The Association of Premier * Players

Issue No. 63 NEWSLETTER December 1998

MARK NYMAN WINS NSC It's hard to believe that someone who's been a star of UK Scrabble for over fifteen years had never become the UK National Champion, but put that right at the new-look NSC in Wolverhampton on October 10th-l lth. Mark ended up with a superb record of 12 wins in 13 games, including a clean sweep on Day Two. The Intermediate Division was won by Norman Smith. You'll find a full report on the event on page 5, and an annotation of one of Mark's most exciting games on page 17.

BIGGEST EVER SCRABBLE GAME To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Scrabble, Mattel (UK) staged the world's biggest ever Scrabble game at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 13th October. Each tile was 2 metres square, and the board covered about one third of the pitch. The game was played between the Parachute regiment and the Marines, with Philip Nelkon assisting the Paras and Richard Evans the Marines. The tiles were so big that each tile had to be carried by two members of each regiment.

The Marines played the only bonus - DEATHLY for 85 points - but their disallowed play of OUTSEE let the Paras back into the game. The final score was a nail-biting Paras 346, Marines 348.

DON'T FORGET TO RENEW! It's that time of year again... Yes, not only time for the Christmas pud and 'Escape to Victory' on TV, but also time to renew your membership of the APSP - er... ABSP. Actually I jumped the gun slightly in the last issue; we don't become ABSP members until January 1st 1999, and only then if you send a cheque, made out to "ABSP", to Gareth Williams. You'll find a renewal slip enclosed with your newsletter.

SOWPODS CONVERSION KIT You can't have failed to notice that there was not merely one magazine in your envelope this month, but also a Christmas gift from the APSP - your very own SOWPODS conversion kit, as announced in the October newsletter. There's probably far more in it than most players would ever need -1 mean, who knows all of the OSW 4-letter words? (Notme!) But you might find it interesting to look at the twos and threes, and consider the additional possibilities they might provide in the next millennium!

SCRABBK* n t fvgiunrd iMdc nuil ul I.W.SpMi & Sons PIC. InftcM. Mtddi, [nghnd In this issue.. | Committee Corner] Page 3 Highlights of October Committee meeting Page 3 The Newsletter Editorial Team: A fresh start for 1999 Page 4 | Event Results and Reports [

National Scrabble Championship Page 5 Other events Page 7 | Ratings at 23rd November |

Page 17 Across the board I Page 22 Taking a positive view Page 22 Five in a row page 22 To change or not to change Page 23 Lotsof words Page 23 There were three to the bag-. Page 24 [ Twenty Questions: Mark Nyman [ On the subject of Christmas | I The Veteran Win Defldency Syndrome | Parallel lives I Page 31 Big fa the Far East |

W0rdPtoyl Page 33 IOU one word list Page 33 The Nunn I h^^^mhm^J Page 36 Christmas puzzles I Page 37 A festive teaser Page 37 Words and numbers Page 37 Wipeout page 38 | Poetry Corner | Ensure you're insured I i^mmhFJ Page 38 Readers' Letters I Page 39 Answers to puzzles I —^■-■—■■J Page 41 Tournament Details I Page 42 Event details Page 42 Forthcoming Events list Page 44 Committee Corner

Highlights of October Committee meeting

Graeme Thomas provides an update on the latest committee news...

The Committee met on October 26th, and had the usual robust discussions. Some of the highlights were:

• Amy Byme has been persuaded to join the Committee.

• The Easter tournament will be in Lopes Hall at Exeter University in 1999. We cannot use Exeter in 2000, as Easter is so late that year that the students will be back at their studies when we want to use the place. We are looking elsewhere.

• The Summer Matchplay will be at Sorby Hall at the University of Sheffield in 1999. According to the latest reports, en-suite accommodation will be available in an adjacent block. Negotiations are continuing to move the event in 2000. One possible region is Scotland.

• The BMSC will be in Hugh Stewart Hall at the University of Nottingham in 1999, as our normal venue, Rutland Hall, is being renovated.

• The handbook will be published in the New Year. One of the changes to it will be a completely reworked description of the new Weighted Rolling Ratingssystem.

• We will also publish a new Grievance Procedure. I think that word of this must have leaked, as Player A hasn't been giving as much trouble lately as he and she normally do.

• Our Publishing Department will be working overtime, as we will also be publishing Allan Simmons' SOWPODS Sampler, which will give some idea of the words which might come into use on January 2000.

• The name of the Association will formally change on 1st January 1999. We will then be the Association of British Scrabble Players. Our small but stalwart band of foreign members need not worry though - they are still very welcome.

We also discussed implementing the new Ratings system. This should be in place over the New Year. However, please do not pester Andrew Fisher, as he will be working hard getting it just right. The new ratings will be published as soon as we can manage to do it.

Generic entry forms It's been pointedout that there are some tournament organisers who organise more than one event at a time, and it can be confusing if cheques are arriving for several events simultaneously. For this reason, I've added an extra item to the generic entry form - there is now a space in which to fill in the name of the event.

Membership renewal Just in case you missed the reminder on the front cover, or failed to notice the colourful little renewal slip enclosed with the newsletter... don't forget to send Gareth your cheque for your1999 ABSP membership. You know it makes sense.

Page 3 The Newsletter Editorial Team: A fresh start for 1999

This is my final newsletter. A new editorial team takes over in 1999, with fresh faces, a revamped look, and no doubt lots of new ideas. Here's a quick alphabetical rundown on the new team...

David Acton: Although he's been taking a break from tournament Scrabble, David has remained involved in the UK Scrabble scene, as a tournament director and one of the architects of the new ratings system. David will be looking after anything to do with playing the game - so please send him interesting board positions, games for annotation, and articles on strategy (advanced or otherwise).

Address: 31 Harrogate Terrace, Murton, Seaham,County Durham, SR7 9PQ Tel: 0191 526 4320 E-mail: [email protected]

Amy Byrne: Our north-of-the-border correspondent will be responsible for book reviews, general articles, poetry, puzzles... in fact, anything that doesn't fit into any of the other categories!

Address: 12 Northfield Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 7PX Tel: 0131 661 3869 E-mail: [email protected]

Nick Deller: You won't be surprised to hear that Nick has offered to look after the Word Play section of the Newsletter. So if you've got any word lists, hints for word learning, or word-related articles of any type, Nick's your man.

Address: 17 Windsor Road, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE18 8DD Tel: 01480 454464 E-mail: [email protected]

Paul Golder: Paul is now a man of letters. He'll be handling the newsletter mailbox. So if you have any news or views about Scrabble (don't we all?), or if youwant to reply to any points raised in an earlier issue, send your letters to Paul. He is also going to be pulling the whole thing together, and making sure it gets off to the printers on time.

Address: 117 Passingham Avenue, Billericay, Essex CM11 2TA Tel: 01277 633339 (Fax: 01277 651505) E-mail: [email protected]

Mike O'Rourke: Mike's been a regular contributor to the Event Reports section in the past, so it's entirely appropriate that he'll be the newsletter's main tournament reporter. So keep those event reports and results rolling in...

Address: 22 Kestrel Rd, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6BU Tel: 01572 756968 E-mail: o'[email protected]

Elisabeth Jardine is also part of the team, and will initially be advising on layout and design. Finally, although Graeme Thomas isn't formally a member of the Editorial Team, he'll be continuing to compile the Committee Comer, with the help of other APSP Committee members.

I hope you'll give the new team all the support you've given me over the past two and a bit years. May their mailboxes run over!

Page 4 Event Results and Reports

National Scrabble Championship : (Report by Paul Golder)

As with any evenl like this, the tension always beginslong before play actually begins - will everyone turn up? Will the hotel mess the rooms and the bookings up? Unfortunately on this occasion, the answers were No and Yes respectively - more on the latter later. Luckily a series of last-minute replacements wereonhand to keep the numbers one short of a perfect128. The last of these was Steve Hopper, who received a call from Andy Roughton at 10.30 a.m asking if he fancieda place! It obviously worked for Steve (and Yvonne Eade, who stood in on Thursday evening) as they both won their groups on Day One. Only one player didn't show, so we had 63 in the Expert and64 in the Intermediate.

As play was due to start, a certain Mr Saldanha was battling his way through the Birmingham traffic. I feel duty-bound to report that a cheer went up when I announced that I was starting the clocks of the late arrivals, but Allan obviously had the last laugh - although he arrived with just 9 minutes to play his moves, he not only won by nearly 100, but it was the first game in the Expert division to finish that round!

The eight Expert division winners gave rise to a daunting top group on Day Two - Elie Dangoor, , Mark Nyman, Allan Saldanha, Allan Simmons, Alec Webb, Careth Williams and Mike Willis. There were some very close groups - one point less against Nick Deller, and Gareth would have lost his place to David Kcndix, whereas in Mike's group, only one win separated the eight players, Mike beating three other players on four wins by virtue of his spread.

The Intermediate group winners also indicated a tough final group - Liz Allen, Ian Burn, Yvonne Eade, June Edwards, Sheila Green, Steve Hopper, Marlene Skinner and Norman Smith - Sheila being the only player to finish unbeaten on the day.

The deciding game in the Expert division took place at 9 a.m the following morning - Mark beating Gareth 432 to 387. Gareth went on to win his next six games, averaging 463 against some of the best players in the country, but was always one step behind Mark, who beat everyone who came before him.With an inferior spread to Gareth, Mark needed to win his final game. Playing against Elie Dangoor, the match finished some ten minutes after all the others - Mark not making any mistakes to ensure his first NSC win. Mark's achievement of winning 12 out of the 13 games gave him a tournament rating of 217 and is the strongest performance in the history of the NSC - only Pam Titheradge breached the Nyman defences, with a 363-344 winon Day One.

Other excellent Sunday performances came from Andy Davis and George Gruner, who also won all seven games to lop their groups.

The NSC is not merely a vehicle forthe best Scrabble talents in the land to show off (although that of course does happen) - the highest score and best word of the weekend both went to the Intermediate division. The top score was Liz Allen's 603, and the best play was probably the 9-letter PITUITARY, although I don't know who out of Donna Slanton and Christopher Quartermaine played it! Allan Saldanha's SC1URO1D was another contender (squirrel-like is probably the easiest definition of this word).

I want to repeat my thanks I gave out on the day to Mattel and Chambers for their generous assistance, Terry Hollington forhis help in this department and other early work, all of the runners, and to Catherine and Peter Schwarz for their tireless adjudication during the two days.

Page 5 Final placings (Day 2)

Expert 1 Export 2 Sxport 3 1. M.Nyman 7-0 ■►365 1. E.Simpson 6-1 ♦ 244 1. B.Grossman 6-1 ♦ 401 2. G.Williams 6-1 ♦ 335 2. B.Violett 5-2 ♦ 230 2. S.Simonis 6-1 ♦ 99 3. A.Saldanha 4-3 ♦ 160 3. C.Spate •S-3 ♦ 140 3. J.Cansfield 4-3 ♦ 323

Export 4 Sxport S Export 6 1. R.Macinerney 6-0-1 ♦ 577 1. A.Davis 7-0 ♦ 589 1. T.Kirk 6-1 ♦ 533 2. R.Richland 5-1-1 ♦ 186 2. A.Perry 5-2 ♦ 322 2. J.McLeod 4-3 ♦ 165 3. S.Space 4-0-3 - 35 3. I.Dixon-Baird 4-3 -133 3. A.Byrne 4-3 - 48

Export 7 Export 6 1. D.Dennis 5-2 ♦ 405 1. P.Dean 5-1 ♦ 332 2. M.Thompson 5-2 ♦ 142 2. K.Le Grove 3-3 ♦ 93 3. D.McLeod 4-3 ♦ 52 3. S.Perry 3-3 ♦ 88

Intermediate 1 Intormodiato 2 Intormodiato 3 1. N. Smith 6-1 ♦ 666 1. S.Odelana 5-2 ♦ 252 1. G.Gruner 7-0 ♦729 2. Y.Eade 4-3 ♦ 174 2. J.Hiley 5-2 ♦ 174 2. I.Caws 5-2 ♦ 174 3. I.Burn 4-3 ♦ 156 3. J.Squire 5-2 ♦ 107 3. T.Char1ton 4-3 ♦ 4

Intermediate 4 Intormodiato S Intormodiato 6 1. C.Quartermaine 6-1 ♦ 98 1. M.Partner 5-2 ♦ 200 1. D.Holloway 6-1 ♦ 583 2. J.Rappitc 5-2 ♦ 318 2. M.Page 5-2 ♦ 58 2. S.May 5-2 ♦ 295 3. K.Synott 5-2 ♦ 286 3. C.Dossett 5-2 ♦ 19 3. A. Bailey 5-2 ♦ 125

Intermediate 7 Intermediate a 1. L.Trocter 6-1 ♦ 674 1. E.Basham 5-2 ♦ 332 2. M.MacDonald 5-2 ♦ 253 2. P.Ernest 5-2 ♦ 93 3. J.Clark 4-3 ♦ 97 3. M.Keevey 4-2 ♦ 88

Group winners (Day 1)

Export 1: E.Dangoor 6-0-1 + 140 Intormodiate It L.Allen 5-2 +495 Export 2i M.Nyman 5-0-1 *549 Intormediato 2t I.Burn 6-1 +414 Export 3: A.Saldanha 6-0-1 ♦734 Intormediato 3t S.Green 7-0 ♦561 Export 4: A.Webb 6-0-1 ♦436 Intermediate 4i N.Smith 5-2 »576 Bxpert 5i D.Francis 6-0-1 +737 Intormediato 5i M.Skinner 6-1 *119 Expert 6s A.Simoons 6-0-1 *570 Intormodiate 6s S.Hopper 6-1 +297 Sxport 7: G.Williams 5-1-1 ^264 Intermediate 7s Y.Eade 6-1 +563 Bxpert 8: K.Willis 4-0-3 »489 Intermediato 8< J.Edwards 5-2 ♦ 333

NSC 1999

Looking forward to next year, Mattel has announced that they will not hold the NSC, and has granted me the opportunity to stage it one more time.

Would-be entrants will no doubt be pleased to know that the event will not be repeated at the Britannia Hotel. The surroundings were pleasant, although it would have been nice if I'd received all of the rooms and facilities I had asked for. To cap it all, the manager of the hotel has since written to me telling me that his service "exceeded my expectations" - he was certainly right in saying that I didn't expect the unscheduled45 minute dinner delay, all-nite disco across the road, and the hire of the adjacent room to a gospel church service on the Sunday morning!

I have therefore plumped for Buckinghamshire College in Chalfont St Giles, over the weekend of 24-25 July next year. The surroundings are picturesque and the accommodation is very high quality for "student" rooms. What's more, the location will enable me to knock up to £27 off the entry fees.

Page 6 I am keeping to the same formatwith the possibility of three groups of 64 this time - hopefully the cheaper price, large number of prizes on offer and new location will encourage sufficient numbers of players to enter. I am again doing away with the Regional Finals -1 was surprised by the large number of players who told me that it was a feature of the NSC they were glad not to "suffer" this year (you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to guess what part of the UK most of them came from!). Hope to see you all there.

Other events

Sheffmatch : September 26th (Results only)

Division A DivisionB 1. Ruth Maclnerney 5-0 • 426 1. Tony Davis 5-0 ♦ 426 2. Joyce Cansfield 4-1 ♦ 556 2. Malcolm Roberta 4-1 ♦ 295 3. Andy Roughton 4-1 • 406 3. Matthew Pinner 4-1 ♦ 200 4. Wayne Kelly 4-1 ♦ 123 4. Joseph Doku 4-1 ♦ 173 5. Steve Balment 3-2 ♦ 201 5. Liz Dunlop 4-1 ♦ 136

Bournemouth: October 4th (Report by Val Wright)

Bournemouth Scrabble Club held its third APSP-rated tournament on Sunday 4th October, at the Burlinglon Hotel. There were 96 players in three divisions, with the following results:

Divioion A Divioion B Division C 1. !1. Turner 5-0 • 276 1. M. Partner 5-0 ♦ 319 1. M.Lane 4-1-0 ♦ 295 2. D.Francis 4-1 ♦ 529 2. C. Smith 4-1 ♦ 365 2. P.Stoadman 4-0-1 ♦298 3. R.Maclnerney 4-1 ♦ 304 3. M.Baxendale 4-1 ♦ 218 3. E.Torry 4-0-1 ♦227 4. G.Harding 4-1 ♦ 195 4. J.Caws 4-1 ♦ 213 4. M.Soabrook 4-0-1 ♦ 192

The prize for the highest spread in a single game went to Ian Betteridge from Southsea with +253. The two highest word scores were 185 for NARTJIES (Michael Partner - Croydon) and 129 for SNEEZED (Frankie Mairey - Totton).

Glasgow : October 17th (Report by Moya Dewar)

Only one hardycompetitor from south of the border ventured up on October 17th to the7th Glasgow Scrabble Club tournament in Motherwell - (he ubiquitous Paul Pye. We lake it the reluctant decision by the others not to come was made on the grounds that there were two other competitions nearer at hand that day, not to mention a little tournament at Wolverhampton the previous week!

However, with an attendance of 68 players, two healthy divisions were formed. Paul Allan won the champion's Herald shield, making this the first time a Glasgow SC player has won their own tournament. Stella Brown from the Bon Accord club in Aberdeen came first in the B division.

Division A Divioion B 1. Paul Allan 5-0 ♦ 426 1. Stella Brown 5-0 ♦ 324 2. Puter Preston 4-1 ♦ 556 2. K.Johnstone 4-1 ♦ 488 3. Alan Georgeson 4-1 ♦ 406 3. Isla Wilkie 4-1 ♦ 434 4. Malcolm Quirie 4-1 ♦ 289 4. Martin Cairns 4-1 ♦ 325

Page 7 East London : October 17th (Results only)

Division A Division B DivioionC 1 C.French 6-0 ♦ 299 1. P. Encarnaci.cn 5-0-1 • 364 1 P.Fung 5-1 • 356 2 B.Violott 5-1 ♦ 349 2. D. ShonJcin 5-0-1 • 347 2 C.Violett 5-1 •277 3 A.Webb 5-1 ♦ 107 3. G. Roberts 5-0-1 ♦ 278 3 P .Stead.T-.an 4-2 • 400 4 B.Grossman 4-2 ♦ 358 4. G. Clark 4-1-1 ♦ 184 4 N.Jenkins 4-2 ♦ 301 5 P.Go 1dor 4-2 ♦ 304 5. M. Pratesi 4-0-2 ♦ 211 5 A.Garrard 4-2 ♦ 276

South-VVest Evergreen : October 17th (Report by Derrick Thorne)

This event was well-supported once again, with 82 contestants competing, representing 20 clubs. The stan was delayed by the late arrival of three members of one of the local clubs, having got lost traversing the unchartedwastes of Weston-super-Mare without a native guide!

The countyof Gloucestershire yet again provided the winner, in the shape of Peter Terry from Cirencester.

Divioion A Divioion B Division C Divioion D 1. p Terry 3-0 1. 0 Holroyd 3-0 1. D Emmect 3-0 1. K Gibbons 3-0 2. B Brown 3-0 2. S Penny 3-0 2. J Fothergill 3-0 2. W Gibbons 3-0 3. D Morris 3-0 3. G Sunroers 3-0 3. A Campbell 2-1 3. A Fothergill 2-1

Middlesborough : October 18th (Report by David Acton)

42 players gathered in the spacious Linthorpe Community Centre in Acklam, Middlesborough to compete in two divisions. It was one of those spooky days where everything seemed to go smoothly. The brand new bit of A19 conveyed us to the venue early, and proceedings went apace, finishing about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. There were no punch-ups, only good Scrabbling. Most of the competitors werefrom the local clubs - Cleveland, Newcastle, Peterlee, with the odd immigrant from the distant land known as Pudsey.

Despite rumours that at least one competitor had been pulled over for speeding, all arrived on time. Round 1 saw my favourite play of the day - INCURIOUS by Hilda Hudspcth. Meanwhile, Lewis Mackay wasmaking short work of his opponent with a 247-point victory, not quite matching Julie Tale's 269 spread in Divison 2.

Through the middle roundsof the day, Julie and Lewis both maintained their winning form, and other strong performances from Samantha Beckwith and Martin Thompson (the highest rated competitor of the day) kept them well in contention. Some splendid words were played, although sadly not all in the dictionary. QUAERES. BUGGIN. EMCEED. UNFROZE, IRONIST. ROOTERS, UINTA1TE. INSANELY and more. Flo Davies managed to knock up 90 for EQUIPS, although I didn't sec the board to work out how. ZOOARIUM won my "best try" award, and the usual smattering of OSPD crept in - SOUPING and YODELING amongst them.

Going into the final round, Lewis was the only player in Div I on 4 wins, and so six players were in contention for the title. In the event, Neil Rowley beat Lewis by94 and snuck ahead on spread. Division 2 saw Julie Talc emerging a comfortable winner in her final game.

Prizes for the highest scoring bonuses were won in Division 1 by Norma Howarth (122, INTERNEE) and in Division 2 by Hilary Birdsall (EXACTLY for exactly 104). just pipping Barrie Hall's BOSSING (97) which had led throughout the day.

Page 8 Ann Hughes had organised various side-events to raise money for a local osteoporosis society, including a "name the skeleton" competition. Over £50was raised.

All-in-all a very g°°d day's Scrabbling in an excellent venue. Organisation by Trish Johnson andteam was top-notch, leaving me almost nothing to do as director. Indeed, most of the work was doneby Phil Jefferies, who used the beta version of his Swiss program to pair and run the event.

Division A Division B 1. Neil Rowley 4-1 ♦ 355 1. Julie Tate 5-0 ♦ 454 2. Lewis Mackay 4-1 ♦ 337 2. Christine Nicholson 4-1 ♦ 358 3. Pauline Johnson 4-1 ♦ 167 3. Samantha Beckwith 4-1 ♦ 264 4. Ken Matthews 4-1 ♦ 141 4. Hilary Birdsall 4-1 + 250 5. Alison Sadler 3-2 ♦ 241 5. Eric Rowland 3-2 ♦ 291

Vectis & Isle of Wight events : October 30th-November 1st (Report by Noel Turner)

This year's Isle of Wight Weekend turned out to be the biggest Scrabble happening, in terms ofnumbers, in the country this year. 154 players look part in the main tournament; 88 in the 5-game warm-up inaugural Vectis event.

The Vectis tournamentwas, finally, divided into three divisions, and it was a quality field that Bournemouth's Margaret Bright romped past to her first ever tournament win. It just goes to show that, even if your rating is so low that you would trigger the 40-point rule, if you played the topplayer in your group, you still have a chance!

Romford's Paul Golder posted a warning by coming second, while Ryde's Ivan Swallow was third. The three of them left in their wake such names as Terry Kirk, Andrew Perry, Martin Reed (who lost to Margaret in the "Final"), Karl Khoshnaw, Graeme Thomas,... Oh!and me!

The B Division was won by Newport's own Wendy Tiley. Kim Phipps finished bottom with 0 wins; remember the name... The close-fought C Group, which produced no-one on 5 wins, but 6 players on 4, went to a newish name to grapple with: Minu Bhattacharya.

Division A Division B Division C 1. K. Bright 5-0 ♦ 350 1. W.Tiley 5-0 + 491 1. M. Bhattacharya 4-1 ♦ 436 2. P.Golder 4-1 ♦ 501 2. R.Todd 4-1 +283 2. P. Car t: man 4-1 ♦335 3. I. SwaHow 4-1 +201 3. M.Page 4-1 + 269 3. J.Brown 4-1 +255 4. S.Perry 4-1 + 177 4. V.Peters 4-1 +194 4. M.Seabrook 4-1 +213 5. M.Reed 4-1 +176 5. R.Hollingworth 4-1 ♦ 88 5. S.Reeve 4-1 +208

Moving on to the main event, I was exhilarated when this got underway, with everyone having turned up, enough room for them all to play in, and no Player A's rushing up at the last minute saying they were in the wrong group!

I was so exhilarated that I won my first 5 games, and found myself out on my own, before I played Paul Golder in Round 6. This was probably the deciding game of the event. Truth to tell, I should have won, but with all of 10 minutes left on my clock, I still managed to rush a crucial move near the endand let him in for a winning bonus. 20:20 hindsight is a wonderful thing, but looking back at the evidence available, I knew that my instincts had let me down. From that moment, Paul didnot look back, and even an 1 lth round King of the Hill against Andrew Perry, in which the latter needed only to win by2 points, did notupset his momentum.

Kim Phipps (remember her?) went from the ridiculous to the sublime.After losing all her Vectis games she won her first 6 in the main event, and wenton to post her first success in any group, in any event. A very popular win for her in the B division.

Page9 The C group went to Southsca's Peter Hunt. He has been playing in the Southern Counties League for a long time, but this was his first major tournament. He hung on, despite losing his KOTH struggle with second-placed Theresa Cole, who couldn't amass quite enough spread to catch him. The D group was won by Southampton's Jean Swallow, who is a new player this year. She first appeared at the BMSC, and is obviously learning very rapidly. Minu gained her second prize or the weekend by coming second.

Division A Divioion B 1. Paul Golder 10-1 + 622 1. Kim Phipps 9-2 ♦ 569 2. Andrew Perry 8-3 +702 2. MaryAllen B-3 +571 3. Martin Rood 8-3 +437 3. A.Swain 8-3 +349 4. John Howell 8-3 + 83 4. Lesley Watson 8-3 ♦155 5. Penny Downer 7-4«444 5. Lois McLeod 7-4 +630

Divioion c Divioion D 1. Peter Hunt 9-0-2 +405 1. Jean Swallow 10-1 +555 2. Theresa Cole 9-0-2 +264 2. Minu Bhattacharya 8-3 +572 3. PhilippeMorris 8-0-3 1-246 3. Eve Hi 11 ington 8-3 +529 4. Margaret Staunton 7-1-3 + 239 4. H.Morris 8-3 +270 5. Stuart Kay 7-0-4 +493 5. John Brown 8-3 +240

We repeated the experiment of inviting two lads froma local school Scrabble Club to play Tor free, to hopefully encourage them to get interested in the game in the future. In fact, the school staged a play-off to find the two highest-scoring players, who would win these places. The lads who played were the best out of 9 or 10 club members. Charlie Cowtan, who surprised his teacher by gaining enough points, is only 7. He came bottom, but at least the KOTH allowed him the chance to gain revenge on his clubmate Lee Barnes, so that both managed a win in the end. My thanks go to all those seasoned Scrabblcrs who were patient enough to play them. Who knows, they may turn out to be the Alan Saldanha's of the future. Thanks, again, to all who helped, especially to Graeme. I am sorry Graeme was unable to enjoy the whole of the weekend.

I look forward to next year's Tenth tournament, which will be held on 29lh/30tti/31st October 1999.

Elgin: October 31st (Report by Lorraine Gordon)

Elgin Scrabble Club held its second ABSP-rated tournament on October 31st.

In Division A, after a close-run contest. Amy Byrne retained the Club Shield - an excellent achievement but this year only by virtue ofa higher spread than Wilma Warwick, Peter Preston and Winnie Buik. Other prizewinners in Division A were Moya Dewar forthe highest game score with a mighty 573, and Malcolm Quirie took the honours for the highest single move when heplayed AGONISED for 140 points.

In Division B May Macdonaldand Margaret Harkness had a very closely-contested decider, which May won by a 6-poini margin. This win meant that May was the only player in either division to remain unbeaten. Second and third prizes in Division B went to two Bon Accord players, Stella Brown and Michael Hurley. Isobel Smith, playing on home soil, took the prizeforthe highest game with a fine score of 467. Connie Riach won the highest move after playing BLEAKER for 98 points.

The entry was very encouraging, and the Community Centre proved to bean excellent venue, recently completely refurbished after the serious flood damage sustained in July 1997. A healthy range of player ability was represented with some top Scottish players and also some enthusiastic novices as yet unrated.

Page 10 Finally, thanks to young Callum, son of Norman Haddow, who collaborated on the computer and helped make the whole day run smoothly (despite my husband handing in wrong reference numbers!)

We look forward to next year's competition. Can Amy make it three in a row?!

Division A Divioion B 1. Amy Byrne 4-0-1 ♦ 341 1. HayMacdonald 5-0 +270 2. Wilma Warwick 4-0-1 ♦ 236 2. Stella Brown 4-1 +381 3. Peter Preston 4-0-1 ♦ 208 3. Michael Harley 4-1 +219 4. Winnie Buik 4-0-1 ♦ 134 4. Margaret Harkness 4-1 + 190 5. Moya Dewar 3-1-1 ♦ 290 5. Lorna Wishart 3-2 +348

Havering: November 8th (Report by Christina French)

514-362: very reminscent of Scrabble scores in games when I play Dave!But no, these are two rather more important "scores" that occurred at the Havering tournament. S14: the number of challenges that Allie and Carys Nelkonand Alice Violett collected between them throughout the day. 362: the number of teas and coffees made by Carol Church and Jean Haynes throughout the day (not to mention the washing up). Margaret from Portsmouth was also assisting us in herusual energetic and tireless manner: with thissort ofhelp the day was a pleasure to organise. Michael our son had comehome from university to help at the computerand Kathleen our daughter was also at our side. As usual, Dave was undetachable from his microphone!

Although we started on a very sombre note - two minutes silence, as it was Remembrance Sunday - the day was wonderful. Sue Ball and Moby Cook had baked some delicious cakes forthe afternoon break. £120 was raised in raffle proceeds forthe St Francis Hospice in Havering-atte-Bower. The theme words prize - any words to do with villages, as the tournament was held in the delightful village of Doddinghurst, was won by Maura Pratesi with MILLER, FARMER and BRENT - his explanation: a small village in London - not exactly the dictionary one but equally as good. Mauro also won the lunchtime puzzle with the play of FIGURANT for 140, and Terry Kirk won the written questions section (although Mauro's answers were more amusing, Terry's were more correct).

Footnote: Two divisions were won by women, and women took home seven other placings/ratings prizes -just thought I would mention this fact.

Division A Division B Division C 1. T Kirk 5-1 +468 1. P Macbean 5-1 ♦ 538 1. H Latcham 5-1 +432 2. S Siir.onis 5-1 +263 2. J Bakewell 5-1 +388 2. J Clark 5-1 ♦ 286 3. B Grossman 5-1 +246 3. K Synnott 5-1 ♦ 218 3. I Woolley 5-1 ♦ 92

Doncaster: November 8th (Results only)

Division A DivisionB Division C 1. R.Dowse 4-1 +456 1. L.Barratt 5-0 ♦ 375 1 C.Emery 5-0-0 ♦ 305 2. G.Wakofiold 4-1 +423 2. E.Draper 4-1 +600 2 A.Toft 4-0-1 ♦233 3. W.Kelly 4-1 + 88 3. K.Sellers 4-1 +296 3 P.Charlton 4-0-1 +128 4. N.Rowley 4-1 - 15 4. M.Gillott 4-1 ♦ 275 4 S.Collard 3-1-1 +229 5. L.Mackay 3-2 +240 5. K.Rafferty 4-1 +203 5 J.Croasdale 3-1-1 + 105

Edinburgh : November 14th (Report by Amy Byrne - extracted from the Internet)

On Saturday, 14 November 84 players converged on St Mary's Church Hall; they came from as far a field as Middlesborough to Alness (that's about IS miles pastInverness). It was a miserable dreich kind

Page 11 of day so what could be better than spending it playing 5 rounds of Scrabble. I wasn't playing for a change, having said that I would operate the computer, however, young Calum Haddow had agreed to take responsibility for this. Calum has helped out at a couple of Tournaments here in Scotland recently but this was the first time he was in sole charge and for one of the larger Tournaments with 3 Divisions! No-one needhave worried, he took it all in his stride andI'm sure he will be a regular at Scottish Tournaments in this role from now on.

So I was defunct. Well, not quite; a Tournament Director was required so I was volunteered for this role. Nothing to it really - thanks to the marvellous organisation donebyKennethRoss beforehand. All I had to do was a bit of the usual - shushing, finding a clock when one of the timers decided to goon the blink, and ensure that everyone had an opponent, board, timer, etc before each game. The buffet, which was prepared a la Chez Kenneth as well, was superb (there wereeven puddings to die for). Apart from keeping Kenneth from panicking too much, allI had to do was assist Catherine Swartz with the challenges (I even learnt the odd word or two or three or four).

Apart from thethree place prizes in thethree Divisions there was also prizes for the highest game score, highest move score, and the number of bonuses played.

Division A Division B Division C 1. N.Scott 5-0 O22 1. L.Finley 5-0 +275 1. L.Wishart 5-0 +441 2. A.Georgeson 4-1 O97 2. J.Gallacher 4-1 +424 2. T.Johnson 4-1 +319 3. P.Allan 4-1 -280 3. J.Tollick 4-1 +326 3. M.Lefley 4-1 +144

Game : D.Macleod 544 Game : A.Steward 520 Game : O.Matthews Move : E.Mckeown 124 Move : M.Armstrong 100 Move : J.Jacques Bonuses: M.Flight 11 Bonuses: M.Harkness 8 Bonuses: J.Glen

1998 Mind Sports Olympiad

Tricia Pay sent me details of the 1998 Mind Sports Olympiad, which took place between August 24th-30th. There were no big money prizes or trips on Concorde to play for this year, so most of the big names stayed away. But that shouldn't detract from the performances of the medal winners, since there were quite a few well-known APSP members in attendance.

Pride of place went to Shanker Menon and Femi Awowade, both of whom won two gold medals. Shanker's came in the main Championship, in which he edged out Tricia Pay on spread with Sandie Simonis taking the bronze medal, and in the Junior event. Femi won the Evening Championship and the Weekend event. 8-year old Perry Fung receiving his Divisional winner's prize at East London.

Page 12 Ratings at 23rd November |

152x 198 Phil Appleby (GH) 197 x 170 Helen Grayson (Exp) 170 x 160 Para Titheradge 125 x 197 AndrewFisher (GH) 97 x 170 Shanker Heron 158 > 159 Brian Bull 126 x 196 Hark Nynan (GH) 126 x 170 Martin Thomson 50 x 159 Paul Chadwick 79 x 194 Allan Saldanha (GH) 178 x 169 Jake Jacobs 328 x 159 Nuala Clenaghan 96 x 193 David Acton (GH) 240 x 169 Cecil Huscat 126 x 159 Loz Crouch 164 x 193 David Webb (GH) 80 x 168 Mary Grylls 312 > 159 Rob Dowse 165 x 191 Andre* Cook 56 x 168 Tony Killilea 184 > 159 Christopher Finlay 135 x 191 140 x 168 Andrew Roughton 108 > 159 Frankie Hairey 173 x 188 Russell Byers (GH) 53 x 167 Bob Berry 33 x 159 Russell Kurch 206 x 187 Andrew Davis 221 x 167 Helen Greenaway 118 > 158 David Holland 187 x 187 Neil Scott (Exp) 420 x 167 Ruth Haclnerney 221 > 158 Marion Keatings 224 x 187 Allan Simoons (GH) 100 x 167 Sheila Spate 31 a 158 Roy Miller 55x 187 Clive Spate (GH) 131 x 166 Sicon Carter 58 > 158 Les Hymn 371 x 186 Terry Kirk (Exp) 107 x 166 Philip Cohen 273 > 158 Janet Phillips 168 x 186 AlecWebb (Exp) 75 x 166 John Howell 202 > 158 Rachelle Winer 203 x 186 Gareth Williams (GH) 32 x 166 Jayne Mackenzie 265 > 157 Koira Conway 168 x 185 Helen Gipson (Exp) 280 x 166 Donald MacLeod 100 > 157 Angela Evans 157x 185 Brian Sugar (Exp) 333 x 166 Graeme Thomas 247 > 157 Gary Fox 75 x 184 Philip Nelkon (GH) 48 x 165 Jonathan Anstey 109 > 157 Chris Keeley 123 x 181 Di Dennis (Exp) 415 x 165 Steve Balment 62 > 157 Timothy Lawrence 74 x 181 Peter Finley (GH) 139 x 165 Simon Gill in (Exp) 58 >i 157 David Uwton 43 x 181 Steven Gruzd 56 x 165 Debbie Keaton 404 )i 157 Raymond Tate 230 x 181 Evan Sinpson (Exp) 71 x 165 Kenneth Oliver 65 >i 156 Cathy Anderson 66 x 180 Richard Evans (Exp) 34 x 165 Kwaku Sapong 163 )c 156 Martin Bloomberg 244 x 179 Martin Fowkes 172 x 164 Danny Bekhor 206 )c 156 Nick Deller 163 x 179 Darryl Francis (Exp) 371 x 164 Amy Byrne 162 x 156 Ivy Dixon-Baird 54 x 179 Ian Gucklhom 110x 163 Irene Bell 215 i( 156 Christine Hamilton 172x 179 David Kendix 50x 163 Edward Garrett-Jones 126 )( 156 Iain Harley 257 x 179 Andrew Perry 161 x 163 Alan Georgeson 73 )c 156 Terry Hoi lington 116 x 178 Elie Dangoor 139x 163 Grahaa Harding 147 jc 156 Hary Jones 136x 178 Penny Downer 62 x 163 Chris Vicary 149 )i 155 Doug Brown 135 x 178 Paul Golder 40 x 163 Karen Willis 138 )i 155 Alan Chi Ids 64 x 178 John Grayson (GH) 30 x 162 Alan Catherall 58 )c 155 Chris Davison 98 x 178 Dick Green 44 x 162 Wayne Kelly 96 )( 155 Elisabeth Jardine 85 x 178 Karl Khoshnaw 117x 162 Chris Lloyd 63 !( 155 Thomas Hensah 120 x 177 Paul Allan 239 x 162 David Meadows 335 ( 155 HikeO'Rourke 74 x 177 Harshan Lamabadusuriya 128 x 162 Paul Hind 188 ( 155 Kate Surtees 326 x 177 Jackie KcLeod (Exp) 54 x 162 Diane Pratesi (Exp) 54 < 155 Ivan Swallow 321 x 177 Sandie Sinonis 197 x 162 Martin Reed 123 < 154 Aaie Baiiantyne 167 x 177 Bob Vioiett (Exp) 287x 162 Alan Sinclair 78 < 154 Eryl Barker 183 x 176 Joyce Cansfield (Exp) 64 x 162 Graham Wakefield 45 « 154 David Dawson 133 x 176 Ruth Morgan-Th (Exp) 163x 161 Caroline Atkins 189 < 154 Christina French 50 x 176 Linda Pray 77 x 161 Jane Gibson 58 t 154 Judy Straughan 131 x 175 Gary Pol Mil 52 x 161 Ken Heaton 54 i 154 Fran Thompson 302 x 174 Robert Richland (Exp) 64 x 161 Brian Jones 104 K 153 Billy Dott ISO x 174 Noel Turner (Exp) 106 x 161 Neil Rowley 69 ( 153 Colin Hall 58 x 173 Hartley Koorhouse (Exp) 57 x 160 Adebowale AJose 33 i 153 Keith King 95 x 173 Hike Will is (Exp) 34 x 160 Christina Brown 93 k 153 Kathryn Le Grove 198x 172 Barry Grossman 120 x 160 Peter Dean 33 « 153 Carol Stanley 129 x 172 Peter Preston 131 x 160 Bob Lynn 59 k 153 Henry Walton 89 x 171 Chris Hawkins 291 x 160 Steve Perry 63 k 153 DavidWilliams 277 x 171 Wilma Warwick 35 x 160 Roger Phillips 198 x 152 Diana Beasley 167 x 170 Nicholas Ball 57 x 160 Martin Thomas 253 x 152 Adrienne Berger

Page 13 75 x 152 Margaret Browne 320 x 146 Margaret Pritchett 47 x 139 KayPowick 192 x 152 Ian Burn 128 x 146 Carol Smith 231x 139 Ken Quarshie 31 x 152 Liz Furness 114x 146 Jean Williams 118x 139 Barbara Sharanas 49 x 152 Anne Hidden 245 x 146 Tom Wilson 406 x 139 David Shenkin 44 x 152 David Longley 100 x 146 Ricky Zinger 53 x 139 Kevin Synnott 209 x 152 Malcolm Quirte 247 x 145 Mary Allen 60 x 139 Derrick Thorne 81 x 152 Dennis Walker 86 x 145 Tony Davis 46 x 138 Jacqui Brown 82 < 152 Richard Woodward 54 x 145 Pan Fairless 72 X 138 Ceridwen Oavies 300 ( 151 Peter Ashurst 109 x 145 Marjory Flight 33 x 138 Alistair Dowling 72 < 151 Sue Bo«nan 62 x 145 Steven Hopper 30x 138 Hike Holland 140 < 151 George Gruner 67 x 145 John Mitchell 108 x 138 Oebbie Hollowly 206 « 151 Joy Lloyd 324 x 145 Sylvia Swaney 55 x 138 Susan Skirving 175 < 151 DoreenHarsh 65 x 145 Josef Thompson 265 x 138 Anne Steward 35 < 151 Ken Matthews 104 x 144 John Balloch 96 x 137 Alan Bailey 35 ( 151 Huw Morgan 165 x 144 Sandra Hoffland 116 x 137 JaniceBease 46 ( 151 Peter Thompson 58 x 144 Davina Latham 45 x 137 Jean Bridge 48 x 150 Oluyemi Adesiyan 158 x 144 Anne Ramsay 40 x 137 Joe Caruana 53 x ISO Tony Bailey 108 x 143 Liz Barber 107 x 137 June Edwards 76 x ISO Christine Cooper 64 x 143 Ian Betteridge 102 x 137 Roma Koliingworth 245 x ISO Hoya Dewar 71 x 143 Louise Brundell 62 x 137 Sharon Landau 52 )( ISO Ron Hendra 87 x 143 Graham Buckingham 55 x 137 Sylvia Heyrick 57 )< 150 StellaLander 63 x 143 Marie English 124 x 137 Adesarcai Odelana 87 i( ISO Lewis Hackay 69 x 143 Laura Finley 64 x 137 StuartPierce 65 )( ISO Lou HcMeeken 68 x 143 David Keeble 174 x 137 Dorothy Taylor 37 )t ISO Adam Philpotts 197x 143 Eddie McKeovn 60 x 137 Jan Turner 59 x 156 Carole Rison 138 x 143 Lorna Rapley 45 x 137 Brian Watson 162 x 149 Margaret Burdon 90 x 143 Jayne Reilly 141 x 137 Val Wright 90 x 149 Pat Colling 59 x 143 Rose Spencer 63 x 136 Etta Alexander 30 ic 149 Harta Ounsire 65 x 142 Sheila Anderson 45 x 136 Jean Carter 395 )c 149 Sheila Green 144 x 142 Linda Bradford 32 x 136 Val Couzens 114 i( 149 PaulineJohnson 85 x 142 Edeile Crane 138x 136 Norman Haddow 112 )i 149 Kate Leckie 78 x 142 Joanne Hi ley 34 x 136 June Hill 46 >( 149 AngelaSwain 41 x 142 Linda Hi Hard 73 x 136 Sally Lewis 73 )( 148 Oamian Eadie 45 x 142 Barbara Price 95 x 136 Jane Lowndes 165 )( 148 Helen Mitchell 56 x 142 Christopher Quartermaine 80 x 136 Lois McLeod 72 )< 148 Martha Mitchell 50 x 142 Lesley Trotter 84 x 136 Donna Stanton 63 >( 148 David Nunn 31 x 142 Frances Ure 106 x 136 Wendy Tiley 41 )( 148 Bryn Packer 171 x 141 Ann Davidson 57 x 136 Rita Todd 107 )( 148 Jean Rappitt 30 x 141 SheilaHinett 155 x 136 Lesley Watson 331 )( 148 Maureen Rayson 132X 141 Komi Howarth 54 x 136 Malcolm Wearn 37 >c 148 Helen Rees 30 x 141 Brian Hacmillan 68 x 135 Hichael Baxendale 136 i( 148 Alec Robertson 33 x 141 Richard Saldanha 258 x 135 Syd Berger 119 ( 148 Alison Sadler 64 x 141 Carol Smith 46 x 135 Doreen Blake 129 i( 148 Maria Thomson 310 x 141 Harjorie Smith 55 x 135 Janet Sraund 152 )i 148 Teena Walls 131 x 140 PhilipAldous 63 x 135 Joan Caws 79 x 147 Eileen Anderson 63 x 140 Beryl Brown 226 x 135 Priscilla Encarnacion 56 x 147 Linda Bird 101 x 140 Jilly Gamett 48 x 135 Chris Fenwick 173x 147 Margaret Bright 37 x 140 Maureen Greening-Steer 165 x 135 Kay Johnston 32 x 147 Dorothy Churcher 180 x 140 Carol Hal kin 106 x 135 Fay Hadeley 142 x 147 Yvonne Eade 97 x 140 Gwynfor Owen 39 x 135 StellaHagnus 42 x 147 James Korsfail 58 x 139 Shirley Angel 1 42 x 135 Ann Pitblado 37 x 147 Peter Liggett 251 x 139 Vivien Becknann 31 x 135 Kevin Sellars 160 x 147 Pat HacBean 150 x 139 Maureen Brough 50 x 135 Angela Spilsbury 42 X 147 Ron Manton 38 x 139 Maurice Brown 92 x 134 Rita Brookes 85 x 147 Norman Smith 50 x 139 James Crooks 43 x 134 Kathy Bull en 73 x 146 Trevor Bently 62 x 139 Heather Frankland 73 x 134 Barbara Dein 179x 146 Oavid Ellis 67 x 139 Peter Kelly 63 x 134 PatriciaFcnn 95 x 146 Lorraine Gordon 50 x 139 Julie Nelkon 76 x 134 Vera Flood 54 x 146 Brenda Margereson 178 x 139 Michael Partner 426 x 134 Harlene Skinner

Page 14 64 x 134 Stan Skinner 39 x 127 Jill Bright 38 X 120 Bobbie Bennett 42 x 134 Pat Wheeler 63 x 127 Ian Caws 52 X 120 Eileen Bradshaw 31 x 133 Alan Buckley 41 x 127 Eve Ccnlon 51 X 126 Nicholas Butler 54 x 133 Lois Cakebread 47 x 127 Moby Cook 54 X 126 HoragChamberlain 31 x 133 Liz Dun)op 71 x 127 Sharon Golder 206 X 120 Garry Clark 31 x 133 Nonna Galley 114 x 127 Joan Lawrence 139 X 120 Florence Davies 59 x 133 Graham Haker 77 x 127 Hal cola Roberts 156 X 120 Carmen Doian 94 x 133 Tess McCarthy 53 x 127 Gilii Sinmons 86 X 126 Phyllis Fernandez 56 x 133 Hary Oram 65 x 127 Edith Smith 32 X 126 Kathy Gibbons 125 x 133 Gertie Roberts 59 x 127 Sandra Walton 35 X 126 Louise Gray 53 x 133 Evan Terrett 42 x 127 Sheena Wilson 39 X 126 Joy Hewgill 134 x 133 Peter Terry 41 x 126 Linda Barratt 75 X 126 Hilda Hudspeth 79 x 132 NoraBain 88 x 126 Eileen Bashirn 45 X 126 Hargaret Irons 51 x 132 Hike Buckley 147 x 126 David French 71 X 126 Doreen Horris 169 x 132 Winnie Buik 45 x 126 Joyce Gershon 114 X 126 Maureen Reynolds 54 x 132 Joseph Doku 61 x 126 Mavis Harding 65 X 126 Jo Tebbutt 37 x 132 Gerry Donnelly 264 x 126 Stuart Hay 50 X 119 Jennifer Clifford 112 x 132 Kenneth Gordon 56 x 126 Hary Riggans 274 X 119 Ruby Flood 138 x 132 Eric Howarth 82 x 126 Jean Shaw 146 X 119 Hargaret Harkness 81 x 132 Willie Scott 60x 126 Margaret Staunton 55 X 119 Barbara Hill 58 x 132 Gladys Tierney 171 x 126 Pamela Windsor 52 X 119 Nicholas Jenkins 109 x 132 Isla Wilkte 59 x 125 Elizabeth J Allen 74 X 119 Brian Keegan 89 x 131 Hargaret Armstrong 86 x 125 Samantha Beckwith 63 X 119 Alice Nadin 113 x 131 Theresa Cole 51 x 125 Hilary Birdsall 48 X 119 Kitty Rugman 87 x 131 Dorothy Dean 41 x 125 Jean Buckley 34 X 119 Joyce Smith 54 x 131 Ann Edwards 81 x 125 HelenCowie 212 X 118 June Clark 48x 131 Jill Fisher 88 x 125 Harjorie Garrett 33 X 118 Peter Edwards 133 x 131 Jean Gailacher 35 x 125 Aim Hughes 51 X 118 AudreyHarvey 57 x 131 Agnes Gunn 36 x 125 Joan Rees 51 X 118 Keith Haynes 196 x 131 Sheila Jolliffe 46x 125 Monica Stockwell 124 X 118 Cella Osborn 41 x 131 Esther Naylor 182 x 125 Sue Thompson 58 X 118 Harry Sinclair 90 x 131 Kim Phipps 92 x 124 Kate Barratt 122 X 117 Sue Ball 84 x 131 Joyce Squire 225 x 124 JanetBcnham 153 X 117 Barbara Grant 166 x 131 JuneWilson 60 x 124 John Cakebread 48 X 117 Ann Kingham 91 x 131 Margaret Yeadon 53 x 124 Jean Dymock 97 X 117 Vanessa Peters 61 x 130 Liz Allen 32 x 124 David Reading 109 X 117 Fuad Shasmas 69 x 136 Maureen Austin 118 x 124 Jessie Tollick 37 X 116 Hinu Bhattacharya 46 x 136 Wanda De Poitiers 55 x 123 Martin Cairns 54 X 116 Sheila Booth-Mil lard 187 x 130 Val Koskings 55 x 123 Peter Hall 36 X 116 Teresa Hill 38 x 130 LillyLaker 78x 123 Peter Sime 311 X 116 Simon Wood 34 x 130 Hauro Pratesi 63 x 123 Eric Smith 121 X 115 Peter Ernest 30x 130 Len Shuttleworth 235 x 123 Julie Tate 33 X 115 Harjorie Gardner 35 x 130 Ho Tilley 83 x 122 Joy Hodge 68 X 115 Paul Harding

62 x 129 Charley Adesoji 136 x 122 Hay Hacdonald 129 X 115 Heather Ilott 55 x 129 Jessie Brown 31 x 122 Dennis Nelson 153 X 115 Joan Murphy 59 x 129 Georgina Cook 38 x 122 David Phillips 64 X 115 Dawn Pierce 48 x 129 Jill Dyer 32x 122 Doris Street 146 X 115 Paul Pye 57 x 129 Sally Fiszraan 32 x 122 Elizabeth Terry 51 X 115 Hay Quigley 40 x 129 Luke Keegan 149x 121 Elizabeth Draper 30 X 115 Iris Shuttleworth 321 x 129 Marigold Page 164x 121 Vernon Draper 78 X 115 Vera Sime 57 X 128 Stella Brown 43 X 121 Lynn Giles 55 X 115 Joanna Skirving 59 x 128 Martin Byrne 42 x 121 Lena Glass 75 X 115 KathWard 80 x 128 Michael Harley 114x 121 Karjorie Hislop 160 X 114 AliceAllwood 134x 128 Mary Lindsay 53 X 121 Barbara Kent 58 X 114 Don Beavis

41 x 128 Dale Lloyd 80 x 121 Joe Harsh 32 X 114 Wilf Gibbons 313 x 128 Philippa Morris 42 x 121 Janet Hi 1 ford 64 X 114 Anne Lawton 43 x 128 Brenda Rodwell 88 x 121 Pat Rockley 32 X 114 Peter Lindeck 90 X 128 Linda Vickers 101 X 121 Winifred Stitt 47 X 114 Mary Ralfs 68 x 127 Jean Bakewell 34 x 120 Betty Balding 47 X 114 Sheila Tutt

Page 15 216 x 114 Chris Wide 42 x 107 Christine Jukes 92 « 97 Vioiette Little 53 x 114 Sonja Wyld 109 x 107 Connie Riach 89 x 96 Lionel Howard 107 x 113 Sue Bullock 71 x 107 Winifred Sraith 32 x 96 Kath Jennings 33 x 113 June Faulkner 45 x 107 Anne Walker 41 « 96 Jean Iris Williams 75 x 113 Peggy Frawley 90 x 106 Julia Glen 79 ( 95 Jack Baker 57 x 113 Shirley Heal 65 x 106 AngieJones 53 < 95 Susan Bury 33 x 113 Colin Rivington 144x 106 Holly Lane 125 < 95 Hyra Copleston 78 x 112 Pat Burgess 30 x 106 Judy Monger 56 < 95 Barbara Cox 177 x 112 Hay Gray 81 x 106 Hargaret Seabrook 34 < 95 Irene Gower 114 x 112 Eve Htllingtcn 58 x 106 BettySharp 33 x 95 Brenda Korthcott 130 x 112 ChristineNicholson 30x 106 Pearl Snith 37 x 95 Daphne White 108x 112 Paul Steadman 47 x 105 Hary Adaos 196 x 95 Lucy White HI x 112 Edith Tempest 41 x 105 Margaret Bigg 60 )( 94 Karen Allen 30 x 112 Ann Toft 50 ( 105 Edith Grant 43 )( 94 Nellie Cox 57 x HI KateBoutinot 48 < 105 Wenna Robinson 52 )( 94 Fay Gobie 45 x 111 Paul Farnworth 185 ( 105 Irene Wool ley 50 )( 94 Jean Johnstone 30 x HI EileenFoster 50 < 104 Audrey Harrington 42 i( 94 Helen Pol hi 11 SO x HI AgnesGray 256 ( 104 Paul Cartman 74 )( 93 Fred Burford 30 x HI Gordon Kinchington 38 < 104 Alan Everitt 90 )( 93 Peter Shuttlewood 178x 111 Loma Llewellyn 56 < 104 Hary Keevey 43 )( 93 Nancy Ward 46 x HI Freda Marcus 156 « 164 Harjorie Lefley 193 )( 92 Barrie Hall 57 x 111 Isabelle HeLean 58 x 104 Helen Sandier 47 )( 92 Beryl Trace 52 x 111 Steve Powell 56 x 164 Jean Swallow 122 )c 91 Kavis Ernest 55 x 111 Alison Pritchard 68 x 104 Dorothy Wilks 37 )( 91 Rita Hanton 63 x 111 Roy Saunders 47 i( 103 Una Collinson 30 x 91 Sheila Smith 77 x 111 Jaequf White 77 J( 103 Rona Dryden 89 x 96 Cindy Hoi Iyer 43 x 111 HargaretWhite 34 i( 103 Ann Goiding 47 x 90 Hargaret Hills 32 x 116 Shirley Chidrfck 63 )( 103 Harian izatt 56 x 90 Jean Ross 60 x 110 Rhoda Gray 54 )t 103 Joan Johns 53 x 96 Hary Warwick 53 x 110 Kay Hal pass 55 )( 103 Hary Hanson 63 x 89 Ralph Edwards 85 x 110 Olivia Patton 101 i( 103 Douglas Robinson 49 x 88 Doreen Coleman 58 x 110 Haicoln Shaw 32 ic 102 Eve Dwyer 65 x 88 Olive Matthew 54 x 110 Alice Tozeland 58 )( 102 Adele Jones 51 x 87 Joan Cussens 131x no Claire Vtolett 36 )( 101 Aqy Arnstrong 55 x 87 Dorothy Henry 70 x 109 Betty Benton 37 i( 101 Dorothy Black 36 x 87 Patricia Holmes 63 x 109 John Brown 41 )t 101 Hi Ham Moss 206 x 86 Pamela Brown 70 x 109 Pat Friend 35 >( 101 Stuart Ross 31 x 86 Amabel Winter 43 x 109 Kathleen Higgins 171 x 101 Eric Rowland 45 x 85 Dorothy Edwards 109 x 109 Irene Lindsay 50 x 101 Loma Wishart 67 x 85 Gwen Linfoot 77 x 109 Sheila Reeve 51 x 100 Jo Holland 45 x 84 Koira Hetcalf 236 x 109 Horah Thompson 88 x 99 Peter Basham 46 x 84 Jane Thomas 64 x 108 Hary Broadhead 56 x 99 Ann Clark 33 )c 80 Hay Sinclair 54 x 108 Gordon Cox 31 x 99 Joan Ellis 36 )i 80 Stanley Wilkinson 57 x 108 Florence Fellows 30 ( 99 Sheila Ross 48 >■ 79 Peggy Shortt 62 x 108 Daphne Fletcher 68 < 98 Sheila Anderson 41 )< 78 Hary Shi el Is 36 x 108 Perry Fung 258 > 98 HarciaDavies 50 ic 77 Nancy forks ton 135 X 108 Trish Johnson 70 i 98 Rosalyn Lishak 245 )c 74 Christine Cartman 43 x 108 Jean Stevens 31 « 98 Les Searle 30 )c 73 Hichael Hurray 73 x 107 Mabel Choularton 81 < 97 Vera Allen 88 )i 72 John Hacdonald 37 x 107 Zoe Cooper 65 « 97 Winnie Haston 36 >i 71 Hargaret Craig 33 x 107 Rosemary Jones 38 « 97 Dixie Haynes 45 )i 71 Bessie Winter 35 )( 67 Michael Herraghty

Page 16 Annotated game: Mark Nyman v Allan Simmons I

On Day 2 of the National Scrabble Championship, Mark Nyman was totally unstoppable. But Allan Simmons came closer than most to derailing the Nyman Express. Relive their game from the NSC, with the comments of the two players, and a few additional comments from the retiring editor...

Allan 1: DF1LTUU

DUTIFUL C8a 74 74

Almost played FLUID but as I manoeuvred the tiles to play it the -FUL ending appeared and DUTIFUL sprung from nowhere. I felt this was a omen that I'd win the game, bonusing from a very poor rack. Chose to play DUTIFUL to the left as the D wasmore flexible than the L for parallel bonus plays.

Ed: Playing DUTIFUL at H8a scores 6 more points, but exposes vowels next to two DWS's, which Allan obviously chose to avoid. However computer simulation suggests that the higher-scoring play is better by some 5.5 points.

Mark 1: ACHE1NN -74

ENCHAIN I7a 67 67

Ed:The only playable bonus. If you don't know ENCHAIN, CHINNED or CHAINED at C2d are best.

Allan 2: AGHOVY? + 7

AHOY C8a 61 135

Pretty much spotted AHOY as soon as ENCHAIN went down. Everything is right about the move including huge score so could see no reason to look any further.

Mark 2: EELNOSU -68

ENSOULED Cld 70 137

Also TOLUENES at E8d, but went for the extra 4 points.

Allan 3: GV? EELN - 2

ENVEiGLE Cla 86 221

I saw plays such as SLEEViNG and INVEaGLE straightaway but knew a play on the top triple would be best. ENVEIGLE occurred after a while and then I spent a good 4 minutes convincing myself it was ok and/or looking for something better. (As it turns out LEVEEING, which I thought was OSPD, was the best play here and would have allowed my bonus to be played next turn as well!)

Mark 3: IKLTWWZ -84

LUTZ B5a 26 163

Setting up KLUTZ on the A column.

Ed: This is the kind ofplay Mark's so good at - thinking not only of the current move, but also the next. An unusual alternative is HA WKIT (a Scottish adjective meaning "streaky ")at Udfor 32.

Page 17 Allan 4: AACORTU +58

OAR H2a 14 235

Spotted AUTOCAR first but this didn't fit on the board, neither would the anagram ACATOUR. I did spot AUTOCRAT before Mark played LUTZand felt confident that the T would still be available as Mark was more likely to score on the TLS below ENVEIGLE. Spent a long time on this move looking for a satisfactory play and wasn't happy with the end result but chose this as it took out the TLS/DWS risk and set up a play beginning CA- next turn which might help.

Ed: A difficult choice. OCA or OCTA at E6a simulate 10 points better than OAR, although as it turns out Allan's play took off a high-scoring spot for Mark.

Mark 4: IKWWIOX -72

KIWI A5d 51 214

The WOX leave guarantees at least 36 points, for OX/ZO, or 47 for WOX at G3a.

AllanS: ACTUAES +21

CAUSE I3a 31 266

ACTUATES but that T just not floating enough. Grabbed the most points I could see although it used the S to do so. Fell happier with this play than OAR last turn.

Ed: CAUSA would be slightly belter, leaving ETrather than AT.

Mark 5: OWX IRS? -52

OX E6a 36 250

Allan 6: AT ADEIV +16

VISTA Lid 24 290

Another non-playable bonus - AVIATED. This is a top half game and neither of us particularly wants to open the bottom half just yet. I'll go with that. Choice of DIVA/DZO or VISTA. Went forthe latter for points and the fact that the D for DZO is retained for next turn.

Mark 6: IRSW? GI -40

TWIG E8d 16 266

Played to give the S hook.

Ed: The righttime, and the rightrack, for opening the bottom half of the board.

Allan 7: ADEJPRT +24

JERID BlOa 33 323

JADE/CAUSED was tempting at first but unhappy with using both vowels and the high TWS score made available by the J. JERID achieved score and rack balance and kept me over SO ahead, enough to counter a bonus should Mark play one onto TWIG(S).

Mark 7: IRS? BPQ -57

QuIPS A12a 59 325

Page 18 Ed:The only question is whether to holdback the blank and play QlSat C12a for 26 points less. Mark's choice was no doubt influenced by the fact that all of the U's have gone.

Allan 8: APT BNRS • 2

QATS A12d 39 362

Played QATS without wasting time, despite the awkward leave. Even though the U'shadgone there was plenty of scope for Mark to play QADI next tum and I couldn't afford that. The A of VISTA might help the consonant trouble next turn. At this point I noted the possibility of JEUNE and made a mental note that if I get two E's to go with my N this could be a useful play.

Mark 8: BR EEGOR -37

VERB Lla 27 352

Allan 9: BNPR EMO +10

BARP K5a 16 378

Running a little sort of time here. Settled on BARP to keep insurance for next turn (M for ELM at 19 and EN for JEUNE possibility. Would have played a longer word through the A if I could have found one quickly. Dismissed PROBEMAN as fantasyland.

Ed: The alternative is to take the additional points now, with MORN at 19a for 23. Or MOB for 18, keeping back the EN.

Mark 9: EGOR EFY -26

FROG I9a 29 381

Spotted FROGEYE and might have tried it, but fortunately no place to play it (it's OSPD only!).

Ed: Slightly better is FOGY in the same spot for 34.

Allan 10: EMNO DMT - 3

DOT E4a 17 395

Mark's got to the 19 score first. There are 9 tiles in the bag. Unseen tiles are vowel-heavy so I'm nottoo worried about bonuses: AAA EEEE IIOO Y DNTR.

Really need to turnover. Choice between DO/DELF/ON and moves founded on DZO. Pretty sure TOMMED A 14a is not a word. Nothappy about keeping the M's as I can't see what I'm going to do with them other than use one in OMEN, but settle for playing three tiles and again keeping EN for JEUNE.

Ed: Despite the lure ofJEUNE, 1 'd be taking the additional points for DOME at E4a. With lots of vowels still in the hug. the chance ofatwo or three vowel pickup is pretty good. DOME simulates 12 points belter than DOT.

Mark 10: EEY AIIR -14

YEA H4d 22 403

Worried about JEUNE at BlOd but nothing worthwhile to block it with.

Ed: Another possibility is YIP at N3d, also making the unusual hook CAUSEY.

Page 19 Allan II: EMMN DNO -8

ADO H6a 18 413

Could play ONNED or OMEN from FROG to open up as I have the last scoring tiles (the M's)and hold the trumps for JEUNE. 1 am fairly convinced that the playing of JEUNE or the forced defence of it could be the decider. 1 have both N'sand there are E's left. Thought about TONNED (unsure) or TENDON but could let in ETAER1O. Inthe end put all my eggs in the JEUNE basket and broke all the rules by playing two tiles with only two in the bag.

Ed: A very lough call. This type ofpre-endgame situation is probably the most complex strategic problem in Scrabble. I've analysed some of the possibilities at the end, but first let's see what happened.

Mark 11: KIIRAOT -10

GOATIER Ella 19 422

Enough time on my clock to work out that this winseven if JEUNE is played, and couldn't see anything better for Allan.

Allan 12: EMMNN AE

JEUNE BlOd 28 441

Looks like Mark's GOATIER is enough to win (with 6 for IF next turn). I need to nett 16 after countback to win. JEUNE gets 28 but leaves MMNA, nett 12. If I could score MNEME for 20 that would do it but it just doesn'tfa adjacent to GOATIER. I play JEUNE to lose.

Ed: There is no winning move for Allan at this stage.

Mark 12: I -19

IF G7d 6 428

Mark gains8 from MMNA on Allan's rack.

Final score: Mark 436 Allan 433

Summary: It's clear (hat Mark was on cracking form at the NSC - he barely puts a foot wrong inthis game.

Allan also played very well, with a couple of well-spotted bonuses (DUTIFUL and ENVEIGLE). The move leading into the endgame was critical, but as the analysis below indicates, there isn't a clearly best move.

However it is interesting to sec that, on pretty much every occasion where there was a choice of strategy, the best move appears lo be the more aggressive one. Obviously there are times when defense is key, but the moral appears lo be: if in doubt, takethe points.

Page 20 Pre-endgume possibilities Oihcr possibilitiesfor Allan on move 11 include EM at Fid for 10, leaving a tile in the bag, which might make it tougher for Mark to play out in two moves, and NO at C13a for 12, which makes JEUNE an even more prolific move. It's interesting to consider what might have happened had either of these moves been played, given the tiles remaining in the bag (AE)... After EM. if Allan picks E and Mark plays GOATIER (as he did in the game), Allan's goose is cooked. Mark will have a nice little AI left on his rack, and the best Allan can manage is NEMNED or OMENED for 26. leaving Mark needing to score 8 with his AI. This can be achieved in several places.

So what if Allan picks the A? Now, after GOATIER Allan can played MANNED at G12a for 33.taking a decisive 16-point lead. Does Mark have a winning move? It appears not, although the permutations become rather complex. It seems his best move is IO at B14d for10, blocking possibilities such as JEUNE and TANDEM. But Allan can reply with NO at C13a. setting up out plays in iwo places (MANED. AMEND etc at C14a, or REMAND at J9d), either of which is enough to win the game.

Now let's consider the possibilities if Allan plays NO at C13a. If Mark plays GOATIER (as he did in the game), Allan has the lovely response of MADMEN at G 12a for 40. TANDEM at A 14a for 39 would also be good enough to guarantee the win. So what is Mark's best move after NO? He has to block TANDEM, and the best solution is STOAI at A15a for a miserly 6 points, taking Mark into a 409-407 lead, and leaving IRE on his rack. Surprisingly Allan has no at this point. RAMMED at J9d for 17 is besi. but MIRE for 12 gives Mark a 1-point win.

So it seems, given the tiles in the bag, Allan's only winning move is to play EM at Fid and pick the A. This is ironic given that the E (for JEUNE) was the tile he'd been hoping for!

Of course this doesn't mean that EM is the best move. Mark's rack could have been any 7-letter combination from AAEEUORT. The next logical questions: Are there any situations where ADO does win the game? And what move gives the best chance of winning, given that any two tiles from AAEEIIORT may be in the bag?

The answer to the first of those questions is Yes, but there aren't many. The answer to the second is far too complex for me to investigate - if anyone would like to, as a little diversion over the Christmas break, please feel free!

The following news item was spotted on Ceefax. The Newsletter accepts no responsibility for its accuracy or otherwise!

COLONEL MUSTARD GIVES HOT PERFORMANCE An eccentric accountant who always dresses as the Cluedo character Colonel Mustard has won the UK championships of the murder mystery board game.

Josef Kollar, S3, from Southampton, a former world champion, triumphed at the appropriate venue of the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in London's Baker Street.

'■I've only ever lost to my wife, and that was only once," Mr Kollar said.

The final was judged by the 86-year-old butler of the late Agatha Christie.

Page 21 Across the board

My thanks as always to those who've sent in board positions. Please keep them coming, but from now on they should be sentto David Acton. You'll find his address on the back cover.

Taking a positive view

This game comes from the NSC, and demonstrates the old adage "Give yourself a chance". Can you see any move that gives Raymond Tate a chance of winning against Robert Richland?

Raymond: ACEIIRR

Unseen tiles: AHIKNSSS

Score: Raymond 354 Robert 343

Robert's last move: LIEU/UG at A8a.

14! n Raymond didn't spot the move at the time, but saw "•::.jbe its potential when analysing the game afterwards. A B TTTT TTTT I I K L M N 0 See page 41 for the answer.

Five in a row

Terry Kirk didn't have the best of tournaments at the recent Isle of Wight event, but his first game in the Vectis event proved to be a bit special. These were the first six moves in his game with Sheila Green:

Terry Sheila ALIBI 16 16 CAFTAN 22 22 ANECDOTE 63 79 WEXE 42 64 AUTOGIRO 77 156 PIX 20 84 FREEWAYS 71 227 DRY 22 106 NAILINGS 63 290 SQUiZ 44 150 MARRIES 65 355 LOG 16 166

The board at this stage is shown on the left. Has anyone else played five consecutive bonuses in a tournament game? Terry eventually won the game M N O S5S-3O2, after a sixth bonuson his final move.

Page 22 To change or not to change

Sometimesyou look at your rack, and "change" is the move that leaps out at you. But occasionally there may be a bctier choice...

This board position comes from a SOWPODS game between Phil Appleby and Allan Simmons. It shows just what canbeachievedwith a thoroughly lousy rack.

Allan: DEINUUU

Score: Phil 249 Allan 232

Can you see Allan's best move? (It involves an OSPD-only 2-letter word, which is why Allan overlooked it). Having missed the optimal move, Allan changed, which was probably the next best play.

See page 41 for the answer.

Lots of words

I mentioned on the uk-scrabble mailing list (hat in a game against me Allan Simmons had played 11 words in his first two moves. Terry Kirk responded by sending in the board position shown below.

Remarkably, in Terry's sixth and seventh moves he played a total of 12 words:

6. AnSATED,AR,nA,ST,AI,TO,EN,DA 7. ICHOR,PH,10,OYER

In the whole game Terry played 37 words to Moira's 22, but lost by over 100 points (348-455).

Which just goes to prove that it's quality, not quantity, that counts in Scrabble!

Page 23 There were three in the bag...

As was demonstrated in this issue's annotated game, the critical move in a game can often occur just before the endgame - by the time the bag is empty, there « an optimal sequence of moves; it might take a computer to find it, but it does exist. Before the endgame, it's a case of weighing up the evidence, and the possibilities of what's to come.

My thanks to Allan Simmons for sending me the following pre-endgame positions. Allan has provided his thoughts, and I've added mine...

This game occurred in the SOWPODS division at the Nottingham Nomads, against Andrew Fisher. This was the situation faced by Allan towards the end of the game:

Allan: AEFIHRS

Unseen tiles: EEGILMNRTT

Score: Allan 351 Andrew 362

Andrew's previous move was HAGS at M6d for 23, leaving Allan holding the final S. What should Allan play next? Here are Allan's own thoughts, compiled after the event...

(Note: ELOGISE is a phony, even playing with SOWPODS!)

Allan: "I have CAMPFIRE for S1 and played thisat the time without too much thought, having seen Andrew just play the last S and assuming he has foregone any bonus possibilities.Unfortunately this let Andrew in for a winning bonus. If I had looked more closely at the unseen tiles it would be apparent that there are quite a number of seven-letter words that become playable once CAMPFIRE is played (I reckon over 30). Furthermore there is the possibility that Andrew might play CAMPLING.

After the game I felt that AH from N6d to leave one in the bag and set up a unique AH(S) hook as well as leaving CAMPFIRE(S) is better than playing CAMPFIRE this turn. Ormaybe just play the H for AH to avoid also giving the Ol TWS away, but that then enables Andrew to play one tile and leave one in the bag. Or should I play CAMPFIRES this turn and use the S to restrict the number of playable bonuses from the unseen tiles and prevent CAMPLING."

Ed: A move Allan doesn 7 mention is FAH at NSdfor 23, leaving RISE. Given the remaining tiles, and the tmblockable AHS hook, this provides an excellent chance of a bonus. The downside is that it clears the bag, so if Andrew has a playable bonusof his own the game's up. Another possibility is GIF at M8a for 21, leaving SHARE on Allan's rack. However this removes the possibility ofCAMPFIRE(S).

Running this position through Maven 's simulation function produces slightly surprising results. After 6,000 iterations the results suggest that GIF is best, followed by FAH, with AH third, and CAMPFIRES a distantfourth, some distance ahead of CAMPFIRE.

Page 24 It seems that in this situation, playing for a bonus is a better strategy than taking the points now.

The second game is an OSW friendly against Andy Davis:

Allan: AEFIPT?

Unseen tiles: DDINOOSSTW

Score: Allan 299 Andy 373

Allan's last move was MILLET keeping the P, a turnover play to try and get any remaining goodies (at that pointthere were 3 S's and both blanks to come). Andy's reply was the bonus SP1URGE Tor 88 to push him 74 points ahead.

What should Allan play now? Here are his thoughts...

Allan: "I spotted the bonus FIEAPIT after some thinking and was about to play it for 81 at H 14a when I checked the remaining tiles and noted the T and/or an S or two could be on Andy's rack along with the W. These give Andy possiblescores ofover 40 (worse case perhaps WINDS from D15 for 57). With just three tiles from the bag, even if one is an S, I am unlikely to be able to go out and counter such a score.

1 could play FETA or FEAT from H 12d this turn to get 33 points such that even a face-value bonus could be enough to win. This keeps PIE? with good chancesof bonuses providing I don't get the W, especially with FETA givinga floating A. FETA is better than FEAT for this reason - the unseen tiles are consonant heavy. The disadvantage is that Andy will know exactly what I've got and if I only have a bonus in one position he will be able to block in a controlled move.

Eventually I chose to just play EFT H13d to get fewer points but leave Andy with the quandary of not knowing my precise tiles and having to pick the last tile.

So whathappened next? Andy didn't have any S's, and was forced to inhibit part of the board and score as highly as possible with WIND at KlOd (His rack was actually WINDOOD). I picked ST and played PASTIEsT A15 for 80 to catch Andy with 5 (OODS) and win by 3 points!"

Ed: So it's a case of win I lose I in the hvo games.But is EFT the best move? Undoubtedly it's correct to resist the temptation to play FLEAPIT. which loses in the vast majority of cases. Maven simulations suggest that FEAT or FETA are better moves, but there's definitely something to be saidfor leaving a tile in the bag. If nothing else, it leaves Andy guessing.

So what can one learn from these m-o situations? One thing is to stop and think before putting down the only playable bonus: in some cases, it may be the losing move. Consider not just what you can play, but also the possibilities for your opponent. A useful little rule of thumb, when you 're faced with this kind of choice... If in doubt, give your opponent a chance to make the wrong decision by leaving at least one tile in the bag.

Page 25 Twenty Questions : Mark Nyman

Mark Nyman has a Scrabblepedigree second to none - current UK National Champion,nvo BMSC titles, a striitf; of Masters victories in the old high-score days, and of course the pinnacle: World Scrabble Champion in 1993. So what does it take to become a Scrabble superstar?

1. What do you do Tor a living? I work at Yorkshire Television as a Producer on Channel Four's , with Richard Whiteley and .

2. Who are your favourite and least favourite opponents, and why? Favourite opponents arc Di Dennis, Evan Simpson and DavidActon as they play the game in the right spirit (apart from Evan when I play3 bonuses in a row against him!) and Phil Appleby as he's editing this!

Least favourite opponents - no names mentioned but any 'self-publicists' or anyone who thinks they are better than they are and spend all their time bemoaning their luck - they should know who they are!

3. How did you get into playing Scrabble? My father joined the London Scrabble league around 1980-1 followed about a year later at the ageof 14.

4. Tell us one thing that no one else knows about you. 1 have missed four flights, costing me almost £2000 - I always expect to lose about £1000 per year through complete stupidity - then it doesn't feel so bad!

5. Away from Scrabble, what is your greatest claim to fame? Claim to fame - my association with Countdown and appearing in dictionary corner with the likes of Stephen Fry. Jo Brand and Sir Tim Rice.

6. Do you keep the fact that you play Scrabble secret from your work colleagues/other friends? I certainly don't go on about Scrabble to work colleagues - they start yawning very quickly, but they do know I play.

7. If you could changeone thing about Scrabble what would it be? If I could change one thing, it would be the 'rainy Sunday afternoon/anorak' stigma attached to the game.

8. What other hobbies/pastimes do you indulge in? 1 like all sports - watching more thanplaying these days, although I do still play the odd game of 5-a-side football, tennis and squash.

9. What is your current APSP rating and what do you think it should be? I think my rating is around 197 - I've always thought your rating is an accurate reflection of your ability so there shouldn't be any shoulds.

10. How far would you travel to play in a one day tournament? I'd travel anywhere if the prize was worthwhile, and especially if it was a worthwhile holiday destination!

11. Who would be your ideal date for a romantic evening out? My girlfriend Tab (my life wouldn't be worth living if I said anyone else!)

Page26 12. What was your greatest moment in Scrabble? Winning the World Championship in 1993.

13. On average howmany games of Scrabble doyou play a week? 0.5 games/week on average.

14. Which football team do you support? Only the best team in the land - QPR!

15. What do you think is thethe best word that you have ever played? Best word? Probably MUTAGENIC in the first game of the World Championship Final -1 still lost the game!

16. What's your favourite film, and TV programme? Favourite film - 'The Shawshank Redemption". Favourite TV - Match of the Day/Men Behaving Badly - oh. and I almost forgot Countdown of course!

17. Would your life be better if you stopped playing Scrabble? I don't think my life would be better if I stopped playing Scrabble, especially as I don't play that much anyway. When I do, I really enjoy it.

18. Who's the greatest Scrabble player? Most talented Scrabble player I've seen is Harvey Freeman - it's a shame he doesn't enter competitions - or perhaps rather fortunate! I think the best 'foreign' player is Brian Cappeletto.

19. What's the best place you've visited? Thailand, Guatemala, Sydney and Patagonia; best sight - Iguazu Falls on the Brazil/Argentina border.

20. What would be your idea ofa perfect day? Perfect day - having had a liein, I wake upon a beautiful Thai Island after winning the Thai Championship the day before; I have a fantastic bowl of Tom Yam soup for lunch, then off for a swim and a bit of football. Time to relax on the beach for a couple of hours in the sun with just a hint of breeze. A successful round on a great golf course (i.e. I break 100!), is followed by dinner on the beach - more Tom Yam followed by beef with basil and chicken vindaloo! Watch beat Brazil on satellite TV in a beach bar with a few mates and a bottle of Mekong whisky (watered down with coke of course!). Finish with a good video and a glass of port; walk/carried back by Tab to our executive beach bungalow under the starlit sky.

On the subject of Christmas

One of the most popular Scrabble events at the Affiliated Brethren of Sometime Parliamentarians was the Christmas Open, traditionally held on Christmas Eve. This year it hadbeen given some added spice; in addition to the usual first prize - a bottle of vintage port and a month's worth of free drinks at the bar - media tycoonRupert Mudrock had donated a specialprize for the best word played on a Christinas theme: a 1% cut in the profits from an exciting new political biography, commissioned by Mudrock himself, "The Secret Lives of John Major". No-one had been aware that John Major had had any secret life, never mind a multitude of them, but the rumour-mill was in full flow. The book was about to be serialized in the Sunday Times, and the paparazzi were already camped outside John and Norma's front door. It seemed that 1% might amount to a very considerable sum of money.

Page27 As its name implied, the Christmas Open was not limited to ABSP members. In theory anyone could enter. In practice no-one from outside of the club did. Until this year. A large, bearded, dishevelled man in an oversize overcoat appeared shortly before the tournament was due to begin. He deposited a large cloth sack in the foyer, and asked whether he could play. "What's your name?" enquired Harvey Wordsworth, who was handing out the name tags. "Alan" the stranger replied. "Alan Tascus". "Unusual name..." muttered Harvey, as he wrote out the tag. "Scandinavian" replied Alan, smiling.

Harvey wasn't the only secret mutterer. It was obvious that Alan wasn't particularly welcome. Sir William Haughty was quite outspoken on the matter. "Chap's obviously a down-and-out looking for somewhere warm to spend the afternoon. The Salvation Army should be dealing with his type - not us. I mean, look at that old sack he brought in -1 suppose that's where he keeps all his worldly possessions ".

But as the event unfolded Sir William's countenance lightened. He was on topform. So much so that, with one round of the event to go, he was already guaranteed first place. The only thing left to play for was the Christmas theme prize.

It had been decided beforehand that the prize would be awarded on the basis of both score and appropriateness. As always in such competitions, there had been some fairly desperate attempts to persuade the adjudicator (venerable high court judge Lord Leicester of Lymington) that words such as MAYORSHIP ("what Ken Livingstone would like for Christmas") and SUNSHINE ("well, it's where I head for my winter holiday") had Christmas connections. More mundane offerings such as FAIRY, HOLLY, IVY, and GIFT appeared to be leading the way, so the prize was still very much up for grabs.

Inevitably, as players attempted to manipulate their racks into appropriately festive offerings, the Christmas themewords began to flow. Suddenly there was a shout of triumph from the far side of the room. It transpired that Peregrine Milksop had managed to play DECORATE as a double-double for no less than 94 points. Surely no-one could do better than that?

Sir William was playing the guest, Alan. The game was safely won - several bonuses had taken him into a 200-point lead. But was there any chance of snatching the theme prize? He looked down at his tiles.

Suddenly he spotted an exciting possibility. His rack was AADHILO. The remaining tiles were ADEIPRTYY. If he played off an A and followed it with HOLIDAY for more than 94 points, surely the prize would be his?

There was already one spot for HOLIDAY, at G 13a for 97, but what if it was blocked? But wait. How about NA at M9a? Now if he picked up a Y, he'd also have HOLIDAY at O3d for 101. And better still, there was no way of blocking both spots.

Down went the A, and Sir William plucked one of the remaining two tiles from the bag. Gingerly he turned it round... It was a YH

Page 28 "Just wait till Perry sees this! Damn it, 1 might even buy him a drink. Particularly as it would be free anyway..." Such were Sir William's thoughts. But his reverie was suddenly rudely interrupted. Slowly, deliberately, Alan Tascus began to place his tiles, oneby one...

Then he began to count up the score. By the time he'd finished, he'd reached 114. Sir Stephen Fordingbridge, who had wandered over to see what was happening, announced loudly: "I think we've got the winning move here."

Peregrine leapt up. "What's the word?"

"PARTIED for 114".

Peregrine smiled, relieved. "Not bad,but I don't think his lordship will buy that. I mean, it's celebratory but hardly particularly Christmassy."

"Yes, but look where he's played it".

Peregrine hurried over, followed by several others. This is what they saw:

Sir William duly played his HOLIDAY for 101, but it was a hollow gesture. There was no dispute asto the winning move.

Alan Tascus accepted his prize, and promptly donated it to a Christmas children's charity. Then he thanked everyone for their hospitality.

"Would you like a glass of port and a mince pie before you go", asked a magnanimous Sir William.

"No thanks. I expect I'll behaving some later". And with that, he picked up his sack and was gone.

For a few moments there was silence. It was Harvey who broke it. "Nice chap.Wonder if we'll see him again at Christmas next year?" J K L M N

The Veteran Win Deficiency Syndrome I

Australian Scrabble expert and APSP member, John Holgale, muses on why experienced top players sometimes suffer at the handsof newer inexperienced players.

In an Internet communication,1997 World Champion, , commented: "Many veteran experts will tell you that theydon't beat weaker players as often as they expect to, because of a tendency to "play down" to the opponent's level."

I pondered this in context of my own performance...

Page 29 Inrecent years 1 have noticed that my poorer tournament results are more due to losses to much lower rated players than to my peers and betters. A couple of sessions with my game psychotherapist Alan Weinstein yielded the following six-point analysis:

1. You are generally more psyched up and sharper against a difficult opponent. Against a higher rated player your expectations that they will make such and such a move are generally correct (assessment of hot spots, likelihood of bonus given previous play etc). Lower rated players are more unpredictable.

A recent example - my opponent has QUERIDA (OSPD only) and can hook it onto RIZ (RIZA) for 80 but doesn't know either so dumps the A and fishes successfully for another E making REQUIRED for 107 along the triple file.

Theirbroad strategy is generally - if I get lucky early and get ahead I'll close off the board every which way. The tactical implementation of that strategy is often less obvious.

2. You tend to overestimate the intelligence behind each move and don't adapt to the different mindset.

Some players are very good at handling the middle order verywell by playing the"short game" (i.e. the tight board) when required (, the first World Champion, and Australian expert Bob Jackman are two that spring to mind). The "long hitters" (the Greg Normans of the Scrabble world) can sometimes get impatient with boxed up situations and their game can suffer.

3. Winning against older opponents is like beating up on Mum and Dad. You are "kinder" tothe little old ladies (and young kids) and let them back into the game. [Ah,so that's why I lost to Allan Saldanha in New York.]

4. Weaker opponents gear themselves up to beat you - they are often not playing for the tournament itself but want to go home saying they defeated a player rated far above them. I think the four world champions must have copped this fairly severely and that may account for form lapses in the post WSC. On the other hand they will relax against the player who is vying for first place because his or her reputation isn't yet established.

"I was glad young X won that tournament - you've won enough already, haven't you?"

"Oh sure. Mavis." (Aside: Grrrr)

5. The gap between the top players and the middle order has narrowed significantly in the last few years (in the USA, UK, and Australia). Greater access to word lists and computer aids has been a great leveller. You can't afford to be complacent about any game.

One opponent used to tremble so noticeably when playing me that shecouldn't go into the tile bag without dropping it. This gave me a distinct psychological (and practical) advantage.Those days are long past.

6. The best remedy against EVPS (Expert Veteran Persecution Syndrome) is to cultivatethe persona of a has-been and to preface every game with the words "Please be gentle with me - I need the prize money for my retirement fund."

Page 30 Parallel lives

Ever wondered wliat Scrabble players gel up to in their spare time? Donald MacLeod has been trawling the Internet, and reveals his findings below. Amazingly, a few of these "alter egos" are not merely namesakes, but the APSP members themselves ■ can you spot the genuine articles?

Andrew Fisher is a steam rail buff in Somerset. Bob Violett runs a company which manufactures radio-controlled model jet aircraft. Mark Nyman founded a fruit marketing company in 1991. Allan Saldanha lectures in Marketing Management at an Indonesian university. David Acton is the leader of Trafford Council, but moonlights as a museum curator. Russell Byers cofounded the EcoLogic Development Fund, writes controversial columns in the Philadelphia Daily News, and has photos on display at a New York restaurant. Allan Simmons edits the journal of the Joseph Conrad Society, but his main job is to sell Cadillacs in LasVegas, where a customer says of him "anyone would consider themselves lucky to have him as a friend, as well as their salesman". Allan is also vice-president of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association. Terry Kirk is a leading herpetoculturist, who maintains an Internet site called "the Big Squeeze" (www.slither.com), which includes a photo of him holding a 2001b python. Neil Scott is the chief engineer of the Archimedes Project, and has rubbed shoulders with Robert Stayman and company at New York bridge clubs. David Kendix has worked as the scorer for England's Test matches at Lords. Alec Webb makes Cheddar from a single herdof brown Swiss cows, and in 1986 he wrotea book called "Making Country Furniture". Helen Gipson donated a very rare melodeon to the Fiske Museum of musical instruments in California. Darryl Francis is a percussionist (also known as "Chili Charles") who has performed on a Brian Wilson (ex Beach Boys) album called "Orange Crate Art". Penny Downer works at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. John Grayson is a pastor in the Church of God. Robert Richland has held a full London Cab Driver's licence since October 1994, and won the 1989 National Pop Quiz. Andrew Perry has an impressive looking yellow Corvette in his garage. Jackie McLeod ran the S3 metres hurdles in 9.71 sec in 1991. Gary Polhill has imposed a curse on "all developersof tacky tourist experiences". Noel Turner is big on mussels in New Zealand, and also commutes to Malta to play midfield for the national soccer team. Paul Golder lectures computer science at Aston University. Jake Jacobs is a Grand Orator in the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. Graeme Thomas doors are sold by the Home Ideas Centre in Australia aspart number 33920388. Simon Gillam oversaw the 1997 Survey on Public Opinion of Forestry. Amy Byrne worked as the hairstylist on the sci-fi film 'New Genesis: The Twilight of the Dogs (1996)'. Rob Dowse helped unearth two patents on a gravitomagnetic field (around 1970) held by Dr Henry Wallace. Raymond Tate is retired from the US National Security Agency and organised a coin show in San Antonio.Texas. Mike O'Rourke is u Soul Traveller who "has been writing for as long as he can remember". Peter Ashurst is a volunteer guide at the Campbell Historic Museum and Ainsley House. David Shcnkin contributed to Chapter IS of the "Traveller's Handbook".

Page 31 Big in the Far East |

Many APSP members will have met Austin Shin who. along with PerryFung, is one of the UK's two youngest Scrabble prodigies. Austin recently visited Malaysia with his parents, and played in a tournament there, following which a lengthy article appeared in a top newspaper. The article was written by Malaysian Scrabble player Wong Siang Hume. I 've reproduced some extracts below...

"However, !he player who really made waves in the tournament was Austin Shin, who being eight years old, was the youngest and smallest participant in the Held of 27 competitors.

Austin lost his opening game bul when he beat a senior player in the second round, he became an instant celebrity and everyone wanted toget close to him. Initially, some thought Austin's win could have been due to some quirk of fate. But it became clear thai the boy has more thanordinary talent when he followed this up with a second win over another senior player in the third round. For sure, Austin has become a small terror whom everyone fears being paired against.

The cool, handsome newcomer was neither awed by the occasion nor by the magnitude of a major tournament. In fact, while some were analysing their games or whining over their loss, he was gallivanting about the mezzanine floor, evidently enjoying himself, oblivious to the goings-on.

But as each round was announced, Austin got down to the business of play like a true professional, complete with Scrabble paraphernalia like tournament score sheets and markers. And like a professional, he was balancing and tracking the tiles and remaining focussed on the game.

When it was my turn to play with him on the second day of the tournament, I found out why there was general consensus that he is the new wunderkind on the block.

In the early stages of the game, I had to keep pace with his nimble play, but then, in the middle game I played FERRIED, a bonuswhich earned me 87 points and a pretty lead of 78 points. Austin then forfeited a turn to change all his seven tiles. I thought I had the young chap safely tucked in but what a shock I had when he plonked down two bonuses in a row (RESTING and RESELECT), each time using the only available bonus spot on the board which I had desperately tried toclose. I was now trailing by about 17 points andon the verge of suffering the most humiliating Scrabble defeat in my life.

The loss seemed even more imminent because there was no tile left in the bag. I was ready to be declared a wash-out, but after thinking for more than five minutes, I played SOAPER on the red line for 33 points. The reprieve was short-lived because the bright-eyed boy made a spirited comeback with QI for 26 points and was still leading, this time by 10 points. Bul Lady Luckwas on my side - I went out with 14points for a narrow 394-382 win!

Austin finished the tournament on six points to be at 18th, an excellent position for one so young. I joined all those who took part in the tournament in singing his praises and predicting that he will go far in Scrabble.

Given a few more years and continued support from his family, he can one day be the National Scrabble Champion.

And if hedoes not lose interest in the game, he may even bring Malaysia Scrabble glory in some future World Scrabble Championship."

Page 32 Word Play |

IOU one word list

Nick Deller has been one ofmy most regular contributors during my stint as editor. And he hasn't let me down in my final issue. Over to you Nick, and thanksfor all your efforts...

Is it that lime again? I( surely is! Now, it's been pointedout that my last contribution was perhaps lacking a little polish. 1 have to agree, so I thought I'd make up for it this time. "Dobry B6g nie lubil pchel". There we are, a little Polish.

I feel much better for that, but I'd feel better still if I hadn't failed to cope with some disastrous racks at the Nationals. On at least one occasion I was simultaneously overloaded with vowels and yet couldn't buy an E. Life might havebeen easier with this little list of 5-letter words with 3 or more I's, O's and U's in them. I'll have forgotten them by the time you read this of course, but you have to make the attempt... QUIPU, VOULU. UHURU and URUBU are omitted because I did them last time!

BUOU: Either a little trinket (pluralising with an -X, which is rather nice), or as you might know it, small and elegant. Like me. Except small. And elegant.

BUROO: When I do these, I always like to guess what the word might mean before I look it up. I thought this might be the hole in the ground dug by a kangaroo with an identity crisis, so I was rather disappointed to learn that it's actually dole money in Scotland or Ireland.

CURIO: Something considered rare and curious. My old vinyl album of Israel's 1982 Eurovision national final might very well bea curio, but it was one of the best 20 quids I ever spent! Anyway...

DUOMI: Several cathedrals, particularly Italian.

DUOMO: Just one cathedral, still particularly Italian. I just have the feeling there might be a connection there.

FOLIO: All sorts of things to do with a page of a book. Obscurely, it verbs as well. I find it interesting that it has the same linguistic root as "foliage", coming from the Latin for leaf.

GUIRO: I'll lift this straight from the dictionary - "A notched gourd used as a percussion instrument in Latin America." I want one!

HOURI: "A nymph of the Muslim paradise;a voluptuously alluring woman." Again, I want one!

IDIOM: Amongst other things, a characteristic mode of artistic expression.

IDIOT: The characteristic response to my characteristic mode of artistic expression!

IGLOO: 1 think we all know that an ig (sadly not in Chambers) is an Eskimo's house without a toilet - well, this is the same thing with all mod cons.

Page33 ILIUM: The ischium's connected to theilium, theilium's connected to the - pubis - and the whole thing's tremendously "hip". This is where the incomparably useful "ilia" comes from.

INION: I felt sure that this was going to be an Indian onion, so imagine my disappointment at learning it's the "external occipital protuberance", or "sticky out thingy at the back of your 'ead".

IODIC: A chemical term, describing stuff with iodine in it.

IONIC: Another chemical term stuff with ions in it. I don't doubt that thereareionic iodic compounds. But if they also contained iron, wouldn't it be ironic?

IROKO: It wouldn't be a word list without an obscure tree in it somewhere - this one's a form of African hardwood.

KIKOI: Not the most useful word I've ever put on show, but it's a bit of stripy cloth (hat Africans wear.

KOORI: How I would have loved this to be curry as prepared by Yorkshiremen, and not an Australian Aborigine.

LOUIS: A really, really, obsolete French gold coin. Like about 200 years out of date. Don't even try to change it at Thomas Cook.

MODII: Several cylindrical headdresses of the gods,or a Roman dry measure. Just one would be a modius.

MOOLI: An East African root vegetable which tastes like a radish and looks like a shy carrot.

NOMOI: More than one nomos. Which is a nome. Which is a Greek province.

OBIIT: A past tense of "died", whichseems to be only used in Latin phrases, but what the heck, I'll take it anyway...

OBOLI: Several oboluses. An obolus is an obol, which is a verysmall coin. And again, not accepted anywhere.

OCULI: Lots of round windows, given that a round window is properly an oculus.

ODIUM: Hatred and so on. Same base word as odious, which you will know.

ODOUR: Well, yes. Smelly pong.

OLIOS: Miscellanies of miscellanies!

ONION: I can'tthink of anything remotely funny about onions, unfortunately.

OOBIT: A hairy caterpillar. In similar vein, we have OUB1T, WOUBIT and WOOBUT.

OPIUM: A narcotic that's taken from poppies.

Page 34 ORIBI: Like obscure trees, small South African antelopes seem quite commonplace of late. This is one of them.

OUBIT: Even with my memory, I can remember that this is a hairy caterpillar!

OUTDO: One of the things I do to myself every two months. Please don't speculate as to the others. Oops, too late...

OUTGO: Precisely what our beloved outgoing editor is up to at the moment. The new team will struggle to be anything like as good, specially considering it's got me in it.

OUZOS: Lots of Greek drinks, but you probably knew that anyway.

OVOID: Egg shaped.

OVOLI: The plural of OVOLO, which follows shortly. I'm not ovoli impressed.

OVOLO: A kindof architectural moulding with curvy bits.

PIOUS: Devout, and dutiful, and so on.

POILU: Depending on whether you look at Chambers '93 or Chambers "98, either a French private solider or a French private soldier. 1 prefer the incorrect version!

POLIO: The extremely nasty illness which - fingers crossed - is pretty much a thing of the past thanks to Dr Salk.

POORI: A ghastly word that isn't where it should be. It's a variant of PURI, and it's not cross-referenced in its proper place in Chambers. As it happens, it's an Indian bread, and if not for the nice folks on the uk-scrabhle list. 1 would never have known! Cheers guys!

POTOO: A tropical American bird that goes "Potoo! Potoo!". I kid ye not - it really is, honest!

QUIPO: Another spelling of QUIPU. Which is a Peruvian memory aid. Which, it won't surprise you to learn, I'd forgotten...

QUOIF: Same as COIF. Like that helps. But then, COIF is sort of head-coverings and general C01FFING which is what COIFFEURS do - but sadly, QUOIF1NG is not done by quoiffeurs. As far as I can tell. Docs that make any sense at all?

QUOIN: A cornerstone, or a wedge - or to wedge something, to "quoin" a phrase.

QUOIT: An "oop. As used on decks by bored sailors.

TOPOI: A TOPOS is a stock theme or expression in literature. Hence, "bloomin" eck" and "I bought a lovely record the other day - Cheryl Baker sings Jethro Tull" are some of my personal TOPOI.

TORII: A Japanese temple gateway - and indeed several gateways, since it's its own plural.

UNION: The Oxford Union. One of the world's finest debating societies, capable of attracting anyone from pop stars to presidents to discuss the vital issues of the day. The Cambridge Union. Perhaps less

Page 35 known, but still very fine - some great brains there that might very well some day change the world in ways we can scarcely imagine. And then, at my old university, the Norwich Union. An insurance company. Ho hum.

ZOOID: I think I've done this before, and even if I haven't I frankly can't be bothered. It's a zoological thing.

Hmm. it feels like something's missing. I can't stand to leave things unfinished - it's like when you hear I he first part of that song "Come Sail Away" by Styx... I can't do anything until it's done. But what can it be? Of course! "Poetry Comer" - and where would we be without it?

Ahem... "There once was an editor sole, who was always in total control." Well, near enough anyway! "Now instead we're a team, and 1 think we're supreme - but I doubt I'll be staging a poll"... thanks for the great Newsletters over the last two-and-a-bit years Phil, and Merry Christmas and an exceptionally splendid 1999 to everyone! May you get your fair share of the goodies (except against me, obviously), as the traditional New Year wish has it.

The Nunn Challenge I

After a couple ol months break, the Nunn Challenge is back! David has sent me some new puzzles. As always, each number represents a letter of the alphabet. All you have to do is to fill in the blanks. Two clues this issue: P= I, A = 2.

Note: I couldn't help spotting that there's one non-OSW word in the grid, although it's a word most of us would use every day! See if you can spot it...

The solution is on page 41.

Page36 Christmas puzzles I

A festive teaser (compiled by Terry Holiington)

Bill and Ben played this game in a festive mood at the Club's annual Christmas party.

The game opened with a Christmassy bonus and the reply was TURKEYS! After a while the board looked something like'a Christmas Tree but Ben, realising he had bonus material suddenly became a bit less charitable!

Having thought for a little he rejected HUNGERED since he had noticed the colossal double-double score and eagerly grabbed 134 points.

Holding AAEGMNR, how should Bill counter this sobering blow!? See page 41...

Words and numbers (compiled by Russ Thomas)

Abandoned on a far distant planet Arthur is contemplating his end game. The rules are similar to ours - with just three minor variations:-

1) All words must be linked to a number in their dictionary definition.

2) If the word actually is a number then the player scores the value of that number, plus his conventional score.

3) If a series of words are arranged in columns, and a) the letters of the alphabet can be replaced with decimal digits so that b) the result is a valid arithmetic sum, and c) the word(s) giving that answer are also on the board... then the player scores the decimal digit equivalent of the answer to the sum.

You can maybe sec why Arthur is so deep in thought. Early on in the game his opponent Alfred played MILLIARD - and has been in the lead ever since - and Arthur's rack offers many possibilities of play. What is his highest scoring move? (Ed: This is a fiendishly difficult puzzle ■ something to think about over the holidayseason; the solution will be published next issue)

Page 37 Wipeout

Mauro Protest asks... In the style of the lunchtimc quiz programme Wipeout... Which Scrabble players are southpaws?

Helen Gipson Graham Harding Brian Sugar Robert Richland Margaret Pritchett Julie Nelkon Steve Balment Mary Grylls Gary Polhill Gilli Simmons Ian Gucklhorn Richard Evans Andrew Perry Ron Hendra Richard Woodward Andy Cook

Which of the above Scrabble players are left handed? 11 are left handed - 5 are not. How many can you name? See page 41 for the answers.

Poetry Corner I

The following poem was sent in by Stella Lander. It was written by Mo Crawshawfrom Doncaster Scrabble Club.

Scrabble... Just a box full of tiles and u glossy board, and time to meet one another. Just a letter or two, or three or more. and the skill to stretch it further. II you pick out a Q and you have no U; why worry when you don't need one? And an X is no sweat with a U and I on a triple square; just use one! If the S's are few, the blanks are much less, and the I's are far loo many. The V's are a pain, and I say yet again that the Y's are not too bonny. The ones I love best are the R's and the E"s, and the L's and the T's, and the many that strelch to a seven, and then Oh heaven! I've a bonus; now I'm happy. There's no need to be bored in this dayand age when you play with your friends or kin, so draw up that chair and enjoyevery game, whether you lose or you win.

Ensure you're insured

Harold Robinson provides his annual reminder that it's better safe than sorry...

I continue to be confounded by the high proportion of club officers and tournament organisers who ncglecl to take up Public Liability insurance. Bridge clubs, for example, protect their members in this

Page 38 way to a wide or even universal extern. If someone is injured, or property damaged, at a Scrabble venue, it can follow lhal a claim by theinjuredparty is made against the organising club; nota frequent occurrence, but when it does happen the financial consequences can be devastating.

Public liability insurance, subject to its terms and conditions, serves to protect clubs (that is, their committees and members) in such cases. The policy mentioned below hasa main indemnity of £1,000,000 for legal defence costs and awards of damages.

Cover can be sought from brokers and insurers, or via the Commercial Union policy held by my club and shared with the APSP and, since 1994, with Scrabble clubs generally. The cost for the calendar year 1999 is £12.

Please send cheques, made payable to "London Scrabble League", to Harold Robinson at 45 Jackson's Lane. London. N6 5SR (Tel: 0181 245 9748).

Readers' Letters

Note: Any opinions expressed by APSP Committee members in the Letters section are personal opinions, and do not necessarily represent committee policy.

Fay Madeley: 1 too feel very angry that we are being browbeaten into having SOWPODS foisted on

us.

I am fully in favourof new words, provided they are in the dictionary, and the meaning may be ascertained. To publish a book of which a proportion of words are incomprehensible to anyone without Webster's Dictionary is ludicrous. (And please don'tbring out that old chestnut about most Scrabble players not knowing the meaning ofwords, however true thai may be).

The important consideration here is that, if one wishes to, one may find out the meaning elc. Okay, I know ABSP members are being supplied with a conversion kit (to Atlantic Gas?), but this is going to distance us even further from any prospective club members. Can you imagine their disbelief - "So you play words that aren't in Chambers dictionary? Do you make up your spellings too?!"

My fear is that Chambers and Webstcrs may never get theiract together and we may all be left wilh Silly Old Words Pushed Off Dictionary Syllabus.

Ed: I 'in notsure about "SOWPODS being foisted on us ". Philip Nelkon polled the APSP membership and theClubs, and the majority were in favour of adopting SOWPODS.

I tend to agree wilh Fay about providing word meanings. I like the Anerican OSPD, which contains brief meanings of all words, and I'd strongly support a similar approach to a combined dictionary. I suspect it won 'I happen though, because it's so much simpler just to generate a list without meanings.

Fay mentions that we 'II all need a copy of Websters to discover the meanings of the new words. I 'in afraid even that might not be enough, since the OSPD was compiled from several source dictionaries, not just Websters.

I'm sure the new Letters editor, Paul Colder, would appreciate hearing your views about SOWPODS, for or against.

Page 39 Penny Downer: In reply to Margaret Bright's article "Scrabble and Sex", perhaps I could add my thoughts.

From my own observations of children (both as a teacher and as a parent) 1 am convinced that thereare very real cerebral differences between the sexes, giving rise to ability and behavioural differences exceeding any which might becaused by social conditioning or expectation. I am reluctant to suggest, however, that men might have a more Scrabble-orientated brain than women, though I have to admit that is possible.

Certainly Scrabble is much more of a mathematical game than a linguistic one, and is really more about learninga set ofcodes (i.e. words, the meaning of which is irrelevant) which will give the highest score 'reward', given the confines of the board and rules, and applying strategy and probability techniques to maximise the chance of winning, than it is about language.

I personally feelthat some mathematically inclined women could compete at the very lop i/they were prepared to put a great deal of time and energy into learning enough sets of 'codes', many of which have a high probability of never, ever coming up in a game! The more you learn, however (provided you are systematic and learn the most probable combinations first) the less your additional learning pays off, and to climb those extra ratings points becomes harder and harder work.

Age is another factor of course, the brain being less willing to store all those useless, unused codes the older you get. There aren't huge numbers of young men attracted to the game, but there seem to be even fewer young women.

And what about me? Having played through many annotated games I am sure that my strategy is as good as anyone's and I am certainly highly competitive. But my vocabulary is pretty basic compared with the very top players, having based my learning around high probability seven and eight letter bonus sets, words containing high scorers and a few useful hooks, vowel dumps, etc.

Could / be a "top" player? Perhaps it is safer not to leam enough vocabulary to find out. Or perhaps I prefer to have a life as well as enjoy Scrabble!

Ed: As always, Penny provides some thoughtful and cogent views, most of which I'd go along with. And as for being a 'top' player, I 'm sure many would agree that Penny already is. Myfeeling is that when women choose to dedicate themselves to reaching the very top, they can • Helen Grayson and Di Dennis have done it in the past; Helen Gipson is doingso this year. But maybe it's only menwho are daft enough to put in the required amount of word-learning work, year after year, that's required to stay at the very top!

Eric Rowland: In July of this year I look pan in the Luton tournament. As in the past, the event was an enjoyable oneand a good time appears to have been had by all.

However in my case the pleasure which 1 obtained from taking pan wassomewhat diminished by the disappearance of my copy of OSW. The book had been left on one of the tables at the entrance to the hall for the use of anyone who should feel so inclined. When I came to collect it at the end of the day's play, it had disappeared. I was not too concerned initially, as the book has a distinctive vinyl jacket and my name is written inside which made me confident that whoever had picked it up would return it.

Disappointingly, after more than three months, I have heard nothing. Perhaps readers of this newsletter who attended the Luton tournament would care to have a look amongst their belongings to see if they have inadvertently picked up the missing book, and return it to me at: 438 Poynters Road, Luton, Beds. LU4 OTW. Any postage costs will be refunded.

Page 40 Answers to puzzles I

Across the board

• The only move that gives Raymond a chance of winning is CIRRI at Eld for 14. If Robert has the K and the H, this is doomed to failure because it provides Robert with winning moves such as CHINKS onto the TWS. But if either the H or K is in the bag, Robert can't score enough points to counteract Raymond's out-play through the L at A8. If Raymond has the K, Robert's best play is CHASSIS for 36, which loses by 1 point to LAKER. If Raymond picks the H, CASKS for 33 is best, losing to HALER.

• Allan's optimal move is UNVARNISHED at C4a for 99 points! Second best is VARNISHED for 59. Allan had spotted VARNISHER, but had forgotten about the OSPD-only word DE so didn't consider the VARNISHED/UNVARNISHED possibility.

Parallel lives The four genuine articles: David Kendix, Robert Richland, Simon Gillam, Mike O'Rourkc.

The Nunn Challenge 1=P, 2=A, 3=B, 4=C, 5=F, 6=G. 7=H. 8=1,9=D, 10=E, 1 i=T, 12=U,13=V, 14=W, 15=O,16=N, I7=M, 18=L, 19=K. 20=J, 21=Z, 22=Y, 23=X, 24=S, 25=R, 26=Z.

The invalid word is TEABAGS.

A festive teaser The fact that Ben had a choice of HUNGERED shows that ZIPwas already on the board. Bill should challenge UNZIPPERED, which must come off the board! MARZIPAN is then playable for 84 points. (Ben still has many good replies - the best being (S)UNDERER [alia] for 84 points.)

Wipeout

No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No

Postal anagrams

Darryl Francis is always on the lookout for instant anagrams, whether it's car number plates, or even postcodes. You might like to give this a go yourself...

Many postcodes are 7 characters long. Convert the numbers to letters, shuffle them round, and see if there's u valid anagram of your postcode. If your postcode is only 6 or maybe even 5 characters long, add in 1 or 2 blanks. Again, shuffle until you find a valid word.

As an example, I see the postcode SL6 4UB on a list in front of me (actually, it's Philip Nelkon's business address postcode). This converts to SLGAUB?. For which the following all exist: ALBUGOS. BAGFULS,BELUGAS, BLAGUES and SUBGOAL.

Page 41 Tournament Details

Unless otherwise stated, the following notes apply to all events:

• The cost of the event includes a ratings levy. • Positions are determined based on wins and spread. • Smoking is not permittedwithin the playing area. • If you do not enter a division on your application form, you will be placed in the appropriate division based on your rating. • Entrants can request to play in a higher division, although the tournament organiser reserves the right to reject the request. • Tournament organisers reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone applying to enter the event. • Send an SAE with your entry form for confirmation of entry and additional details such as directions to the venue. • Please arrive on time!

Important Note about the Richmond Open Matchplay Tournament:

Competitors entered for this event on Sunday 10th January should note that play starts at 10:30 a.m (arrival and registration at 10.00). Anybody wishing to enter, between December 20th and January 3rd, should apply to Karl Khoshnaw, at 13 Crown Court, Crown Road, Twickenham, TW1 3ES; telephone/fax 0181 892 6665, and not Peter Ernest (as on some entry forms)

Event details

Swindon Matchplay : Sunday 7th March 1999

Venue: Nationwide Building Society Head Office. Pipers Way, Swindon, SN381NW. Ample parking on sue. Full facilities for thedisabled.

Time: Registration 9:30 - 10:15. First game: 10.30 am. Prizegiving: approx 6pm.

Format: 5 games rnalchplay.

Divisions: 2 or 3, depending on number of entries.

Prizes: Trophies for first three in each division; cash prize fund of approximately £200.

Cost: £12.00 for ABSP members, £12.50 for non-members. Deduct 50p if willing to bring and lend a chess clock/timer. Cost includes leu and coffee all day, and a light lunch.

Entries: Please make cheques payable to "Highworth Scrabble Club Macmillun Account", and send them, witha generic entry form, to Steve Perry at 29 Elm Road, Faringdon, Oxon. SN7 7EJ. For confirmation of entry and direction, enclose an SAE. Closing date for entries: 19 February 1999.

Telephone: Steve Perry at 01367 244757.

E-mail: [email protected]

Page 42 Lothian : Saturday 13th March 1999

Venue: Libetton Kirk Halls, Kirkgate, Edinburgh. Map and directions are available.

Time: Registration 10:15- 10:45. First game: 11:00 am. Prizegiving approx 5:15 pm.

Format: 5 games matchplay.

Divisions: Dependent on number of entries.

Prizes: Dependent on number of entries.

Cost: £10.50 for ABSP members or non-members. No reduction for chess clocks. Cost includes a fingerbuffet lunch and refreshments all day.

Entries: Please make cheques payable to "Alan Sinclair", and send them, with a generic entry form, to Allan Sinclair at 19 Duddingston Avenue, Edinburgh, EH 15 1SJ. For confirmation of entry and directions, enclose an SAE.

Telephone: Alan Sinclair at 0131 669 7316.

Melton Mowbray : Sunday 14th March 1999

Venue: Council Offices, Nottingham Rood, Melton Mowbray, Leics. Ample car parking on site. Access and facilities for wheelchairs. No smoking anywhere on the premises.

Time: Registration 10:00 -10:30. Fust game: 10.45 am. Finish approx 6:00 pm.

Format: 5 games matchplay.

Divisions: 2.

Prizes: Prize fund approx £ 180, based on 64 entries.

Cost: £8.50 for ABSP members. £9.00 for non-members. Discount of 50p if bringing chess clock. Cost includes tea/coffee. Please bring a packed lunch, as food is NOT provided. Note: Proceeds from entry fees and raffle will go to the Mayor's Appeal, which is Macmillan Cancer Relief.

Entries: Please make cheques payable to "Melton St Mary's Scrabble Club", and send them, with a generic entry form, to Maureen Rayson at 57 Highfield Ave, Melton Mowbray, Leics, LE13 0NQ. For confirmation of entry and directions, enclose an SAE.

Telephone: Maureen Rayson at 01664 563330.

Southampton: Sunday 21st March 1999

Venue: Eastpoint, Burgoyne Road, Southampton, SO19 6PB (Tel: 01703 402648 or 402931). Ample car parking on site.

Time: Registration 9:15 -10:15. First game: 1030 am.

Format: 5 games matchplay.

Divisions: 3 or 4, depending onnumber of entries.

Prizes: Prize fund up to £320, depending on entries.

Cost: £14.00 for ABSP members, £15.00 for non-members. No reduction for chess clocks. Cost includes tea/coffee and a buffetlunch.

Entries: Please make cheques payable to "Southampton Scrabble Club", and sendthem, with a generic entry form, to Chris Finlay at 1 Litchfteld Crescent, Midanbury, Southampton, SO18 2BJ. For confirmation of entry and direction, enclose an SAE. Refunds at the discretion of the organisers.

Telephone: Chris Finlay at 01703 558013.

Page 43 Forthcoming Events list

Date Tournament (No.eamesi Contact Telephone r«vf.

Jan 10 * Richmond (6) Peter Ernest 0181894 3791 62 Jan 29-31 ♦Chester Weekend (16) Kathy Rush 01928 733565 61 Jan31 * Romford Round Robin (5) John Howeil 01819244664

Feb 3-10 Cyprus Scrabble Holiday Kathy Rush 01928 733565 - Feb 6-7 * Nottingham Nomads (16) CliveSpate 0115 9200208 62 Feb 20 * Leicester West End (5) Marjorie Smith 0116 255 1176 62 Feb 21 # North East Masters Martin Thompson 0191 285 3367 Feb 27-28 • Coventry (15) Vanessa Peters 01713669237 62 Mar 7 * Swindon (5) Steve Perry 01367 244757 63 Mar 13 * East Sussex (S) Stan Skinner 01323 832003 62 Mar 13 • Lothian (5) Alan Sinclair 01316697316 63 Mar 14 * Melton Mowbray (5) Steve Balment 01664 569623 63 Mar 21 * Southampton (5) Chris Finlay 01703 558013 63 Apr 2-3 * ABSP Isca Event (6) Andy Davis 01932 247821 63 Apr 3-5 * ABSP Easter Event (19) Andy Davis 01932 247821 63 Apr 24-25 *APSP Durham (10) Pete Finley 0191 565 4079 63 May 9 * London League (5) Sandie Simonis 0181 428 3397 63

May 23 ? Newcastle Matchplay (S) Viv Beckmann 0191 273 1705 . May 29-31 •Whit Weekend (23) Vanessa Peters 01713669237 62

JunS ♦ Lincoln (5) Teresa Hill 01427 838741 . Jun 26-27 •Havering Weekend (12) Christina French 01708 701578 63 Jul 25-26 • National Championship (14) Paul Golder 01277 633339

Aug7-8 • Nottingham Nomads (16) Clive Spate 0115 9200208 -

Note: * = registered for rating; ? = subject to ratings confirmation; £ = commercial event # = irivitatii only.

The ABSP Newsletter is published regularly six times a year, hi February, April, June, August, October and December. The deadline for the next issue is January 23rd, 1999.

Note that this is my final edition as editor. Here's where to send future contributions:

Events information : Mike O'Rourke, 22 Kestrel Road. Oakham, Rutland. LE15 6BU Tel: 01572 756968 E-mail: o'[email protected]

Game positions etc : David Acton, 31 Harrogate Terrace, Mutton, Seaham, Co.Durham, SR7 9PQ Tel: 0191 526 4320 E-mail: [email protected]

Word-related pieces : Nick Deller, 17 Windsor Rd, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE18 8DD Tel: 01480 454464 E-mail: [email protected]

Letters : Paul Golder, 117 Passingham Avenue, Billericay, Essex, CM11 2TA Tel: 01277 633339 E-mail: [email protected]

Anything else... : Amy Byrne, 12 Northfield Terrace, Edinburgh, EH87PX Tel: 0131 661 3869 E-mail: [email protected]

Page 44