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 Director: Elana Simons, 054 220 6238, elanalibby@gmail.com

 THIS WEEK AT THE CLUB

Season 85, Week 08 of 25 – May 19, 2026

Conspicuously missing from our meet on Tuesday was Club Champion David Spolter, who rarely forgoes a session. Turns out he was competing at the three-day Montreal Scrabblefest – a serious, high-level tournament. He was one of 16 in its top division, facing off against elite North American players, national and world champions among them.

Wendy reports: “Anyone who’s ever been slaughtered at the club by DavidS, take heart. This week, he trounced two world champions, including Jackson Smylie, the fourth-highest-rated player in the world in our dictionary.

“For the first 17 games of the tournament, David was consistently in second or third place; but he lost his last five games to finish in sixth place. However… watch this space. He’s registered for another major North American tournament – the 31-game World Cup 2026 in Williamsburg, Virginia, July 31-August 5 – one of the premier events on the competitive Scrabble calendar. Among his competitors there will be RichardS, who many will remember played in our club for a year or so.”

David, just returned from Canada, added: “Jackson Smylie won the Montreal Scrabblefest tournament by a mile, losing only three of 22 games. All his three losses were to me.”

Peta had an interesting night. “It’s happened before when I’ve played a double – each of my opponents opening with a bingo.” This time they went one better: “Both followed up with a Q to earn good points.” Deftly prefixing an A to VOW and an E to NOW, she demonstrated the value of a “hook.” Unsure about INSUREE, she chanced it. Luckily for her, her opponent wasn’t sure either, so the phony stayed on the board. (In official language, someone who is insured is simply “the insured.”)

Yaakov played a double against Bob and Marilyn. Bob: “He got four bingos… It was like a slot machine, dinging every time. I was actually ahead by 30 – until he bingoed out.” Both Yaakov and Judy suffered from the notorious “I disease,” for which there is no known cure other than dumping or playing off those pesky I’s.

Frustration or resignation? Rena, who has been pursued by U’s for some weeks now, “just had to write about my continuing U saga. In my third game last week, with Yaakov, I began with QAT, not wanting to get burdened by the Q. Of course, I immediately drew a U. A few turns later I added another two U’s to my rack, at which point I exchanged all three along with some other junk.  A few turns after that I drew all four U’s together! What are the statistical chances of that happening? Of course, I dumped them again. The last straw was my final draw, with one letter left in the bag… U. Needless to say, I lost the game by over 100 points.” Nor has the annoyance passed. “This week, I lost a game by two points because I was left with two U’s.” Unbelievable.

 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 up to a week in advance.

WWW: Wendy, Lisa

WOW: TREFOIL (Susan),  NAIVETE (Jonathan)

PHOW:

High Win, High Loss, High  Triple:

A: 455 (Elana), 406 (Rena), 1207 (Wendy)

B1: 435 (Lisa), 363 (Richard), 1201 (Lisa)

Scores over 500:

100-pt play: 

Attendance: 19