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THIS SCRABBLE PAGE HAS BEEN RETIRED.

While it may be as funny as it ever was, it does not reflect my new, kinder, gentler attitude towards modern, tournament-style Scrabble.

PLEASE EXIT USING ONE OF THE LINKS SHOWN AT THE TOP.

Note: Click on any picture to ENLARGE.

Goo Goo Scrabble

Less thinking - more points!

___________________
| QUAD | | |
| WORD| | |
|SCORE| | |
|---------|---------|-------- |
| | DBL | |
| | WORD| |
| |SCORE| |
|---------|---------|---------|
| | | QUAD |
| | | WORD|
| | |SCORE|
-----------------------------

(Click to enlarge.)

Goo Goo Scrabble is played on a 3x3 board. It adheres to conventional Scrabble rules with the following adjustments:

1. Single-letter words allowed. (See Note 1.)
2. Players maintain one tile on the rack.
3. Numerals on tiles represent MEGAPOINTS (Mp).
4. Game over when board is filled or players unanimously agree to stop.
5. Winner is the player with the most points when the game is over, or, the last player alive.

Note 1: Suggested word source authority is a combination of the latest Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and the American Heritage Fourth Edition. The American Heritage brings in all the valid single-letter words (there are 26 of them) and their plurals (26 of them, too.) See Appendices at the bottom.

Here is a sample game. Unfortunately, Jill has a very rough time of it, trading in for unplayable tiles except for play 5.

1. Jack opens with the word E ("the fifth letter of the modern English alphabet") across on double-word score (2 Mp) and the same word E down on double-word score (2 Mp). Total: 4 megapoints.

     ___ 
    |   |     Jack     Jill 
    | E |    ------   ------
    |   |     4 Mp     0 Mp 
     ---

2. Jack plays O across (1 Mp) and OE down (2 Mp). Total: 3 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |     Jack     Jill 
    | E |    ------   ------
    |   |     7 Mp     0 Mp 
     ---

3. Jack plays FE across (5 Mp) and F down (4 Mp). Total: 9 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |     Jack     Jill 
    |FE |    ------   ------
    |   |     16 Mp    0 Mp 
     ---

4. Jack plays FEU across (6 Mp) and U down (1 Mp). Total: 7 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |     Jack     Jill 
    |FEU|    ------   ------
    |   |     23 Mp    0 Mp 
     ---

5. Jill plays H across (16 Mp) and UH down (20 Mp). Total: 36 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |     Jack     Jill 
    |FEU|    ------   ------
    |  H|     23 Mp    36 Mp 
     ---

6. Jack is flustered and misses the obvious OES/SH and plays FS ("more than one F") down (5 Mp) and S across (1 Mp). Total: 6 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |     Jack     Jill  
    |FEU|    ------   ------ 
    |S H|     29 Mp    36 Mp 
     ---

7. Jack plays OD across (3 Mp) and DUH down (7 Mp). Total: 10 megapoints.

     ___ 
    | OD|     Jack     Jill  
    |FEU|    ------   ------ 
    |S H|     39 Mp    36 Mp 
     ---

At this point, Jack and Jill agree to end the game.

Jack congratulates himself on battling back from Jill's "lucky play". He figures the 4-Mp V he is stuck with assures him of at least a tie.

Jill has a blank.

___
| OD|
|FEU|
|S H|
-----

(Click to enlarge.)

Final score:

     Jack      Jill
    ------    ------
     39        36 
     -4        -0
     --        --
     35 Mp     36 Mp

Jill wins by a million points.

***

Super Goo Goo Scrabble

Less thinking - even more points!!!

For your scoring pleasure, the Super Goo Goo Scrabble board is loaded with 66.667% more Premium spaces!

___________________
| QUAD | | QUAD |
| WORD| | WORD|
|SCORE| |SCORE|
|---------|---------|-------- |
| | DBL | |
| | WORD| |
| |SCORE| |
|---------|---------|-------- |
| QUAD | | QUAD |
| WORD| | WORD|
|SCORE| |SCORE|
-----------------------------

(Click to enlarge.)

Same rules as for Goo Goo Scrabble, except:

3. Numerals on tiles represent TERAPOINTS (Tp)!!!

Here is a sample game.

1. Johnny opens with D across (4 Tp) and D down (4 Tp). Total: 8 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |   |    Johnny  Frankie
    | D |    ------  -------
    |   |     8 Tp     0 Tp
     ---

2. Frankie plays O across (1 Tp) and OD down (3 Tp). Total: 4 terapoints.

     ___ 
    | O |    Johnny  Frankie
    | D |    ------  -------
    |   |     8 Tp     4 Tp 
     ---

3. Johnny plays SO across (8 Tp) and S down (4 Tp). Total: 12 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SO |    Johnny  Frankie
    | D |    ------  -------
    |   |     20 Tp    4 Tp 
     ---

Yes, SO is acceptable.

*** IMPORTANT ***
In Goo Goo Scrabble there is NO EXPLICIT RULE against playing a word found in a conventional dictionary or somewhat familiar to speakers of the English language.

But you can always implement a house rule.

Johnny begins a streak of poor draws.

4. Frankie feels for him (or gets abusive?) and plays SOB across (20 Tp) and B down (12 Tp). Total: 32 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    | D |    ------  -------
    |   |     20 Tp   36 Tp 
     ---

5. Frankie plays DO across (3 Tp) and BO down (4 Tp). Total: 7 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    | DO|    ------  -------
    |   |     20 Tp   43 Tp 
     ---

6. Frankie plays BOT down (20 Tp) and T across (4 Tp). Total: 24 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    | DO|    ------  -------
    |  T|     20 Tp   67 Tp 
     ---

7. Frankie plays ODA down (4 Tp) and AT across (2 Tp). Total: 6 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    | DO|    ------  -------
    | AT|     20 Tp   73 Tp 
     ---

8. Johnny storms back with QAT across (48 Tp) and Q down (40 Tp). Total: 88 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    | DO|    ------  -------
    |QAT|    108 Tp   73 Tp 
     ---

9. Frankie was waiting for that; she plays out with SUQ down (12 Tp) and UDO across (4 Tp). Total: 16 terapoints.

     ___ 
    |SOB|    Johnny  Frankie
    |UDO|    ------  -------
    |QAT|    108 Tp   89 Tp 
     ---

Nice try, Frankie, but . . . Wait! What does Johnny have in his rack?

Oh, no! Johnny was saving the 10-Tp Z! It's down 10 Tp for him, and up 10 Tp for Frankie.

___
|SOB|
|UDO|
|QAT|
-----

(Click to enlarge.)

Final score:

    Johnny  Frankie
    ------  -------
    108       89         
    -10      +10
    ---      ---
     98 Tp    99 Tp

Frankie wins by a trillion points.

No sweat.

***

Appendix 1 - Valid 1-Letter Words

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

Appendix 2 - Their Plurals

AS BS CS DS ES FS GS HS IS JS KS LS MS NS OS PS QS RS SS TS US VS WS XS YS ZS

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Helpful keywords not in the main text: ospd.
Photography credits: Diane Hochheiser.