TLW96 - Nomads Results

C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S 

A quick reference to forthcoming competitions 

(fuller list and details inside) 

Date Tournament (No of games) Contact Telephone 

Jun 6th Melton Mowbray (5) Maureen Rayson 01664 563330 

Jun 6th NSC Regional - Shipley (6) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Jun 6th NSC Regional - Southampton (6) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Jun 7th-8th ABSP Masters (15) Phil Appleby 01590 682971 

Jun 12th NSC Regional - Peterborough (6) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Jun 12th-13th Scottish Open (12) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3869 

Jun 13th NSC Regional - Cheshunt (6) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Jun 13th Peterlee (5) Samantha Beckwith 0191 586 6436 

Jun 20th Romford (7) Phyllis Fernandez 0208 599 5937 

Jun 26th Luton (6) June Edwards 01908 679041 

Jun 27th BEST - End of Round 3 Evan Simpson 020 8429 1984 

Jul 17th New Malden (6) Shirley Cave 020 8540 8469 

Jul 17th-18th Summer Matchplay (11) Mike Willis 01908 668117 

July 24th Lincoln (6) Teresa Hill 01427 838741 

Jul 25th BEST - End of Zone Finals Evan Simpson 020 8429 1984 

Aug 7th-8th Nottingham Nomads (16) Clive Spate 0115 920 0208 

Aug 14th-15th Scottish Round Robin (14) Marion Keatings 01592 265524 

Aug 22nd BEST - End of Quarter-Finals Evan Simpson 020 8429 1984 

Aug 27th-28th BMSC Ladies’ Event (6) Ross Mackenzie 0141 886 5335 

Aug 28th-30th BMSC (17) Ross Mackenzie 0141 886 5335 

Sep 4th Havering Autumn (6) Cindy Hollyer 01277 822050 

Sep 5th N S C T: Final (7) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Sep 11th East Sussex (6) Ed Breed 01424 219334 

Sep 12th Norwich (6) Carol Smith 01603 898791 

Sep 18th-19th N S C: Semi-Final (12) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Sep 26th Middlesbrough (5) Samantha Beckwith 0191 586 6436 

Sep 26th BEST - End of Semi-Finals Evan Simpson 020 8429 1984 

Oct 3rd Bournemouth (6) Ruth Marsden 01202 707148 

Oct 9th-10th BEST - Final Evan Simpson 020 8429 1984 

Oct 16th Southend (6) Evelyn Wallace 01702 302569 

Oct 29th-30th Isle of Wight Vectis (5) Noel Turner 01983 614426 

Oct 30th-31st Isle of Wight (11) Noel Turner 01983 614426 

Oct 30th Elgin (5) Lorraine Gordon 01466 794332 

Oct 30th-31st Cardiff (14) Mary Allen 02920 757311 

Nov 21st N S C: Grand Final (5) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 

Dec 11th-12th Stoke Rochford Xmas (12) Christina French 01708 701578 

The Last Word is printed by Keely Print, Beccles, Suffolk (01502) 713930 

APRIL 

7 

87 

APRIL 

97 

APRIL 

APRIL 

Alec 

The bi-monthly magazine of the 

ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH 

SCRABBLE PLAYERS 

No 96 June 2004 

Deadline for next issue 2nd July 

According to amazon.co.uk... 

...Collins Official Scrabble Words is due out on 5 July 2004. The synopsis describes the 

book as ‘the new authority on Scrabble, compiled using the Bank of English, the world's 

largest language database’ and ‘an essential reference for all club and tournament players.’ 

Allan Simmons has commented ‘This book cannot be the essential reference for 

tournament players until the ABSP (and indeed WESPA) have found it acceptable, so that 

particular claim is a little exaggerated.’ 

Indeed, the inaccuracy of the claim was such that Allan contacted Collins/Mattell on behalf 

of the ABSP Dictionary Commmittee pointing out their erroneous statement and requesting 

it to be corrected. 

The Dictionary Committee’s current advice is not to buy this book. You can find the latest 

bulletin on this matter on page 3. 

Enclosed with this issue... 

...you will find an entry form for our flagship event the British Matchplay Scrabble 

Championship, see page 2 for news of sponsorship for this event. Also there is an entry 

form for the Chester Tournament next January. This relatively small event is so popular and 

fills up so quickly that the entry details have been held back from the Association website 

until this magazine was mailed out to allow members without internet access an equal 

opportunity. Get your pens out. Ready, steady.......go! 

The importance of the deadline 

I would like to draw the attention of TLW contributors to the proximity of the next 

deadline. The August issue is date-crucial as it will contain the agenda for the AGM and 

MUST be with members at least 3 weeks before the meeting. Material not with me by 

the deadline is unlikely to be included in the magazine. (So don’t be surprised if it’s a 

thin one!) 

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J.W.Spear & Sons Ltd., Maidenhead SL6 4UB

Committee Corner .......................... 1 

Scrabble Books .............................. 4 

Who’s For A Trip Down The Nile? .. 7 

Tournament Reports ........................ 8 

Letters ............................................ 18 

Simultaneous Scrabble Record ........ 20 

Ratings ............................................ 21 

THE LAST WORD TEAM 

The Last Words Team welcomes contributions from readers to their respective areas, 

either as letters, articles or suggestions. Contact information: 

Deadline for next issue 2nd July 2004 

ISSUE CONTENTS 

Across The Board ............................ 25 

Edgeways ........................................ 33 

The French Connection .................. 38 

Xtras ................................................ 40 

Forthcoming Events.......................... 44 

Edgeways Answers .......................... ibc 

Calendar of Events ..........................obc 

Throughout this publication, comments by the Editor do not represent the views of the 

ABSP Committee. Any statements by the Committee are clearly marked as such. All 

other contributions to The Last Word represent only the views of the contributor. 

General Editor: 

Alec Webb 

17 St Margarets Road 

Lowestoft 

Suffolk 

NR32 4HS 

absp.tlw@btinternet.com 

Games and Strategies: 

Phil Appleby, 

Thorns Cottage, 

Mount Pleasant Lane, 

Lymington, 

Hants SO41 8LS 

phil_appleby2000@yahoo.co.uk 

Forthcoming events: 

Paul Cartman, 

9 Chapel Terrace, 

Stafford ST16 3AH 

01785 211851 

paul.cartman@btinternet.com 

Words and Puzzles: 

Raymond Tate, 

6 Amochrie Glen 

Hollybrook 

Paisley 

PA2 0DY 

Raymond@Tate7856.fsnet.co.uk 

Features: 

Christina French 

127 Carlton Road, 

Gidea Park, Romford, 

Essex RM2 5AU 

01708 701578 

christinafrench@ntlworld.com 

In the event of issues of The Last Word not being received, or if you change 

your address, please contact Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705 

email: howzatvb@gotadsl.co.uk 

LAST CHANCE 

Refer-a-friend Scheme 

If by 30th June, through your encouragement, someone joins the 

ABSP for the first time, you will receive a voucher giving you £5 

discount on your subscription for 2005. Be sure to make Viv Beckmann aware of 

your entitlement. Tel: 01912 731705 or email:howzatvb@gotadsl.co.uk 

There is a limit of three vouchers per member. 

COMMITTEE CORNER 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2004 

Members are reminded that the 2004 AGM will be held at 8.15pm on Sunday 29th August 

at the Queens Moat House Hotel, West Bromwich, in conjunction with the ABSP’s British 

Matchplay Championship. All members are invited to attend. The DRAFT agenda is 

detailed below. Amendments to motions and new motions must be received by June 18th 

in order to be discussed at the next Committee meeting on June 20th. The final agenda will 

be published next issue. 

PROXY VOTES may be sent to the Chairman, Allan Simmons at: 

Edington House, The Bow, Coldingham, Berwickshire TD14 5NE 

Email proxies are allowed but you must give your full name in the email: 

abspchair@aol.com 

Proxy Voting forms will be provided with the next issue of TLW. 

DRAFT AGENDA 

1 To receive the Chairman’s report (this will be published next TLW) 

2 To receive and consider the accounts of the Association for 2003, and the associated 

Auditor’s and Treasurer’s reports (the accounts are currently being audited and will be 

published next issue). 

3 To elect the officers and other members of the Committee 

The current Committee consists of: 

Paul Allan, Viv Beckmann, Amy Byrne, Paul Cartman, Elie Dangoor, Darryl Francis, 

Stewart Holden, Wayne Kelly, Ross Mackenzie, Jackie Mcleod, Allan Simmons, Alec 

Webb, plus Philip Nelkon as the Mattel representative. 

The officers of the Committee are currently: 

Allan Simmons (Chairman) 

Amy Byrne (Secretary) 

Ross Mackenzie (Treasurer) 

Our honorary President is Gyles Brandreth. 

All the officers intend to stand again for these roles. 

All other Committee members are standing again 

4 To confirm the Auditor for the year 2004 (Yoke Shin) 

5 To fix the subscription for 2005 

It is proposed that the subscription remains at £15 per annum 

1

6 MOTIONS 

These are detailed below and will be addressed in the order shown 

6.1 Committee Service Reward 

Proposer : Allan Simmons 

Seconder: Amy Byrne 

It is proposed that Committee Members (excluding Mattel rep) receive £20 for each 

Committee Meeting that they attend (excluding AGMs), effective from September 2004. 

Note re Motion 6.1: The Committee has unfortunately not yet found anyone willing to 

chair an independent Committee Reward Panel to address the broad area of reward for 

service. Meanwhile, we have felt it essential to address the TLW editorial role and 

bring it more in line with that of Ratings Officer, and so agreed routine payments to 

the TLW editor through the March Committee Meeting (reported last TLW). However, 

we felt it more appropriate to seek membership approval for a more general payment 

for Committee members, thus this motion. Whilst we recognise that meeting 

attendance does not equate to ongoing effort/actions throughout the year, it does seem 

the only fair and easily measurable way to introduce a small financial compensation 

for service. For most attendees a Committee meeting takes a very long day including 

travelling. We trust members agree the approach we are proposing is reasonable. It is 

estimated the cost will be around £600 per annum which is available at existing 

funding levels. 

7 Update on Collins Scrabble books status and opportunity for discussion of Mattel switch 

from Chambers to Collins 

8 Discussion of Committee Objectives 2003-2004 

A review of how the Committee is performing against its Objectives. 

SPONSORSHIP BREAKTHROUGH 

The Committee are pleased to announce the ABSP’s first major 

sponsorship breakthrough. 

Chambers Harrap Publishers have agreed to sponsor the 2004 

ABSP Masters and the 2004 ABSP British Matchplay Scrabble 

Championship for a total of £2,000. 

The arrangement for 2004 has been cleared with Mattel. The sponsorship will be split, 

£400 for the Masters and £1,600 for the BMSC (spread across divisions). 

There will also be leather-bound dictionaries for both champions and a special Chambers 

trophy for the BMSC champion. Both events will be publicised as “in association with 

Chambers Harrap Publishers” and there will also be Chambers books donated to the prize 

fund. 

Whilst entrance fees will also contribute towards the prize funds in both cases, for the 

BMSC it is expected that this will enable the event to have entrance fees in line with those 

of 2003 and have more attractive prizes, including a special Chambers BMSC 2004 trophy 

for the overall winner. 

2 

ABSP MASTERS 2004 in association with Chambers Harrap publishers. 

This event is now scheduled to take place on Mon/Tue June 7th/8th (it would already have 

happened when you read this!) at a grandiose restaurant near Oxford, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ 

Saisons, which is owned by Raymond Blanc. We are expecting to have a celebrity to attend 

the opening and Josh Whitehead will be there filming as part of his Channel 4 

documentary. The Committee is grateful to Phil Appleby and Mark Nyman for their help 

with the organisation. 

BRITISH MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2004 

In association with Chambers Harrap publishers. 

This event will be at the West Bromwich Moat House hotel over the August Bank Holiday 

weekend. Full details are given in the entry form with this issue. 

AN UPDATE RE THE COLLINS DICTIONARY ISSUE 

FROM THE ABSP DICTIONARY COMMITTEE (ABSP-DC) 

Darryl Francis, Allan Simmons, David Webb 

Members would have seen the ABSP-DC’s article in the last TLW which was 

representative of the disappointing position with Collins and their FAQ as at that TLW 

deadline. Since then there has been some welcome liaison from Collins. We now have 

some reason to be confident that less than 100 root words (plus inflexions) will disappear 

and none of these will be USA words. The root words that will disappear are relatively 

insignificant to a player’s useful Scrabble vocabulary and include such words as SYRLYE, 

EMBREWE, PICCADELL (plus inflexions). 

However, there is not time for the ABSP DC to assess the expected thousands of new 

words coming in from Collins’ sources and check them against the base OSW word rules, 

although we have seen some sample pages and advised Collins on areas they still need to 

address. For that reason, plus the key fact that the initial Collins book (scheduled for the 

Summer) cannot possible reflect the 2004 USA updates (which are still being worked on 

in America), we will NOT be recommending any 2004 Collins book to be adopted. We 

are also aware that if there are too many thousands of new words, that itself may be an 

unacceptable element of the change. 

During the course of 2004 we expect to properly assess candidate new words from Collins 

sources against OSW-base rules, and discuss and agree a viable future update process. 

When the 2004 book is published we will scrutinise it fully to assess its suitability. We 

hope that Collins will make copies available for others (e.g. some clubs) to review as well. 

In 2005 a version of the book with definitions is expected to be published. That will be 

the earliest opportunity to reflect updates from the USA. So, it will not be until a 2005 

AGM, and the publication of a 2005 book with definitions, that a vote and decision can 

be made. 

Whilst endeavouring to assist Collins in producing a book that might be acceptable to the 

players, the ABSP-DC equally believes that players as a group ultimately have a choice 

should a Collins Scrabble word book be unacceptable. To that end the ABSP DC is also 

exploring contingencies with Chambers. 

3

Scrabble Books 

How to Win at Scrabble, by Andrew Fisher and David Webb. 

ISBN: 0-7134-8820-4 

Published by B T Batsford, an imprint of Chrysalis Books 

Recommended price: £12.99 

The publisher’s summary describes the book thus: 

Scrabble is basically a straightforward game. The 

strategy used by top players can be easily understood 

and adopted by average players. Written by two 

international experts of the game, How to Win at 

Scrabble, for the first time, aims to describe in a 

readable and entertaining fashion the experts’ strategies and 

techniques for winning at Scrabble. Their advice gives even Sunday afternoon 

players the chance to be the best. 

About the Authors 

Andrew Fisher and David Webb are two of the most successful tournament 

players in the UK, and have been involved in competitive Scrabble at the highest 

level for over a decade. They have represented England at the World Scrabble 

Championships on several occasions, and also competed at the World 

Championships in Las Vegas in 2001. 

Andrew lives in Melbourne, Australia and David lives in Harpenden, 

Hertfordshire. 

Graeme Thomas writes: 

This is a long-awaited book on Scrabble techniques, by two of the game’s best players. As 

the authors point out much of this material has been available in specialist magazines, but 

never in book form like this. The book is eleven chapters and 160 pages long, but it is 

crammed with useful techniques. 

Chapter one is the introduction. It claims that the book is aimed at all levels of player, but 

I feel that the complete novice may start to become overwhelmed early on. The true 

market is, I feel, the player of middle or higher ability who wants to improve. But there is 

help for the novice, if he or she can stand the pace. 

Chapter two describes the words used in the game, and outlines the scale of the problem 

of learning them all. Short sections describe the relative advantages and disadvantages 

of the words of each length. This is followed by a description of hooks — what are they, 

and why are they important? Finally, a summary gives a suggested order for learning 

words. 

Chapter three tells how to learn words. Various techniques are given, and the merits of 

each are noted. This is the heart of the book. The rest of the book is important, but all of 

the methods described there rely on a massive vocabulary, and there is really no substitute 

4 

for learning the words. But studying this chapter should, at least, make the job a little 

easier. 

Chapter four, on strategy, is a bit of a mixture, as it covers a lot of ground. The section on 

“key factors” is worth the price of the book on its own. The section on defence is well 

worth a read, too. The authors recommend paying little attention to defence. If this view 

becomes more widespread, perhaps we’ll have few dull games of attrition. 

Chapter five covers the endgame. The authors point out that it is here that many games 

are won or lost, and so they devote a separate chapter to it, even though it is really part of 

“strategy”. Many of the concepts discussed here are simple in theory, but hard to apply 

properly in practice. The guidance offered here is sound. 

Chapter six is on the mental approach. It tends, at times, to approach the 

metaphysical, but the underlying theme is clear. A positive mental attitude, especially 

when circumstances appear to be conspiring against you, is vital for performing at 

your best. 

Chapter seven is about improving your game. The key to improvement is to measure your 

performance, and then see how much those measurements improve over time. Various 

measurement methods are given, and they’ll all lead to improved play. 

Chapter eight is about resources and equipment. It details where to buy the tournamentquality 

equipment that makes playing so much easier. The section on tile bags is 

particularly impassioned. 

Chapter nine tells us about competitive Scrabble, from clubs to the World Championships. 

The club and tournaments described are the UK ones. 

Chapter ten is a detailed analysis of a game from the 1999 World Championships, between 

Mark Nyman and Joel Wapnick. It was chosen because it illustrates the points made in the 

previous chapters. 

Chapter eleven is the conclusion. I quote, in part: 

The primary reason your authors play Scrabble is for the pleasure and fun it 

brings. We also found that the better we got, the more fun we had. 

Competitive Scrabble also gave us excitement, a sense of achievement, and a 

modicum of prize money, not to mention friendship with people from around the 

world who share our passion for the game. 

That’s what the book is all about — fun and excitement. 

Finally, the authors stoop to bribery: 

If any of our readers have been inspired by this book to enter a tournament in 

which your authors are also competing, please feel free to make yourself known 

to us. We would be delighted to hear of your progress, and one of us(!) will 

gladly buy you a drink. 

The book concludes with a glossary, several appendices, and an index. 

This book is an excellent description of the way to improve at Scrabble. It will take a great 

deal of hard work to achieve mastery, but more modest efforts will still yield improvements. 

I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who wants to get better. 

5

Can-Am 2002, by Joel Wapnick and Brian Sheppard 

250pp. Reviewed by Stewart Holden 

In November 2002 the top six American players met the top six 

Canadian players at Niagara Falls, Ontario to battle out in the 

inaugural Can-Am challenge. 

Each player played every opposite team member twice, with all 

twelve experts recording their racks and plays from every game 

in the hope of a book being produced at a later date. That later 

date has arrived with the publication of the Can-Am 2002 book. 

Brian Sheppard is the creator of Maven, the toughest computer 

Scrabble program ever written. He is an expert at 

understanding Maven’s simulation feature, which is used extensively throughout the 

annotated games. His updated version of Maven has the ability to measure the ‘winningness’ 

of a play (expressed as a percentage), particularly invaluable when explaining the 

finer points of the endgames. 

This is not a manual of how to play beginners’ Scrabble. You are expected to understand 

the rules of tournament play and that, as in all North American events, the ‘double 

challenge’ rule was applied (where an incorrect challenge results in the loss of a turn). 

Although terms such as ‘rack leave’ and ‘out-play’ are given brief definitions in a Glossary 

at the back, this is a book written by Scrabble experts for tournament players of all levels, 

not a book you would find on sale in WHSmith’s. 

The majority of the Can-Am 2002 book is occupied by detailed annotated games and an 

explanation of the lessons that can be learnt from them. The annotations focus on 

presenting the reader with board positions, listing the different options, providing Maven 

simulation results and then discussing which move is the best and merits/weakness of other 

plays. The fact that the dictionary used is TWL (the North American word authority) makes 

surprisingly little difference, because this is not a book about learning words and there are 

no word lists, it is about knowing which move to choose out of those that are available. 

After analysing 17 complete games, there are a further 32 endgame positions selected from 

other games. It is reassuring to learn that experts make more mistakes in this area than any 

other part of the game, since I’m sure we all feel our endgames need to be improved! 

Everyone will learn from playing through the endgame positions in this book and learning 

how to calculate, and act upon, the many variables at this crucial stage of the game. The 

racks and moves from all the other games are then listed to give a complete record of the 

tournament. 

The clear board diagrams for every single play mean that you don’t need your own board 

out to play along, and you can just dip into a random page and read through the analysis 

of any move. Essays from Wapnick and Sheppard at the end of the book explain how 

players’ skill is measured, just how accurate computer analysis is, and also the relative 

importance of luck and skill in Scrabble. This book not light reading but it is an excellent 

tool for improving your game if you are prepared to give it the time it deserves. 

Stewart has a copies of Can-Am 2002 available at £16.00 plus £3.00 p+p. Cheques 

payable to Stewart Holden and sent to 14 Dale View Road, Nottingham NG3 7AJ 

6 

Paul Cartman asks: Who’s for a trip down the Nile? 

I went for a cruise on the Nile in Egypt this February from Luxor to Aswan and back. 

Although we saw no pyramids we visited many temple sites and learnt one or two 

Egyptian words that are in OWSI. The cruise liner struck me as an ideal setting for a 

Scrabble holiday and I would like to canvass the Scrabble community as to whether 

there would be enough players interested in such a venture to make it worthwhile 

booking the liner for early next March. 

For those interested the holiday can be extended to include a week at the Luxor Hilton or 

Red Sea with optional day trips on a hot air balloon or Cairo either the week before or the 

week after the cruise. There is space for 130 guests, mostly twin 

berthed, it has an adequate indoor playing area, a sundeck and 

a swimming pool. The number of games to be played will have 

to be worked out and will ultimately depend on when the liner 

is able to negotiates certain locks, this will also have an 

influence on when we are able to go ashore and visit the sites. 

The cost would be in the region of £500 to £600 per person, 

I am waiting for precise details, and direct flights to Luxor are 

from Gatwick and Manchester. Arrangements can be made for 

those not able to get to those airports. 

I can be contacted on 01785 211851, emailed on paul.cartman@btinternet.com or 

written to at 9 Chapel Terrace, Stafford ST16 3AH 

So what’s the worst that can happen when you inadvertently draw tiles 

from your neighbour’s bag...? 

Well nothing quite as bad, or as brilliant as 

this masterpiece. 2 complete sets - yes, 200 

tiles, on a regular 225 square board. 

The feat was achieved by Andrew Cook 

who says: 

“The solution was found by a computer 

program I wrote for creating crossword 

grids. For this Scrabble position it was 

restricted in the letters that it could use. 

I instructed it to try and use the more 

awkward letters first, and also restricted the 

number of S’s it could use early on. 

I tried a number of similar letters/spaces 

patterns until I started getting close to a 

solution. I found several 199s that could have 

been finished off if the remaining tile had been an S, so I knew the solution was getting 

closer - but it was still a surprise when it succeeded. In all, the process took many, many 

hours of searching different patterns. An exhaustive search would take far too long for 

my computer, so there are certain to be other solutions out there.” 

7 

QUADRUPL I CAT I ON 

UNWEAR I ED ZHOMO 

AWHA P I NG QU I T E D 

DEAV I NG N I RVANA 

R A P I N E L E V E E S L 

UR I NE FET I AL X I 

P I NG TUCHUN YES 

L E G F U S T E T M I N I 

I D F A C T O R M I R I N 

C J E R K E R T O E R A G 

ABORTED HOOVES 

T A W I E R J O W L E D T 

I L I A D B O O Z E S B E 

OONS MOOL EY F AX 

N O G B E A K Y S A Y S T

Lothian 

TOURNAMENT 

RESULTS & REPORTS 

13th March (5 games) 

Report from Alan Sinclair 

We had the usual good turnout for this year's Lothian tournament at our popular venue in 

Edinburgh. We had decided to have four divisions, one more than usual. This meant that 

each division had a smaller spread of ratings, people were playing opponents they 

normally wouldn't meet, and there were more prizes! 

Amy Byrne from Edinburgh continued her good form from the Pitlochry holiday tournament 

and the Scottish Masters to take division A with five wins. In B, four people finished on four 

wins, with local Kenneth Ross taking top spot. There were also four on four wins in C, and 

again it was local Melanie Beaumont in first place. The pattern was broken in division D, 

where Robin McDougall from Glasgow was the only player on five wins. 

Swindon 

14th March 2004 (6 games) 

Report from Steve Perry 

It’s hard to believe but this was the eighth Swindon tournament and was heading towards 

being the biggest ever. In the event there were several last minute withdrawals and the final 

competitor count was 188. This year the beneficiaries were once again the Prospect 

Hospice which is based in Wroughton, near Swindon. 

The tournament has been dogged by last arrivals in the past but the threat to latecomers of 

being left out had the desired effect and everybody had arrived by the cut-off time. Even 

so we were still about 15 minutes late getting going. It is clear to me now that even 15 

minutes is not long enough to do any last minute changes to the divisional make-up when 

there are so many players. Maybe the only way around this is to come clean in the 

timetabling and allow longer. 

After the first two rounds only 2 of the top nine players (180+) had won both games. The 

top of Division B had a Welsh flavour with Huw Morgan (Swansea) at the top followed by 

Tess McCarthy (Cardiff). 

8 

Lunch followed and here I have to thank three Highworth club members, Gordon, Barbara 

and Penny for ensuring that the arrangements for feeding over 200 people (including 

runners etc) went smoothly. 

Going into the final round, in Division A Ruth Macinerney (London League) had just beaten 

Gareth Williams to go into 1st place followed by Brett Smitheram. Alan Childs (Salisbury) 

had just taken over at the top of Division B, Ronnie Reid (Basingstoke) headed division C, 

Janet Bonham (Aylesbury) was the only undefeated player in Division D, whilst in E it was 

Janet’s son Graham Bonham who led the field. 

The final round saw Ruth’s first defeat at the hands of Terry Kirk who then moved in to 

second place. Gareth came back strongly beating Brett to secure top position whilst 

Abraham Sosseh (Bournemouth) beat Andy Cook to claim 3rd place. Despite winning five 

out of six Ruth had to be content with the ratings prize but was more than happy with that 

and a tournament rating of 216. In B Alan Childs was one of only two 100% players on 

the day, beating Graham Buckingham (Luton) in the last round. Second and third places 

went to Davin Shenkin (London League) and Margaret Pritchett (Melton Mowbray) with five 

wins each. The ratings prize went to Margaret Bright. C Division was won by Wanda de 

Poitiers (East Berks) by virtue of a better spread than Ronnie Reid or Jean Swallow who also 

finished on 5 wins. The ratings prize went to Joyce Squire (Cardiff). Janet Bonham kept her 

unbeaten record in the final round, beating Ken Quarshie (London League). Second and 

third places went to David Carrod (High Wycombe) and Irene Woolley (London League). 

Judy Monger (Cirencester) took the ratings prize. Graham Bonham in E Division couldn’t 

emulate his mother, losing to Peter Kelly (Exeter) but still hung on to second place. Jean 

Buckley (Newport) came through to win the division with Peter’s final round win taking him 

to 3rd. Margaret Firmston (Guildford) took the ratings prize. Martin Taylor in division F was 

the only other player with a 100% record and he won that division from Jenny Harris 

(Weedon) and Margaret Emmott (Cirencester) with the ratings prize going to Chris Baker. 

The proceedings were wound up by David Lines, General Manager of Prospect Foundation 

who gave a short address and then helped with the presentation of the prizes. My thanks 

go to the members of Highworth Scrabble Club for ensuring the day ran smoothly. The 

final donation to Prospect will be around £1700. I don’t like to finish on a slightly negative 

note but I was asked to see one of Nationwide’s Director’s when I returned to work on 

Tuesday. He was disgusted with the state of the front approach which he said was littered 

with cigarette ends. I was clearly told that a repeat of this would mean the end of the 

tournament. There are bins provided so there was really no excuse for this and it left a sour 

taste in the mouth after the success of Sunday. 

Swindon A 

G. Williams 5 295 

T. Kirk 5 284 

A. Sosseh 5 275 

R. Macinerney 5 148 

Swindon D 

J. Bonham 5.5 222 

D. Carrod 5 566 

I. Woolley 5 56 

K. Quarshie 4 319 

Swindon B 

A. Childs 6 544 

D. Shenkin 5 415 

M. Pritchett 5 206 

G. Thomas 4 438 

Swindon E 

J. Buckley 5 491 

G. Bonham 5 413 

P. Kelly 5 150 

M. Firmston 5 92 

9 

Swindon C 

W. Poitiers 5 513 

J. Swallow 5 286 

R. Reid 5 113 

L. Hillard 4.5 247 

Swindon F 

M. Taylor 6 533 

J. Harris 5 625 

M. Emmott 5 354 

J. Whitehead 4 192

Southampton 

21st March (6 games) 

Report from Alan Bailey 

Forced to find a new venue, this year's Southampton tournament moved out of the City to 

Holbury on Sunday, 21 March. There was plenty of playing space, abetted by an entry field 

reduced to be on the safe side, and then further reduced by cancellations when some of 

the filially conscientious found out it was Mothering Sunday. Drawbacks were that the 

heating was not switched on early enough (this year), there was no separate space for coats, 

and it was farther for most players to travel, as well as virtually inaccessible by public 

transport. 

Restriction of entries meant that Joy Fox was initially turned down, and only let in by a late 

cancellation. Her reaction was to win 2nd prize in Group C, and the Terry Hollington 

Memorial Shield for best performer against rating. 

"Local" Frankie Mairey secured the silver plate as Southampton Champion for 2004. She 

won all 6 of her games, as did the winners of Group B, Elizabeth Hull, and C, Dorothy 

Dean. Group D's leader did drop a game, but as he had also won his Group at Andover 

the previous month Graham Bonham took the setback philosophically. 

Despite losing 2 games Noel Turner ended with a spread of +763, which outdid every other 

player by at least 250. One game alone he won by a margin of 443, which is a record for 

us if not for other tournaments. 

Ruth Marsden on computers, assisted by adjudicator Jimmy Cruickshank. ensured minimal 

delay between rounds and an early finish, despite the delayed start. To them and the three 

runners I am grateful as always. I am minded to use the venue again as the feedback I have 

received so far has been favourable. 

Southampton A 

Frankie Mairey 6 300 

Ruth MacInerney 5 150 

Noel Turner 4 763 

Southampton C 

Dorothy Dean 6 481 

Joy Fox 4 426 

Gail Allen 4 243 

10 

Southampton B 

Elizabeth Hull 6 384 

Wanda De Poitiers 4 435 

Rita Todd 4 405 

Southampton D 

Graham Bonham 5 321 

Maureen Barlow 5 128 

Iris Cornish 4 222 

Durham 

27-28th March (11 games) 

Report by Pete Finley 

110 players, including our standby, gave us a perfect 10 division round robin structure for 

the 17th annual Durham tournament. Prizes in each division were 1st- £70, 2nd - £40, 

3rd - £25, with each divisional winner also receiving a pair of Edinburgh Crystal wine 

goblets. 

We had a much more international flavour than usual this year, thanks to the presence of 

a five-strong contingent from Ireland (Brendan McDonnell, Catherine Costello, Kay 

McColgan, Eileen Meghen and Joyce Caruth) plus Anand Buddhdev from Holland and 

expats Sandra Hoffland and Heather Frankland from Spain and France respectively. There 

were the usual English and Scottish mobs of course, but whatever happened to the Welsh? 

Forewarned that Clive Spate was going to be appearing on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 

on the Saturday night, we had arranged for the college to video the show so that we could 

watch it after play finished. A big crowd of us duly cheered Clive on to £125,000. Jackie 

McLeod and Helen Grayson had been two of Clive's phone-a-friend options and had both 

known the answer to the £250,000 question, but sadly Clive chose the wrong friend to 

phone. 

There was clearly much celebration in the bar that evening as one highly rated player had 

to take a hangover break for one game on Sunday morning. It also emerged that Alastair 

Ives, who was attending on a non-residential basis, had to sleep on someone's floor, as he 

hadn't been able to get his car out of the college car park, which was locked. It didn't seem 

to do him any harm though as he went on to win his division. 

The food was particularly good this year - and that wasn't just our opinion, it was the 

popular view. Pride of place must go to the Saturday dinner dessert of 'Miroir Citron', 

which was to die for. Sunday's Sticky Toffee Pudding was excellent too. 

There were sterling performances throughout the field, but a few deserve a special 

mention. Simon Francis took third place in Div J in his first ever tournament - and he had 

never even played in a club before. In winning Division I, Russell Smith was the only 

player in any division to clock up 10 wins. Wayne Kelly won Div B with his highest ever 

tournament rating of 197.4. But right at the top of the tree was Adam Philpotts, one of the 

three lowest rated players in the A division, but still coming out on top ahead of a strong 

field which included three players who took part in the 2003 WSC. 

Congratulations to all concerned. Thanks to everyone who took part and everyone who 

helped make it happen, particularly Laura and Graeme. 

Prize winners were as follows: 

Durham A 

A. Philpotts 9 508 

P. Allan 8 408 

J. Robinson 7 38 

Durham D 

K. Leckie 8 361 

A. Ramsay 7 357 

J. Hiley 7 191 

Durham G 

A. Ives 8 387 

S. Thompson 8 144 

P. Wheeler 7 287 

Durham J 

A. Beckmann 9 740 

B. McLaren 8 104 

S. Francis 8 81 

Durham B 

W. Kelly 9 745 

C. Costello 8 309 

J. McLeod 7 284 

Durham E 

C. French 8 415 

T. Johnson 8 51 

V. Beckmann 7 371 

Durham H 

B. Hill 8 190 

J. Green 7 310 

J. Hodge 7 188 

(NB all results include a fictitious 1-point win over A Zother) 

11 

Durham C 

G. Thomas 9 663 

J. Cansfield 8 730 

C. Beevers 8 67 

Durham F 

T. Davis 9 372 

C. Emery 7 287 

S. Swaney 7 231 

Durham I 

R. Smith 10 878 

R. Flood 8 315 

G. Linfoot 8 295

Exeter Easter Weekend 

9-12th April 

Report by Andy Davis 

Despite losing its status as an ABSP-organised event, this tournament seems to fill up earlier 

each year. 106 players took part in the main competition, and at least a dozen more were 

disappointed to have got their entry in too late. 

The event took place in the presence of 

Josh Whitehead, the chap from Channel 

4 who is making a documentary about 

Scrabble players. There was also an 

international presence this year, 

including three ladies from Malta, a 

gentleman from Ireland, one from the 

USA (easily beating the record for the 

longest distance travelled to get to 

Exeter), and a temporarily UK-resident 

Canadian. 

Our very own newsletter editor took the 

Isca A title, a mere 2 points of spread 

ahead of Ross Mackenzie. There were 

no prizes for brilliant plays, but if there had been, then Ross would surely have claimed 

one for his superb play of AEROPHONES around PHO (albeit with 2 blanks on his rack). 

Peter Ashurst strolled to victory in the B division with the only unbeaten record in the Isca 

tournament. A moment sure to raise smirks amongst those with a juvenile sense of humour 

(such as myself) came when Josh Whitehead, when playing a sweet, elderly lady, placed 

down a certain 6-letter word beginning with F, ending with R and containing a K. 

Tragically, his cameraman had put away his equipment for the evening, so this moment will 

not appear in Josh's documentary. 

Isca A 

A. Webb 5 464 

R. Mackenzie 5 462 

D. Dennis 5 288 

M. Chamberlain 5 41 

12 

Josh Whitehead 

and camera 

Isca B 

P. Ashurst 6 525 

J. Parker 5 353 

J. Adams 5 275 

T. Lewis 4 321 

Stu Goldman 

American visitor 

Exeter A 

P. Appleby 15 1501 

B. Smitheram 15 1217 

N. Ball 13 1137 

W. Kelly 13 343 

A. Davis 13 309 

Exeter D 

J. Parker 13 675 

E. Smith 12 240 

J. Williams 12 201 

D. Taylor 11 273 

J. Lyes 11 137 

Exeter B 

S. Holden 15 899 

H. Greenaway 14 743 

S. Simonis 13 402 

D. Simonis 13 391 

J. McLeod 11 490 

Onto the main event, then. Things ran smoothly for the most part. Three divisions had 22 

players, and were played as an incomplete round robin with king-of-the-hill (KOTH) in the 

final round. Division A had perhaps the most interesting conclusion. For a while, Brett 

Smitheram threatened to run away with the event, but he slipped up towards the end of 

day 2 with defeats against Wayne Kelly and Roy Miller. As fate would have it, Brett met in 

the penultimate round the only player who could overtake him - Phil Appleby. Brett won 

this game, meaning Phil had to beat Brett in the final KOTH by 56 points. Phil did so in 

style, winning by nearly 200 points to take his second Easter A division title. 

The B division did not have such a close finish. Stewart Holden was the only player to have 

won his division before the final round. In this division, there was an interesting battle for 

third place, which resulted in Sandie Simonis beating son Daniel to overtake him and take 

the 3rd place prize. 

13 

Exeter E 

V. Plewes 15 1131 

C. Strawbridge 15 752 

K. Carson 13 619 

J. Rees 13 451 

C. Osborn 12 299 

Exeter C 

A. Childs 14 1101 

J. Hiley 14 961 

M. Conway 14 317 

D. Beasley 13 138 

S. Balment 12.5 861

In the C division, Joanne Hiley needed to beat Alan Childs by over 100 points in the final 

KOTH to win the division, but she only managed to win by 15, so Alan was safe. 

Divisions D and E were both standard 19-game round robins, and were won by Jill Parker 

and Viv Plewes respectively. 

Brighton & Hove 

18th April (6 games) 

Newcastle 

Brighton A 

Karl Khoshnaw 6 507 

Nick Ball 5 157 

Simon Carter 4 362 


Report from Viv beckmann 

We used the same venue as last year but this time had a far superior dining room. One 

entrant suggested that the BMSC be held in the North-East as this is actually the centre of 

Britain! 

This year we had participants with ratings ranging from 184 to 78 and coming from as far 

afield as Wales and Glasgow. We were also pleased to welcome Cherry Chapman who 

commutes between Hexham and Australia and used to run the Melbourne club. 

Newcastle A 

Craig Beevers 5 727 

Allan Simmons 4 433 

Pete Finley 4 60 

Ratings prizes were won by Neil Rowley and Alistair Ives in Division A, by Helen Cowie in 

Division B and by Cherry Chapman in Division C 

Southend-on-Sea 

Brighton B 

Verity Cross 5 387 

Doj Graham 5 371 

Pamela Kikumu 5 191 

Newcastle B 

Russell Smith 4 457 

Joy Hodge 4 169 

Hilda Hudspeth 4 97 

14 

Brighton C 

Ron Bucknell 6 539 

Sheila Booth-Millard 5 92 

Margaret Seabrook 5 114 

Newcastle C 

Rachael Streather 4 428 

Elisabeth Williams 4 372 

Ena Harding 3 125 


Report from Kevin Synnott 

Amazingly everyone turned up more or less on time for our first Spring tournament at the Civic 

Centre venue. Those who were delayed called from mobiles to let us know which was a great 

help. The weather was glorious so people were able to stroll and eat lunch outside. Evelyn was 

convinced that we would not get enough entrants to break even. In the event we had 86 players 

, Our best total yet. In A and B Divisions Ed Martin and Stuart Solomons were unstoppable and 

always looked like winning. In C and D Divisions Marie Perry and Pricilla Munday had to work a 

little harder and Marie relied on spread to pip Graham Bonham. A good day too for Southend 

locals Beryl Shine and Noel Barnes who both won a ratings prize. Robert Richland staggered away 

from his encounter with Ed Martin. Ed started the game with four bonuses on the spin before easing 

up with a 47. Robert composed himself though and still managed second place on 5 wins.Our 

next tourney date at Southend is Sat 16th October 

MSO Cambridge 

2nd May (6 games) 

Southend A 

Ed Martin 6 512 

Robert Richland 5 225 

Bob Violett 4 340 

Southend C 

Marie Perry 5 519 

Graham Bonham 5 431 

Beryl Shine 5 252 

MSO Cambridge A 

George Gruner 5 509 

Andrew Roughton 4 377 

Sanmi Odelana 4 248 

Rhein International Tournament - Oberwesel 

1st-2nd May (14 games) 

Report from Alec Webb 

Maybe it’s the spectacular location, maybe its the 

congeniality of a group of Brits in foreign parts but, 

just as last year, in units of enjoyment per minute 

the Rhein tournament is unsurpassed. 

Sadly, there were only sixteen participants this year, 

split into 2 divisions and playing a double roundrobin 

format. Sarah Wilks established an early lead 

in Division B and held on to right to the end. In 

Division A Elie Dangoor lost his opening game but 

then won all of his 13 remaining games to be a 

worthy champion. 

Organiser Karl Khoshnaw has asked me to give 

special thanks to Peter Keller, a non-playing friend 

who made the trip just to act as tournament director, 

which he did flawlessly. 

With the disappointing number of entrants for this 

tournament, Karl has had to give thought to making 

changes for next year’s competition and would very 

much like to hear from former Rhein participants 

and those who would give consideration to entering 

a Germany-based tournament. 

Would a change of location be equally or more 

attractive than the current one. The alternative 

15 

Southend B 

Stuart Solomons 6 402 

David Carrod 4 490 

Louise Brundell 4 233 

Southend D 

Priscilla Munday 5 615 

Jan Gibson 4 312 

Joan Everitt 4 295 

MSO Cambridge B 

Chris Cummins 5 745 

Ken Bird 5 282 

Janet Bonham 4 284 

A Division winner Elie Dangoor (left) 

with Tournament Director Peter Keller. 

B Division winner Sarah Wilks (right) 

with runner-up Cindy Hollyer.

venue would be in Lower Saxony near Karl’s home. It too is a very beautiful area, although 

more pastoral. The towns are magnificent with an abundance of superbly preserved 

timbered buildings. Hopefully, any new venue would be in one such town, and not a mile 

mountain climb away as with Oberwesel. Karl is also thinking of moving the date of the 

event to July. Please let Karl know how such changes may influence the likelihood of your 

entering the event. Karl can be reached through The Last Word or by emailing him directly 

at cazique7@hotmail.com 

Scottish Championship 

Rhein A 

Elie Dangoor 13 1218 

Alec Webb 11 1261 

Bob Lynn 8 367 

10th-11th May 

Report from Alan Sinclair 

The Gannochy Suite at the Dewar’s Centres in Perth is a great room to play in: spacious, 

with plenty of light and good sized tables. There are lots of windows to gaze out of for 

those who need to contemplate what to do next to help turn the game their way! 

So we started on time on the Saturday morning with hopes riding high. The obvious 

favourites were our two highest-rated players, Paul Allan and Neil Scott, and the winner in 

the previous two years, Allan Simmons. After the first game I was slightly concerned when a 

rather highly rated player queried why winners were playing against winners! I put it down 

to shock and then had to convince myself that they were getting slightly mixed up with a 

round robin format. Paul beat Neil in the second game, but then became the first major 

casualty of the tournament when he was beaten by Jim Wilkie from the Lang Toun (Kirkcaldy) 

in the third game with a spread of 101. Jim was delighted, but it was obviously a bit too much 

for him, as he went on to lose both of his next two games by exactly the same margin! 

After the fourth game it was becoming apparent that Simon Gillam was getting back to top 

form. He had won all his games and had just beaten Allan Simmons. After he beat Paul 

in the sixth game, Simon was the only player to finish the first day on six wins. Neil and 

Allan followed on five wins, while Paul and Iain Harley, returning from a spell out of 

competition, were amongst a group on four wins. 

Sunday morning saw the squaring of shoulders and Simon being eyed as the man to beat. 

He continued his winning ways in game seven against Neil, but then hit a losing streak 

which allowed Paul to catch and then overtake him. After the tenth game Paul was out in 

front by one win, and he maintained that lead to the finish, having won all his six games 

on the Sunday, to become Scottish Champion for the first time. Allan was second and Iain, 

with five wins on the Sunday, edged out Simon for third. 

Scottish Championship 

Paul Allan 10 798 

Allan Simmons 9 044 

Iain Harley 9 405 

Simon Gillam 9 250 

Neil Scott 8 602 

16 

Rhein B 

Sarah Wilks 12 821 

Cindy Hollyer 9.5 443 

Ron Bucknell 8 174 

Bourne 

9th May (6 games) 

Report from Graham Wakefield 

Bourne Scrabble club held its first rated tournament on Sunday 9th May at the Corn 

Exchange, near the town centre. Some quick rejigging of the tournament program was 

needed to get the event on its inaugural path. So 10 minutes behind the official start time, 

3 divisions with 22 players in each, got under way, but by the start of round 3, with dinner 

behind us, the ship was back on course. 

Bourne A 

Evan Simpson 6 582 

Stewart Holden 5 671 

Alec Webb 4 264 

Bourne B 

Greg Kelly 6 719 

Carolyn Emery 5 290 

Ken Bird 5 – 8 

By the end of round 5, Adrian Noller led division C by 1 win, but was well behind on 

spread to the three players just behind, so couldn't afford to let up at all. Greg Kelly had 

taken the bull by the horns in division B and could just about coast it in the last game being 

5 from 5 and + 303 with Carolyn Emery, Marjorie Smith and Ken Bird all 1 win adrift. 

Although Ev was undefeated in the A division, he couldn't relax. If he lost to Chris Hawkins 

and Stewart Holden beat Alison Sadler, then Stewart could win it. If both Ev and Stewart 

were to lose heavily, then either Chris or Alison would have been in with a chance. 

So game 6 came and went with all the leaders winning. Well done to all of them. Prizes 

were awarded to the 1st four in each division and also a ratings prize. The ratings winners 

were David Darman in C in 5th place. Sarah Wilks in B, who came home in 9th place and 

in A, it went to Mark lane in 5th spot. 

Leaving tradition behind, we decided to award a shield for the best performance of the day 

across all divisions and this went to Greg Kelly with 6 wins and a spread of + 719. 

congratulations to him on his achievement. 

Thanks to all who helped on the day with refreshments between every round or did the 

running or adjudicating. We even had to tell one of our runners to slow down as she 

thought that a runner had to run! Not bad when all our helpers were over 55 years young, 

except for Yoke Shin and myself of course! 

17 

Bourne C 

Adrian Noller 6 205 

Marjorie Gardner 5 219 

Kathy Carson 4 507

Knowier after the event 

Alan Bailey: Here is a short postscript to the 

article by Tournament Virgin David Sutton 

(West Berks report, The Last Word 95). 

As he said, I let him in to play WONKIER 

by playing UH for UH/HET to score 27, 

with the H on B6. My other rubbishy letters 

on that rack included the second W. My 

move was quite inept, based partly on my 

ignorance of the fact that HET also takes as 

front hook the K, which David had got, as 

well as S. With hindsight I should have 

changed some tiles. 

What David did not know about the same 

game was this. I had earlier left the Q 

Testing the tiles in Malta 

Cindy Hollyer: Anxious for respite from the 

cold, the damp and the Beckhams, six 

members from Brentwood and Romford 

Scrabble Clubs headed for the sunshine in 

Qowra, Malta. I had the foresight to 

contact Joe Micallef, President of the Malta 

Scrabble Club and he met us shortly after 

our arrival. The result was an invitation to 

club nights at St. Aloysious School in 

Birkirkara and to their Liberation Day 

Tournament at the Union Club in Sliema. 

Their club venue was a little difficult to find 

even for our taxi driver. However, we met 

some of their players, played a few games 

and had an introduction to the informality 

of club nights. Just as well – Jacqui White 

was quite taken aback to have one of the 

members cross over and rearrange the tiles 

on her rack to make a word. As the word 

was ‘AUTO’ and she works for Fords, it was 

L E T T E R S 

t o t h e e d i t o r 

18 

floating at C1. A little later I found myself 

with the rack DEERUS? I spotted 

ESQUIRED, and firmly told myself to stop 

making words up, and there was no sense 

letting David know what I had got by 

playing a phoney. So I settled for QUEERS 

for 48, thus saving the blank for later use. 

Muchly chagrined was I after the game to 

discover that ESQUIRED now exists. It 

would have scored me 212 

In sum therefore, just two sins in one game, 

one of omission and one of commission, 

made me a gross loss of 311 points. I fear 

this may be a record, the sort I am not 

proud to have set. 

like carrying coals etc. He then crossed 

over and did the same for her opponent! 

Unfortunately, only Peggy Lavender of 

Brentwood and myself were able to attend 

the tournament as we had extended our 

stay. This venue was very ex-pat and very 

swish. For 6 liri we had 6 games of 

Scrabble, copious amounts of coffee and 

tea, mouthwatering cakes and lunch with 

waitress service. Excellent value. On the 

down side, games are not played in 

sepulchral silence, conversations are not 

carried out sotto voce nor are mobiles 

switched off - they are even answered. 

One elderly lady ex-pat found the noise 

overwhelming and left. It was only after it 

was felt that no more competitors were 

likely to arrive that the tournament 

commenced - as more arrived more tables 

were brought out. The standard was very 

high, the Maltese were using SOWPODS 

long before we accepted the inevitable. 

and incorrect challenges invoked a 5 

point penalty. What I really enjoyed was 

the warmth and friendliness of the 

members. Within a few minutes we felt 

like lifelong friends. “Come back Cindy” 

they said, “Bring some more friends and 

19 

we will arrange a special tournament for 

you”. 

I intend taking them up on this anyone 

interested ? The weather ? It was fair, 

indifferent and good - but since when has 

that mattered to Scrabblers. 

I am not on commission but I do 

recommend a Scrabble holiday there. 

In order provide information and encouragement to new tournament organisers, 

Carol Smith of Norwich Scrabble Club was asked to describe how she went about 

arranging the forthcoming first Norwich Scrabble Event. 

Organising the Norwich Scrabble Tournament 

I had been thinking about a tournament in Norwich for some time, even sounding 

out various hotels and conference rooms while on courses for my work, but never 

actually took anything on. Then last year, Mike, my husband reached the grand age 

of 65 so we had a surprise birthday/retirement party for him at Hethersett Village 

Hall. Among the guests were experienced tournament organisers, Christina and 

Dave French who were very quick to point out that the hall was an ideal venue for 

a Scrabble tournament, just off the A11 London to Norwich road, close to the A47 

Midland to East Coast route - easy access for all. (I must add that from the moment 

that Christina and Dave offered their assistance I decided to go ahead and do it.) 

First thing, find a suitable date Top priority - do not clash with an Ipswich home 

game (for clubmates Philip and Jacquie Aldous), or a holiday, or any other Scrabble 

event within this area (not difficult as this is not a very active Scrabble region). Of 

course, I also had to ensure the availability of the venue. 

I contacted Paul Cartman, the ABSP tournament co-ordinator, for a list of tournament 

dates already booked, had a look at the ABSP website and their Tournament 

Organisers’ Guidelines and finally settled on September 12th 2004, which would not 

clash with any other event. 

Mike and I then spent an afternoon at the home of Christina and Dave where they 

advised us on all the probable expenses the event would incur. These include hire of 

hall, tournament director’s fee, ratings levy, prize money, trophies, score sheets, 

refreshments and rewards for runners. Between us we worked out the budget for the 

tournament, with me scribbling notes to ensure nothing would be overlooked or 

forgotten. Christina and I then completed the Application for Ratings Approval for 

dispatch to Paul together with a draft copy of our entry form. 

Mike and I then headed home to Norfolk where we are now patiently awaiting entry 

applications. (At the time of writing this we are about half full). 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Christina and Dave for all their 

assistance. I would recommend anyone planning his or her first tournament to talk 

to someone who’s done it before, as I found out, it makes the prospect of organising 

a tournament much less daunting.

World Simultaneous Scrabble Record 

On Tuesday 11th May Pete Finley made 

an attempt on Chris Hawkins’ World 

Simultaneous Scrabble Record. 

This is Pete’s report: 

“Subject to ratification by the Guinness 

people, we did it. 

I had nineteen opponents in the end (one 

opponent couldn’t make it) and I won 10 of 

the 19 games, finishing in 2 hours 47 minutes. 

There were 9 opponents from Cleveland SC 

and 10 from Middlesbrough Gamers Club. I beat the Scrabble players 7-2 and the Gamers 

10-0. My two conquerors were Neil Fulton and Richard Moody. 

I played two moves of over 100, VERITAs and HEADRIGS, and other pleasing plays included 

ALAIMENT (with three overlaps) and AEQUORIN. I had two phonies challenged off - 

UNHOpING* (which was a desperate attempt to win an otherwise lost game) and GRAYEN*, 

which was just a mistake. In both cases I told my opponent to challenge because I wasn’t 

sure of the words. 

On reflection, I’m sure that my time is a very ‘soft’ record - easily beatable. Although my 

helpers were recording my scores for me, I did total up and announce my score for every 

move. If this is deemed unnecessary, I estimate that at least 15 minutes could be shaved off 

in this way - say 3 or 4 seconds per move, average of 15 moves per game? 

I could have also saved time by playing the letters out quickly in games where I was well 

ahead. Even in these games I did make some attempt to play something that resembled the 

best move. Blitzing to the finish in games that are already won could save more time. 

I suspect Chris Hawkins may fancy another go at the record now, and Brett Smitheram has 

been toying with the idea too. Good luck! 

Many thanks to Chris Dickson of MGC, who organised the record attempt, my wife Laura, 

Pauline Johnson, Sam Beckwith and Tony Davis for being helpers, and all of my opponents. 

The Gamers’ names would not be familiar to you, but the Scrabblers were Neil and Richard, 

as mentioned above, plus Trish Johnson, Yvonne Goodridge, Barbara McLaren, Flo Davies, 

Jessie Brown, Lis Williams and Margaret Stockton.” 

Pauline Johnson adds: 

“As one of the helpers, I can vouch that it was no easy task to play that number of people. 

For erstwhile organisers the room was laid out in an open square so that Pete could move 

around on a chair on the inner edge from table to table. He went as quickly as he could while 

the helpers tried to stay ahead of him and keep his opponents playing as rapidly as possible. 

Pete would play his move and announce the score leaving Laura to adjudicate any challenge, 

write down the score and replenish Pete’s rack. A second helper then came along when the 

opponent played their move and verified that play.For the opening move Pete started on all 

the even numbered tables and replied on all the odd ones. This enabled him to do one 

circuit while his “odd “ opponents were playing their moves. After the initial circuit he played 

every table in order. 

The facilities at our disposal were excellent and our thanks were given to Chris Dickson for 

doing the administration work with the centre and Guinness.” 

20 

204 N David Acton (GM) 

203 Y Phil Appleby (GM) 

199 Y Harshan 

Lamabadusuriya (Exp) 

198 Y Nick Ball 

197 Y Andrew Davis (GM) 

196 N Brett Smitheram (GM) 

195 Y Mark Nyman (GM) 

195 Y Andrew Perry (GM) 

193 Y Helen Gipson (GM) 

193 Y Adam Logan 

193 N Shanker Menon 

192 Y Clive Spate (GM) 

191 Y Paul Allan (GM) 

190 Y Andrew Cook (GM) 

189 Y Russell Byers (GM) 

187 Y John Grayson (GM) 

185 Y Pete Finley (GM) 

185 Y Terry Kirk (GM) 

184 Y Wayne Kelly 

184 Y Karl Khoshnaw (Exp) 

184 Y Neil Scott (Exp) 

183 N Sam Kantimathi 

182 Y George Gruner 

182 Y Allan Simmons (GM) 

182 Y Alec Webb (Exp) 

182 Y David Webb (GM) 

181 Y Femi Awowade (Exp) 

181 Y Elie Dangoor (Exp) 

181 Y Chris Hawkins 

181 Y Adam Philpotts 

181 Y Gareth Williams (GM) 

180 Y Brian Sugar (GM) 

179 Y Stewart Holden 

179 Y Ed Martin 

179 Y Steve Perry 

179 Y Evan Simpson (GM) 

178 Y Martin Fowkes (Exp) 

178 Y Jared Robinson 

177 Y Danny Bekhor 

177 Y Di Dennis (GM) 

177 N Gary Oliver 

176 N Gerry Carter 

176 Y Richard Evans (Exp) 

176 Y Chris Vicary 

175 Y Barry Grossman 

175 N Jake Jacobs 

175 N Lee Jones 

175 Y Lewis Mackay 

175 Y Gary Polhill (Exp) 

174 N Catherine Costello 

174 Y Philip Nelkon (GM) 

174 Y Austin Shin 

R A T I N G S L I S T 

(GM) Grand Master (Exp) Expert 

ABSP Member? Y=Yes N=No 

174 Y Sandie Simonis (Exp) 

173 Y Simon Gillam (Exp) 

173 N Brendan McDonnell 

173 Y Roy Miller 

173 Y Robert Richland (Exp) 

172 Y Bob Violett (Exp) 

171 N Craig Beevers 

171 Y Bob Berry 

171 Y Darryl Francis (Exp) 

171 Y Helen Greenaway 

171 Y Jackie McLeod (Exp) 

171 Y Ruth Morgan-Thomas 

(Exp) 

170 Y Daniel Simonis 

170 N Sheila Spate 

169 Y Penny Downer (Exp) 

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Suttawassuntorn 

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(Exp) 

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165 Y Theresa Camilleri 

165 Y Nick Deller 

165 N Alan Georgeson 

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165 Y Bob Lynn 

165 Y Neil Rowley 

165 Y Wilma Warwick 

164 N Billy Dott 

164 Y Chris Finlay 

164 Y Elisabeth Jardine 

164 N Diane Pratesi (Exp) 

164 N Chris Quartermaine 

164 N Ricky Zinger 

163 Y Jojo Delia 

163 Y Pauline Johnson 

162 Y Helen Grayson (Exp) 

162 N Dave Nunn 

162 Y David White 

161 N Ed Garrett-Jones 

161 N John Howell 

21 

161 Y Mike O’Rourke 

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157 Y Christine McKenzie 

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156 N Neil Green 

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156 Y Les Nyman 

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155 N Ralph Gibbs 

155 Y Debbie Heaton 

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155 Y Frankie Mairey 

155 N Thomas Mensah 

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155 N Angela Swain 

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155 Y Malcolm Wearn 

155 Y Rachelle Winer 

154 Y Steve Balment 

154 N Alan Catherall 

154 Y Sheila Green 

154 Y Marion Keatings 

154 Y Robert Pells 

Ratings at 

18-5-2004 

At least 30 games 

and at least 

1 since 18-5-2002 

154 Y Frances Ure 

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153 Y Phil Kelly 

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Steer 

22 

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23 

114 Y Hannah Corbett 

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112 Y Peter Kelly 

112 N Norman Partridge 

112 Y Vivienne Plewes 

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112 N Isobel Smith 

112 Y Yvonne Templeton 

111 N Lyn Brookes 

111 Y Ron Bucknell 

111 N Marlene Diskin 

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111 Y Barbara Grant 

111 Y Molly Lane 

111 N Dennis Nelson 

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111 Y Claudia Wiseman 

110 N Don Beavis 

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109 Y Richard Hitchcock 

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108 Y Irene Atkinson 

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108 N Eve Dwyer 

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108 Y Jill Jones 

108 Y Rosemary Jordan 

108 Y Adrian Noller 

108 N Jane Weston 

107 Y Keith Churcher 

107 N Joy Hewgill 

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107 Y Vivienne Newman 

107 Y Celia Osborn 

106 Y Sylvia Baldock 

106 Y Margaret Boyd 

106 N Sue Bullock 

106 N Irene Catherall 

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106 Y Lorna Llewellyn 

106 N Ann McDonnell 

106 Y Sheila Miller 

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106 Y Beryl Shine 

105 Y Helen Aley 

105 N Stephen Lally 

105 Y Isabelle McLean 

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97 N Yoke Shin 

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97 N Beryl Trace 

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96 N Judy Beales 

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96 N Joan Everitt 

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96 Y Mary Lindsay 

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96 N Hazel Smith 

96 Y Jean Stevens 

96 Y Marianne Ward 

95 Y Rita Barton 

95 Y Carmen Borg 

95 Y Fred Burford 

95 Y Chris Chapman 

95 N Jean Gelly 

95 Y Barbara Haggett 

95 Y Barrie Hall 

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95 N Joan Johns 

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95 N Alice Nadin 

95 Y Derek Neath 

95 Y Sheila Reeve 

95 N Jean-Iris Williams 

94 Y Barbara Barker 

94 N Ruth Binding 

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94 N Prue Buckingham 

94 N Rose Lawson 

94 N Anne Lawton 

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94 Y Remie Salazar 

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94 Y Evelyn Wansbrough 

94 N Dorothy Wilks 

94 Y Elisabeth Williams 

93 Y Margaret Coleman 

93 Y Kerry Constant 

93 Y Yvonne Goodridge 

93 N Patricia Holmes 

93 N Violette Little 

24 

93 N Richard Tempest 

93 N Christine Watkins 

93 Y Anne Wilkins 

92 Y Jacquie Aldous 

92 N Jan Gibson 

92 Y Jean Masterson 

92 Y Moreen Shillitoe 

92 Y Rose Wall 

91 Y Ginny Dixon 

91 Y Caroline Elliott 

91 N Agnes Gray 

91 N Jean Jacobs 

91 N Barbara Pinto 

91 Y Jenny Sakamoto 

91 Y Peter Shuttlewood 

91 Y Ian Whyte 

91 Y Amabel Winter 

90 Y Brian Beaumont 

90 N Bernard Bruno 

90 N Margaret Emmott 

90 Y Jean Greenland 

90 N Kitty Reid 

89 N Mike Adsetts 

89 N Joan Hughes 

89 N Audrey Jackson 

89 Y Barbara McLaren 

89 Y Beroze Mody 

89 Y Sheila Smith 

89 N Mary Warwick 

88 Y Vera Allen 

88 N Doreen Coleman 

88 N Steve Davie 

88 N Joyce Frost 

88 N Lionel Howard 

88 Y Mandy Isaac 

88 N Baldip Kaur 

88 Y Gordon Lamb 

88 N Olive Matthew 

88 Y Susan Paton 

87 N Dorothy Black 

87 Y Joan Garlick 

87 N Sheila Johnston 

87 N Helen Thompson 

87 N Rod Winfield 

86 N Iris Grover 

86 Y Lyndon Johnson 

86 Y Norah Thompson 

85 Y Peter Basham 

85 Y Hazel Brannan 

85 Y Moira Metcalf 

85 Y Fergus Williams 

85 N Reg Wiseman 

84 N Chris Baker 

84 N Florence Connell 

84 N Mary Craddock 

84 N Bernard Dolan 

84 Y Lionel Millmore 

84 Y Patrick Teague 

83 N Margaret Craig 

83 N Winnie Haston 

83 Y Peggy Lavender 

83 N Doris Mackay 

83 N Monica Urquhart 

82 Y Evelyn Mankelow 

82 Y Zoe Marlowe 

82 Y Joan Murphy 

82 Y Jill Russell 

82 Y Sheila Stanton 

81 Y Ted Anderson 

81 N Elsie Brown 

81 N Joyce Caruth 

81 N Eileen Johnson 

81 N Moira Mackintosh 

80 N Doreen Searles 

80 Y Margaret Webb 

80 N Bobby Wright 

79 N Peter Munt 

79 N Nicholas Robertson 

79 N Jane Thomas 

78 Y Pamela Brown 

78 N Cath Cameron 

78 Y Eileen Hunter 

78 Y Millie Ward 

77 Y Marcia Davies 

77 N Frank Goodier 

77 N Helen Jankowski 

77 N Vanw Lloyd 

77 N Margaret Sutherland 

76 Y Jean Ross 

76 N Pat Sinclair 

75 N Jessie Chisholm 

75 N Margaret Jaggs 

75 Y Michael Murray 

75 N Elizabeth Mustard 

75 N Mary Shiells 

74 N Norma Clunas 

74 Y Dorothy Henry 

74 Y Edna Lindeck 

74 N Douglas Reid 

74 N Carl Szzvanowski 

73 Y Letty Burrell 

73 N Ena Harding 

72 N Sheila Marshall 

72 Y Olive Smith 

72 N Nancy Yorkston 

71 N Alec West 

70 N Betty Meazey 

69 N Margaret Regan 

67 Y Mary Kennedy 

67 N Helen Tegg 

64 Y Ruth Turner 

63 Y Jean Hendrick 

62 Y Philip Turner 

60 N Barbara Yeaman 

55 Y Barbara Horlock 

No. 14 

25 

by PHIL APPLEBY 

Annotated Game: Evan Simpson v Stewart Holden, 27th March 2004 

This issue’s featured game comes from the A division at the Durham event. Although 

neither player was challenging for the title, for both Evan and Stewart there was plenty of 

pride at stake... 

Evan 1: CIILOTY 

Evan finds the ideal play, in terms of score and rack leave. The only problem is that it’s not 

a word! Perhaps he was hoping Stewart would play a B, D, or S, so that he could play an 

8-letter word next move (see page 32 for the solutions). Best is ICILY at h8a for 28. 

(COILY) 0 0 

Stewart 1: A EEFNOZ (- 0) 

Not a difficult choice for Stewart. ZOEAE scores the same, but the leave is substantially 

worse. FEAZE for 42 isn’t bad, but it’s not as good as ZONAE. 

ZONAE d8a 48 48 

Evan 2: CIILOTY (-48) 

Ideally Evan would like to play off one of his I’s. OILY at e7a (20) or f9a (19) would leave 

CIT, while YONIC at f6d (24) leaves ILT. However the best score is 34 for ZLOTY at d8d. 

Evan wisely decides to take the points. 

ZLOTY d8d 34 34 

Stewart 2: E F BDDNW (+14) 

Not a great pick-up, but Stewart finds an excellent rack-balancer with a word I didn’t know. 

However the more mundane DOWF at c10a for 19 actually simulates slightly better. 

WEBFED h4d 19 67 

Evan 3: CII ADEG (-33) 

Again Evan has lots of choices, and again the decision is whether to go for score or rack 

leave. The highest scoring play is OIDIA at e8d for 26, but CEG is a rather clunky leave. 

For better balance there’s DINIC at f6d for 18, leaving AGE, or IGAD at g2d for 16, leaving 

ICE. A move that achieves both score and a decent leave is WIDGIE at h4a for 22, leaving 

AC. Again, Evan opts for the points. 

OIDIA e8d 26 60 

Stewart 3: D N EIIUV (+ 7) 

Stewart does well to spot the only playable bonus. 

UNDIVINE f2d 75 142

Evan 4: CEG AIOP (-82) 

Evan has an unusual, but playable, seven-letter word on his rack - can you see it? (See page 

32) Of the non-bonus plays, Evan’s choice of PEACING looks as good as anything - any 6letter 

-ING word keeping the E back (PACING, COPING, CAPING) all take an S in front, 

which looks a bit dangerous. 

PEACING a3a 28 88 

Stewart 4: AEHOSWY (+54) 

Stewart’s word knowledge again comes to the fore, enabling him to find the best move. I’d 

have had to settle for the second best play of HYPO for 39. 

SOPHY a1d 51 193 

Evan 5: O EGHJR? (-105) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 

S 

O U 

P E A C I N G 

H D W 

Y I E 

V B 

I F 

ZONAE 

L I E D 

OD 

T I 

Y A 

This is the type of rack where the best play is dependent on the state of the game. Evan is 

over 100 points behind, has a blank on his rack, and needs at least one bonus. And the 

board isn’t exactly bonus-friendly. So he is looking for a play that opens the board and gets 

rid of the J. If he was well ahead, he might well settle for the highest-scoring play of HOD 

at d4a for 30. 

Evan’s choice is JO at i3d. I’d probably have played JOR for the extra points, particularly 

with no R’s having been played so far. 

JO i4d 22 110 

Stewart 5: AEW LRST (+83) 

A big mistake by Stewart. With three bonuses on the rack (see page 32), he manages to 

come up with a phony. How costly will it turn out to be? 

(WALTERS) 0 193 

26 

Score: 

Evan 88 

Stewart 193 

EGHJOR? 

Evan 

Evan 6: EGHR? EQ (- 83) 

Clever play by Evan, blocking all three of Stewart’s sevens, plus the 8-letter BLEWARTS at 

h6a. 

JOE i4d 12 122 

Stewart 6: AELRSTW (+71) 

Despite his error, Stewart still looks in good shape, with a nice 24-point play and a 

beautiful AERST leave. However I think I’d have played OW, keeping back the L for 

EEL. 

OWL a2a 24 217 

Evan 7: EGHQR? E (- 95) 

Holding an identical rack, Evan plays the move he would have done but for the necessity 

to block Stewart’s bonuses. 

QI e5a 22 144 

Stewart 7: AERST EM (+73) 

Nothing wrong with the pick-up, but on a tight board there are no playable bonuses. 

Stewart maintains his STARE, playing off EM for the maximum score. I’d have been tempted 

by EM at f11d for 15, on the basis that it creates an additional hook for the E and S. 

HEM a4a 19 236 

Evan 8: EEGHR? I (- 92) 

Like Stewart, Evan has multiple bonuses but nowhere to play them. You might like to test 

yourself by seeing how many 7-letter words you can find with Evan’s rack - see page 32 for 

the answers. Without a bonus, Evan looks to balance his rack and create a new S hook. 

His EH looks like a sound move. 

EH f11d 17 161 

Stewart 8: AERST AB (+75) 

At last Stewart gets his bonus, with the choice of ABATERS and ABREAST at i9d. With a 

140-point lead, he must be feeling very confident... 

ABREAST i9d 65 301 

Evan 9: EGIR? A? (-140) 

How quickly a 140-point lead can disappear! Note that if Stewart had played ABATERS 

instead, Evan could still have scored 131 points with ASSIGNER. 

sTRIGAtE h15a 131 292 

Stewart 9: ADEKORT (+ 9) 

Again Stewart has a 7-letter word on his rack (see page 32), but again it won’t play. KO is 

a best, setting up an additional bonus line. 

KO j2d 25 326 

27

Evan 10: AGEIIST (- 34) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 


S 

OWL U K 

P E A C I N G J O 

HEM D WO 

Y I E E 

V B 

I F 

ZONAE 

L I E D A 

OD B 

T I E R 

Y A H E 

A 

S 

S T R I G A T E 

Things are getting very interesting, with both players holding racks full of bonus potential. 

Evan decides that the tiles to ditch are GI, and I agree with him. Looking at the unseen tiles, 

there are far more consonants than vowels to come, including four N’s and four R’s, either 

of which would combine beautifully with AEIST. The real question is where to ditch GI. 

The three prime candidates are k3d, j9d, and c1a. Evan plays the boldest of the three, 

making JOG/GI. It’s a straight race to see who can pick the bonus first... 

GI k3d 14 306 

Stewart 10: ADERT MU (+20) 

Evan’s previous move has worked out perfectly for him. If he’d played GI anywhere else, 

Stewart would have had MATURED at k1d for 86. Denied his bonus, Stewart has the 

choice of continuing to fish for a bonus, or trying to maximise his score. The bottom right 

corner of the board offers several opportunities: MUD at m14a for 21 leaves a lovely RATE 

on the rack, but it’s probably best to play more tiles and extend the lead. There are a couple 

of nice 5-letter plays; best is DATUM at k14a, but not far behind is Stewart’s play of 

MUTED. 

MUTED k14a 30 356 

Evan 11: A E I S T E N (- 50) 

Evan gets the bonus he was fishing for, although TENIASES at b14a would have scored 5 

more points and been less risky. 

TRAINEES h11a 66 372 

Stewart 11: A R CLLRT (-16) 

Behind for the first time, and with a horrid rack, things have definitely gone downhill fast 

for Stewart. Being a northerner, CLARTS leapt out at me, but Stewart’s southern roots 

conspire against him on this occasion, and he has to settle for CARLS instead. 

CARLS o7d 21 377 

28 

Unseen: 

AAEEIOOOUUU 

CDFLLMNNNNP 

RRRRSTTTVX 

Score: 

Evan 292 

Stewart 326 

A E G I I S T 

Evan 

Evan 12: A F N O P S T (- 5) 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 


S 

OWL U K 

P E A C I N G J O G 

HEM D WO I 

Y I E E 

V B 

I F C 

ZONAE A 

L I E D A R 

OD B L 

T I E T R A I N E E S 

Y A H E 

A 

S M U T E D 

S T R I G A T E 

Considering how much dross there was in the bag, this is a great pick-up. The question is 

how best to utilise the riches on his rack... Evan decides to take the points immediately, 

playing FAST using the S for JOGS. However this sets up FASTI, and the possibility of an 

immediate comeback for Stewart with NIX for 36, or even worse, a move such as FLUX at 

l1a for 42. 

With the GIF hook available, it would be far better to hold back the S and take the points 

there. FOP for 30 looks great, leaving ANST, but with lousy tiles in the bag and few 

openings for bonuses a better play is FONT for 28, setting up a high-scoring play from 

o1 involving FONTS. 

FAST l1d 38 410 

Stewart 12: LRT RROU (-33) 

From Stewart’s perspective, the unseen tiles are IOOU NNNPVX. Is there any possibility 

of eking out a win? Somehow he needs a high-scoring move involving the X, and the best 

possibilities still appear to be at the top of the board. I’m not sure I’d have seen it, but 

the move the computer likes best is TORR at k12a for 18. It leaves LU on Stewart’s rack, 

giving the possibility of FLUX, so a pickup which include NIX might still be good 

enough. Stewart’s move of UR at m13a has the advantage of leaving three tiles in the 

bag, but there’s surely insufficient potential left on his rack. 

UR m13a 12 389 

Evan 13: N O P NNOV (+21) 

Evan has a 21-point lead, with IOULRRTX unseen. What’s the worst that Stewart could 

do? I suppose it has to be FLUX, FLIX or FIXT at l1a for 42, and unless the X is in the bag 

he has to have one of ‘em. For that reason it might make sense to play a move that blocks 

these plays - for example ANON at l2a. However Evan adopts the alternative strategy of 

maximizing his score. EEVN is a difficult word to see; perhaps the presence of “Ev” 

helped him spot it! The other good thing about EEVN is that it leaves two vowels on 

29 

Unseen: 

IOOUU 

LNNRRRTVX 

Score: 

Evan 372 

Stewart 377 

A F N O P S T 

Evan

Evan’s rack, so the chances are that he can play out in two moves - whereas it’s difficult 

to envisage a one move out-play for Stewart after his expected 42-point X play. 

EEVN h5a 22 432 

Stewart 13: LORRT IX (-43) 

With no two move out-play, Stewart settles for the 42 points for FIXT. 

FIXT l1a 42 431 

Evan 14: NNOOP U (+ 1) 

With Stewart unable to play out, all Evan needs to do is to play out in two. His move 

achieves this, although there are various alternatives which would have increased his 

spread. 

PUN j7d 9 441 

Stewart 14: LORR (-10) 

Best is LOR at k10a for 9, but quite rightly Stewart tries a word that he hopes will be there. 

Unfortunately for him, it ain’t. 

(LORRE) 0 431 

Evan 15: O O N (+10) 

And Evan duly plays out to win the game. 

POON 

Final score: Evan 452 Stewart 427 

j7a 7 448 

A Tempting Setup 

In the Easter Matchplay, I was faced with the following situation in my game against Mark 

Nyman: 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 


YOB J 

C ONEPAT L S 

N Q 

B E U 

V A T A I 

Z A X F Y R 

HOAG I ES U E 

FORE MOWN D 

UKE 

V E L D S 

A W 

A L G E R I N E 

C I D U I 

S O R I C I N E G 

R I P E E H 

30 

Unseen: 

AAIOLTTT 

Score: 

Phil 419 

Mark 448 

DMNOR S T 

Phil 

I decided to try something clever, and played MHO at l15a for 11. My reasoning was that 

if I picked up a vowel I’d have a pretty much unblockable high-scoring play on the O 

column, making MHOS. Mark could make life slightly more difficult, but I couldn’t see any 

way in which he could stop me scoring 40+ points - and if he did, he would risk sacrificing 

the chance of playing out in two. I duly picked up one of the two A’s, but Mark responded 

with TOWT at k11a for 20, taking a 38-point lead, and after my DANS/MHOS for 48, he 

played out with TAIL/TON/AWEIGH/IT for 26, winning by 20 points. 

As it happens, with an A in the bag there is a way in which I can win the game. Can you 

see it? The answer is on page 32. 

An Unexpected Opening 

My thanks to Allan Simmons for submitting the following board position. What move 

provides the best winning chance in this position? 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 


Z F O B 

P E R V E R Y 

AR FELON 

NOD J AGER 

O T U G 

ER L 

MUM WO 

I T H A H S 

B E A 

X P O O 

I V A T D I C K 

ANOD I SE Y 

E U 

D A T I N G S 

Q U I N 

It would be very dangerous to play ZAIRE because that will empty the bag and there is a 

realistic threat of a bonus ending in -S or _SE from the opponent down the n column 

making DICKS. 

The opponent might well score 42 or 45 so from the Z so how do you counter both the 

threat of a good Z score and the threat of a bonus? 

See next page for a possible answer... 

31 

Unseen: 

CEEEIILNST 

Score: 

You 350 

Opp 370 

AAE I RSW 

You 

Contributions for Across the Board 

I’m always delighted to receive interesting board positions, games for annotation, clever 

moves, endgames, and anything else that’s happened to you across the board. You can 

contact me at: 

Thorns Cottage, Mount Pleasant Lane, Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 8LS 

or by e-mail at: phil_appleby2000@yahoo.co.uk

Answers to problems posed in Across The Board 

Annotated game: 

(1) The three eights with CIILOTY are BIOLYTIC, DOCILITY and SOLICITY. 

(2) The 7-letter word with ACEGIOP is APOGEIC. 

(3) The three sevens with AELRSTW are WARSTLE, WASTREL and WRASTLE. 

(4) EEGHIR goes with A, D, N and W to form HIREAGE, HEDGIER, REHINGE, and 

REWEIGH/WEIGHER 

(5) The 7-letter word with ADEKORT is TROAKED. 

A Tempting Setup 

The winning play is MOST at a12a for 34, giving me a 453-448 lead. After the A pick-up, 

I have out-plays at n7d with RAND, or k11d with DINAR. Mark’s best play is ATILT at n6d 

for 18, but after DINAR I win 467-464. 

An Unexpected Opening 

Play YA at m12a for 5 - you have the last hooks for YA (R and W). Your rack leave of 

WARIES combines with 70% of the unseen letters to make a playable bonus: 

• E = WEARIES 

• I = AIRWISE 

• L = SWALIER/WAILERS 

• T = WAITERS/WAISTER/WASTRIE 

Your opponent will probably have to try and block this threat, if at all possible, for example 

with SAT at n11d. If the opponent can’t, and has to settle for a Z score, then he will empty 

the bag and you will have the endgame advantage and a bonus, or at worst a high-scoring 

play involving YAW which might still give you a chance of the win. 

HB HOLIDAYS 

SCRABBLE HOLIDAYS 2004/5 

25 - 28 June Ramada Jarvis, Caledonian, Ayr 

23 - 26 July Ramada Jarvis, Bingley 

3-6 September Clifton Hill Hotel, Penrith 

1 - 4 October Best Western Park Lodge Hotel, Falkirk 

17 - 23 October Hotel Le Relais Alpin, Switzerland 

29 Oct - I Nov Cairn Hotel, Harrogate 

12-15 November Standish Moat House, Wigan 

4 - 11 February Hotel Sol, Magalluf, Majorca 

Enquiries to Viv Beckmann 

01912 731705 

howzatvb@gotadsl.co.uk 

32 

Pictured here with his bride Wendy, 

Brian Cappalletto, former WSC 

champion and arguably the worlds 

finest Scrabble player, was married 

on May 8th. 

EDGEWAYS 

Hook Trains 

In this puzzle, each word has a number of hooks on each end. Fill in each space with the 

one letter that is both an end-hook for the word preceding it and a front-hook for the word 

succeeding it. For example: 

PERFECT [ ] RING [ ] YENS 

PERFECT takes A, I, O and S after it; RING takes B, E, I and W before it. I is the only letter 

common to both lists, to make PERFECTI and IRING, so I is the answer here. Since S is the 

only letter that hooks onto RING, the next answer must be S, making RINGS and SYENS. 

Fill in the hook trains below. In each case there is only one right answer, and no letter is 

used more than once in either puzzle. 

(a) UNCLE [ ] EIGHT [ ] UNDER [ ] AUNT 

(b) PINK [ ] BET [ ] ARE [ ] DOS [ ] OR [ ] ACER [ ] RED 

Romeo and Juliet Tango in India 

Which seven letters of the phonetic alphabet are 

not in OSWI? 

Anananagrams 

Part XXIII 

How many words of 2 or more letters can you 

make from this opening rack? 

Compiled by Ross Mackenzie 

(Puzzle solutions on inside back cover) 

33 

“...but Romeo, I just 

want to dance”

Forgotten Fives 

(a word list contribution from David Sutton) 

Most players seem relatively weak on their knowledge 

on their five-letter words. Easy to understand why: 

the typical aspiring player learns the twos, threes 

and some of the fours, then rushes on to study the 

high-probability six- and seven-letter bonus stems, 

meaning to return to the uncommoner fives in due 

course, but somehow never quite gets round to 

learning any more of them than a few useful vowel 

dumps and a selection of the JQXZ words. This 

is a pity. The bonus sevens and eights might 

be the knockdown blows of Scrabble, but the fives 

are the short-range body punches that wear an opponent down. Below are fifty five-letter 

words that have two things in common: they are all medium probability, containing at 

least one three or four pointer, and they are all words that I have played in recent months 

against opponents at my local West Berks club and which they (mistrustful lot that they 

are) have challenged. How many would you have challenged? And how confident are 

you of the hooks? My opponents have, for example, tried -S hooks on CHODE, PEART 

and WAIDE. This is not to be recommended! 

ABLOW ALEFT BECAP BIFID BIGAE 

BLAUD BONIE CHODE CUBEB CURDY 

DONAH DOUMA FUGIO GEYAN GIBUS 

GLEEK GREWS HALON HEROE HOWBE 

ILIUM KYANG LINDY METIF MOYLE 

MUDGE MUNGO MURRY NEAFE NOILY 

PEART PIERT SAYID SCUTA SOILY 

SOWAR SPROD SWELT SWIRE TAMAL 

TUPEK VACUA VIMEN VINCA VITTA 

VIVAT WAIDE WEFTE WILED YERBA 

First and last 

Complete the following words, given just the length of the word and the first and last 

letters. In each case there is only one answer: 

(a) E __ M (3 letters) 

Y __ __ O (4 letters) 

V __ __ __ B (5 letters) 

Z __ __ __ __ P (6 letters) 

T __ __ __ __ __ W (7 letters) 

A __ __ __ __ __ __ W (8 letters) 

V __ __ __ __ __ __ __ K (9 letters) 

34 

Now complete the following words, given just the first and last letter. This time you have 

to work out the number of letters yourself! Again, there is only one answer in each case. 

(b) A ____________ J 

T ____________ V 

D ____________ U 

X ____________ G 

V ____________ F 

Phoney Goings On (3) (contributed by David Sutton) 

My friend Jeremiah Wanwordy, whose idiosyncratic approach to Scrabble involves 

learning everything that is not a word on the grounds that whatever then remains on his 

rack, however improbable, must be a valid play, has recently been entranced to discover 

that almost any word can be transformed into a non-word by the addition of almost any 

letter on the front of it, and has been spending much time on the study of these ‘antihooks’, 

as he terms them. I happened to be glancing at one of his rather thick notebooks on the 

subject , and noticed that once again he has made a number of mistakes and some of his 

more spectacular antihooks are in fact perfectly valid. Can you put him right? In each case, 

one of the three words is genuine. 

ANTELOPE CANTELOPE a kind of melon 

GANTELOPE an armoured glove 

PANTELOPE a mediaeval clown, a buffoon 

ACONITE BACONITE one who believes that Shakespeare’s plays were written 

by Bacon 

RACONITE a radar control beacon 

TACONITE a type of iron-bearing rock 

IMPLEMENT DIMPLEMENT the state of being dimpled 

PIMPLEMENT a small pimple 

SIMPLEMENT a medicinal herb 

INDIGO BINDIGO a vagabond who carries his possessions in a bundle 

MINDIGO a large Canadian lake fish 

WINDIGO a mythical monster of American Indian legend 

RABBIT DRABBIT a low-class wench, a slattern 

FRABBIT cross, peevish 

GRABBIT a hand-tool, a kind of wrench 

URSIFORM BURSIFORM shaped like a purse or pouch 

CURSIFORM of earthworks, having a curved shape 

NURSIFORM (US) a nurse’s uniform 

35

Anagrid 

1a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

Horizontal clues: Vertical clues: 

1: PREJEES - DUFFIES a: BADJEB - EIKIER 

2: VILLAUA - AKENESS b: TELEAU - STEFTE 

3: NULGLIB - MOKCIAO c: LELS - EASLY - LAAR 

4: SLABIS - INTERE d: LIUP - NOARS - APEG 

5: UHM e: ILVE - SAYUP - NEOX 

6: DEALY - LARSE f: SRIN - NIGS 

7: PYRAT - ANOAX g: SERTHEO 

8: AUSRERE - BEEVORS 

9: SPROO - ESSAM i: AXYOMMS 

10: EKENS - ROOTH j: NOIK - ATEN 

11: OSS k: EMEF - SLOAS - TYPM 

12: EAPEST - BENBYL l: IRAF - NEARA - EBUT 

13: LANXIER - SUEMALE m: AUNI - TARSE - NILB 

14: OGGIESA - PIESTAB n: CRESTO - SLEATH 

15: NEERENT - SENTTAT o: KERESS - SEESOY 

36 

Numbergrid 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 

I 

37

Herve Bohbot, the French representative at last year’s WSC is one of very few Frenchmen 

who play Scrabble in English. Although not his first language he 

still managed to win 8 games at that elevated level 

What chance would we have of playing in French? Well, according 

to Geoff Cooper we are already using several French words... 

The French Connection 

Geoff Cooper, (currently sojourning in Northern France) 

The following French words in capital letters are all allowed in 

Scrabble but you won’t find these definitions in Chambers. LES VOILA ! 

[nb in French, nouns and their pertinent adjectives are designated either (m) masculine or 

(f) feminine and/or (pl) plural] 

AI = Have fr avoir - to have - j’ai, tu as, 

DE = Of - a useful word which eliminates the possessive apostrophe. 

EN = In ( and a variety of alternative meanings) 

ES, EST = Are or Is, from être - to be - je suis, tu es, il est 

ET = And LA = The (f) - le, la, les MA = My (f) - mon, ma , mes 

OU = Or TA = Your (f) - ton, ta, tes UN = A or one 

ANE = Ass BAS = Low or low down BEL = Fine, handsome, beautiful 

CAP = Cape - Cap Gris Nez is where you would swim to from Dover and your nez 

would be bleu 

CAR = Coach or bus DIT = Say or said, from dire - to say - je dit = I say 

FAR = Speciality flan from Brittany FIN = End JEU/X = Game/s 

LES = The (pl) LOT = French Département also name of river MAL = Bad 

MON = My (m) NON = No - what a NICE girl says? NOS = Our 

PAR = By PAS = Not RIZ = Rice SEC = Dry 

SON = His, hers or its when the noun is (m) - son, sa, ses 

TES = Your (pl) TON = Your (m) 

VIN = Wine - don’t drink VIN du CHATEAU - (see CHAT) ABBE = Priest 

ATOC = (Sorry - the supermarket chain is Atac and it’s also found in Spain) 

AUTO = Motor car - to be utterly confused see also CAR and VOITURE 

BIEN = Well - as in didn’t he do.... 

BAUD = Breton town which stages Camion Cross or Truck Racing 

BORD = Edge or rim BRIE = Famous cheese 

BRUT = Rough or crude. Opp DOUX describing cider 

CAFE = Coffee CENT = One hundred 

CHAT = Cat - do not confuse with poussez (push) 

CHEZ = At or to the house of - CHEZ NOUS - our house 

COIN = Corner CUIT = Cooked - (BIEN CUIT - well done) 

DANS = In or into DENT = Tooth 

DOUX = Soft or sweet. Opp BRUT describing cider 

FORT = Strong HAUT = High 

HERM = Island - not French but closer to France than England 

JOUR = Day MAIN = Hand 

MIDI = Noon (In 30 minute’s time everywhere closes for 2 hours) 

NICE = Where all the Nice French girls come from? 

38 

NOUS = Us or we - people from Leeds usually say this when they mean NOS though 

CHEZ NOUS is “us ‘ouse” PAIN = Bread 

PLAT = Dish or course - eg PLAT du JOUR PAYS = Country - eg Pays de Galles=Wales 

PONT = Bridge - there’s an incomplete one at Avingnon 

POUR = For - and a pourboire is a tip (for a drink) ROTI = roasted 

ROUE = Wheel - as on a CAR (bus or coach ), AUTO or a VOITURE 

ROUX = Red, ginger SANG = Blood 

SARK = Island - not French but closer to France than England 

SENE = A town on the Golfe de Morbihan close to Vannes 

SEPT = Seven TETE = Head TIRE = Shoot, also a shot played in PETANQUE 

TOIT = Roof TOUR = Tower eg Eiffel TOUT = All TRES = Very 

TROP = Too - my PETANQUE approach play is often TROP FORT 

ARRET = Stop BOULE = Ball - metal ball used to play PETANQUE 

CARTE = Map CHAMP = Field 

DROIT = Right - drive on this side. To confuse the British TOUT DROIT means straight ahead 

FILET = A net - I thought that my steak was a bit stringy 

JETON = I think this is a token. Anyway I have to put them in the slot for the campsite 

washing machine to work 

JEUNE = Young LAPIN = Rabbit 

MERDE = A French expletive very common at JEUX des PETANQUE 

PARIS = Capital of France PARTI = Left, from partir meaning ‘to leave’ 

PEAGE = Toll or toll road PERDU = Lost PETIT/E = Small, little, also a young child 

PHARE = Lighthouse PLAGE = Beach PLUME = Pen 

REDON = Town on the River Vilaine only a few kms from where I am now. 

ROCHE = Rock - The town (excusez-moi, petite cité de caractère) of La Roche Bernard, 

also on the Vilaine, is even nearer - just down the N165 

ROUEN = French city (or CITÉ) SABLE = Sand 

SALLE = Room - SALLE À MANGER - dining room 

SEINE = Famous river running through PARIS and ROUEN 

SELLA = Ex-international rugby player TOURS = Towers - also name of a French town 

ANGERS = Yet another French town ATTEND = wait, from attendre - to wait 

BRETON = Sort of French Plaid Cymru - someone who 

paints out road signs if they are not in his language 

GAUCHE = Left - don’t drive on this side unless you are 

mad enough to attempt to overtake a Frenchman 

MANGER = To eat MOULIN = A Mill 

ORLEANS = French city also a common bonus 

VOITURE = Car - not a motor coach or a bus but a motor 

car. Again to confuse the Brits also a coach or carriage 

FATIGUÉ = What I am after compiling this article and 

what you are if you’ve read this far. 

PS I am puzzled by Paté à l’Ancienne. I don’t know whether it is made at Ancienne or 

by old people, for old people or even from old people. Well, Paté du Lapin isn’t made by 

rabbits and I’ve not seen any lapins buying it in Intermarché. At €10.17 per kilo that 

certainly makes me worth a “bob or two” but they’d probably use me to make Paté de 

l’Âne. Geoff 

39

X8 tras 

No 12 from Christina French 

WHAT’S A COUPLE OF WORTH TO YOU? 

Why? you may ask. Well because ABSP member Mary Brown of the Carshalton Club 

played SQUEEZES for 275 when she was playing Barbara Allan on 14th April in one of the 

Division games at the club. Can any of you keen tile pickers match or beat that score for a 

word you have played recently? 

LITTLE INNOCENTS 

Childhood photos featured last issue were of Wayne 

Kelly and the couple were ‘my significant other’ and 

myself. I thought I would start off with some easy ones 

and they obviously were. Some of your guesses were 

half right and half wrong but well done to Viv 

Beckmann and Robert Richland for their correct 

guesses. Their prize is the very mention of their names 

within these revered pages. 

I’ve upped the anti this time - just a little bit harder. 

But hey! Who is this cute little poser? 

YOUNG COUPLES 

40 

Wayne Kelly, then and now 

Shouldn’t be too difficult to identify 

this well known Scrabble couple. 

Don’t you just love 

a little bit of romance tile pickers? 

Of course you do, and what a story of Scrabble Love Jill Harrison has 

to tell us ... 

Last June, Cirencester Club invited Gloucester Club to come 

over and play a few friendly games. 

After this enjoyable evening, one member of the Gloucester Club, 

Norman Partridge, decided he would like to continue to join us 

every week. This he did and very soon he became friends with 

another of our members, Anne Stevens. Over the next few 

months, romance blossomed and on March 20 they got married! 

Several of us took our bags of tiles to the reception and shook 

them vigorously to “introduce” one of the speeches. 

Who needs Speed Dating when there are Scrabble Clubs all 

over the country? 

Jill Harrison 

Anne is an ABSP member - Norman is 

not - Anne’s next wifely duty is 

obviously to get Norman to join the 

ABSP. 

If you know of a Scrabble romance we should 

all be made aware of you should let us know 

immediately ... not that we’re a nosey bunch. 

41

Spotted on the internet: 

Collective nouns for Scrabble Tiles 

(suggested by Jeffrey Clark and Susi Tiekert) 

Five or more vowels on your rack? You have an ABOITEAU of vowels! How about a 

like number of consonants? Now you have a CRWTH of consonants! 

Holding 4 A’s? - an ATALAYA of A’s 

4 E’s? - a FREEBEE of E’s 

4 I’s? - a VISIBILITY of I’s 

4 O’s? - a POOLROOM of O’s 

Holding all the U’s? - A muumuu of U’s 

Finally - Old MacDonald rack? - Any two tiles + EIEIO “Scrabble” mugs are too small 

appeals Peter Bailey of Hove in Sussex 

I won a “Scrabble“ mug as a ratings prize. 

After my last tournament, I decided to wash my Scrabble tile 

bag and needed to put the tiles somewhere while the bag was 

drying. As I don’t use my “Scrabble“ mug for drinking from, I 

thought this would be the ideal tile holder. As you know, there are 

100 tiles in a set. The “Scrabble” mug only holds 93 standard tiles. 

Shouldn’t future mugs be a little larger? 

I have been much saddened to hear of the passing of Don Davis who contributed 

letters to TLW in the past - interesting ones too. 

Daphne Fletcher of the Hove Scrabble Club wrote: 

Don collapsed and sadly died of a heart attack on the way to our club in April. His 

funeral was well attended by numerous friends and the many organisations he 

belonged to. 

He thoroughly enjoyed competitive scrabble, to “keep the brain cells active” (aged 

85) and was an excellent player, always cheerful (with the exception of Scrabble 

“vowel trouble”) and was a loyal Club supporter. 

Don was a popular man and a great advertisement for Scrabble holidays and 

tournaments (the I.O.W. was his favourite) when we usually travelled together 

exchanging scrabble ideas en route. 

He will be greatly missed. 

42 

ABSP MEMBER INTERVIEW STELLA WILKINSON 

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY PAMELA WINDSOR 

Many thanks to Pam Windsor for interviewing Stella for the newsletter. Pam tells me “we 

are all very proud and fond of Stella”.Two for the price of one here as not only is Stella 

an ABSP member but she has just joined the exclusive 090 Club and is member No 6. 

When did you join Carshalton SC? 

I joined the Club in October 1982. 

Do you enjoy captaining a team playing in the Southern 

Counties League? 

Yes, in spite of the frustrations of finding dates to suit all 

the right players in each match. 

Why does playing Scrabble interest you so much? 

Having always liked mind games and doing crosswords, 

Scrabble appealed to me when I played my first game with 

my sister in about 1965. 

Is Scrabble your main hobby? 

My other pastime is doing jigsaw puzzles and although I am not very mobile I do go to 

several Whist Drives in the wintertime. 

Tell me about your career and marriage. 

I left school at 14 years of age and was immediately apprenticed to the millinery trade. I 

travelled every day to the Barbican from Windsor where I lived then, and did so four for 

years until we moved to London. I married in 1935, had three daughters and now have six 

grand children and seven great grand children. 

Do you mind people knowing your age? 

Not at all. I was 91 years old on 6th January 2004 and at the Club on the Wednesday we 

all enjoyed a chocolate cake made by one of the members and they all sang “Happy 

Birthday”. 

When was the above photograph taken? 

On my 90th birthday last year. 

Remember if you would like to join The 090 Club the criteria for joining is you MUST be 

over 90 - a couple of young things in their 80s tried to join in the past and obviously their 

application was declined. 

PHOTOGRAPHS - Over the last few years I have amassed quite a few photographs. 

If you have given me a photograph and I have not returned it please do not panic - they 

are all safe and I will return them as and when. 

43

FORTHCOMING EVENTS 

Scottish Open Tournament 

12th-13th June 

Best Western, Bridgend 

11th - 14th June 

Peterlee Matchplay (5 games) 

Sunday 13th June 

Contact: Samantha Beckwith 

0191-586-6436 

Venue The White House Community 

Centre, Eden Lane, Peterlee, 

Co Durham 

Registration: 10:00 

First game: 10:30 Departure: 17:00 

Compiled by Paul Cartman 

Each tournament approved for rating will get a listing including: date, number of games 

and contact details. For one day tournaments, further details will be given as regards 

pricing, start times etc, to allow members to utilise the generic entry form. Note that 

some organisers have indicated that rated tournaments will occur on particular dates, 

but that full details are not yet available. These tournaments are included for 

completeness and once details are known, they will be published as appropriate. 

This symbol denotes that the tournament organiser has let it be known that 

the venue is disabled friendly. The absence of a symbol does not mean that 

disabled access is not possible, and in these circumstances the prospective 

entrant should check with the organisers 

Note to Entrants 

These rules apply to all tournaments 

The entry cost of all rated tournaments includes the ratings levy 

Positions are determined on win and spread unless otherwise stated 

Smoking is not permitted in the playing area(s) 

You will normally be placed in a division equivalent to your rating or ability. You 

may request to enter a higher division but the Tournament Organiser reserves the 

right to reject your request. 

Entries are at the sole discretion of the Tournament Organiser. 

You must always include a SAE with your entry for application. 

Please arrive on time 

44 

Contact: Amy Byrne 

0131 661 3869 

Contact: Viv Beckmann 

0191-273-1705 

Tea/Coffee available at points during the 

day but lunch is not provided. 

Entry costs: £9.50 For ABSP members 

£11.50 For non-ABSP members 

Deduct 50p if bringing a timer 

Closing date for entries 31st May 2004 

Cheques payable to: 

Samantha Beckwith, 91 Hatfield Place, 

Peterlee, Co. Durham, SR8 5SU 

Romford (7 games) 

Sunday 20th June 2004 

Contact: Phyllis Fernandez 

0208 599 5937 

Venue Dukes Hall, Maygreen 

Crescent, Park Lane, Romford, 

Essex 

Ample parking available 

Registration: 8.30 a.m. 

First game: 10:00 Departure: 18.15 

Jarvis Caledonian, Ayr 

25th - 28th June 2004 

Luton (6 games) 

Saturday 26th June 

Contact: June Edwards 

:01908 679041 

Venue: Lealands High School, Sundon 

Park Road, Luton 

Emergency No. on day only 07905 677488 



3/4 divisional tournament. 

Summer Matchplay 

July 17th-18 

New Malden (6 games) 

Saturday 17th July 2004 

Contact : Shirley Cave 

020 8540 8469 

Venue: Christ Church Centre, Coombe 

Road, New Malden , KT3 4RE 

Registration: 9.15 

First game: 10:00 Departure: 17.45 

Lincoln (6 games) 

Saturday 24th July 

Contact: Teresa Hill 

01427-838741 

Venue: Bracebridge Community 

Centre, Newark Road/Maple 

Street, Lincoln 

Registration 10:00 

First game 10:30 Departure 17:30 


45 

Round Robin, tables of 8 players playing 7 

games 

Tea/Coffee and biscuits available between 

games, lunch is not provided. 



Cheques payable to Romford Scrabble Club 

and sent to Phyllis Fernandez, Oakdove 

Nursing Home, 41 Barley Lane, 

Goodmayes, Essex IG3 8XE 

Contact Viv Beckmann 

0191-273-1705 





Deduct 50p if bringing timer 

Cheques payable to Luton Scrabble Club 

and sent to 

Mrs June Edwards, 39 Parklands, Great 

Linford, Milton Keynes, MK14 5DZ 

Sae, to June Edwards for directions 

Contact: Mike Willis 

01908-668117 

3/4 Divisions 




Tea, Coffee and biscuits will be provided 

Cheques payable to S I Cave, 14 Linden 

Gate, 9 Church Walk, Raynes Park, 

London, SW20 9DL 

Tea/Coffee available on arrival, at lunctime 

and after fourth game 




Cheques payable to Lincoln Scrabble Club 

and sent to Teresa Hill, Granville, 

Heapham, Nr Gainsborough, Lincs, DN21 

5PT 

Closing date for entries 12th July 2004

Ramada Jarvis, Bingley 

23rd - 26th July 

Nottingham Nomads (16 games) 

Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th August 

Scottish Round Robin 

14th-15th August 

ABSP British Matchplay Scrabble Tournament 

Ladies Event 27th-28th August 

Main Event 28th-30th August 

Clifton Hotel, Penrith 

3rd - 6th September 

Havering Autumn Scrabble Tournament (6 games) 

Saturday 4th September 

Contact: Cindy Hollyer 

01277-822050 

Emergency No. on day 

07952 557324 

Venue: Kelvedon Hatch Village Hall, 

Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood, 



East Sussex (6 games) 

Saturday 11th September 

Contact: Ed Breed 

01424 219334 

Venue: Hailsham Community Hall, 

Vicarage Lane, Hailsham 

Registration: 9:00 First game: 10:00 


Norwich (6 games) 

Sunday 12th September 

Contact Carol Smith 

01603 898791 

Venue Hethersett Village Hall, 

Hethersett, Norwich, Norfolk 


First game 10:15 Departure 18.00 

46 

Contact: Viv Beckmann 

0191-273-1705 

Contact: Clive Spate 

0115-920-0208 

Contact: Marion Keating 

01592 265524 

Contact: Ross Mackenzie 

01592 265524 


0191-273-1705 






Cheques payable to Havering Scrabble 

Group and sent to: 

Cindy Hollyer, 78 Peartree Lane, 

Doddinghurst, Brentwood, Essex, 

CM15 0RH 



Entry costs: £11.00 to ABSP members 

£13.00 to non-ABSP members 

Deduct 50p if bringing a timer 

Cheques payable to East Sussex Scrabble 

Tournament and sent to: 

Ed Breed, 19 Magdalen Road, Bexhill-on- 

Sea, East Sussex 

3 divisional tournament. 

Tea/Coffee and homemade cakes provided 

(but not lunch) 



No further discounts 

Cheques payable to Carol Smith, 

31 Christine Road, Spixworth, Norwich, 

NR10 3PH 

Middlesbrough (5 games) 

Sunday September 26th 

Contact: Samantha Beckwith 

0191-586-6436 

Venue Linthorpe Community Centre, 

Linthorpe Road, M’brough 


First game 10:45 Departure 17.30 

Best Western, Falkirk 

1st - 4th October 

Bournemouth (6 games) 

Sunday 3rd October 

Contact: Ruth Marsden 

01202 707148 

Venue: Rooper Hall, 5 Victoria Park 

Road, Moordown, 

Bournemouth 

on day only 07720 949 825 


Southend-on-Sea (6 games) 

Saturday 16th October 

Contact: Evelyn Wallace 

01702-302569 

Venue: The Civic Centre, Victoria 

Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, 

Essex 

Registration 09:30 

First game 10:00 

Hotel Le Relais, Alpin, Switzerland 

Sunday 17th - Saturday 23rd October 

Elgin (5 games) 

Saturday 30th October 

Contact: Lorraine Gordon 

01466-794332 

Emergency no on day: 

07713 876842 

Venue Elgin Community Centre, 

Trinity Road, Elgin 

Registration :10:00 

First game 10:45 Departure 17:30 

47 

Food not included so bring packed lunch 




Cheques payable to: Cleveland Scrabble 

Club and sent to: 

Samantha Beckwith, 91 Hatfield Place, 

Peterlee, Co. Durham, SR8 5SU 

Closing date for entries: 12th September 


0191-273-1705 

First game: 10:00 Departure 17.30 

Tea/Coffee available throughout the day 




Cheques payable to Bournemouth Scrabble 

Tournament and sent to: 

Ruth Marsden, 27 Spencer Road, Canford 

Cliffs, Poole, BH13 7ET 

4 divisional tournament. 






Cheques payable to Southend-on-Sea 

Scrabble Club and sent to 

Evelyn Wallace, 2 Shakespeare Avenue, 

Westcliff on Sea, Essex, SS0 0ST 


0191-273-1705 

2 division tournament 

Tea/Coffee and biscuits on arrival, lunch 

and refreshments prior to leaving 





Cheques payable to Elgin Scrabble Club 

and sent to Lorraine Gordon, Glenview, 

Aberdeen Road, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, 

AB54 6JD

Cardiff Weekend (14 games) 

30th-31st October 

Isle-of-Wight 

29th-31st October 

Contact: Noel Turner 

Cairn Hotel, Harrogate 

29th October - 1st November 

Standish Moat House, Wigan 

12th - 15th November 

Milton Keynes 

27th-28th November 

Contact: Mike Willis 

Stoke Rochford (12 games) 

Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th December 

Pitlochry 

Contact : Wilma Warwick 

0131 669 7319 

2005 

Pitlochry 

Contact : Wilma Warwick 

0131 669 7319 

Chester 

28th-30th January 

Venue: The Ramada Hotel, Chester 

48 

Contact: Mary Allen 

029 20757311 

01983 614426 

Details not yet finalised 


0191-273-1705 


0191-273-1705 

01908 6688117 

Details not yet finalised 

Contact: Christina French 

01708 701578 

Sunday23rd - Wednesday 26th January 

15 games 

Wednesday 26th - Friday 28th January 

10 games 

Sunday23rd - Wednesday 26th January 

15 games 

Wednesday 26th - Friday 28th January 

10 games 

Contact: Kathy Rush 

01928 733565 

Don’t forget to enclose a stamped self-addressed 

envelope when making entry applications 

Answers to Edgeways XXIII 

Hook Trains: 

(a) W (UNCLEW, WEIGHT), S (EIGHTS, SUNDER), N (UNDERN, NAUNT). 

(b) Y, H, A, T, F, B. 

Romeo and Juliet Tango in India: 

Disallowed are INDIA, JULIET, NOVEMBER, OSCAR, QUEBEC, XRAY and YANKEE. The 

others (all allowed) are ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, DELTA, ECHO, FOXTROT, GOLF, 

HOTEL, KILO, LIMA, MIKE, PAPA, ROMEO, SIERRA, TANGO, UNIFORM, VICTOR, 

WHISKEY and ZULU. 

Anananagrams: 

There are twelve: AA, AN, NA, ANA, ANN, NAN, ANAN, ANNA, NAAN, NANA, 

ANANA and NANNA. 

First and Last: 

(a) ELM, YUKO, VOCAB, ZIPTOP, TRISHAW, AIRSCREW, VIDEODISK; 

(b) AFLAJ, TAV, DETENU, XEROXING, VEINSTUFF. 

Phoney Goings On: 

The valid words are: GANTELOPE, TACONITE, DIMPLEMENT, WINDIGO, FRABBIT and 

BURSIFORM 

Anagrid: 

Numbergrid: 

J E E P E R S D I F F U S E 

A L L U V I A S K E A N E S 

BUL L I NG OOM I ACK 

BAS I LS NER I TE 

E T H U M O R 

D E L A Y E Y L A E R S 

YRAPT XOANA 

E R A S U R E O B S E R V E 

S O P O R M E S A S 

K E E N S O A O R T H O 

I F S O S A Y 

E T A P E S N Y B B L E 

R E L A X I N A E M U L E S 

I SAGOGE BAP T I SE 

E T R E N N E A T T E N T S 

1=C, 2=Z, 3=Q, 4=D, 5=M, 6=T, 7=W, 8=F, 9=G, 10=A, 11=U, 12=S, 13=H, 14=K, 15=J, 

16=P, 17=Y, 18=I, 19=R, 20=V, 21=B, 22=E, 23=O, 24=X, 25=N, 26=L. 

49

TLW96 - Nomads Results

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