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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
Do you love Scrabble? Is your dictionary decorated with red circles from words you’ve used in the game? After you zoquo, do you like to ushnu? If so, you’ll enjoy today’s quiz on the board game that has entertained friends and family for decades. Take the quiz, then return here and post your score along with your favorite Scrabble story (or words you love to use in the game).
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8 of 10!
I really like djinn. And words that take a front or back hook, like adding an S to the front of WORD.
posted by Julia on 3-5-2008 at 10:52 am
hahahahah I got 1 answer and that had nothing to do with the game, but the tv show. haha ;)
posted by Luna on 3-5-2008 at 10:58 am
To begin with, I only scored 3. Although, on the source question I chose the one I thought was funniest and which I most sincerely hoped was the answer. It wasn’t.
Secondly, all friends and foes of Scrabble should visit zefrank.com and search “Scrabble,” watch the video. It will provide a few lols.
Last year, I bought a travel Scrabble set which = awesome. We can play on the couch during Jeopardy! or on a plane. So much better! I also love to play, with the right crowd, Scrabble with themes for allowable words: first names, names of leaders, household items, etc. It makes for frustratingly hilarious times. “No, no, I swear, I knew someone names Zarj!”
posted by s michael c on 3-5-2008 at 11:32 am
I wanted to ace that one, since Scrabble is pretty much my life. Play scrabulous daily and read “Word Freak” by Stefan Fatsis (an okay read, really drags in the middle)
Missed the department store one and the tile reduction one (I figured reduce Ks, because they absolutely suck to play with)
posted by Kevin on 3-5-2008 at 11:33 am
Oh, well – I thought I’d do a little better than I did since I, like Kevin, play Scrabulous all the time. Anyhow, technical note – I couldn’t link to the ‘Office Space’ or the ‘Vintage Atari’ quiz. It said they were invalid (could be a browser issue; I’m on Firefox portable).
posted by Roger on 3-5-2008 at 11:50 am
Once, my boyfriend played “vent”. I added an “s” for a triple-word score. I went on to add “in” for “invents” and finally added “reinvents” for another triple-word. That last incarnation of the word was strangely fitting as well.
He was sorry he played “vent”.
posted by kate on 3-5-2008 at 12:09 pm
6 of 10, not too bad considering I rarely play.
My best scrabble story happened when I was in the hospital for a collapsed lung, and a few days after the surgery my dorm RA visited me, and brought scrabble. I was still on a high flow morphine drip, lets just say that I lost.
posted by Will on 3-5-2008 at 12:10 pm
Roger — Those quizzes are not yet ready for public consumption. They shouldn’t have been featured beneath the quiz. Sorry! Stay tuned, though.
posted by Jason on 3-5-2008 at 12:28 pm
I think the last time I ever played scrabble, I was playing with my younger brother. He thought he was so smart and played Quartz. It had a triple word score in there… but then I added “ite” to it to make Quartzite and hit another double or triple word score. He was pissed. And thats why it was the last time we ever played it as a family.
posted by Erik on 3-5-2008 at 12:29 pm
I just think it’s funny that Sandy Wood co-wrote a quiz about a game played with sanded wood.
posted by Jim on 3-5-2008 at 12:43 pm
For the record, you guys are ruling out the first answer for the first question. The picture that is above the quiz already has a “J” on there and it shows it having 8 points.
My wife is an English teacher and I consistently beat her in Scrabble, which is terrible for our marriage but great for my ego.
Good quiz though, I got 60%.
posted by mrharvey on 3-5-2008 at 12:50 pm
MrHarvey, you might be surprised to know that despite that hint, 7% of people chose the first answer for the first question. Maybe they thought we photoshopped the photo as a trick?
posted by Sandy on 3-5-2008 at 1:11 pm
Luna,
I also got 1 correct, the SAME one. ha ha. I’m more of a watcher than a player.
posted by qt314159265 on 3-5-2008 at 1:15 pm
6/10. Not too shabby!
My boyfriend and I spent all of last winter playing Scrabble. Since we’re colossal nerds, we decided to start keeping statistics in a notebook, including wins, losses, total points, best word, and (my favorite) average points per word. For the record, the best word we ever made was quay, which was positioned just right for 40 points :-)
posted by 'cole on 3-5-2008 at 1:26 pm
6/10. I got all of the questions regarding *playing* Scrabble correctly, but missed some of the historic ones.
From what I have read, QUIXOTIC is the highest scoring word that can be played (without boards set up specifically for more points). If played down, from the upper left TWS (Triple Word Score), assuming that, say, the I is already on the board, and you have QUXOTIC in your rack, it will fetch 428 points, and likely a very dirty look from your opponent.
posted by Phraktyl on 3-5-2008 at 2:59 pm
I meant to mention my best word, ‘cole reminded me.
I once nailed “Expenses” as a triple-triple word in the lower right corner for a 194 point blast. I think under that Retailers was also like 130
posted by Kevin on 3-5-2008 at 3:02 pm
Here’s my favorite Scrabble story, though it’s not mine:
www(dot)vidlit(dot)com(slash)craziest
Lots of other fun stuff on that site, too.
posted by Dan Henderson on 3-5-2008 at 3:45 pm
I got 2 right and that’s only because I knew that Dave Peverett was in Foghat. I did not know the origin of hte band name however.
posted by lynne on 3-5-2008 at 5:27 pm
I got 7 right. Scrabble has been a favorite in my family since I was 12, and that was in 1953…
posted by Barbara on 3-5-2008 at 9:11 pm
I got eight right….missed Foghat and the department store. I play as regularly as I can on a PC game that unfortunately only allows PG words. Best word was a TWS-TWS for 149 or so. Can’t remember the word, though, dang it!
posted by Dewayne on 3-5-2008 at 9:41 pm
as far as individual plays go, to my knowledge “caziques,” when played so the Q hits the double letter score in between the two triple word scores, is the highest scoring bingo. it fetches 392 while “quixotic” should yield 356.
posted by dan on 3-5-2008 at 10:51 pm
Dan, you’re absolutely right on QUIXOTIC. For some reason I counted that double letter as a triple letter. My mind was apparently elsewhere today.
CAZIQUES is nice! I’m going to have to remember that if it ever comes up!
posted by Phraktyl on 3-6-2008 at 12:35 am
5/10…bah
I love Scrabble. The very first time I played I was 12. I scrabbled(which is what my fam calls the use of all 7 tiles) with “tsunami”. My dad was playing as well and did not believe it was a word. He challenged and I won.
I’m a teacher at an ESL school in Korea. I encourage the kids to play Scrabble if we finish class early. They love it and do quite well. One of the kids in grade 7 beats me on a regular basis. S=
posted by Joanna on 3-6-2008 at 1:59 am
Scrabble is a great mental game and is most fun played with your own family.. My children beat me most of the time..Word power and spelling rule!
posted by dca on 3-7-2008 at 1:56 pm