Welcome to the Jerusalem Scrabble Club
COME PLAY WITH US … VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME!
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Director: Elana Simons, 054 220 6238, elanalibby@gmail.com
THIS WEEK AT THE CLUB
Season 84, Week 8 of 25 – September 30, 2025
Our Scrabble diehards got together Tuesday for a pre-Yom Kippur session, affording us a last-minute opportunity to seek forgiveness for any Scrabble sins committed during the past year – such as not congratulating an opponent on winning a game (even while gnashing our teeth at having lost), or implying that an opponent won only because he or she “had all the good letters” and not because of any skill on their part. Leaving an opponent post-game to put away the tiles alone? No one in our club, surely, has been guilty of that.
The Scrabble Fairy has been doing some seasonal soul-searching and promises to provide a more congenial tile “feed” from the bag. But don’t bet on it.
The club traditionally does not meet during Succot, when the Himmelfarb School is closed, and it will not be meeting the following week either, which is Simhat Torah, so we have a break of two weeks. Elana will message members about an alternative meeting date. (Note that the succa is a great venue for friendly games and – to date – the laws of the festival say nothing to discourage the practice.)
You can still sponsor Dahlia, who is again participating in the annual Wheels of Love bike ride in aid of the Alyn Hospital’s Pediatric & Adolescent Rehabilitation Center. The ride will take place in the north November 2-6, and sponsors can donate on Dahlia’s Alyn web page at https://sponsor.alyn.org/dfriedman Donations for this worthy cause, which are tax-deductible, can also be made to Susan at the club even after the bike ride.
Wendy started off the evening appropriately by playing ATONE. Jonathan’s DOLOMITE was challenged, his opponent explaining ruefully that “I thought it was a mountain range and therefore spelled with a capital.” Turns out it’s also a mineral. Another word queried because the challenger thought it was a proper name was Avi’s WEBSTER; while indeed the name of a well-known dictionary, it is also an occupational surname for a weaver.
Jonathan: “I also had BENCHER, but couldn’t play it.” Before anyone asks (again) why foreign, specifically Yiddish words are allowed in WOW24, the word bencher has several meanings in English, including a senior member of a British Inn of Court or a Canadian law society; a member of the House of Commons, a judge, or anyone in a position of authority associated with a “bench.”
Judy was TREADING on air a mere moment after realizing that her READING had no place on the board – that is, until her opponent ended a word on the bottom left corner triple with a T. It enabled her to win the game.
Oi vey. The word OI cannot be pluralized. Neither can BAH, though both phonies made it through on Tuesday. So did TAY and WAH, which are strictly no-nos.
Rena, victorious: “We usually hate Vs, but in my game against DavidS I was able to play both ADHESIVE and INACTIVE – and won by two points.” Meanwhile David, holding a rack of DEGORUV, declared he “couldn’t have been happier” when opponent Liran put down ALOIN, a crystalline compound. The I plus the N of BRAWN already on the board allowed him to play a niner: DEVOURING.
Here’s to much pleasure – and as little punishment as possible – as we embark upon another year at the Jerusalem Scrabble Club. Chag sameah.
Playoff table updated – congratulations go to Chani for winning the playoffs!
| A | W-L-T | Spread |
| Chani | 5-1 | 175 |
| Wendy | 3-3 | -16 |
| Dahlia | 2-4 | 15 |
| Peta | 2-4 | -174 |
If you missed the opportunity to communicate your hilite in person at the club you can email it to judymo@netvision.net.il or WhatsApp it (054-5552355) up until noon the following day. If you wish to mark an occasion by bringing refreshments to the club, please check with Susan or Elana up to a week in advance.
WWW: DavidS, Pamela
WOW: TAILLESS (Susan), OESTRIOL (DavidS)
PHOW:
High Win, High Loss, High Triple:
A: 560 (DavidS), 426 (Dahlia), 1447 (DavidS)
B1: 481 (Shirley), 374 (May), 1200 (May)
Scores over 500: 560 (DavidS)
100-pt play:
Attendance: 25