
Congratulations to Alec Sjoholm for finishing in 4th Place at this year's North American SCRABBLE Championship!
Alec ended the tournament with a record of 20 - 11 in the top division, and will earn $1000 in prize money. He just edged out former Seattle club member Rafi Stern by 125 spread points.
Check out these annotated games Alec played:
Image courtesy of Chris Sjoholm
- Game 4 : Alec Sjoholm plays Edward De Guzman
- Game 9 : Ben Schoenbrun plays Alec Sjoholm
- Game 19 : Alec Sjoholm plays Rafi Stern
- Game 20 : Mack Meller plays Alec Sjoholm
- Game 21 : Alec Sjoholm plays Ben Schoenbrun
- Game 22 : Will Anderson plays Alec Sjoholm
- Game 31 : Nigel Richards plays Alec Sjoholm
4 July 2017
July 4th Club Session cancelled
Because July 4th is on a Tuesday this year, we will be cancelling the club session for that day. (Due to the proximity of the UFM to the Lake Union fireworks show, it's not worth trying to fight that traffic and limited parking.)
15 May 2017
Scrabble at Freeway Park in July
Once again, our club has been invited to participate in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's "Music Under the Stars" events at parks in Seattle this summer. The dates this year are: July 7, 14, 21, and 28 (all Fridays), at Freeway Park, from 6:30pm until 9:00pm (or dark). They will have tables and chairs for us, free BBQ (and they've said you can bring your own food to grill as well). Each night, there will be a live student performance, followed by KING-FM's broadcast of a Seattle Chamber Music Society concert streamed directly from Benaroya Hall.
You'll of course need to bring your own equipment (board, tiles clock, writing instruments) each time you attend.
Directions: enter Freeway Park from Seneca Street, between 6th Ave and 7th/Hubbell Place.
If you can't take the bus, then your best bet to find parking is up the hill.
13 May 2017
May 13th Tournament Results
Results for yesterday's one-day tournament have been posted on the NASPA website. Prizes: 1st place: $125, 2nd place: $90, 3rd place: $50, 4th place: $25.
Congratulations to Alec Sjoholm and J Midori Howard for finishing in second place in division one and two, respectively. Congrats also to Adam Henderson for his directorial debut.
2 February 2017
Adam Henderson will direct May 13th Tournament
Adam Henderson is our newest apprentice director and will be directing his first tournament on Saturday, May 13th, 2017. Jane Bissonnette will be mentoring Adam through the tournament.
Details and signup information for the tournament can be found on Adam's Tournament website.
20 January 2017
Scrabble Game Night at Page 2 Books in Burien
For those Scrabble players in the South end:
Page 2 Books is starting a monthly games night at the store, and we're launching it with everyone's favorite vocabulary game. We'll have multiple tables set up, some fun prizes and giveaways, and Scrabble dictionaries and games for sale. In the future we'll be adding other games. Come join the fun.
Friday January 20
6 p.m.457 SW 152nd St., Burien
206-248-7248
page2books.comNote: if you do go, remember that this is an open event so be gentle with the other players.
1 December 2016
NASPA announces Rules Update going into effect 4 January 2017
NASPA announced today that an update to the Official Rules has been published that goes into effect 4 January 2017.
The new rules are available in a PDF that can be viewed or downloaded. You can also read a list of the changes on the NASPA website.
23 August 2016
Night Construction on Roosevelt Way NE Starts August 22nd
SDOT announcement on Roosevelt Paving & Safety Project:
Zone D night work begins tonight (August 22nd) Night work in Zone D, between NE 45th and NE 40th streets, begins tonight at 6 PM. This week, crews will focus on drainage work and preparing to install electrical conduit for new bus islands at NE 45th and NE 42nd streets. Zone D is the last construction zone to complete as part of the Roosevelt Paving & Safety Project. Due to volumes of people walking, biking, and driving, improvements in Zone D will be built at night. What to expect during construction in Zone D: Construction will occur on weekday nights, between 6 PM and 5 AM Roosevelt Way NE will be reduced to 1 lane as early as 6 PM but 2 lanes will be maintained during the evening commute hours, from 3-6 PM Noisy activity, like jackhammering and saw cutting concrete, must be complete by 10 PM Pedestrian detours and some traffic control around bus island construction may be in place around construction zones during daytime, non-work hours Some periodic daytime work may occur, including survey, material loading/unloading, saw cutting, jackhammering, and concrete pouring On-street parking restrictions will be in place on Roosevelt Way NE between NE 45th and NE 40th streets Bike lane will be closed; people on bikes should follow signed detour or merge with traffic Bus stops may be temporarily closed or relocated; for more information visit metro.kingcounty.gov/alerts Steel plates on the road and rough pavement after grinding Some noise, dust, vibration, and light will occur during nighttime work We will maintain access to shops and businesses at all times. Please continue to eat, shop, and play on Roosevelt Way NE throughout construction! Remaining work in Zones C and E Temporary pavement markings are in place in Zone C, between NE 53rd and NE 45th streets, and in Zone E, on the University Bridge. Crews will return in about 2-3 weeks to paint final pavement markings. King County Metro will install bus shelters on new transit islands in the coming weeks. Bike detours along the Roosevelt Paving & Safety Project The protected bike lane is now open in Zones A and B, between NE 65th and NE 53rd streets. The Zone C protected bike lane will open in about 2-3 weeks, when crews return to paint permanent lane markings. For Zones C and D, people on bikes should follow the 12th Ave NE neighborhood greenway between NE Ravenna Blvd and NE Campus Parkway to reconnect and cross the University Bridge. We will paint the protected bike lanes on the University Bridge in about 2-3 weeks, when crews return to paint permanent lane markings. Be careful not to park in the new protected bike lane. Outreach Our team works directly with residents and businesses on Roosevelt Way NE for construction or access impacts. We will continue sending weekly email updates and keep the project webpage up to date through the end of construction. Please forward this email to those you think will be interested or share this link to sign up to receive weekly construction updates via email. For general impacts and what to expect during construction of the Roosevelt Way Paving & Safety Project, visit the project webpage at: www.seattle.gov/transportation/pave_roosevelt.htm. Questions or concerns? Contact the project team at (206) 727-3575 or RooseveltCorridor@seattle.gov. Thank you for your patience and support through construction. We will strive to minimize construction impacts as much as possible. Eric Tweit, SDOT Project Manager Jeremy Walliman, SDOT Resident Engineer Paul Elliott, SDOT Community Relations/Outreach
10 August 2016
Jane Bissonnette places 4th in Division 3 at Nationals
Congratulations to Jane Bissonnette, who finished in fourth place in Division 3 at this year's Nationals in Indiana!
The image on the right shows Jane being congratulated for her performance by Chris Cree
See links in the article below for more details on the tournament.
6 August 2016
Nationals in Indiana
Nationals has started and you can follow along at home a number of ways:
- Annotated Games - Watch Live or review at your leisure
- Standings
- Facebook - Jesse Matthews doing interviews, etc.
Follow Seattle-area players:
30 July 2016
NASPA announces minor update to OWL3
NASPA sent an email yesterday evening announcing what appears to be a minor update to the Official Tournament and Club Word List (aka OTCWL2014 or OWL3). This updated list, which they are calling OTCWL2016 and we are referring to as OWL3.1, is set to go into effect for club and tournament play 1 September 2016.
The changes appear to be as follows:
- Incorporating the Errata from OTCWL2014 into a new printing: OTCWL2016
- The addition of 1106 new words (all of which are at least 9 letters long)
They have made the list of new words available on the NASPA website*, so you can see the changes and print your own addendum. One nice thing they have provided is a list of all the new words along with definitions. It is not clear if the new printing will use a higher quality paper than the cheap 2014 printing (although there are rumors to that effect), nor do we know if they are using a monospace font in the new printing (for easier adjudication).
While they are offering a discount for purchasing new print copies (if you order by August 3rd!), it doesn't seem economical to bother given the uncertainty of the quality of the printing and the fact that we can just append the new word list to the 2014 printed book. For these reasons, club does not plan to order printed copies of the OTCWL2016 or coordinate a bulk order.
*Documents for newly added words:
- OTCWL2016 New Words : One-page list of words newly added to the OTCWL2016 (OWL3.1)
- OTCWL2016 New Words : Two-page list of words newly added to the OTCWL2016 (OWL3.1) Updated 8/2 with typo fix
- OTCWL2016 New Definitions : 7-page complete list of words (with definitions!) newly added to the OTCWL2016 (aka OWL3.1)
- OTCWL2016 Errata : Errata for the new the OTCWL2016 (aka OWL3.1) - ONLY needed if you purchase the new book
- OTCWL2016 Errata (2-up) : Errata for the new the OTCWL2016 (aka OWL3.1) - ONLY needed if you purchase the new book
NASPA also announced that "a new version of NASPA Zyzzyva that includes OTCWL16 as well as the Collins SCRABBLE Word List 2015 will be released in August."
That is all the information we have [updated August 1st with links to new word documents]. Please direct any questions to NASPA.
8 June 2016
Scrabble at Freeway Park in July
Once again, our club has been invited to participate in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's "Music Under the Stars" events at parks in Seattle this summer. The dates this year are: July 8, 15, 22, and 29 (all Fridays), at Freeway Park, from 6:30pm until 9:00pm (or dark). They will have tables and chairs for us, free BBQ (and they've said you can bring your own food to grill as well). Each night, there will be a live student performance, followed by KING-FM's broadcast of a Seattle Chamber Music Society concert streamed directly from Benaroya Hall.
You'll of course need to bring your own equipment (board, tiles clock, writing instruments) each time you attend.
Directions: enter Freeway Park from Seneca Street, between 6th Ave and 7th/Hubbell Place.
If you can't take the bus, then your best bet to find parking is up the hill.
16 May 2016
Future One-Day Tournaments in Seattle
With the recent low turnout for the May 14th tournament, and the cancellation of the June 18th tournament, director Lynn Dreyer is looking into other possible formats and locations for future one-day tournaments. To that end, she has sent a detailed survey to previous tournament players asking for input.
If you have not received a survey, but would like to weigh in, please e-mail Lynn.
May 30th Update: Next one-day tournament announced! July 16th tournament details
12 April 2016
Category Prizes back down to $1
It was an interesting experiment, but the club attendance can't support giving out more prize money, so we're back to just $1 for each Category Prize.
23 March 2016
West Seattle Scrabble Club Announced
Tod Taylor has asked me to post the following announcment:
Claudia and I are excited to announce the first meeting of the
West Seattle Scrabble Club
on Wednesday April 13, 5-9pm
at Chaco Canyon Restaurant
3770 SW Alaska St
Seattle, WA 98126
(restaurant closes at 9)We will meet every 2nd and 4th Wednesday.
Our intention is to play up to 4 games and have a single prize each evening for Highest play, highest game and possibly a category word for the evening.
We are asking $2 per player. All money will be given back as prizes after we have covered any minor expenses such as making copies.
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Tod Taylor, LMP
206.852.0139For more information, email Tod or email Claudia.
29 February 2016
The March 26th tournament has been cancelled
Director Lynn Dreyer has a scheduling conflict, so the March 26th one-day tournament has been cancelled.
Players signed up for March have been moved to the April 16th tournament (or other future tournament of their choice).
19 January 2016
Category Prizes go up to $3
Starting with last week's club session (January 12th), the category prizes are $3 for each winner. They had been just $1, in order to build up the club savings, but the club is doing well enough that we can afford to give out more in prizes again.
7 January 2016
One-Day Tournament Schedule for 2016 Announced!
Lynn Dreyer and Rebecca Slivka are working together to organize one-day tournaments for 2016. The first five have been sanctioned by NASPA and you can sign up any time (click on one of the date links below for details).
New for this year: we are offering a Collins (CSW) division!
- Saturday 20 February 2016
- Saturday 26 March 2016
- Saturday 16 April 2016
- Saturday 14 May 2016
- Saturday 18 June 2016
You can also learn about these and other tournaments on our Tournaments page.
15 November 2015
Please pack out your trash and recycling
University Friends Meeting has notified us that we are supposed to dispose of all garbage/recycling before we lock up the Social Hall after club. If any trash/recycling is left behind (even in the trash can), we will be charged a cleaning fee (minimum of $15).
To avoid this, we are asking all club members to take their trash/recycling home with them.
Thank you!
p.s. Yes, the soiled paper towels in the bathroom can still be put the bathroom trash can - but no outside trash. thanks.
5 October 2015
Construction closes NE 40th Street through October
As we all discovered last week, NE 40th Street (between Roosevelt Way NE and 9th Ave NE) is closed because of construction across the street from University Friends. The closure began September 28th and will continue through October 28th.
Recommended detour routes:
From the South:
- Head NORTH across the University Bridge
- Exit Second RIGHT, onto Eastbound NE Campus Parkway
- Turn LEFT onto 12th Ave NE, and then immediate LEFT onto Westbound NE Campus Parkway
- Stay in the right lane, go under the Eastlake/Roosevelt underpass, and make a very sharp RIGHT onto 9th Ave NE
From the North:
- Head SOUTH on Roosevelt Way NE (from 45th, say)
- Turn LEFT onto NE 42nd Street
- Turn RIGHT onto 12th Ave NE
- Turn RIGHT onto Westbound NE Campus Parkway
- Stay in the right lane, go under the Eastlake/Roosevelt underpass and make a very sharp RIGHT onto 9th Ave NE
Rebecca has signed up for the monthly construction bulletin on this Exxel Pacific project ("41st & Roosevelt"), so we should get advance warning for any future closures in the area. The project manager said that this should be the only major closure of NE 40th, since the City of Seattle had them change from many short closures spread out for months to the single one-month closure we are dealing with now.
Note: As of November 3rd club session, NE 40th Street has reopened. There are no plans to close it again (that we know of). The November Construction Bulletin shows what is happening with the project and closures of neighboring streets and sidewalks.
26 September 2015
Portland v. Seattle Challenge Results
Mike Baker directed the Annual Portland v. Seattle Interclub Challenge this year. Looks like Midori Howard was in the money, but otherwise the Portlanders were at the top. Check out Mike's report below:
Today, 32 players representing Portland and Seattle met in the middle, in Chehalis, Washington, to contest our 28th annual interclub challenge. Despite Portland's substantial rating advantage last year, Seattle won the day and took our trophy. :-)
This year, Portland had a strong day and won it back, 68 1/2 games to 43 1/2. Kolton Koehler had a monster day and won the A division, 7-0, +1202, running about a 535 average (!). Scott Smith came from the 15th seed out of 16 in the B division, to win with a 6-1, +324 record, gaining about 120 rating points.
The tournament ran extremely smoothly, with no problems and no director calls, which made it a pleasure for me. Thanks to all the players, and especially to Jane and George Bissonnette, who got everything set up and ready to go, while I was busy connecting and firing up the computer.
Mike Baker, Director
New ratings available at cross-tables.com
Chehalis 9-26-15 Results after Round 7 of 7 Division A Rank Name (Seed) OldR R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Wins Sprd PerfR NewR 1. Koehler, Kolton (A003) 1877 W15 W6 W11 W8 W12 W14 W16 7.0 1202 2612 1917 2. Johnson, Dave (A008) 1735 L8 W12 W14 W16 W10 W15 W6 6.0 600 2216 1775 3. Jacobi, Gunther (A005) 1803 W11 L8 W12 W14 W16 W10 W15 6.0 312 2226 1828 4. Peltier, Nigel (A002) 1878 W10 L15 L6 W11 W8 W12 W14 5.0 318 1962 1885 5. Valentine, Keith (A012) 1532 L14 W16 W10 W15 L6 W11 W8 5.0 279 1904 1570 6. Taylor, Tod (A011) 1588 W7 L1 W4 W13 W5 W9 L2 5.0 53 2022 1641 7. Baker, Michael (A004) 1840 L6 L11 W8 W12 L14 W16 L10 3.0 55 1538 1816 8. Goodwin, Daniel (A007) 1758 W2 W3 L7 L1 L4 W13 L5 3.0 -157 1638 1746 9. Howard, Ronald (A009) 1703 L12 W14 W16 L10 L15 L6 W11 3.0 -164 1496 1682 10. Christensen, Rachel (A015) 1428 L4 W13 L5 W9 L2 L3 W7 3.0 -173 1614 1446 11. Clark, Ken (A010) 1658 L3 W7 L1 L4 W13 L5 L9 2.0 -90 1424 1636 12. Sjoholm, Alec (A006) 1769 W9 L2 L3 L7 L1 L4 W13 2.0 -223 1458 1738 13. Cornelison, Betty (A014) 1462 W16 L10 W15 L6 L11 L8 L12 2.0 -251 1270 1444 14. Grubb, Chris (A001) 1919 W5 L9 L2 L3 W7 L1 L4 2.0 -445 1471 1882 15. Henderson, Adam (A013) 1483 L1 W4 L13 L5 W9 L2 L3 2.0 -525 1410 1477 16. Kearn, Robert (A016) 1330 L13 L5 L9 L2 L3 L7 L1 0.0 -791 0752 1297 Division B Rank Name (Seed) OldR R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Wins Sprd PerfR NewR 1. Smith, R Scott (B015) 0812 W15 W8 L7 W13 W14 W16 W12 6.0 324 1664 0931 2. Howard, J Midori (B005) 1299 W9 T5 W11 L10 W6 W4 W3 5.5 484 1694 1335 3. Hamilton, Ruth (B001) 1458 W8 L7 W13 W14 W16 W12 L2 5.0 418 1448 1457 4. Lackaff, Thomas (B002) 1432 W7 L13 W14 W16 W12 L2 W15 5.0 388 1425 1431 5. Coatney, Laurie (B013) 0972 L12 T2 W15 L8 W7 W13 W14 4.5 204 1287 1005 6. Meyer, Alan (B003) 1404 L13 L14 W16 W12 L2 W15 W8 4.0 197 1211 1385 7. Bissonnette, George (B011) 1072 L4 W3 W1 L9 L5 W11 W10 4.0 91 1270 1093 8. Sjoholm, Chris (B012) 1020 L3 L1 W9 W5 W11 W10 L6 4.0 -155 1266 1046 9. Manson, Joanne (B014) 0951 L2 W15 L8 W7 W13 L14 W16 4.0 -227 1186 0975 10. Kaplan, Charley (B004) 1367 W14 W16 L12 W2 L15 L8 L7 3.0 52 1014 1331 11. Bergeron, Leesa (B008) 1171 W16 W12 L2 L15 L8 L7 W13 3.0 -32 1010 1154 12. Bissonnette, Jane (B006) 1238 W5 L11 W10 L6 L4 L3 L1 2.0 -70 0910 1210 13. Goodwin, Alice (B010) 1102 W6 W4 L3 L1 L9 L5 L11 2.0 -364 0844 1081 14. Dreyer, Lynn (B009) 1132 L10 W6 L4 L3 L1 W9 L5 2.0 -386 0870 1111 15. Garvin, Norm (B016) 0766 L1 L9 L5 W11 W10 L6 L4 2.0 -388 0835 0774 16. Finn, Claudia (B007) 1225 L11 L10 L6 L4 L3 L1 L9 0.0 -536 0216 1158
5 August 2015
Tod Taylor places 4th in Division B at Nationals
Congratulations to Tod Taylor for coming in 4th place ($500) in the second division! Tod just made the cutoff for the playoffs and won his quarterfinal series, but then lost in the semifinals. He was seeded 54th and came in 4th, so his rating should go up quite a bit, too. Nice job, Tod!
Alec Sjoholm won $125 for Division 1 Class C Rank: 2nd (I don't know what that means, but you can see all the Prizes at NASC Prizes. Alec also played at Table 1 on the first day so you can step through his annotated game.
Lots of Seattle players made the trek to Reno for this year's NASPA Championship tournament. There were 4 divisions, plus one Collins division, with playoffs each each division. After 21 games, the top 8 players in each division played in quarterfinal and semifinal matches yesterday, and finals today (meanwhile the remaining players continued in their respective divisions for glory, spread points, and a few dollars in prize money).
Former Seattle club players Charles Dupont won division C ($2500!), and Jim Porter came in 10th place and won $250 in Division B. Charles won Division D last year, and Division C this year, so next year...?
Not sure if anyone else won money because the NASPA results mix the playoff and non-playoff results.
8 July 2015
Club starts at 6:00 pm
Please remember that Club starts at 6:00 pm. We rent the Social Hall at University Friends Meeting for the 4 hours from 6pm to 10pm.
But, for quite a while now, the building has been unlocked earlier so we could get in at 5:45 or 5:30. Then folks started coming before 5:30, but we are not paying for that extra time and it is not on their schedule. UFM is being more security conscious now and not leaving the building unlocked, so the caretaker will not be unlocking the building until just 15 minutes before our scheduled start time (6pm), so the earliest we should expect to be able to get in is 5:45pm.
Please do not try to get into the building/Social hall before 5:45pm.
If you get there early, please just wait outside. Don't call the caretaker if the building is locked unless it is after 5:45pm.
Thank you.
18 May 2015
Scrabble at Freeway Park in July
Once again, our club has been invited to participate in the Seattle Chamber Music Society's "Music Under the Stars" events at parks in Seattle this summer. The dates are: July 10, 17, 24 and 31 (all Fridays), at Freeway Park, from 6:30pm until 9:00pm (or dark). They will have tables and chairs for us, free BBQ (and they've said you can bring your own food to grill as well). This time there will also be live music, which will be broadcast on KING-FM (98.1).
Like last year, we need at least 2-3 people to sign up for each night, and hopefully one those people will be responsible for bringing word list printouts, club info cards, and score sheets (I'll provide a packet for each week). If you already have a date you want to commit to, please let Rebecca know so she can add your name to the schedule. You'll of course need to bring your own equipment (board, tiles clock, writing instruments) each time you attend.
Schedule:
Friday, July 10th Dan Goodwin Friday, July 10th Alice Goodwin Friday, July 17th Claudia Finn Friday, July 17th Norm Garvin Friday, July 24th Norman Lemoine Friday, July 24th J. Midori Howard Friday, July 31st David Hirning Friday, July 31st Rebecca SlivkaDirections: enter Freeway Park from Seneca Street, between 6th Ave and 7th/Hubbell Place.
If you can't take the bus, then your best bet to find parking is up the hill.
7 April 2015
High-Scoring Game Sets New Club Records
Ken Clark and Mark Peltier battled a very fun, high-scoring contest at tonight's session. When it was over, they set lots of Club records for 2015, but, more impressively, they got on the ALL-TIME Club records page with THREE new All-Time records (!!) Not bad, considering Club has been keeping records for about 24 years.
Records set:
HI COMB SCORE: 1069 MIKE FRENTZ/RAFI STERN, 557 - 512 (03-24-09) NEW 1121 KEN CLARK/MARK PELTIER, 603 - 518 (04-07-15) HIGH LOSS: 515 KEN CLARK to REBECCA SLIVKA, 550 - 515 (08-21-12) NEW 518 MARK PELTIER to KEN CLARK, 603 - 518 (04-07-15) HIGHEST TURN: 230 for EJECTORS, KEN CLARK (07-23-96) 2ND HIGHEST TURN: 221 for VEXATING*, BEN COLLET (06-08-99) 221 for ACQUIRES, MARK PELTIER (03-22-11) 221 for TIFFINED, RAFI STERN (10-02-12) NEW 221 for CORKAGES, MARK PELTIER (04-07-15)You can replay the whole game step by step to see the details. Also, this was the last night at club to use the new word cheat sheets, but they didn't play any new OWL3 words in this game.
13 February 2015
Transition to OWL3 begins Feb 17th at club - with OWL3 Cheat Sheet
Beginning Tuesday, February 17th, we will start allowing the use of the new words at club. Because the new words do not officially go into effect until April 10th, players will be allowed to use and refer to the OWL3 Cheat Sheet [DRAFT] at club during the transition period. Players will also get free challenges for new words (i.e., you will not lose a challenge if one of the words being challenged is new to OWL3).
The OWL3 Cheat Sheet contains the following subset of the new words:
- New Two-letter words (4)
- New Three-letter words (66)
- New Four-letter words (184)
- New Vowel dumps
- New J words (length 2-9)
- New Q words (length 2-9)
- New X words (length 2-9)
- New Z words (length 2-9)
- Errata for OTCWL2014 (40 additions, 47 deletions)
- New Expurgated words
- New Seven-letter words (high probability)
- New Eight-letter words (high probability)
I have begun updating word lists on the Study Tools Page. Look for the +OWL3 symbol, identifying lists that have been updated with the new words.
10 February 2015
NASPA Announced New Words Go into Effect April 10th, 2015
With the release of an updated version of Zyzzyva that includes the new words (a.k.a.: OWL3 or OTCWL2014) this past weekend, NASPA has announced that the official date for using the new word list in clubs and tournaments is April 10th.
You can download the new version (3.0.3) of Zyzzyva from the NASPA website. Note that the new words are only available to current NASPA members; you will be required to "activate" your copy of the new Lexicon by allowing the program to go online and validate your membership at the NASPA website. Please direct any questions about the new words or the new Zyzzyva to NASPA.
During the last update, we had a transition period at club where we allowed players to use a sheet with the new words and get free challenges for the new words only, but this time there is no list of the new words only so we'll have to figure out something else to do. We'll discuss it at club over the next week or so.
8 January 2015
One-Day Tournaments for 2015
Jane Bissonnette is directing three one-day tournaments this year.
For details (and online registration and payment), please click a date below:
- Saturday 24 January 2015
- Saturday 18 April 2015
- Saturday 20 June 2015
22 October 2014
Seattle Club Spotlighted on Local News
Last night, club was visited by reporter Josh Green of King 5 TV. He was interested in learning about our club and doing a story about the impact of the dictionary update. He filmed through the first game and interviewed several players. It aired on the 11:00 pm news last night, but you can also watch it online at: King TV (you'll have to wait through about 12 seconds of an ad before seeing the clip).
Seattle club was also mentioned in an article at FiveThirtyEight.com a few days ago: New Scrabble Dictionary Disrepects The Game.
2 October 2014
Changes to Club Prizes Necessary to Balance Our Books
As was announced at club this past Tuesday, our attendance for the past year has not been enough to cover all our costs (rent, prizes, photocopying, website maintenance, batteries, new word list, etc.). This has eaten into the club savings and we need to make some short-term changes to build back the club reserves, and then longer-term changes to make sure we avoid a negative cash flow in the future.
Folks at club expressed the desire to balance our income and expenses by reducing prize payouts (the largest cost after rent), rather than by increasing the weekly club fee. They also preferred to still give out token $1 prize for the Category words, even if we stop giving out money for the other prizes (500+ game, 100+ word, Bingo Bonus, etc.). With those things in mind, we are making the following changes starting next week:
- We will no longer pay prizes except for the Category Prizes, and those will be reduced to just $1 each.
(note: we will still track the "Significant Events" (500+ games, 100+ plays, 75+ non-bingo, bingo bonus, triple-triple) and record them in the stats, there just won't be any cash prizes for those accomplishments.)- Everyone except new novice players will pay the club fee.
(Rebecca Slivka, Jane Bissonnette, and Ken Clark had been exempt from paying club fees as a token compensation for their work to support the club.)- The club will no longer subsidize the one-day tournaments.
(the club had only given $30-50 to each tournament, but even that adds up)The plan is to do this through January 2015 and then see where we stand. This four month period should allow us to build the club savings back up, at which point we can see about adding back some of the prizes and how we can give some compensation to Ken for doing the stats every week and to Rebecca for directing, maintaining the club website, etc. However, we will not be able to go back to the previous level of prizes unless attendance goes back up to the levels we had several years ago. We also should anticipate that UFM might want to raise our rent in the next year or so (the last time they raised it was in October 2009, which was the first rent increase since we moved there in 2004).
Background: The last club fee increase was in July 2010, when the weekly price went from $5 to $6. Prior to that, we had a 5-month prize hiatus from July 2009 through December 2009. Also, we averaged 20 players per week in 2010, but we have only averaged 15 per week for 2014 (year to date).
Thank you for continuing to come and support the club!
20 September 2014
Seattle triumphs at Chehalis
The annual Portland vs. Seattle Interclub Challenge tournament was held Saturday, September 20th in Chehalis. It was a tightly contested tournament, but Seattle team edged out Portland by just 3 games.
See Full Results for details.
13 August 2014
Charles Dupont wins at Nationals
Congratulations to Charles Dupont for winning Division 4 at this year's National Scrabble Championship, held in Buffalo, New York.
Charles won his last twelve games and finished with a massive spread of +3023.
Way to go, Charles!
photo credit: Patty Hocker
18 July 2014
NASPA Announces Rules changes
NASPA has announced that proposed Rules Changes will go into effect
Tuesday, September 2ndWednesday, October 1stTuesday, October 14th.
Please review the proposed changes to familiarize yourself with the differences.Sept 5 Update: Apparently the rules update has been delayed until October 1st (or perhaps later). We're waiting to see the revised rules (currently there is just a list of proposed changes). Stay tuned.
Sept 30 Update: Now they are saying October 14th, but there is still no complete version of the new rules available.
Oct 2 Update: You can now see the complete new version of the rules. Note that they are now publishing a condensed "player" version of the rules in addition to the Official Rules.
28 June 2014
Results of the June 28th tournament are in
Thanks to Jane Bissonnette for another smoothly run event. Complete results, with prize winners, and links to the cross-tables are posted at: June 28th Tournament Results
24 June 2014
NASPA Announces Word List update dates
NASPA has announced (on Facebook) that the new word list (to be released August 11th at Nationals) will be effective for tournament and club play starting December 1st. They will be selling the hardcopy at Buffalo and John Chew said: "the word list will be available for sale through our website by the end of August." An update to Zyzzyva should be available shortly after Nationals, as well.
We don't know the price yet, but since the new book is supposed to contain the entire word list (2-15) and the previous update was more than 8 years ago, we expect the price to be significantly higher than last time. If there is enough interest, Rebecca will coordinate a bulk order for club members to save on shipping. She will send an email to club members with the details when NASPA lets us know (probably not until the end of July).
That's all we know. If you have questions, please direct them to NASPA.
Update Aug 5: OSPD5 (definitions, expurgated, 2-8 letter words) will be available for sale starting August 8th. You can get it locally at Elliott Bay Bookshop: OSPD5 paperback ($8.50), OSPD5 hardcover ($25.95), OSPD5 large print paperback ($31.95).
Sept 30 Update: NASPA announced a delay in the effective date of the new words until they can provide a new version of Zyzzyva to players and directors that will restrict access to the new words to NASPA members. They made no mention of how the hundreds of discrepancies between OSPD5 and OWL3 will be handled. Check out our OWL3 Transition Word Lists to see some of the new words.
17 May 2014
Scrabble at Ken Clark's
Ken Clark will host Scrabble at his house on Saturday, May 17th. Please bring some food to share, your preferred score sheets and writing instrument, and your own equipment (if you have it). Starts at 3pm and goes until 10pm, or whenever.
Please let Ken know if you are planning on coming, and if you can bring a table & and chairs (he might need more, depending on how many show up).
12 April 2014
Results of the April 12th tournament are in
Thanks to Jane Bissonnette for another smoothly run event (held at the Seattle Chess Club) on April 12th. Rebecca Slivka won division B and Ken came in third; in division C, Jane Bissonnette came in 2nd followed by Alice Goodwin in 3rd; and Rafi Stern came in 3rd place in the top division. All the high play prizes were won by Seattle club members.
Complete results, with prize winners, and links to the cross-tables are posted at: April 12th Tournament Results
25 January 2014
Results of the first one-day tournament of the year are in
Thanks to Jane Bissonnette for another smoothly run event in a brand new venue (the Seattle Chess Club) on January 25th. Seattle players dominated the top three divisions, with Rafi Stern winning Div 1, Walker Willingham winning Division 2, and Jane Bissonette winning division 3 (with the best record and best spread of the entire tournament, wow!).
Complete results, with prize winners, and links to the cross-tables are posted at: January 25th Tournament Results
6 January 2014
NASPA Announces upcoming wordlist update for Summer 2014
NASPA sent an email today to its members about the long anticipated update to the word list. As you can see from the quoted message below, there are no firm dates about when the update will actually be available in electronic form, but if the last update is any indication we will hopefully get it at least 2 or 3 months before it becomes official.
TWL3/OSPD5 Update
The NASPA Tournament Word List - 3rd Edition is scheduled to be released for sale to NASPA members at the 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship in Buffalo, NY this coming August.
NASPA's Dictionary Committee is turning in its research to Merriam-Webster at this time. What we do not know just yet is the exact timeline under which Merriam-Webster will operate.
We know that M-W wants to release the OSPD5 and the TWL3 at the same time. We know they want to do that at this year's NSC. What we do not know today is how long it will take to have a definitive list of new word inclusions (and any that might be expunged). We are scheduling a conference call with M-W within the next 2 or so weeks to determine as much as possible concerning the exact timeline for editing, prerelease and publication.
Once we know when an accurate updated list is available we will A.) Make it available to our members and B.) determine when the updates will be introduced into official tournament play.
The timeframe from "available to our members" to "determine when they will be introduced into tournament play" will be similar to previous updates.
Look for another update soon.
Best Regards,
Chris Cree, Copresident
Check the NASPA website for more information and updates (although as of 14 January 2014 nothing about the next update has been posted there).
24 and 31 December 2013
No Club December 24th or 31st
Because of holiday closures of University Friends, there will be NO club session December 24th or December 31st.
So December 17th will be the last session of the year (i.e., your last chance to affect your stats for the year).
24 November 2013
Rafi Stern wins California Open
Congratulations to Rafi Stern for winning this year's California Open. With only three losses, Rafi dominated the strong field, including last year's winner (and previous Seattle club member) Mike Frentz. Way to go, Rafi!
You can also see pictures from the event at a San Francisco Chronicle article.
21 November 2013
Jane Bissonnette Announces One-day Tournament schedule for 2014
Jane Bissonnette has announced that the first one-day tournament in 2014 will be held January 25th. It will be held at a new tournament venue, the Seattle Chess Club, in the Northgate neighborhood.
Additional dates for one-days in 2014 are tentatively set for April 12th and June 28th. Jane is still finalizing the location for those dates and the tournament information will be posted as soon as the locations are confirmed.
9 November 2013
Scrabble at Ken Clark's
While the Tacoma Scrabble Club remains on hiatus, Ken Clark will host Scrabble at his house on Saturday, November 9th. Please bring some food to share, your preferred score sheets and writing instrument, and your own equipment (if you have it). Starts at 3pm and goes until 10pm, or whenever.
Let Ken know if you are planning on coming, and if you can bring a table & and chairs (he might need more, depending on how many show up).
28 September 2013
Portland v. Seattle Challenge Results
Congratulations to Tod Taylor for winning the B Division at the annual Portland v. Seattle club challenge held in Chehalis, WA, on a very rainy September 28th. Alec Sjöholm had a great tournament, going 6-1 against the very tough A Division to earn second place, just one spread point behind the winner of the division.
Other Seattle players who earned prizes were: Adam Henderson placing 3rd and Ann Ferguson in 4th place in the B division; Karen Powell and Mike Lavoie placed 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the C division; and Dan Goodwin placed fourth in the A division. Tod Taylor also won a prize for high play (ACCIDENT 158 points), and Georgianne Fiorini for high loss.
Alas, the team results left the trophy in Portland. They won 69 games, to the Seattle team's 57.
Thanks to Mike Baker for directing the tournament.
Check out the results on cross-tables.com or the NASPA cross-table to see the new ratings.
Division A - After Round 7 of 7 Rank Name (seed) Wins Spread 1. P Wiegand, Dave (A003) 6.0 423 $125 2. S Sjoholm, Alec (A014) 6.0 422 $90 3. P Walton, Noah (A002) 6.0 337 $70 4. S Goodwin, Daniel (A012) 5.0 202 $50 5. S Stern, Rafi (A001) 4.0 322 6. P Peltier, Nigel (A005) 4.0 281 7. P Koehler, Kolton (A008) 4.0 157 8. P Alexander, Steven (A006) 3.0 144 9. P Baker, Michael (A010) 3.0 -212 10. S Tongue, Geoff (A009) 2.0 -359 11. S Clark, Ken (A011) 2.0 -439 12. S Slivka, Rebecca (A013) 2.0 -497 13. P Zxqkj, Winter (A007) 1.0 -388 14. S Grubb, Chris (A004) 1.0 -393 HIgh game - 657 - Kolton Koehler $10 High loss - 444 - Winter $10 High word - ANTIROLL 122 - Kolton Koehler $10 Division B - After Round 7 of 7 Rank Name (seed) Wins Spread 1. S Taylor, Tod (B008) 6.0 512 $120 2. P Jacobi, Gunther (B001) 5.0 540 $85 3. S Henderson, Adam (B010) 5.0 429 $60 4. S Ferguson, Ann (B002) 5.0 332 $45 5. S Bissonnette, Jane (B009) 4.0 78 6. S Goodwin, Alice (B013) 4.0 2 7. P Hamilton, Ruth (B003) 4.0 -4 8. P Kaplan, Charley (B006) 4.0 -84 9. P Singhal, Ronak (B011) 3.0 19 10. S Howard, J Midori (B007) 3.0 -380 11. P Lackaff, Thomas (B005) 2.0 -227 12. P Meyer, Alan (B004) 2.0 -338 13. S Bissonnette, George (B012) 2.0 -529 High game - 587 - Gunther Jacobi $10 High loss - 421 - Gunther Jacobi $10 High word - ACCIDENT 158 - Tod Taylor $10 Division C - After Round 7 of 7 Rank Name (seed) Wins Spread 1. P Bergeron, Leesa (C002) 7.0 425 $110 2. P Sutrov, Kathy (C001) 5.0 325 $80 3. S Powell, Karen (C005) 4.0 190 $60 4. S Lavoie, Michael (C004) 4.0 101 $30 5. P Smith, R Scott (C010) 4.0 89 6. P Hess, Joel (C008) 3.0 204 7. S Connell, John (C007) 3.0 147 8. S Sjoholm, Chris (C003) 3.0 -17 9. S Fiorini, Georgianne (C006) 3.0 -76 10. S Garvin, Norm (C009) 3.0 -159 11. P Bailie, Michelle (C011) 3.0 -310 12. 'P' Sjoholm, Ian (C012) 0.0 -919 High game - 473 - Kathy Sutrov $10 High loss - 405 - Georgianne Fiorini $10 High word - CLEANER 93 - Kathy Sutrov $10
22 September 2013
Rafi Stern Wins Can-Am Challenge
Congratulations to Rafi Stern for winning the 2013 Can-Am SCRABBLE Challenge Tournament in Vancouver, BC, held September 21-22.
The tournament pitted the seven highest rated qualifying players from Canada and the United States against each other in a team challenge format. And, the US team won the challenge, too.
10 September 2013
New Rules Go Into Effect September 24th
The NASPA Rules Committee has released the updated, final version of the new Rules, which become effective September 24th (delayed from the previously announced Sept 5th effective date). Visit the NASPA website to read and print the Rules. A printed version will be available at club, but there are enough changes that you should review the entire thing yourself.
All club and tournament players are expected to know and follow the rules, so please use the next two weeks to familiarize yourself with the changes.
Highlights of a few changes are listed below (there are many more):
- III.A.3. Clocks : Zarf timer app on iPad or iPhone may be used as a timer in tournaments or club
- IV.B.5.b Overdraw Procedure : You used to have one minute while the clock was neutralized to decide which tiles to return to the bag, but now you have just 15 seconds and then your clock is restarted and then no time limit for your decision. The clock is neutralized again once a decision has been made and then restarted after tiles returned to bag and offender's rack
- IV.I.1 When to Hold or Challenge : Once the tile bag is empty and there are no tiles to be draw, but before the game has ended, there is NO time limit for holding or challenging the play. But, if you concede the game by revealing your tiles, declare the point value of your tiles, or agree to a final score, then you can no longer challenge the last play (V.E. Neutralizing the Clock on the Out Play)
- IV.I.2 Holding the Play : You can now draw courtesy tiles after just 15 seconds on hold (they still must be kept on a separate rack from your other tiles)
- IV.I.3 Challenging the Play : A verbal challenge is no longer binding. You must declare that you are challenging AND neutralize the clock, or begin the adjudication procedure to indicate a binding challenge.
17 August 2013
Scrabble at Ken Clark's
While the Tacoma Scrabble Club remains on hiatus, Ken Clark is stepping up to host Scrabble at his house on Saturday, August 17th. Please bring some food to share, your preferred score sheets and writing instrument, and your own equipment (if you have it). Starts at 4pm and goes until 10pm, or whenever.
Let Ken know if you are planning on coming, and if you can bring a table & and chairs (he might need more, depending on how many show up).
24 July 2013
Rafi Stern finishes 8th at 2013 Nationals
Congratulations to Rafi Stern for finishing in 8th place in the top division at the 2013 National SCRABBLE Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, held July 20-24th.
The winner of the tournament was Nigel Richards (for the 5th time!). If you are interested in learning top level strategy, I encourage you to review the games played at the top table. They are annotated, with Quackle notes, and give you a chance to see what expert players choose to do. Nigel not infrequently forgoes bingos in the endgame in order to win.
Other Seattle club players who did well are Charles Dupont, who finished 12th in Division 4, Nancy Roeder who played up into Division 3 and finished 27 places above her seed rating, and Scott McManus who also played up into Div 3 and finished 12 spots above his seed rating.
24 July 2013
Rules Update Draft Available for Comment
The NASPA Rules Committee has a lot of changes proposed to the rules and have published the draft update on the website for comments. The new rules are planned to go into effect September 5th, so speak fast (i.e., send email to the Rules Committee) if you have any concerns/suggestions.
6 July 2013
Rafi Stern wins MSI event in Las Vegas
Congratulations to Rafi Stern for winning the top division at the Mind Sports International Tournament in Las Vegas, held July 5-6th. It was a hard fought battle in an elite group. Nice going, Rafi!
Cross-table results
1 July 2013
National SCRABBLE Association Announces Closing
Hasbro has cut funding for the NSA and will take over its functionality inhouse. See announcement from John Williams at NSA reproduced below.
FYI, Scrabble Word of the Day has already been moved to hosting at NASPA. It remains to be seen what will happen with the Casual Clubs list, Word Gear, etc. NASPA clubs and tournaments are not affected by this change.
June 3, 2013
Greenport, NY
National SCRABBLE Association Announces Closing
"After 25+ years, the National SCRABBLE Association (NSA) will be officially closing its doors, effective July 1, 2013. Hasbro will now internally manage all SCRABBLE brand marketing, publicity, Consumer Affairs and Community Relations Efforts.
We are choosing instead to focus on the amazing experience we've had over the years promoting the SCRABBLE brand and spreading the word about the world's greatest game. We sincerely thank everyone who has been a part of this effort."
John D. Williams, Jr., Executive Director
National SCRABBLE Association
*****
Beginning July 1, 2013 Hasbro will internally manage all SCRABBLE brand marketing, publicity, Consumer Affairs and Community Relations to better align all SCRABBLE-related efforts with larger Hasbro marketing and community relations activities.
As we move forward towards that date, the NSA will be helping Hasbro create a comprehensive Internet source to answer consumer questions, assist in sales of product and provide a depth of learning materials. We have provided Hasbro with proper links for tournament and rated clubs to make it as smooth a transition for School SCRABBLE members, Library Members and Casual game players as possible. Hasbro is working diligently to have their Hasbro SCRABBLE website updated and ready in the next few weeks.
Since 1982 John D. Williams Jr. and the National SCRABBLE Association have played an instrumental role in promoting SCRABBLE playing with schools, communities and families, including the development of the renowned National School SCRABBLE Program. Together with his partner Jane Ratsey Williams and their amazing team their enthusiasm and hard work has brought the SCRABBLE game to tens of thousands of students, parents, teachers and families and has been invaluable to the brand.
Hasbro has not made a decision about the timing for the next National School SCRABBLE Championship. They encourage School SCRABBLE Clubs, organizations and literacy groups to continue to run SCRABBLE tournaments in their communities.
Will Hasbro continue the National School SCRABBLE Program?
Hasbro will continue to encourage SCRABBLE playing in the classroom and help provide parents and teachers the resources to implement SCRABBLE clubs in schools at a local level.
The company will still offer teachers a specially-priced School SCRABBLE Kit and resources on how to start School SCRABBLE clubs at www.Hasbro.com/SCRABBLE.
"It is with great sadness that the NSA staff will no longer do the outreach it has," says Jane Ratsey Williams.
"The SCRABBLE brand has taken us all over the world and introduced us to so many amazing people who have touched our hearts. All of us at the NSA want you to sincerely know what a special journey it has been for us. Please let us know if there is any assistance we can give you before our doors close July 1."
Who do I contact now?
- To find the latest information on the SCRABBLE brand, products, rules, Casual or School SCRABBLE clubs and tournaments, visit www.hasbro.com/SCRABBLE
- For press/media inquiries, contact HasbroBrandPR@hasbro.com
- For Customer Service inquires, call 888-836-7025 or visit http://www.hasbro.com/customer-service/contacts/
- For rated tournament information, contact: North American SCRABBLE Players Association (NASPA) at www.scrabbleplayers.org
- For questions regarding official SCRABBLE word sources, contact publisher: Merriam-Webster, Inc. http://www.merriam-webster.com/contact/index.htm
- To reach John Williams privately jdw@scrabble-assoc.com or Jane Ratsey Williams wordgear@aol.com
Old News
Read archived News and announcements on our Old News page.
Press reports of our Club or Club members
[Note: many of the older articles refer the previous club location and website]- 29 January 2020 Join Seattle's Scrabble Club for words, friends and some supersmart competitions - Seattle Times
- 26 July 2019 Lynnwood man becomes youngest North American Scrabble champion - Lynnwood Today
- 21 October 2014 Scrabble Players Delve into Thousands of New Words - King 5 TV (Josh Green)
- 18 October 2014 New Scrabble Dictionary Disrepects The Game - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 20 August 2014 'Da Gi Po Te' Isn't Baby Talk; It's A Key To Scrabble Success - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 15 May 2013 Seattle's 'Mr. Sundial' takes his passion to next level: garage ceiling - Seattle Times
- 10 November 2011 Chip Brown of Puzzazz on puzzles, bees and making a clock from scratch - Geek Wire
- 5 November 2009 It's raining, it's boring - what to do? Let the games begin - Seattle Times
- 19 July 2009 Will Crosswords Follow Poker's Lead? - New York Times (question posed by club-member David Ruby)
- 15 July 2009 SCRABBLE is a Family Affaire - NASPA Newsletter Vol.1, Issue 1
- 2 April 2009 Word Wizards - Lake Oswego Review [Okay, Not our club--but Portland is close by, and it's a nice piece.]
- 26 February 2009 Wordsmith breaks record: ASU student plays in 1,127-point Scrabble game - ASU Web Devil
- 27 May 2007 In Scrabble, victory is the $6,000 word - HeraldNet
- 27 May 2007 Wordplay is serious business in Scrabble tournament - Seattle P-I
- 18 November 2006 Scrabble: It's man vs. machine - Seattle Times: Erik Lacitis
- 31 Auguest 2006 The Tile Driver - JTNews
- 23 May 2006 Kink Calendar - The Stranger *view at your own discretion*
- 31 May 2005 Go 2 Guy: Like Scrabble? Read this C-O-L-U-M-N - Seattle P-I: Jim Moore
- 31 May 2005 It was a mad scramble for Scrabble title - Seattle P-I: Jennifer Langston
- 31 May 2005 Portland man tops at Scrabble contest - Seattle Times: Local Digest (scroll to view)
- 29 May 2005 Don't wirra: its meaning is irrelevant - Seattle Times: Peter Lewis
- 26 May 2005 Scrabble: For tile masters, this word game means war Seattle P-I: Rebekah Denn
- 26 May 2005 Kink Calendar - The Stranger *view at your own discretion*
- 10 January 2005 Ralph Neubeck, 63, Franklin High history teacher Seattle Times: (Obituary)
- 1 June 2004 Scrabble competitors seek v-i-c-t-o-r-y - Seattle Times: Marsha King
- 11 February 2004 Get Your Word Freak On Spelling "Love" With Scrabble - Seattle Weekly: Neal Schindler
- 19 June 2002: Letter to Editor responding to nerd-stereotyping in previous Seattle Weekly article.
- 5 June 2002: "what a bunch of nerdy freaks" article - Seattle Weekly: Christopher Frizzelle
- 27 December 2001 Quirky clubs liven up the dead of winter - Seattle Times: Stephanie Dunnewind
- 28 May 2001 In-your-face and letter-perfect - Seattle Times: Jolayne Houtz
- 20 November 2000 Word warriors - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 23 May 1994 Scrabble scuffle - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 5 November 1990 California teaming - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 24 August 1990 Word to the wise - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 15 January 1990 Scrabble Club Attracts People Wild About Words - Seattle Times: Don Duncan
- 6 September 1989 Word wars - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 28 August 1989 Encouraging word - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 10 April 1989 Not the final word - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 22 September 1988 Seattle's Diehard Word Lovers Love Their Scrabble - Seattle P-I: Jean Godden
- 22 February 1987 Success Is Often Just a Two-Letter Word for This Scrabble King - Seattle P-I: Don Tewkesbury
- 26 January 1987 Scrabble Aces Mind P's & Q's - Especially Q's - Seattle P-I: Don Tewkesbury
Scrabble in the News
Just some links to articles of interest about SCRABBLE®- 26 October 2020 Board to Death: How Scrabble Blew Its Big Moment - Sports Illustrated (Alex Prewitt)
- 13 August 2015 How New Words Get Added to the Scrabble Dictionaries (Yes, Dictionaries, Plural) - Grammar Girl
- 4 August 2015 The Battle Over Scrabble's Dictionaries - The New Yorker (Charles Bethea)
- 24 April 2015 How I Beat the Champ at Scrabble - New York Observer (Oliver Roeder)
- 21 April 2015 Winning SCRABBLE and the Nature of Expertise - Scientific American
- 12 January 2015 Dr. Wood's positive mark on Lake Oswego remembered - Portland Tribune (Gregg Wood obituary)
- 18 October 2014 New Scrabble Dictionary Disrepects The Game - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 30 September 2014 Who Owns Scrabble's Word List? - slate.com (Stefan Fatsis)
- 20 August 2014 'Da Gi Po Te' Isn't Baby Talk; It's A Key To Scrabble Success - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 14 August 2014 The Scrabble King Is Dead, Long Live The Scrabble King - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 8 August 2014 What Makes Nigel Richards The Best Scrabble Player On Earth - FiveThirtyEight.com (Oliver Roeder)
- 10 April 2014 The word that won Scrabble's new-word contest is totally useless in Scrabble. - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 7 April 2014 Make Sure the Next Scrabble Word Has Lexicographical Staying Power - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 1 April 2014 Hasbro cheated Long Island-based Scrabble promoter out of bonuses: lawsuit - NY Daily News
- 28 March 2014 "Tuches Sleeps With the Dictionary!" Remembering Lester Schonbrun, and the dingy Times Square games parlor where he found a second home. - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 18 March 2014 These Sports Terms Should Be Playable in Scrabble - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 14 March 2014 Bestie, Ew, Slumdog, Twerk : Inside the contest to add a new word to the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 13 July 2013 Scrabbling over Scrabble - NY Times (Stefan Fatsis)
- 17 January 2013 What's a Z Really Worth?: Why efforts to assign Scrabble tiles their "real value" miss the point of the game. - Slate (Stefan Fatsis)
- 20 August 2012 Reflections on a Winning Scrabble Board - New Yorker (Judith Thurman)
- August 2012 For a variety of stories about the cheating scandal at the 2012 National's, check our News Page
- 19 August 2012 The A to Z of Scrabble - The Independent (Matthew Bell)
- 28 December 2009 Agency hopes Scrabble benefit spells success - Bellingham Herald (Erika Werdal)
- 8 September 2009 Scrabble expert to take on all comers - Kelowna Capital News (Jesse Matthews)
- 27 August 2009 Hard Scrabble existence? Not for 'full-contact' spellers - Rocky Mountain Independent
- 12 August 2009 A seven-letter word for national Scrabble champion: Wiegand - OregonLive.com
- 9 July 2009 Scrabble Rousers use words to raise funds - Tacoma Weekly
- 7 July 2009 Jilted Hasbro CEO Laughs Coldly As Scrabble Destroys Another Relationship - The Onion
- 18 March 2009 Price Drop: Stocks, Homes, Now Triple-Word Scores - Wall Street Journal : Numbers Guy (Carl Bialik)
- 17 March 2009 The Scrabble Statistics - Wall Street Journal : Numbers Guy (Carl Bialik)
- 15 March 2009 Scrabble elicits wonders of words - Springfield News Sun : Tom Stafford
- 19 January 2009 Annals of Games, "Spreading the Word" - The New Yorker : Judith Thurman [registration required]
Scrabble in the Comics
Bill Amend's Foxtrot 2/19/2012:
webcomic from www.xkcd.com:
Pearls Before Swine:
webcomic from www.xkcd.com:
Savage Chickens
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