Welcome to the Jerusalem Scrabble Club
COME PLAY WITH US … VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME!
*** NEW PLAYERS: CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ***
Director: Elana Simons, 054 220 6238, elanalibby@gmail.com
THIS WEEK AT THE CLUB
Season 84, Week 15 of 25 – December 4, 2025
We were shocked and saddened to learn about Avi’s serious illness and send Avraham Haim ben Yehudit our thoughts and prayers for a refuah shlema. His presence and idiosyncratic humor are missed at the club.
Registration will be opening next week for our upcoming Winter/Chanukah Tournament at the Hibba Center in Jerusalem on Monday, December 22. As usual, it will be a day of fun and challenge. Details will be sent out soon by email.
We wish Dahlia a speedy recovery from her broken hand after an unruly bike crashed into her. Our strong suspicion that the Scrabble Fairy enjoys the occasional chuckle at players’ expense was strengthened still further by Dahlia’s first game, in which her opponent Wendy opened with… UNARMED.
Lisa, with a touch of elegance, played HAIKU. Pamela, not far behind, produced the sparkling DIADEMS. Judy knew PUJA, the Hindu worship ritual (which also takes a final H), but was less sure about variant POOJA as an opening move. Luckily for her, it paid off. So did Shirley’s gamble that her opponent wouldn’t notice the missing C in RAQUET. Similarly, her opponent in the next game was too intimidated (she later revealed) by Shirley’s MILLENIA to think that it might perhaps take a double N as well as a double L. Pauline landed CRUSTING on a triple.
Bob’s dilemma on how to proceed when a player’s designation of a blank is misheard by the opponent, leading to embarrassment and perhaps even friction, elicited some comment. Rena: “In all the international tournaments I have been to, blank designations are routinely written on a piece of paper. It saves uncomfortable situations.” Rita’s comment that she “shows the word being challenged to my opponent before pressing check” is important, but doesn’t deal early enough with the issue of mishearing. The NASPA tournament rules used by all North American clubs lay down that any spoken designation of a blank must be accompanied by an identical written designation. Absent this, an as-yet unjudged challenge involving the blank can be withdrawn; the clock of the player using the blank is restarted, and the blank written down. After this “reset,” the opponent may then challenge any word formed by the blank. As for looking up a challenge on a phone – Chani points out that this is a Jerusalem club practice and not in the NASPA rules or allowed at any North American tournaments – both players must see and agree to the word on the screen before the “judge” button is tapped.
It is well said that in Scrabble what separates the men from the boys is the endgame. And, of course, one can’t properly think about the endgame without tracking. Richard: “In my game against club director Elana I was comfortably ahead by about 80 points, with no tiles left in the bag. And, as usual, I’d been tracking throughout the game. But then, not bothering to look at my tracking sheet, I played RAND – which allowed Elana to place a B at the top and bingo out with BELIEVE. She had nowhere else to play her bingo, and I gave her the opening she needed! I hope I’ve learned my lesson. Next time,” said Richard, “I’ll try to remember to consult my tracking sheet. It’s not always the ‘Scrabble gods’ – our fate is often in our hands!”
Gila reposted the following from Facebook: “I haven’t kept up my subscription to the Scrabble Club. Now they’re sending me threatening letters.” Response: “That could spell trouble.”
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 any occasion by bringing refreshments to the club, please check with Susan or Elana up to a week in advance.
WWW: Elana, Pamela
WOW: DIADEMS (Pamela), ELOQUENT (Judy)
PHOW: RAQUETS, MILLENIA (Shirley)
High Win, High Loss, High Triple:
A: 514 (Dahlia), 399 (Dahlia), 1232 (Wendy)
B1: 471 (Judy), 382 (Pauline), 1169 (Pamela)
Scores over 500: 514 (Dahlia)
100-pt play: SKINNER 101 (Susan)
Attendance: 18