Scrabble News

Avid players of Scrabble are never late to hear any news concerning their much-loved game. But for those who aren’t in the know, there are a couple of happenings in the world of Scrabble that you might be interested in finding out. Back in 2010, there was a big hullabaloo over the news spreading worldwide that the rules of Scrabble will be changed for the first time in history. Mattel had announced that it would be allowing the use of proper nouns in the game which caused a big uproar among Scrabble purists who thought the classic game didn’t need changing at all. Thankfully, this wildfire of a rumor was doused when Mattel clarified that this change in rules will actually be done in a new type of Scrabble game they will be producing called Scrabble Trickster, something for the younger generations to enjoy.  In 2011, there were yet again certain noises being made across Scrabble communities worldwide when the list of acceptable Scrabble words was changed to accommodate 3,000 new additions. These new words ranged from slang such as THANG and INNIT to new verbs like FACEBOOK and WEBZINE. Other additions include WAGYU and more Q words such as FIQH (related to Islamic sharia law) and QIN (Chinese zethir). However, the news turned out to be true only for countries outside of North America who use the Collins English Dictionary. USA and Canada uses the OWL or the Official Tournament and Club Word List which doesn’t have the additional 3,000 words. That is, for now.  On another front in the Scrabble world, the highest total score in a Scrabble game held in a sanctioned Scrabble tournament is now 803; the record was set by Joel Sherman, a veteran Scrabble champion, in Dec. 9, 2011 when he defeated a former National Scrabble Champion, Bradley Robbins. It must be noted that the veteran champion is 49 years old while his defeated opponent is 14 years old, proving that Scrabble is a game for all ages. And for those who love to play Scrabble on their iPhones and iPads, the game has a new update! With version 1.14.37, players can now enjoy several new features including a Game Center where they can see their games, how they rate against their friends, and even see the best scores in the Game Center leaderboards. With so many things happening in the Scrabble world, it’s not surprising that this classic board game is still as addicting as ever.