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 83,  Week 19 of 25 – June 10, 2025

Should you one day see FROUFROU appear on the board, you might be forgiven for doing a double take. But restrain the urge to challenge: it’s legitimate, referring to the rustling sound of a woman’s skirts, or fancy trimmings on clothing. This information comes courtesy of Wendy, who “thought I knew FROU – which it turned out isn’t good. But what I actually got away with was FROUP, which I confused with FROOP yogurt!” She subsequently added an S to FROUP to play RESTICK – also a phony – thereby achieving the feat of three unchallenged phonies one after the other. She commented later that she hadn’t doubted the legitimacy of RESTICK and agreed that the RE- words, like the -ER ones, are often tricky.

A word about phonies: There is sometimes an implication that putting down phonies is, as the British would have it, “not cricket” – in other words, that it’s unfair, dishonest or just not sportsmanlike. In fact, playing phonies is a legitimate part of the game and it is up to players to decide whether they are good, or not. However, if an experienced player happens to be matched with a far less experienced one, the question may become a moral one of whether playing a phony isn’t taking unfair advantage of an opponent’s lack of experience. That, too, is up to each player to decide.

If you haven’t yet noted Monday, July 14 as the date of our Summer Tournament, now is a good time to do it. It will take place at the Hibba Center in Jerusalem.

Yonatan chose an exotic way to unload two U’s once the Q had been played: LUAU, which is a Hawaiian feast. He also had the presence of mind, amid the countdown of the clock, to pick up his bingo of ASSISTER, which added up to 57 points, and put it down elsewhere as SASSIER, for a healthier 75.

The final word goes to Richard: “In my last game Tuesday night, I was ahead by 30-40 points through most of the game. But toward the end, I consistently had vowel-heavy racks, with my opponent closing in. Ultimately the game was virtually tied, and I was down to my last tile – an E – and saw nowhere to place it. I’d made my last couple of moves in the space of my last 15 seconds, and now the little time left was about out. In desperation, I threw my E on the board at the end of the word FER for seven points and slapped my timer – it showed 0:00. My opponent accepted defeat, without challenging, and I was stunned.  And also felt badly that I had played a phony on my last play, especially since my opponent was a friend.  But this is Scrabble, right?  Still, the feeling wasn’t good. Then later, unbelievably, I discovered that FERE is actually a word, meaning a companion, and felt relieved.  Scrabble is some game!”

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, Richard, Lisa

WOW: TANAGER (May), NIOBATES (Chani)

PHOW: SHEENILY (DavidS)

High Win, High Loss, High Triple:

A: 473 (Wendy), 426 (Rita),  1259 (Wendy)

B1: 480 (Richard), 398 (Elana), 1298 (Richard)

Scores over 500:

100-pt play: 

Attendance: 26