h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You say:
"The highest-scoring seven-letter Scrabble-legal English word is QUARTZY - meaning like quartz. Played across a triple word Premium Square, with the Q or Z falling on a double-letter, it scores 164 points."

When I became enthusaistic about Scrabble many years ago someone gave me a copy of the game for my birthday and in the very first game we played I was able to use seven letters on an 'A' already played to create the word jabberer running from one Triple-word-score at the centre of the top row to another Triple-word-score in the upper right hand corner. I believe one 'b' fell on a double letter score.

It was agreed by all that the tripling had to happen twice and my score was considerably higher than 164.

There was much discussion about whether the 50 point bonus for using all seven letters should be added before the Tripling was calculated, or perhaps between the two Triplings, or simply added to the final result of jabberer x 3 x 3 (plus 50).

I am curious what your interpretation might be.


~jwf~

I'm more conservative. I would have tripled twice and added the bingo at the end of that. Especially if it was my opponent who got that kind of score

"Jabberer" is an eight letter word, so that's a special circumstance - very impressive too I think Quartzy still counts as the highest 7 letter.

No doubt about 'quartzy' as the high end possibilty of single seven letter words. But you would have some difficulty convincing me you hadn't just made it up. First, I'd demand you use it in a sentence. And when that proved to be clumsy I'd insist on checking the OED.

The 'rules' of Scrabble as printed on the inside of the box's top cover do not specify anything more than 'using all seven letters'.
There is also no mention of when the 50 point bonus should be added.
If one is getting a bonus for 'a seven letter word' then it ought to be included in the summed value of the word before calculating the 'triple WORD score'.

But there is no mention of a 'seven letter word' only 'using all seven letters'. Naturally one assumes one ought to combine them with as many other letters already on the board as possible to make as many other words as possible but the triple word score would apply only to the one word that reached that square or, as in my case, both triple word scores.

peace
~jwf~