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

Hi!
Thanks for the thoughtful overview of Scrabble, but how about tips for Scrabble players around the world. Unfortunately in Hungary we don't have that many words ending with -ier or -ing ))))))
Keep Scrabbling!

Pal Negyesi

I think that most of this entry's advice is actually pretty good for people playing in any language (with the exception of the specific word clusters). I was able to pick up French scrabble pretty easily, although I am not the world's greatest French speaker. It all comes down to placing tiles to make the most points on every turn, it seems to me. Good luck!

Well, I always thought the object of scrable was to score _as little points as possible on each turn_... But now, all of a sudden, I start winning. Thanks.

Well, sometimes you can get distracted and try to put down as many tiles as possible, or try to build a word for next turn, or something like that. I think that those are less-successful strategies.

What amazes me is nobody really mentioned "leave", which is, what you LEAVE on your rack. I average about 410 points a game, and one of the prime considerations is knowing how to dump unwanted material quickly for reasonable points and/or good board position... rather than using up your USEFUL tiles just because they're easier to play. It's no good playing out a nice combination of letters for only 16 points if it leaves you with UUII on your rack. That's when you should know words like UNAI, ILIUM, ETUI, OURARI... they way not ever score much, but they get you to a high scoring turn SOONER.

Some good words to know for Scrabble:
Zwieback - a type of rusk toasted in slices
Cazique - a West Indian Chieftan
Addax
Nabk
Xeric
Jato
Quaich
Hex
Xystus
Xylene
Xylem
Xoanon
Quagga
Zen
Zein
Zero
Aaaargh (only with 4 a's)
Benzoxycamphors
(Courtesy of the Guardians Pass notes.. I keep it handy in my Scrabble set for inspiration / cheating...)

These words are all great to know but.... be prepared to defend them vigorously when your opponent complains that they're not in his Pocket Collins dictionary. I love Scrabble but it leads to so many arguments if you don't agree beforehand what dictionary you're using to sort out the challenges.

One of the best words I ever played was 'quetzal' over TWO tripple word scores. I think it was in the ballpark of 150 points for that turn alone. Unfortunately, I have yet to duplicate that maneuver

quite understandable that you never managed to repeat your feat of getting 'quetzal' on two triple word scores, I can't even find a scrabble board with two triple word score squares that are only seven letters apart.
I presume the ultimate move would be to add onto both ends of a word in such a way as to put down seven letters (preferably including both Q and Z) and tough two triple word scores in the process. I can't honestly claim to have done this.

I suppose it would have to be "quetzals", wouldn't it?

The dictionary in use for North America is the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 3rd ed. (OSPD3). As for those useful words, NABK.. isn't a word. ZWIEBACK or whatever it was, and most of those X ones are useless. So low frequency in terms of the chances of you drawing those tiles, don't even bother thinking about them.
Something like ESERINE, LAITIES, etc.. things like THAT are useful.

I always find that when you decide on a word, you should look for all the possible places to put it. There are often more than one location a word can be placed, and location can be pretty helpful/hurtful. Like, you could put down 'exist' on one 'e' but chances are there are other e's, maybe with a double letter or word score, or are placed so your opponent can't as easily play a good word.