It’s been months since I last played Scrabble or even attempted to study my word lists. Consequently, I haven’t been posting anything here. But in the unlikeliest time and place, I’m able to find inspiration to go back to Scrabbling. But I seem to have lost all the knowledge, however little, that I had about words and anagramming. So please indulge me as I once again take on the role of the scrabblenoob.

I haven’t been doing much playing lately. It’s been months since I last played Facebook Scrabble. The only game I’ve played for the past month is a few unfinished games on my friend’s iPad. I think I was even about to lose one game to him. But since there is much lull time in my work, I was able to finally go through the whole SATINE cards after almost a month. Currently, I’m in the process of making the SATIRE flash cards. I just hope I could start picking up the momentum soon. And I hope I could still commit to making mnemonics for the 2s-to-make-3s.

So the latest version was released on May 9, 2011. And wow, 3000 new words! I don’t care much for the hoopla about slang words getting in the Scrabble lexicon.

NEW PERMITTED SCRABBLE WORDS

From The Digital World

The new words from the field of computing include WIKI, BLOOK (a book serialised on a blog roll), BADWARE, FANSITE, WEBZINE and DARKNET, while the already valid BLOG is now accompanied by SPLOG and VLOG. New verbs from the world of computing include, PHARM, SCROBBLE, FACEBOOK, and MYSPACE.

From Overseas

As far as arrivals from overseas go, the star of the show is undoubtedly QIN, a kind of Chinese zither, which according to computer simulation is likely to become one of the most played words in Scrabble, alongside the already allowed QI (one’s life force). Japanese gives us WAGYU, a breed of beef cattle, and KOGAL, a young woman noted for her busy social life and purchase of expensive designer clothing. New words from Indian cookery include KEEMA, a kind of minced beef, ALU (or ALOO), a potato and GOBI, a cauliflower. Previously many Scrabble players would have been caught out by attempting to play such words familiar to them from their local Indian takeaway menu. Kenya contributes BENGA, a kind of popular music, while the increasing role of Islam in world affairs is reflected in many new words relating to that religion: UMMA, UMRA, FIQH, MEDRESA, IBADAH, SHAHID, TASBIH, NIKAH.

A New U-less Q-word!

Although it’s nice to have another U-less Q word, players may well find that FIQH refused to make frequent appearances on the board because of the low probability of having the QFH together and the fact that the over-familiarity with QI may cause a superior FIQH play to be overlooked.

Straight from the Street

Those who pride themselves on being up to date with the word on the street will be pleased to know that the Scrabble lexicon now includes THANG, INNIT, NANG, PUNAANY, BREDREN, BIACH, BLINGY, GRRL (or GRRRL) and several words for various kinds of drug: TIK, GAK, TINA.

Finally Allowed…

Those who in the past may have fallen foul of certain well-known ‘phoneys’ – words which seem entirely reasonable but which are not in fact acceptable according to the official list – will rejoice to learn that it will now be acceptable to play AIRGUN, HEATWAVE, PUSHBIKE, INBOX, TWIGLET, STRIM and CATFLAP.

[via Harper Collins]

Last week, I saw tweets, wall posts, and blog posts complaining how this recent batch of new words is desecrating the game. I guess those who said that are purists who would rather play the usual words than see the game expand to more modern and more inclusive words. I think that for a language to remain useful, it has to be relevant. This is especially the case of a word game like Scrabble. With more international players joining competitions, it’s important the game’s lexicon also reflect the culture of those playing it. I’m not saying that we should make all foreign words allowable in Scrabble. We should still adhere to the rule that the words to be added in the Scrabble lexicon should be found in at least one of the source dictionaries.

In addition, I think the addition of new words also offer greater strategic depth to the game. I refer particularly to the addition of more U-less Q-words and words with consonant clusters.

I know there’s a lot of flaming being done in the net because of this recent expansion of the lexicon. But I guess people should remember that this lexicon is only applicable for SOWPODS at the mean time. So for Americans and Canadians, hold your horses, your OSPD is still sacred!

In a previous post, I mentioned that I’ve been using flash cards to study my SATINE stems and my 2-to-make-3s. Below are some photos of my flash cards.

2-to-make-3s (front)

2-to-make-3s (back) - with mnemonics

The SATINE+? set (with number of words)

The SATINE+? set (back)

So far, I’ve been enjoying going through the SATINE+? cards. I haven’t even finished making all the 2-to-make-3 cards since it’s hard for me to think of mnemonics for all of the stems.

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One of my weaknesses in playing is my ability to anagram. I need to find a way to improve my skills. Maybe I should start playing Text Twist for some practice.

Played my first ISC game. This is quite a departure from my Facebook Scrabble playing. I still need to get used to the system. I didn’t even know how to shuffle the tiles! This was a messy game. It would have been a very low scoring one if not for my two bingos - PAPISTRY & LIGATES. I even had to play a phony (CEWE) to set up LIGATES. And because I didn’t know how to shuffle my tiles, it was very hard for me to find the words. I guess I really need to develop my anagramming skills. So, if I really want to be competitive, I need both knowledge and skills.

Oh my, I hope this investment is worth it!

So I spent some parts of my day studying the 2s to make 3s. I’ve been making silly mnemonics for the front and back hooks. As of now, I’ve been able to go through AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, & AI. Hopefully this would improve my game. Here are some of the mnemonics I’ve devised:

AB - [back] A BOSsY [front] TWiN DoGS FuCK in JaiL (so sorry for the profanity, I can’t think of a more wholesome one picture)

AD - a billboard showing [front] FiGHT CLuB (Pitt & Norton) set in a DRY SWaMP with a computer on the side - [back] Z-DOS

AE - [front only] FiVE DeMoNS sKaTe on a HiGhWaY

I’ve also made a set of 3”x1” flash cards for the bingo stems for SATINE/TISANE. I’ve currently reviewed the A & B cards.

I’m also trying to brush up on my short J words. I memorized this a few months ago but I got lazy so I’m starting again.

First Lists

These are the lists you should look at if you are completely new to the official dictionary. For best results, study them in the order presented.

• Two-Letter Words - Anybody intending to play in a competitive setting will need to learn their twos. Scoring is severely limited if the twos are not learned.
• 2-to-make-3 - The first step in learning the three-letter words is to learn the letters you can hook onto two-letter words.
• Unobvious Q Words - It’s important to be able to play off the Q rather than exchanging or burning a blank. To do this, learn the Q-without-U words and other surprising Q words.
• Short JQXZ - Maximize your big-scoring tiles by learning words that use these high-point tiles.

Intermediate Lists

If you decide you’d like to become a stronger Scrabble® player, learn these lists. Experts know all of these words cold.

• Three-Letter Words - Learning all of the threes may be the single hardest challenge in Scrabble®. Start early and study as often as possible.
• Vowel Dumps - As you start to learn about rack management you will need to get rid of ugly tiles. Words with lots of vowels will help a lot!
• Longer JQXZ - Turn the big-point tiles into potential bingos!
• 3-to-make-4 - It’s very hard to learn all of the four-letter words, but if you learn the hooks you’ll have most of the battle won.
• TISANE, SATIRE, RETINA - Most people start learning high-probability bingos by using 6-to-make-7 stems. These are three of the most popular.
• Other 6-to-make-7’s - Knowing lots of stems means that you can take better advantage of rack management strategies, which should lead to at least one bingo in almost every game.

Expert Lists

To play at an expert level you will have to constantly be studying words. The top experts make up new list categories on the fly and then study them regularly. Of course, there are still some fundamental lists that need to be learned first.

• NASTIER, RETINAL, AIR-TONE, OAR-TIES, ALE-RIOT - Five of the most common 7-to-make-8 lists. The ability to find eight-letter bingos is crucial; many intermediates focus too much on 7’s and miss a lot of 8’s. The latter three lists are particularly important because there are no 7’s possible with those letters.
• Top 1000 7’s - The 1000 most probable seven letter words. Lots of experts study by probability, because as neat as it is to know words like DEWCLAW, you’ll probably never get to play them.
• Four-Letter Words - It’s a tough job, but the top experts learn all the fours cold.
• Other 7-to-make-8’s - To take the most advantage of both the tiles on your rack and those on the board you’ll need to learn many 7-letter stems as well.
• Top 1000 8’s - Learning the 8’s by probability is also a very effective technique.
• 7- and 8-to-make-9’s - The top experts can easily form 9-letter and longer words in their heads, and study how to do so. This maximizes bingo changces!

In honor of my getting-through-the-2s, here’s a list of all scrabble-valid 2-letter words with their corresponding definitions. Memorizing the words are cool but also knowing what they mean definitely ups the ante.

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Bold indicates word cannot be extended with “S’
Plus sign (+) indicates word can be extended by “ES’

AA	rough jagged lava found in Hawaiian volcanos
AB	an abdominal muscle
AD	short form of advertisement
AE	one (Scots.)
AG agriculture
AH	(verb) to say "Ah" for joy etc
AI	a three-toed South American sloth
AL	an East Indian tree
AM	a present tense of the verb be	
AN	a form of the indefinite article
AR	the letter "R"
AS	to that extent
AT	in the position of
AW	exclamation of disappointment
AX	(verb) to work on with an axe
AY	an affirmative vote (also AYE)
BA	the eternal spirit in Egyptian mythology
BE	(verb) to exist
BI	a bisexual person
BO	Amer. slang for friend
BY	near; a side issue (pl. BYS)
CH	English dial. for I
DA	a Burmese heavy knife
DE	preposition meaning of or from, in names
DI	a plural of deus (a god)
DO	(verb) to achieve; a celebration (pl. DOS)
EA	a river (dial.)
ED	education
EE	Scots. dial. for eye (pl. EEN)
EF	the letter "F"
EH	(verb) to say "Eh" for surprise etc
EL	an elevated railway
EM	a printer's measure
EN	a printer's measure, half of an EM
ER	an expression of hesitation
ES+	the letter "S"
ET	a past tense of eat
EX+	the letter "X"
FA	a musical note
FE	a Hebrew letter
FY	an interj. expressing disgust (also FIE)
GI	a judo or karate costume
GO	(verb) to depart; a Japanese board game (pl. GOS)
GU	a simple violin used in Shetland (also GJU, GUE)
HA	an exclamation of surprise
HE	a male
HI	an exclamation of greeting
HM	interj. expressing thoughtful consideration
HO	interj. calling attention
ID	part of the psyche
IF	a condition
IN	(verb) to harvest
IO	a cry of joy
IS	a present tense of be
IT	impersonal pronoun
JA	yes
JO+	a sweetheart
KA	(verb) to serve (also KAE)
KI	the spirit of Japanese martial art, see QI
KO	a Maori digging stick
KY	cows (also KYE) 
LA	a musical note
LI	a Chinese distance unit
LO	look, behold
MA	mother
ME	a musical note (also MI)
MI	same as ME, above
MM	exclamation of satisfaction
MO	a moment
MU	a Greek letter
MY	belonging to me
NA      interj. of disbelief
NE	arch. form of not
NO	a no vote (pl. also NOES)
NU	a Greek letter
NY+	(verb) to approach (pl. also NYS)
OB	an objection
OD	a mystic universal force
OE	a grandchild in Scotland (also OY, OYE)
OF	belonging to
OH	(verb) to exclaim "Oh" for surprise
OI	interj. calling attention
OM	a syllable intoned as part of a mantra
ON	to go on
OO	wool (Scots.)
OP	an abstract art style
OR	the heraldic colour gold
OS+	a bone
OU a bloke
OW	interj. expressing pain
OX+	a mammal with hooves
OY	same as OE, above
PA	father
PE	a Hebrew letter (also PEH)
PI	(verb) to jumble or disorder (pr.p. PIEING, PIING)
PO	a chamber pot
QI	a Chinese life force
RE	a musical note
SH	interj. requesting silence
SI	a musical note
SO	a musical note (also SOH)
ST	an exclamation of impatience
TA  	thanks
TE	a musical note
TI	a small tree
TO	as far as
UG	(verb) to cause hatred
UH	interj. expressing disbelief
UM	interj. of hesitation
UN	one
UP	(verb) to increase
UR	interj. expressing hesitation
US	a third person pronoun
UT	a musical note
WE	a third person pronoun
WO	a curse
XI	a Greek letter
XU	a Vietnamese coin (pl. XU)
YA	you
YE	you
YO	a call for effort
YU	precious jade
ZA	contraction of "pizza"
ZO	a Himalayan cross between a yak and a cow (also DZO, DSO, ZHO, DZHO)

The New York Times recently published a list of 50 fancy words that most frequently stump their readership. They are able to measure this data thanks to a nifty in-page lookup mechanism, which you can try here. Try double-clicking the word “epicenter”.

Since the NYT didn’t include definitions of these words, I decided to post a job to MediaPiston to produce an article defining and using each word in the list. Voila! Just a few hours later, here it is. So avoid coming across as jejune and laconic in your speech. Dive in to this list with alacrity!

The New York Times 50 Fancy Words (defined and used)

1. Inchoate: just begun and so not fully formed or developed; I am glad your inchoate proposals for integrating the company were not accepted this time, thus saving us face.

2. Profligacy: recklessly wasteful; wildly extravagant, profligate behavior; Anderson’s profligacy cost him his job and its better you tighten up your belt before you go the same way.

3. Sui Generis: being the only example of its kind, unique; Mr. Bill Tandy generated his sui generis theory based on little research and more hypothesis, thus finding no takers for his pet project.

4. Austerity: severe and morally strict; the quality of being austere, having no pleasures or comforts; Every major war on this planet were followed by many years of austerity.

5. Profligate: using money, resources, etc., in a way that wastes them; The firm’s profligate spending only hastened its downfall.

6. Baldenfreude: Satisfaction derived from the misfortune of bald or balding individuals (coined by NYT columnist Maureen Dowd); Humpty Dumpty’s antics remain a constant source of baldenfreude for children and adults alike.

7. Opprobrium: harsh criticism, contempt; His ludicrous attempts at mimicry in the office only earned him the opprobrium of his colleagues.

8. Apostates: pl; a person who abandons a belief or principle; The millionaire technocrat and his cronies were publicly derided for being apostates, after they were exposed of polluting the environment while purporting to have spent large sums for water conservation.

9. Solipsistic: the theory that the self is all that can be known to exist; His solipsistic view about life ensured that he lived in social isolation.

10. Obduracy: refusing to change in any way; Anthony’s obduracy in his legal case expedited his impeachment.

11. Internecine: causing destruction to both sides; The African states’ internecine conflict continues to extract a terrible toll on innocent human lives.

12. Soporific: adj; causing sleep; The soporific drug caused Tony to fall asleep in the board meeting.

13. Kristallnacht: German, night of (broken) glass : Kristall, crystal (from Middle High German, from Old High German cristalla, from Latin crystallus, crystallum; see crystal) + Nacht, night (from Middle High German naht, from Old High German; see nekw-t- in Indo-European roots); The Kristallnacht remains an infamous event in the German history.

14. Peripatetic: going from place to place; The peripatetic bards of yore propagated the words of the Holy Prophet.

15. Nascent: beginning to exist, not fully developed; In its initial stage, the nascent film industry faced harsh opposition from moral groups.

16. Desultory: going from one thing to another, without a definite plan or purpose; Garcia’s desultory conversation got everybody yawning.

17. Redoubtable: deserving to be feared and respected; Mike’s redoubtable instincts as a prize-fighter kept his opponents at arm’s distance.

18. Hubris: excessive pride; The Empire’s vanity and hubris in its exaggerated military were the reason for its downfall.

19. Mirabile Dictu: wonderful to relate; Randy’s winning putt remained mirabile dictu in the golf club gossip for many years.

20. Crèches: a place where babies are looked after while their parents work, shop, etc.; Go down the Green Avenue and you will find a string of crèches and day-care centres.

21. Apoplectic: sudden loss of the ability to feel or move; adj: suffering from apoplexy; easily made angry; His son’s antics on the playground left him apoplectic with rage.

22. Overhaul: to examine carefully and thoroughly and make any necessary changes or repairs; to come from behind and pass them; Michael’s faster car easily overhauled the leading drivers in the F1 championship.

23. Ersatz: used as a poor-quality substitute for something else, inferior to an original item; The DJ’s ersatz musical numbers were a poor rendition of Celina’s work.

24. Obstreperous: very noisy or difficult to control; Andy’s obstreperous behavior just after a few drinks generally caused his early exit from most parties.

25. Jejune: too simple, naïve; dull, lacking nourishment; Horrified by the senator’s jejune responses to their problems, the voters guild decided to withdraw their support to him in the forthcoming elections.

26. Omertà: rule or code that prohibits speaking or revealing information, generally relates to activities of organized crime; sub; the Mafia; Henry was vowed to the code of Omertà and sealed his lips during the police interrogation.

27. Putative: generally supposed to be the thing specified; Mr Brown is referred to as the putative father in the document.

28. Manichean: A believer in Manichaeism – an ancient Iranian Gnostic religion; Roberta’s Manichean beliefs found little approval in the stoic theology group discussion.

29. Canard: a false report or rumour, aerofoil designs on certain airplanes; The disturbing canard about my company’s finances left me in despair.

30. Ubiquitous: seeming to be everywhere or in several places at the same time; The ubiquitous internet is both a blessing, as well as, a curse.

31. Atavistic: relating to the behavior of one’s ancestors in the distant past; The chieftain urged his tribe to curb their atavistic urges and refrain from unnecessary violence.

32. Renminbi: another name for the Chinese Yuan, official currency of People’s Republic of China; Chinese renmin people + bi currency; Around 1950, the Chinese government officially released the Renminbi notes for circulation.

33. Sanguine: hopeful, optimistic; She remained sanguine about our chances of success in the raffle draw.

34. Antediluvian: very old-fashioned; His antediluvian ideas are preposterous!

35. Cynosure: object or someone who serves as a focal point of attention and admiration, something that serves to guide; His wife, Catherine, remained the cynosure of all eyes throughout the evening gala.

36. Alacrity: eagerness or enthusiasm; Richard accepted her offer of marriage with alacrity.

37. Epistemic: cognitive, relating to learning, or involving knowledge; The monk’s epistemic dissertation was an engaging study of New Testament beliefs.

38. Egregious: exceptional, outstanding; The NBA referee’s decision was the most egregious error of judgment.

39. Incendiary: designed to set something on fire, tending to create public disturbances or violence; Amanda’s incendiary remarks alienated her from the whole campus.

40. Chimera: an imaginary creäture composed of the parts of several different animals, wild or impossible idea; Harry gazed awestruck at the monstrous chimera, a gigantic beast with the head of a lion and the body of a winged horse.

41. Laconic: using few words; Jerry’s laconic sense of humor endeared him to the crowd.

42. Polemicist: person skilled in art of writing or speech, arguing cases forcefully; Mr. Trimble stands little chance in the public debate against the Republican polemicist candidate, Mr. Burns.

43. Comity: mutual civility; amity, an atmosphere of social harmony, the policy whereby one religious sect refrains from proselytizing the members of another sect; The Shias and Sunnis lived in perfect comity in their remote mountain hamlet.

44. Provenance: the place that something originally came from; He deals in antique furniture of doubtful provenance.

45. Sclerotic: condition in which soft tissue in the body becomes abnormally hard; Doctors were at a loss in explaining the child’s unusual sclerotic condition.

46. Prescient: knowing or appearing to know about things before they happen; His prescient instincts saved him a small fortune when he sold his shares before the stock market crash.

47. Hegemony: control and leadership, by one country over others; The United States’ military hegemony in the region was a source of great distress to Iqbal.

48. Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real; To add verisimilitude to the play, the stage is covered with snow for the winter scene.

49. Feckless: not able to manage things properly or look after oneself, not responsible enough; The McCarthy’s are feckless parents with more children than they could support.

50. Demarche: step or manoeuvre in political or diplomatic affairs; Thierry’s political demarche with the liberals saved the government a great deal of face in the senate hearings.

I WANT!!!

I guess it’s available here - http://theawesomer.com/scrabble-vintage-edition/76213/

(Source: astream-ofconsciousness)