Oi! White Rabbit!
2002 NSC Champion, Joel Sherman
Originally uploaded by Word Freak. So it's the beginning of another month. February just whizzed by. So we're one month closer to spring, which I'm really looking forward to. Even though I did take my bike out for a ride today in the icy cold. I long to see our city come alive like it does in a month or two.
I remember reading something somewhere (perhaps in someone else's blog) that Toronto in the spring is like nothing else: people come out of nowhere and start shedding their hibernation ruts and begin a new rutting season. There's a positive sexual charge in the air. Just what I need. This will likely be the first springtime I spend single in almost 10 years.
So, a new month, a new Scrabble word source. Say goodbye to EMF and hello to HOS, LES and POO. But try not to conjure images of those three together. These are some of the changes in the new Scrabble Official Club and Tournament Word List (OCTWL2), thanks to the hard work of the NSA Dictionary Committee. The new bible for us Word Nerds will undoubtedly alter the game in many new and exciting ways.
We've now got 44 new three-letter-words (and the one omission); 128 new four-letter-words; 303 new five-letter-words; over 540 new sixes; over 901 sevens; and over 1333 eights. But the biggest splash is the new two-letter-words.
There are just five new twos: FE, KI, OI, QI and ZA. Yes, that's za as in pizza. FE is a Hebrew letter (like PE). KI and QI are both the vital force that, in Chinese thought, is inherent in all things. And OI is an interjection meaning OY. Of these five new two-letter-words, only OI can't take a back S-hook. There's an excellent online resource, complete with definitions here.
I've already played a few games using my patchy knowledge of the new bible. But good news! With the addition of QI as an acceptable word, you're less likely to be stuck with it in the endgame. Overall, scores might average a little higher as boards become more volatile. Either that or we'll all be playing scared and defensive for a while. In any case, change is good and I'm psyched for a new challenge.
This weekend I'll be taking a road trip to Hudson, Ohio (near Cleveland) with Scrabble in the City regulars jelite and Tim Anglin, as well as felllow Scrabble expert Steve Ozorio. We'll be playing in the Summit Open XIV Scrabble Tournament - our first tourney using the new word list. So it should be a little thrilling. Well, as thrilling a Scrabble tourney can be.
To make it more interesting, this tourney is run in match-play format. Which means the top two players in the standings after the first day (seven games) get to play a best-of-five match on the second day for the championship. The next four best players each play two games (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3) with those winners playing two more games with each other for third/fourth place (and each loser playing two more games with each other for fifth/sixth place) to determine the final standings.
The rest of the field will play four rounds of conventional tournament play to decide all remaining places starting with seventh, using modified Swiss pairings and avoiding repeats as much as possible.
Money prizes will be awarded to the top seven finishers. I hope to place in the top six so I can boost my NSA rating and also take part in the exciting finalist playoff games. I think I've got an outside shot at that, but I really have no idea since I haven't a clue how many participants there will be in the entire tourney. That said, we have some strong players in our Toronto fleet, so maybe at least one of us will be a contender. It would be amazing if two or more of us made the final six. Time to catch some ZZZ.
- WordFreak