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 23 of 25 – January 27, 2026

Congratulations to Wendy on the publication by Vallentine Mitchell of her engaging family history telling the story of Maurice and Louis Elliman, The Outsiders Who Built Irish Entertainment. May it find the wide readership it deserves.

A tempting kiddush greeted members on Tuesday night, courtesy of Marion, in celebration of the bar mitzva of her grandson Amichai Yehuda. Mazal tov! 

Many of us at the club are grandparents. Our dedication to Scrabble is proven and undeniable; but how well are we doing at imbuing our young progeny with the necessary passion for the game? Given that they are first of all Hebrew-speakers, a stepping-stone to the “real thing” might be innocently joining them in the Israeli version of the game called Shabetz-Na which, according to Google, has ranked a

s one of the most popular board games of all time in Israel since its emergence in the 1950s. 

Marion’s contribution to our word knowledge was GUNNEL (also GUNWALE), the upper planking of a boat’s side providing structural rigidity and helping to prevent the entry of water. There’s also an eellike fish named GUNNEL, known alternatively as BUTTERFISH owing to its delicate texture. While both are kosher in WOW24, they’re forbidden in Jewish Law. (Note the weird-looking EELLIKE, should those letters chance on your rack.) 

Rita experienced the sweet satisfaction of adding -TROSES to Peta’s DEX, landing her S on a triple word square. Having the word challenged was the icing on the cake. 

Sometimes we just don’t learn. And sometimes we get away with it. Judy added a T to HEX, scoring big with a ZI coming down to the T from the triple word square. “I’ve been caught out over that phony before,” she said ruefully, “but the prospect of playing my Z so profitably kicked all memory of it away.” Luckily for Judy, however, her opponent didn’t challenge – an omission that may have cost her the game. Note: VEXT and MIXT are good; so is SEXT. But don’t let HEX put a spell on you. 

Overheard: “All the big letters came too late for me to use them!” “I never did so little with so much…” “Would you believe we come here for fun?!” From a veteran player: “I let my opponent get away with CHOO!” That must have been a hard one to swallow.

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: DavidS, DavidL, May, Debbie

WOW: Sorry, I seem to have misplaced the WOWs and the PHOWs this week.

PHOW:

High Win, High Loss, High  Triple:

A: 466 (Peta), 400 (Jonathan), 1285 (Peta)

B1: 457 (ElanaS), 375 (ElanaS), 1213 (ElanaS)

Scores over 500:

100-pt play: 

Attendance: 23