The Association of Premier Scrabble* 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 Mark Nyman 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? (Not me!) 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 Lots of 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 Challenge 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 Ratings system. • 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 pointed out 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 your 1999 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 mail box. So if you have any news or views about Scrabble (don't we all?), or if you want 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 begins long 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 were on hand to keep the numbers one short of a perfect 128.