The bi-monthly magazine ofthe ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCRABBLE PLAYERS

No 116 October 2007

Deadline for next issue 5th November

BMSC - WSC and beyondl Raul Allan has won this year's British Matchplay Scrabble Championship. Paul had already secured a place representing Scotland at this year's World Scrabble Championships in Mumbai, so BMSC runner-up Phil Robertshaw earned the right to fill the final vacancy in the UK squad. The complete UK team is now:

Paul Allan (Scotland) Wayne Kelly (England) Allan Simmons (Scotland) Adam Philpotts (England) David Webb (England) Phil Robertshaw (England) Helen Gipson (England) Terry Kirk (England) Ed Martin (England) Di Dennis (England) Harshan Lamabadusuriya (England) Gareth Williams (Wales) Phil Appleby (England) Shane O'Neill (Wales)

National Scrabble Championships

At the semi-final of the National Scrabble Championships staged at theHilton Hotel in Leeds, the top two places were filled by Stewart Holden and Paul Allan (below). The two players will now meet in a best-of-five final in London on October 21st.

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SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J.W.Spear & Sons Ltd., Maidenhead SL6 4UB ISSUE CONTENTS

Committee Comer 1 Edgeways 27 That Was Then 4 Personal Profile 37 Tournament Reports 5 Letters 41 WYSC 17 Forthcoming Events 42 Ratings 18 Calendar of Events obc Across the Board 24

Thiouyhoul this publication, comments by the Editor do nol represent (hii views oi I he A1JSP Committee. Any suteinunts by ilia Committee :tre clearly marked as such. All Olher contributions to The L;ist Word represent only Ihc vimvs of the conlributor.

THE LAST WORD TEAM The Last Words Team welcomes contributions from readers to their respective areas, either as letters, articles or suggestions. Contact information: Editor: Forthcoming events: Elisabeth Jardine Paul Cartman, 6 Wentworth Avenue 9 Chapel Terrace, Bournemouth BH5 2ED Stafford ST16 3AH 01202 419 708 01785 211851 ejardinei ©btinternet.com [email protected]

Oames and Strategies: Words and Puzzles: and submissions for David Sutton T'.Ki^a Annotated Games 46WestChiItem, I "!TlS/Tk Moves to be proud of Woodcote, Reading, Berks "•^^^■1^1 Wayne Kelly RG8 0SG WOKl'Dfe Waynekelly74®aol.com David.].Sutton®ukgateway.net '^vnMNw

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Using Ilur pLiypnl function on the silc is vury e jsy jurl t(;ni|)klcly sale. More traditionally yiiu on join or renew hy sundiiifj your details ;incl ,i cheque for £15 to Anno R.ims.iy, muiiil](irshi|) secretary, m.ide nayablc to ABSf lo: ABSP, H Glen Clfiv.i Place, Kirlicaldy, Fife KY2 6UL If you with to writeto Anm,' hur uin.iil :iddress i^ .nmt'.riimsayeblucyondtr.co.uk or telephone: 01592 64013U If yuu hni'C clijii);^! your .uliliobi. luk'iiliuin: tumilK-i oi urn .nil ;irldti;^. i,,i.i Anne .is |«i^iI)Il' wiih tlic i:dunfit;. MINUTES OF THEANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 26™ AUGUST, 2007

Apologies had been received from the following members of the Committee, EvanSimpson, Darryl Francis, Len Moir and Philp Nelkon.

Before starting the meeting proper there was a minute's silence in memory of Graeme Thomas, who had been Chairman and President of the ABSP, who had died suddenly in a car accident last year.

1 To receive the Chairman's Report Terry Kirk (Chairman) opened by welcoming all present to the Annual General Meeting. He then spoke to his Chairman's report that had been published in issue 115 of "The Last Word". In particular he mentioned that he was pleased to see tournaments taking place and that the calendar was full. Also, that so many new players were coming via the Internet Scrabble Club and the New Player Events organised by Stewart Holden. He thanked Stewart Holden for all his hard work on these events particularly the one held at Yarnfield the day before. No questions being raised from the floor the Chairman's Report was accepted.

2 To receive and consider the accounts of the Association for 2006, and the associated Auditor's and Treasurer's reports. Ross Mackenzie spoke to his report and the accounts. Ross informed the members present that Yoke Shin was stepping down after six years as Auditor and thanked him for all his work over the last six years. Ross informed those present that Mervyn Bright had agreed to take on the role of Auditor. There being no questions raised from the floor the accounts. Auditor's and Treasurer's reports were accepted.

3 To elect the officers and other members of the Committee All of the current Committee had agreed to continue. There were no other nominations from the floor.

4 To confirm the Auditor for the year 2007 Mervyn Bright was confirmed as Auditor for 2007.

5 To fix the subscription for 2008 The subscription remains at £15 per annum for 2008.

6 MOTIONS 6.1 "To allow 'variant' tournaments to be rated, approved by the Committee on a case by case basis"

1 Stewart Holden spoke to this motion on behalf of the Committee, seconded by Allan Simmons.

FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 61 2 7 Proxy votes 11 5 1 Chairman's discretion 2 0 0 TOTAL 74 7 8

6.2 "To offer halfprice ABSP membership to those under 18 at the time of joining or renewing"

Stewart Holden spoke to this motion on behalf of the Committee, seconded by Kat Wilkes. FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 76 0 0 Proxy votes 14 1 2 Chairman's discretion 2 0 0 TOTAL 92 1 2

The Tournament Director/Organiser Forum will be informed of this vote and the result will now be added to the Tournament Director's Handbook.

There was a query from the floor about reduced rates for under 18's attending Tournaments. This is now in the TD/TO Handbook that all Tournament Organisers should seek to obtain reduced rates for under 18's.

6.3 "To disallow Tournament Directors from playing in events in which they are directing, except in cases of emergency where the nominated Director has become unavailable at very short notice"

Stewart Holden spoke to this motion as an individual, seconded by Steve Perry.

There was discussion about how such a rule could be policed and that the wording left a 'greyarea' that could be taken advantage of.

FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 59 11 9 Proxy votes II 5 0 Chairman's discretion 3 0 0 TOTAL 73 16 9

The introduction of this requirement that Tournament Directors must NOT play in the tournament that they are directing comes into effect immediately. Tournaments already in receipt of ratings approval arenot affected. 7 Objectives Allan Simmons spoke about the sponsorship received from Joyboost this year for the BMSC and the need to take any advantage that sponsorship offered. He also spoke to the need to increase the profile ofthe Association and Scrabble in the media. One way of doing this was raising money for the Variety Club that would allow follow up articles in the media.

Stewart Holden spoke about the hit and miss with the press releases that he issued as Publicity Officer. He encouraged any Tournament Organisers to contact their local newspapers with details of any local tournaments.

Anne Ramsaywas asked what the current membership was and she was able to say that the membership stood at 777 with six who had joined over the weekend. Terry Kirk replied that this was very encouraging.

8 Any Other Business 8.1 Amy Byrne spoke about the Pete Finley Fund. Following discussions with several organisations and with Laura Finlcy it was decided that the fund would purchase an area of woodland through the Woodlands Trust at the Fox and Parrot Wood in County Durham. She was pleased to report that three-quarters of an acre of woodland had been purchased. Following discussion with the Woodlands Trust about a pathway that was part of this woodland, they had agreed that the circular pathway would be dedicated and known as "Pete's Path". This was a first for the Woodlands Trust and since they were trialling it, the plaque and markers at the beginning and along the pathway would be free. Amy had examples of the Dedication Certificate, plan of the woodland area and aerial photographs for members tosee. The setting up of this would take a further two to three months. Once complete a full article giving all the details will be in TLW.

8.2 The absence of Philip Nelkon and Gyles Brandreth was raised and if this was a sign of their disdain for the members. Terry Kirk responded that Philip Nelkonhad attended several recent AGMs and regularly attended Committee meetings as the Mattel representative. Allan Simmons spoke regarding Gyles Brandreth and that recently he had written to all the World Scrabble Championship qualifiers, that he had helped the Sponsorship Officer in getting the right contact at the Variety Club. He emphasised that the Gyles was interested in ABSP but was more behind the scenes.

8.3 There was a general vote of thanks for John Grayson, Ratings Officer, and the excellent work that he did in getting the ratings results updated and into the common domain so speedily.

The meeting was closed by Terry Kirk who thanked all those present for attending.

Please would all members fully complete and returnthe renewai slip even If they have paid or Intend to pay via Paypal sothat Anne has up to date details for everybody.

If you wish to writeto Anne her email address is [email protected] ABSP, 8 Glen Clova Place,Kirkcatdy, Fife KV2 6UL or telephone: 01592 640130 10 years ago: 5 years ago: APSP Newsletter, issue 56, TLW, issue 86, September 2002, October 1997, editor Phil Appleby editor Alec Webb

Graeme Thomas examined a whole crop Allan Simmons tookover the reins as of Japanese words that had crept into ABSP Chairman from Pete Finley. OSW, commenting that Chambers had "changed the rules" when it came to plurals! Paul Cartman assumed the new role of Tournament Co-ordinator. Hartley Moorhouse was basking in the more colourful word definitions in Chambers (e.g. TACHAIRM and Pete Finley - "The Music Man" ... was MONTEM). interviewed by TLW,on the back of a fairly recently released CD called "Dawn Terry Hollinglon had strong views on the Chorus" that he wrote and performed on. subject of a proposed "world dictionary".

Recent tourney wins included: Raymond Tate provided uswith a AndrewCook (Surrey) bratwurst bundle of 7-letter and 8-letter Raymond Tate (Perth) German words (in Stewart Holden's David Webb and Mark Nyman (Nomads) "Edgeways" feature)... including Fran Thompson (BMSC Ladies) KRUMHORN, QUETSCH and Andy Davis (BMSC) WALDRAPP! Donald Macleod (Newcastle) Neil Scott (Crieff) Evan Simpson (MSO weekday) first prize: Recent tourney wins included: £1500, a Concorde ticket... and ... er... a Nick Ball (New Maiden) gold medal! Terry Kirk (Rhein) Phil Appleby (MSO weekend)... first Di Dennis (BMSC Ladies) prize: £1250 and a gold medal. Mark Nyman (BMSC/NSC ...the two Dick Green,Alec Webb, Brett were merged that year) Smitheram, Caroline Atkins, Mark Nyman (NSC Regionals)

Top 3 in the ratings (September 30th Top 4 in the ratings (September 4th 2002) 1997) 1 Mark Nyman 207 1 Allan Saldanha 205 2= David Acton 204 2 Mark Nyman 198 2= Robert Felt 204 3 David Acton 197 2= Andrew Fisher 204 Organisers are encouraged to send a list of prize winners and a brief tournament report to the TLW editor as soon as possible after the event. Remember I can only publish them if you send them to me!

Corse Hill

July 14th - 15th Report from Stewart Holden The second of Amy Byrne's tournaments with De Vere Venues took place on 14th-15th July at Gorse Hill, an elegant mansion set in the Surrey countryside a few miles outside Woking. 30 players were divided into three groups of 10 to play13 games. Ditf A Visiting Australian WSC team member Chris May had made his UK debut at the NSC regional the previous weekend and obtained an impressive provisional rating of 196. Terry Kirk, Ed Martin, Mike Whiteoak and Steve Perry provided the main opposition. Steve took an early lead, averaging 472pts per game over the first five rounds, but at the end of the first day Chris remained unbeaten on 7-0 overnight. His play of REAEDIFY against Cecil Muscat proved his worth; hooking it in the corner with REAEDIFYE/EXTINE for 90 next turn was definitely the piekre de resistance. Chris May

The next morning the field was thrown open as Chris lost to Ed and Terry; Mike Whiteoak was briefly in second place while Steve startedto fall behind and David Shenkin was consistently held outside the top three. However, David compensated for this with his outstanding play of BIOGRAPHIZED (around GRAPH) mentioned elsewhere, a move which will hold a place in Scrabble folklore for years to come.

In the end Chris proved unstoppable and was Gibsonized for the final round, finishing in style with a 200pt win against Mike to claim the division and raise his provisional rating to a mighty 203. Ditf B Ruth Maclnerney was the highest-rated player in the group and held the lead from the very first round. Two wins by a total of 600pts against her main opposition cemented her dominance and the other players soon realised they were fighting for second place. Mary Siggers and Wanda de Poitiers were strong contenders but in the end Graham Bonham snatched runner up spot. Annie Hawes was the lowest rated player in the division but performed well against a tough field, capping her performance witha play of SATIRICAL (from AIIRST? onto AL) against Ruth in the final round... not bad going for a sixteen year old provisionally rated 119 at the time.

Marjorie Smith had won Div C at Cheadle only two weeks earlier and looked set to do the same here, but Philippa Morris had other ideas and held a steady lead for most of the event. Adrian Noller got off to a strong start (6-1 overnight) but fell away on the second day. In the end Philippa held strong and won with round to spare, while Margaret Seabrook took second place.

It is interesting to note that the top-rated player won each group, in each case with one round to spare. Maybe those ratings do mean something after all!

David Shenkin's BIOGRAPHIZED was the talk of the weekend and with standings and match reports going live onto uk-scrabble it was soon known across the land. Other interesting words played included THEELIN. SCOOBY, COLONUS, TANAISTE, MISPLACING (onto ACINC) STAGERY, COCOTTES, TATTOOER, MIHI, PROVAND, REMUDAS, PORTIERE, SOUPCON, ADDAX, ELECTRO (twice), FISHNET and ANTICKE.

Corse Hill A Corse Hill B Corse HillC May, Chris 11 909 Maclnerney, Ruth 10 1045 Morris, Philippa 10 65 6 Kirk, Terry 9 200 Bonham, Graham 9 235 Smith, Marjorie 9 602 Martin, Ed 8 379 Sixers, Mary 8 -5 Noller, Adrian 9 439

Lincoln^

14th July Lincoln A Lincoln B R. Byers 5 464 L. Barratt 5 566 C. Brown 5 336 P. Friend 5 444 A. Webb 5 282 C. Gillespie 5 300

Carrington, Bournemouth HB

20th July Results from John Harrison. Bournemouth 2 Bournemouth 4 14rounds (double round robin). Margaret Bright 9 231 Paul Walford 11 530 Barbara Goodban H 375 9 869 Maureen Rayson 8 68 Margaret Emmott 9 182 Bournemouth 1 Bournemouth 3 Bournemouth 5 Janet Phillips 9 269 Christine Gillespie 10 614 Jean|Ryde|Williams 12 1201 LoisMcLeod 9 61 lake Berliner 9 331 Peggy Moore 10 223 Moira Conway 8 233 |oy Lloyd 8 427 Maggie Fleming 8 301

Aytesbury

21st July Results from Stewart Holden

Aylesbury A Aylesbury B Aylesbury C Shin, Austin 5 376 Wintle, Steven 5 549 Turner, Jill 6 394 Perry, Steve 5 322 Cooper, Geoff 5 300 Shepheard, Lis 5 399 Gruner, George 5 309 Bonham, Graham 5 217 Violett, Claire 5 -3 Harrison, Martin 5 299 Lyes, |im 5 85 Johnson, Peter 4 367 Inverness

21st July

Inverness A Inverness B MarRaret Armstrong4 355 Michael Harley 5 327 Moya Dewar 4 276 ColinNicol 4 292 Alan Sinclair 4 245 Sheena Wilson 4 277

Newcastle HB

July 27-29 Results fromJohn Harrison.

The game between Irene Atkinson and Isla Wilkie was not played and thus not rated. Irene received a tournament winand 75 spread points. Two extrarated games were played - Irene Atkinson 1 -0 Olive Martin Olive Matthew 1 -0 Yvonne Holland

Newcastle 1 Newcastle 2 Peler Ashurst 10 588 Irene Atkinson 10 790 Pat Wheeler 8 255 Sheila Smith 10 226 Steve Balment 8 58 Christabel Jackson 9 435

New Place

28th- 29th July Report from Stewart Holden

The New Place tournament just outside Southampton was the third event held in association with De Vere Venues. A Grade I listed mansion in the Hampshire countryside saw twenty- eight players competing 15 games over two days in three closely matched divisions. DivA With ten players all rated from 178-163 this was always going to be a tight contest but not even the players could have predicted how close it would actually be. Gary Oliver was undefeated after four games but Ed Rossiter and Cecil Muscat were close behind. The lead changed hands after almost every round; Gareth Williams lost the first four games but was leading after twelve rounds. To everyone's amazement, halfway through the second day the top five of ten players were all 7-4 and separated by less than 200pts of spread. In the end two large wins for Steve Perry against Gareth Williams and Ed Rossiter sealed his victory, the latter claiming the runner up spot. All agreed it had been an excellent close competition. Div B Stephen Wintle ran away with this group and finished 11.5-3.5, three clear wins ahead ofMaureen Chamberlain and David Shenkin. Geoff Cooper was the lowest rated player in the group but put in a respectable showing and his rating showed the reward. DivC An incredible performance by Isle of Wight resident Wendy Tiley meant that this group was only ever a battle for second place. Wendy lost the third round to Marjorie Smith but was otherwise unbeaten after the first day; incredibly, she continued to whitewash the field on the second day and finished 14-1. Second place svent to newcomer Lyn Allcock after beating her higher-rated partner Colin Kendall in the final round. I wouldn't fancy being in that car on the way home.

Amidst spot prizes for naughty words and Simpsons themed words (to coincide with the movie release that weekend), the best offerings seen on challenge slips included ADUKI, AETHERIC, ARREEDE, BESPATE, BOONG, CREWEL, DYELINE, ENURESES, EQUIPAGE, FOOZLING, FUNGOID, HALFLING, HIRAGANA, IETFOILS, JUPATI, NONUSER, PAVLOVAS, PYCNITES and UPTILTS.

New Place A New Place B New Place C Perry, Steve 10 353 Wintle, Stephen 1.5 695 Tiley, Wendy 14 1533 Rossiter, Ed 9 149 Chamberlain, Maureen 8.5 372 Allcock, Lyn 10 189 Musc.il, Cecil 8 181 Shenkin, David 8.5 178 Smith, Marjorie 9 153 siiafl^fM^ August 4th-5th Report from Clive Spate Thanks to everyone who attended and helped us raise such a splendid sum for our chosen cancer charities. It was great to have Sheila back and we both appreciated the many kind remarks and good wishes for the future.

Since checking the results I found that the Sunday high score consolation prize was given to the wrong player, jared will have to consider the bottle of wine as an early birthday present for tomorrowl The actual winner was Ed Martin who had to leave early to get his train home.

DOLLAR HI-HO DAY 1 SATURDAY David Shenkin 6 537 John Mitchell 6 162 Donna Stanlon 5 178 Carol Arthurlon 5 575

ARGENT ELECTRUM INGOT Stewart Holden 5 543 Maurice Brown 6 644 Martha Mitchell 7 341 Wayne Kelly 5 -95 Theresa Cole 6 204 Sue Thompson 6 123 BIRCH FOX JOHN Nick Deller 7 522 Marlene Skinner 6 134 Paul Walford 6 406 Phil Robertshaw 5 5 525 Russell Smith 5 145 Paul Cartman 6 343 CLOUD GHOST KNAPWEED 537 Evan Simpson 7 361 Sheila Green 5 275 Pat Rockley 8 Barrio Hall 5 Diane Pratesi 5 312 Peter Winnick 5 235 222

DAY 2 SUNDAY JUBILEE QUICKSILVER Moira Conway 7 559 Dot Taylor 6 481 Joyce Cansfield 5 281 Jake Berliner 6 124 ANNIVERSARY LINING SERVICE Wayne Kelly 6 618 Evelyn Wallace 6 514 Denise Saxton 6 213 EdMartin 6 417 Peter Thomas 5 239 Celia Osborn 6 198 FISH MEDAL SURFER Dennis Ikekregor 6 472 Maureen Rayson 6 317 Peter Lindeck 7 386 jared Robinson 6 374 Peter Winnick 6 186 Peter Ernest 6 237 CAOROON PLATE VINGT-CINQUE Di Dennis 6 483 Ann Golding 5 191 June Johnstone 8 717 Gary Polhill 6 372 Pat Wheeler 5 173 Cathy Poacher 6 343 Peterboroughterb Speed

11th Aug Results from Stewart Holder)

Peterborough A Peterborough O 8 375 Richland, Robert 7 431 Friend, Pat 7 300 May, Chris 7 210 Kingham, Victoria 6 20 Holden, Stewart 6 153 Eade, Yvonne Peterborough B Peterborough E 6 72 O'Rourke, Mike 9 687 Dixon, Ginny 5 422 Synnott, Kevin 6 -189 Nelson-Owen, Vicky 5 134 Hayman, Rael 5 344 Latham, Frankie Peterborough C Division Unrated 9 878 Hardie, John 8 674 Fox, Gerard 7 672 Goodwin, Andy 7 281 Wilks, Sarah 7 332 Wilson, Ben 5 238 Rayson, Maureen

11-12 August Report from Neil Scott

Thirty-eight players gathered in Perth for the annual 14-game Scottish Round Robin Tournament.There were five divisions of either seven or eight players and, based on the Saturday results, three players were promoted and three relegated from each division.

As usual, Dewars Centre proved to be an excellent venue and players were able to watch the ice skaters between games. Ross Mackenzie won the prize for the best overall performance, despite finishing with a negative spread on day two. A raffle in aid of the British Heart Foundation raised over £90 in memory of Teena Walls, a regular Scottish tournament player who died recently.

BINCLEY DARCY Saturday Marion Keatings 6 229 Margaret Harkness4.5 225 Anne Steward 5 316 Syd Berger 4 322 ANNE CATHERINE ELIZABETH Chris Harrison 6 312 lain Harley 6 454 Rena Waddell 5.5 289 Ross Mackenzie 5 236 Marjory Flight 4 179 Willie Scott 5 183

BILBG OENETHOR Sunday Kale Surtees 5 231 Helen Polhill 5 422 ARAGORN Amy Byrne 5 121 Michael Harley 5 348 Ross Mackenzie 5 -5 CELEBORN ELROND Anne Steward 4 348 Peter Ashurst 5 453 Margaret Irons 7 456 Raymond Tale 5 410 Linda Bradford 6 215

Correction On p.9 of The Last Word 114 in the results for the Exeter Matchplay, D Division, Richard Hitchcock's name did not appear, yet he came second with 13 points, and has the duck to prove it! 18lh August Report from Sieve Perry

Firstly thanks to everybody who has expressed their appreciation for my running the MSO event on Saturday. The event and the comments afterwards raise several issues. 1 Pairings This was the first time I had usedJohn Chew's tsh programme to run an event. With Paul Cartman's helpeverything went smoothly until the pairings for round6 were produced. In both divisions we got repeats amongst thetop places. I tried several approaches to get the programme to produce pairings without repeats but, in the end , had to resort to pairing the last round manually. I have since spoken to Stewart Holden who told me that the standard (ie Chew) pairings can give repeats in the final round. Like, Stewart, I think that this is a good thing if it keeps things competitively tighter. However if repeats are going to be allowed in one day events then the entry form will have to sayso since it is not what people have come to expect. 2 Slow play There was an instance where both players went over by nearly 10 minutes on Saturday. Fortunately it was the game before lunch so it just meant that the players involved had a shorter lunch break. Later there was another very slow game which held up the whole tournament by nearly 15 minutes. As, Director, I was powerless to do anything about it but I did feel somewhat uncomfortable pacing round the room waiting for one game to finish before we could get on with proceedings. I wonder how the other players felt. I didn't support the move down to 10 minutes before automatic forfeit of the game but it certainly helped speed things up between the two players on Saturday. With the possibility of more very slow play maybe we should think about reducing the threshold even further. 3 Tie splitting MSO do not recognise spread as a legitimate way of splitting ties. I happen to agree with them and I know this has been the subject of some debate on uk-scrabble over the years. One player in B division on Saturday had an average losing spread of over 200 The tie split which took all the time was for 3rdplace in B division. There were 4 players on 4 wins. The person in 3rd on spread had a spread of +563 and had played the weakest player and won by over 300 points. The other 3 had not had that advantage. Thus the 3rd placed player on spread was ahead of his rivals, not on Scrabble ability, or even on the luckof the tiles on the day but by the luck of the draw (ie his opponent in the first round). We use spread in Scrabble because it is easy. That doesn't make it the best. As was demonstrated on Saturday there are fairer methods but they take longer to work through. However I am sure it would be possible to speed things up if alternatives to spread became more widespread. Incidentally there was also a tie for 3rd place in the top division. That was very quick to resolve. Robert Richland pipped Alec Webb by virtue of his victory in their head-to-head game.

MSO A MSOB 6 559 Chapped, Mike 6 721 Nelkon, Julie 5 395 Simonis, Sandie 5 443 Wilson, Rosalind 4 98 Richland, Robert

10 ABSP BRITISH MATCHPLAY SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIPS \Sm0sS$mM ■'. ' ' . ■ . . 30th June-July 1st Sponsored by Joyboost, supplier of the online word game, Spinword. Report supplied by Allan Simmons with details from Mauro Pratesi Photos from Mauro Pralesi First the warm-up events:

In the Ladies A Division.Diane Pratesi and Paloma Raychbart were the highest rated players so perhaps their 384-draw early in the event was a fair result. Diane went on to take the lead going into the last round having narrowly disposed of Elisabeth lardine by 420-411,while Paloma dropped a game. Diane finished off the Ladies by beating Maureen Chamberlain by 134 and victory on 5.5 wins from 6 games. Elisabeth lost second spot to Anne Ramsay in a 403-446 loss and Paloma sneaked third spot beating Lois McLeod by 124 points. Diane Pratesi In the 28-player Ladies B Division Mary Morgan held on to a onewin lead going into the last round but was being chased by four players on four wins. Young Jessica Pratesi in third position had to play and beat Mary in the final game and hope other results went her way. She achieved that 435-356 to become the youngest winner of a Ladies division. Viv Beckmann who had been second lost 393-403 to fourth placed Barbara Hill while the other player on four wins, Yvonne Eade, lost 284-356 to Priscilla Encarnacion. Jessica's overall spread on five wins was more than enough for a unique Pratesi family A-B double victory. No doubt there were PARTIES afterwards!

Ladies A Ladies B 1 5 435 Pralesi. Diane 1 5 320 Pralesi, Jessica 2 5 344 Ramsay, Anne 2 5.0 239 Morgan, Mary 3 4.5 252 Raychlwri, Paloma 3 5. 15 Hill, Barbara

The Men 's event consisted of one division of 32 players (the largest field since the event was introduced two years ago). At the halfway stage the unbeaten top four were Martin Harrison, Wayne Kelly, |im Lyes and Alec Webb. Jim was the player who was excelling way above his rating and the dark horse to watch for in the second half. Often the early leaders lose steam as the event progresses but in this casethey all remained pretty much in contention going into the last round with Martin looking favourite for the title with a one win advantage and a Martin Harrison comfortable spread.Nick Deller and Mike Whiteoak had

worked their way up to be part ofthe five-man chasing Men's Div pack. Martin lost his final game but when all the dust had 1 5 674 Harrison, Martin settled his spread was sufficient to take the title from three 2 5 4(>5 Deller, Nick others also on five wins. 3 5 427 Whiteoak, Mike

11 And so ontothe BMSC MAIN EVENT: This year's BMSC attracted over 160 entrants, and once again was held at the spacious and welcoming Yanfield Conference centre near Stafford. Players were vying for a little more prize money this time with the generous sponsorship of £750 provided by Joyboost, developer of the online wordgame "Spinword". The sponsorship enabled the prize funds across all divisions to be increased and also allowed the ABSP to provide all entrants in Saturday's new-players event with a Scrabble goody-bag to help them on their way. The ABSP had also arranged for individuals (if they wished to partake) to get sponsorship from friends and family to raise money for The Variety Club childrens charity. The money raised would relate to the total scores achieved by players over the 18 rounds. At the time of writing this report the figure raised is not known but The Variety Club have asked us to write a report for their Winter magazine which will be some good exposure for the ABSP.

The main event consisted of 18rounds spread over 3 days. There were a record 72 players in the "Open" A Division with a number ofplayers rated under 160 trying theirluck. The B Division had 26 players and there were four divisions of 17 playing to a round robin format.

The Open Division began with a curiosity - Diane Pratesi having finished the Ladies event with a 134 win over Mauren Chamberlain lost her opening match in the main event by 134 to Maureen Chamberlain! Meanwhile, there was plenty of giant-killing going on elsewhere and after the first days play several top players, including Helen Gipson and Allan Simmons, were struggling in the midfield. As day two progressed it became clear that those on form included Paul Allan, Phil Robertshaw and Barry Grossman, the latter two being strong contenders for the remaining World Championship place in Mumbai.

Most impressive victory perhaps was by visiting Australian, Chris May, who, having overslept, started a game with minus 7 minutes on the clock. After consulting the rules it was understood that he coulddecide whether to playor not. He went for it and played his whole game in two minutes and won by sufficient to counter the overtime penalties. It is expected the Committee will review whether a player should be allowed to start a game once the standard 25 minutes has been completed but nevertheless it was a remartkable achievement although unfair on the opponent who had to hang around for 30 minutes and not necessarily be in the right frame of mind to then play.

Going into the last day's play Barry Grossman was leading the way with 11 wins from 13 games, one win ahead of Paul Allan. As with most divisional leaders, it only takesa little run of bad luck or "taking the eye off the ball" for them to drop places. Barry, having lost 263-425 to Paul Allan, had to really fight back tostay in contention. With eventual wins over Gareth Williams and Paul Gallon ensuring 4th place with 13 wins along with three others - but all finishing above him in the final table. The winner, with an excellent overall performance, was Paul Allan who had the luxuryof losing his last game to Phil Robertshaw 342-454 and still remain in front by 74 points. Commisserations to Phil on just losing out L-41-^ .':-,£&' on the title but congratulations to him also, for taking the UK's Paul receiving his trophy remaining World Championship place in Mumbai. from Dave Thomson

12 In Division B, Moira Convvay and Graham Bonham led with 10 wins from 13 games going into the final day's play. Moira unfortunately had a hapless final day losing all five games. Graham too started with losses on the final day but rallied to win his last three games, just holding off Lois McLeod and Anand Buddhdev to win Division B with 13 wins and 725 spread.

In Division C the top three scored 12 wins each and were separated by49 points ofspread. Suzanne Dundas (550) came first, Margaret Bright (527) was secondand Steve Balment (501) third. Crucial last round scores were Suzanne's 422-355 win against leader Steve and Margaret's 427-399 win against Jim Lyes.

In Division D Irish visitor Joseph McGinley was always at the top. Pressed hard by Priscilla Encarnacion, Jake Berliner and Ted Lewis all the way, Joseph held on to win Division D with 13 wins and 1027 spread. Priscilla having to beat Ted 412-397 to claim sole third place on 11 wins. Val Hoskings beating Jake 437-383 to claim second spot on 12 wins.

In Division E Marjorie Smith seemed to have things tied up going into the last day two wins ahead of everybody else and she still had to have her bye match! She lost her opening two matches of the day! But then so did her chasers Jessica Pratesi, Juliet Green and Andrew Eames. With potential finishers Fay Madeley and Ginny Dixon appearing on the scene it made a pretty tight finish. By using the newly available tournament program by John Chew the "Gibsonisation" rule was being used. If theleader cannot be overtaken he/she is then paired in the last round with someone not in contention for prizes. In this case Marjorie Smith who had 12 wins was 2 wins clear of Jessica, Andrew, Linda Barratt, Fay and Ginny all on ten, in that order going into the last round. Marjorie was given the bye pairing! In the King-of-the-hill pairings that followed Jessica beat Andrew 470-317, Linda beat Fay 366- 319and Ginny lost to Juliet 320-438. What a close finish.

In Division F on the last day Sarah-Jane Taylor was in the lead, dropped a game to bottom placed Christine Cartman and had yet to sit out! Ken Bird had won four games on the last dayand took the lead by one win going into the final round. In the final head to head clash Sarah-Jane got the better of Ken by 427-387 and with her spread of 1245 to Ken's 617 won the Division.

All the prize-winners are listed below. Many thank-yous were givenout to the excellent on- the-day organisational team under Ian Burn's TDship but special thank yous on behalf ofthe ABSP Committee also go to Sarah Wilks for her outstanding organisation duties, Stewart Holden and John Chew for ensuring the new tournament software was fit-for-purpose, and Dave Thomson of Joyboost for not only providing the sponsorship but also mucking in and helping with the running. It has been noted by the Committee that additional runners must be in place for next year.

The total number of points scored over all 1,171 games of the BMSC was 1,250,040 !! The top average game scores are shown on the next page.

And talking of big numbers, congratulations to Peter Ashurst who played QUAYAGES for 230 points to equal the ABSP all-time high word score in a rated tournament.

13 43f>.f>1 Di Dennis Highest Average Scores 434.11 Edward Martin 430.56 Careth Williams 448.94 Phil Robertshaw 429.06 Barry Grossman 441.94 HelenGipson 426.44 Harshan Lamabadusuriya 440.89 Wayne Kelly 426.06 Stewart Holden 4 37.94 Allan Simmons 425.56 Paul Allan Phil RolK'rtsluw BMSC 2007 MAIN EVENT PRIZE WINNERS Every player received two BMSC bookmarks of new CSW words, courtesy of the ABSP Committee (supplied by LizJardine). All prize winners received a copy of the SPINWORD game courtesy of loyboost. There was also a tough-luck prize courtesy of Tilefish (a pair of racks) that went to the player (in each division) who had the five narrowest losses.

Division A 1 13.0-5.0 +1097 A 194 Allan, Paul £650 2 13.0-5.0 +1023 A 179 Robertshaw, Phil £300 (WSC place) 3 13.0-5.0 +966 B 172 Williams, Gareth £150 4 13.0-5.0 +695 B 170 Grossman, Barry £100 5 12.0-6.0 +886 A 190 Lamabadusuriya, Harshan £50 Ratings Prizes 6 12.0-6.0 +634 B 172 Dennis, Di £25 8 12.0-6.0 +457 D 0 Gallen, Paul £25 17 11.0-7.0 -150 C 158 Liggett, Pete £25 Division B 1 13.0-5.0 +725 B 148 Bonham, Graham £150 2 12.0-6.0 +232 A 154 McLeod, Lois £100 3 11.0-7.0 +857 B 149 Buddhdev, Anand £50 Ratings Prize 5 11.0-7.0 +356 B 146 Brundell, Lou £25

Prizes in round robin divisions were 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25 Division C 1 12.0-5.0 +550 139 Dundas, Suzanne 2 12.0-5.0 +527 141 Bright, Margaret 3 12.0-5.0 +501 138 Balment, Steve Division D 1 13.0-4.0 +1027 0 McGinley, Joseph 2 12.0-5.0 +355 127 Hoskings, Val 3 11.0-6.0 +609 127 Encarnacion, Priscilla Division E 1 13.0-4.0 +510 118 Smith, Marjorie 2 11.0-6.0 +560 112 Pratesi. Jessica 3 11.0-6.0 +313 118 Barratt, Linda Division F 1 13.0-4.0 +1245 106 Taylor, Sarah-Jane 2 13.0-4.0 +617 105 Bird, Ken 3 11.0-6.0 +459 108 Owen, lean

14 ^

24th June Report from Cindy Hollyer

All's well that ends well and just as well! Jacqui White, our very able director was taken ill a week before the tournament and it was panic stations until Mauro Pratesi very kindly agreed to be on standby. Fortunately Jacqui recovered sufficiently (though still in pain) to take control of a very pleasant event.

There were three divisions but not one outright winner and spread was the deciding factor.

Havering A Havering B Havering C Rael Hayman 5 762 Colin Nicol 5 437 Priscilla Munday 5 382 Cecil Muscat 5 422 Carmen Dolan 5 251 Sheila Anderson 5 137 Diane Pralesi(Exp) 5 382 Marc Meakin 5 63 Jenny Corps 4 325

Results from: Stewart Holden 8th-9lh September

Wychwood A Wychwood B Wychwood C 11 169 Kelly, Wayne 10 583 Bright, |ill 11 508 Suddick, K.itliy 11 599 Robertshaw, Phil 9 150 Wheeler, Pat 11 462 Johnstone, June 10 525 Harrison, Martin 9 -11 Berger, Adrienne 10 19 Morris, Philippa

Middlesbrough '■;;-;i:.1';'.',1./.;.:;1.^..-. i1', V ■■':' Iv!:-.1.;1'1!.-.'

9th September

Middlesbrough A Middlesbrough B C Becvers 5 569 N Broom 5 467 R Pells 5 263 M Struggles 4 344 M Nicholson 4 243 E Bacon 4 296

ABSP Logowear

The following garments are available for men, women and children: T-shirts Ladies' T-shirts Fleeces Sweatshirts Polo shirts All garments are unisex unless stated. The ABSP logo is neatly embroidered in red, white and gold on the left breast. Full details of styles, colours, sizes and prices and an order form are available at www.absp.org.uk

15 Report of Bantry Tournament

W. Cork 23-24 June 2007 Report from Mike O 'Rourke

Nuala and I decided to have a couple of weeks in West Cork in June. It had been a while since we were down there last and we've had the offer of a free cottage for yonks and not used it. Suffice to say that while you were all enjoying the wet in England, we were enjoying the softer stuff in Ireland - oh yes it rained, but it was easier to take. The only time it didn't rain we were indoors playing Scrabble at the Bantry tournament, ably organised by Fergus Williams. The venue was the West Lodge Hotel - quite an imposing building on the edge of Bantry overlooking the bay. It has to be the nicest setting I've ever played a tournament in with a stunning view to match (the little black dots on the water are the buoys attached to copious ropes of mussels mmmm!). Of course the viewdoesn 't show the 9 hole pitch and putt course that Nuala and I tried one lunch time. What an amazing setting for a Scrabble.Tournament! However, back to the Scrabble: The view over Bantry Bay from the playing room window. The tourney was organised with 7 games on the Saturday then an allotted hour for Mass before dinner. Sunday had 5 games. We 've played in Ireland on several occasions and played some of our Irish friends at British events so we knew we had our hands full, and so it proved. Of the "English (& N. Irish) contingent " only Alec Webb won his opening game. In fact Alec was doing well until game 6 when I tripped him up. Nuala was also moving up the table by the end of the first day, but it was the Irish players who were showing their class Kay McColgan (ABSP Rating 170) finished Saturday on top of Group A with 7 winsfrom 7 games. Alec was lying second on 5 wins and relative newcomer, young Fergeal Weatherhead (a player to watch for the future if he ever comes over here!) also on 5. Day 2 saw a slight comeback on the O 'Rourke front and I actually won more than I lost. My first game was against Kay. I 've always had a good record against her and kept this intact in a thrilling game which I won on countback by just 8 points. The other visitors from acrossthe water all had better results - except poor Yvonne, last year's Bantry champion, who this time seemed rooted to the bottom of Group A. It was a lovely tourney and we were welcomed with great friendship and a lot of laughs. We 'II definitely be back some time and would urge more visitors to go and play there - there are several regular tournaments in Ireland and you will get some fabulous scrabble and a lot of craic!

16 The Irish Scrabble Association (RISPA) rating system feels much nicer too - I like my 183 rating! All tournaments tend to have the same format - 12 games. If I had one small criticism [•] it would be that theytend to draw for start before each game rather than having an equal share out of starts/replies. But we should respect local rules - all other rules are based on ABSP.

|'| Maybe if I'd had9 starts nnd 3 replies instead ofthe reverse I might have overlooked this!

Kay - Winner

Results: Group A Alec receiving 1 Kay McColgan 10 514 his 3rd place Fergal Wealhcrhcad 9 657 prize from 2 Alec Webb (Eng) 8 399 Fergus Williams 3 4 Mike O 'Rourke (Eng) 7 291 5 Eileen Meghan 7 197 Regular Tourneys on the Irish Scrabble scene: 6 Nuala O 'Rourke (Nl) 6 -5 Belfast - held in January for the first time this year. 7 Chris Broderick 6 -80 8 Celine Lowry 5 -150 Cork - Usually in February 9 Theresa Scallan 5 -576 Dublin - Usually around May 10 Peler Thomas (Eng) 4 -331 Bantry - June 11 Barry Kenny 3 -327 Galway - September 12 Yvonne Eade (Eng) 2 -500 Wexford - November

WORLD YOUTH SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP 2007

WESPA are running the second World Youth Scrabble Championship from Tuesday 4th to Thursday 6th December 2007. It will be held at the same venue as the Causeway Challenge, an international Scrabble tournament staged in Johor Bahru, a cityin southernmost Malaysia, just across the border from Singapore. With just a short break between these two events many young players will be able to enjoy competing in both tournaments. We are extremely grateful to the Singapore Scrabble Association for their assistance in running this event - in particular, Michael Tang, who is concurrently organising the Causeway Challenge, and Cheah Sui Hean, president of SSA. At the time of going to press the ABSP Committee are seeking possible UK representatives • it appears that Austin Shin unfortunately doesn't qualify this year because his 18th birthday falls before 31 December.

17 Ratings at

(GM) Grand Master (Exp) Expert 24-9-2007 ABSP membership number for members At least 30 games is shown before name and at least 1 since 25-9-2005 198 1422 Wale Fashina 174 0224 Gary Polhill (Exp) 198 0774 Brett Smitheram (CM) 174 0814 lared Robinson 196 0751 Raul Allan (GM) 173 0025 Richard Evans (Exp) 194 0497 Andrew Davis (CM) 173 0368 Chris Hawkins (Exp) 193 1621 Chris May 173 1443 Sieve Hilton 164 1408 Rael Hayman David Webb (GM) 173 1295 Shane O'Neill 193 0338 164 Mark Hollingsworth 173 0281 Sieve Perry 192 0764 Lewis Mackay (Exp) 164 1006 Ross Mackenzie 173 0115 Diane Pratesi (Exp) 192 0280 Andrew Perry (GM) 164 |in_ChorTan 173 0021 Evan Simpson (CM) 190 1000 Stewart Holdcn (CM) 164 0292 Wilma Warwick 172 0004 Philip Nelkon (GM) 190 0745 Harshan 163 0766 Christo Davison Lamabadusuriya (GM) 172 0049 BobViolett(Exp) 163 0105 Elisabeth Jardine 189 0015 Phil Appleby (GM) 171 1016 John Ashmore 163 0837 Peter Liggett 189 0846 Austin Shin (Exp) 171 0463 Helen Harding 162 0914 Vincent Boyle 188 0823 Wayne Kelly (Exp) 171 Peler Igweke 162 0986 Robert Pells 188 0158 Ed Martin (Exp) 171 Edward Rossiter 1488 162 1057 Mike Whiteoak 188 0777 Adam Philpotts Chris Vicary 171 0773 161 1116 Paul Bassett 187 0147 Helen Gipson (GM) 170 0045 Barry Grossman (Exp 161 0103 Danny Bekhor 187 Shanker Menon 170 0999 Kay McColgan 161 0069 Moira Conway 187 1427 Mikki Nicholson Jackie McLeod (Exp) 170 0038 161 0079 Chris Finlay 187 0007 Allan Simmons (GM) 170 0172 Daniel Simonis 161 0573 Gary Fox Ben Tarlow 186 0880 Femi Awowade (Exp) 170 1369 161 Jeff Ngeze Mark Goodwin 185 0621 Andrew Cook (GM) 169 161 Paul Nind Brendan McDonnell 185 Mark Nyman (GM) 169 160 1210 Graham Bonham Rulh Morgan-Thomas 185 1368 Phil Robertshaw 169 0012 160 1404 Chris Harrison (Exp) 184 1355 Craig Beevers (Exp) 160 1129 Lee Hartley' 169 1469 lames Rossiler 184 0005 Brian Sugar (GM) 160 1164 Karl Kwiatkowski 168 0241 Bob Berry 183 0478 Elie Dangoor (Exp) 160 0408 Nuala O'Rourke 168 Catherine Coslello 182 1163 David Sutton 160 1102 Paul (Sale) Richards 168 0888 Chris Keeley 180 1197 Christian Brown 160 Ricky Zinger 168 Alastair Richards 180 0307 Dick Green (Exp) 159 0534 Caroline Atkins 168 0428 Kwaku Sapong 179 0734 Nick Deller 159 0081 loyce Cansfield (Exp) 167 0058 Russell Byers (GM) 179 0060 TerryKirk (CM) 159 1211 Ian Coventry 167 Philip Cohen 178 0072 John Grayson (GM) 159 1221 |Ojo Delia 167 0202 Penny Downer (Exp) 177 1220 Theresa Camilleri 159 Ed Garrett-lones 167 0795 Chris Quartermaine 177 Fidelis Olotu 159 Ken Heaton 167 0123 Noel Turner (Exp) 177 Biyi Oyadiran 159 1203 Greg Kelly 167 0017 Mike Willis (Exp) 177 0482 Neil Scott (GM) 159 0984 Roy Miller 166 0059 Simon Gillam (Exp) 177 0041 Gareth Williams (GM) 159 1363 Stephen Pearce 166 0609 Bob Lynn 176 0014 Di Dennis (GM) 159 0213 Neil Rowley 166 0479 Andrew Roughton 176 0770 lake Jacobs (Exp) 159 0555 Raymond Tate * r' 176 Omar.Malleh )ah 165 0019 David Brook 159 Frances lire 176 0362 Gary Oliver 165 0006 Darryl Francis (Exp) 159 0810 Linda Vickers 176 Philips Owolabi 165 0199 Graham Harding 159 1279 Ben Wilson Maureen Chamberlain 176 0101 Robert Richland (Exp) 165 0165 Cecil Muscat 158 0852 176 0162 Alec Webb (Exp) 165 1170 Paloma Raychbart 158 1375 Michael Chapped 175 Adekoyejo Adegbesan 165 1389 Riul (Tranmere) 158 1228 Mark Lane 175 Gerry Carter Thomson 158 Martin Reed 175 0530 George Gruner (Exp) 165 Dianne Ward 158 Karen Richards 175 1428 MartinHarrison 164 Neil Green 158 Margaret Rogers

18 158 0088 Sandie Simonis (Exp) 150 0399 Louise Brundell 143 Jean Bromley 158 0226 Alan Sinclair 150 0449 Alan Childs 143 1202 Jason Carney 158 0857 Angela Swain 150 0406 Moya Dcwar 143 0003 Laura Finlcy 158 1032 Kevin Synnotl 150 0121 DebbieHcaton 143 0016 Maureen Rayson 157 0836 Chris Femvick 150 0267 Graham Maker 143 0422 Carol Stanley 157 1362 Graham Haigh 150 1097 Ronnie Reid 143 Lesley Trotter 157 1198 Maurice McParland 150 0719 Kate Surtccs 143 Richard Woodward 157 0154 Mike O'Rourke 150 0489 Tom Wilson 142 0635 Philip Aldous 157 0919 Peter Thomas 149 0228 Adrienne Berger 142 William Colcman 156 0343 Amy Byrne 149 0232 lain Harley 142 0395 Pat Colling 156 1440 Tim Charlton 149 0084 Pauline Johnson 142 Patricia Fenn 156 1423 Calum Edwards 149 1270 Len Moir 142 0291 Sylvia Svvancy 156 1419 John Hardie 149 0268 Donna Slanlon 142 0636 David Williams 156 BrianJones 149 0790 Margaret Staunlon 141 lames Crooks 156 0086 Frankic Maircy 149 1053 Stephen Winlle 141 0544 Marjory Flight 15b Dave Nunn 148 |ohn Balloch 141 0471 Anne Hidden 156 0760 Sanmi Odelana 148 Tony Beam 141 1067 Gavin Holmes 156 0020 tanct Phillips 148 0835 Maurice Brown 141 1115 Nick Jenkins 156 0229 Graham Wakcficld 148 0574 Simon Carter 141 Wendy Lindridge 156 0018 Karen Willis 148 Alan Catherall 141 0656 Huw Morgan 155 1120 Anand Buddhdev 148 0024 Angela Evans 141 Kay Powick 155 1460 Paul Burton 148 1322 Frank Forster 141 0631 Alison Sadler 155 Chris Cummins 148 0793 [oanne Hiley 141 1294 Christine Slrawbridgc 155 1145 Peler Darby 148 ThcoKumi 140 1092 Heather Burnet 155 Alan Georgeson 148 0135 David Meadows 140 Tim Hebbes 155 0688 Lorraine Gordon 148 0802 Patricia Pay 140 0523 Kate Lcckie 155 0480 Anne Ramsay 148 0690 Maureen Reynolds 140 0150 David Longlcy 155 0476 David Shenkin 148 Chrystal Rose 140 0875 Jim Lyes 154 0838 Theresa Cole 148 1268 Abraham Sosseh 140 0120 Kale McNully 154 Ralph Gibbs 147 Alan Buckley 140 Gerry Pearce 154 1243 Doj Graham 147 0100 David Lawton 140 1380 Anthony Pinnell 154 0923 Teresa Hill 147 0458 Eileen Mcghen 140 Jean Rappitt 154 1429 Stewart Houtcn 147 1019 Lynne Murphy 140 0960 Mary Siggcrs 154 0488 Marion Kcatings 147 1292 Bryn Packer 140 0029 Marlcne Skinner 154 Christine McKenzie 147 0576 Carole Risen 140 0637 Val Wright 154 0094 Rachclle Winer 147 Pam Tilhcradgc 139 1179 Janet Adams 153 0978 Andy Becher 146 1412 Melanie Beaumont 139 0096 Diana Beasley 153 Andrew Goodwin 146 0732 Wanda De Poitiers 139 0066 Sue Bowman 153 0055 Helen Grayson (Exp) 146 Billy Dott 139 lean Bridge 153 0997 Phil Kelly 146 0655 Mary Jones 139 1005 Verity Cross 153 Timothy Lawrence 146 0589 Anne Steward 139 0061 Lorraine Crouch 153 0093 Ruth Maclnemey 146 0876 Evelyn Wallace 139 0124 Ivy Dixon-Baird 153 0272 Ivan Swallow 145 0789 Alan Bailey 139 0776 Peter Hall 153 0116 Martin Thompson 145 1466 Suzanne Dundas 139 0608 Sandra Hoffland 152 0822 till Bright 145 1051 Elizabeth Hull 139 0335 Robert Johnston 152 0967 Gerard Fox 145 0067 Danny McMullan 139 0707 Gwynfor Owen 152 Pinaach Koltc 145 0873 Matthew Pinner 139 1153 Colin Parker 151 0080 Mary Allen 145 1131 Russell Smith 139 Carol (Ryde) Smith 151 0051 Cathy Anderson 144 0427 Peter Ashurst 139 1206 Sarah Wilks 151 1046 Paul Ashworth 144 0369 Brian Bull 139 1273 Peler Winnick 151 0469 Tony Davis 144 0254 Ian Burn 138 1079 Oluycmi Adesiyan 151 Christina French 144 0713 Trish lohnson 138 Chris Downer 151 0331 Davina Galloway 144 0537 Carol Malkin 138 1217 Carolyn Emery 151 0035 Lois McLcod 144 0996 Kenneth Ross 138 0329 Heather Frankland 150 1301 Richard Blakeway 144 0775 Pat Wheeler 138 0933 Ann Golding 150 Eddy Breed 143 0089 Margaret Bright 138 0242 Sheila Green

19 138 1125 Andrew Hart 132 0975 Jill Harrison 128 0381 Michael Harley 138 0932 Jill Pjrker 132 0032 Ron Hendra 128 0GG3 Linda Hillard 138 0829 Kim Phipps 132 1025 Marion Kirk 128 0886 Ruth Marsdcn 138 0632 Carol (Norwich) Smilh 132 0505 Gordon Procter 127 1513 Linda Bird 138 1287 Smart Solomons 132 0470 Norman Smith 127 Rose Gilder 138 0177 Henry Walton 1321189 Martin Taylor 127 Paul Hcasman 137 Nick Baker 132 1149 Jim Willcic 127 0634 Edith Smith 137 0419 Michael Baxendale 131 Sheila (Perth) 127 0136 Jan Turner 137 0565 Ann Coleman Anderson 126 0943 Carol Arthunon 137 0992 Geoff Cooper 131 0557 Janice Bcase 126 0252 Steve Batment 137 1519 George Downing 131 1409 Mick Beaslcy 126 0735 Hilary Birdsall 137 Alan Guy 131 1020 Derek Bower 126 0682 Janet Bonham 137 Alastair Ives 131 0163 Yvonne Eade 126 Janet Braund 137 Terry Jones 131 0092 Priscilla Encarnacion 126 Sylvia Carroll 137 1050 Yvonne McKeon 131 0442 Agnes Gunn 126 Jennifer Clifford 137 Helen Mitchell 131 Helen Jones 126 0748 Jean Crowder 137 Martin Sheehan 131 Brenda Margereson 126 Ann Davidson 137 0099 losef Thompson 131 1457 Amanda Sodhy 126 0641 Norma Galley 136 0738 Margaret Armstrong 131 Janet Southworth 126 0572 Val Hoskings 136 Alasdair Cowling 131 Evan Terrell 126 1535 Marc Mcakin 136 1476 Oan Harris 131 1320 Rita Todd 126 0625 John Mitchell 136 Sheila Hineit 131 Jenny Woodroffe 126 1066 Barbara Morris 136 0456 Margaret Keegan 130 0110 Liz Barber 126 Julie Nclkon 136 Esther Kumi 130 Eryl Barker 126 0904 George Newman 136 Tess McCarthy 130 0511 Samanlha Bcckwilh 126 Brenda Rodwell 136 0911 Marie Perry 130 0767 Kalhy Bullcn 126 0452 Pclcr Sime 136 0028 Lorna Raplcy 130 0106 Ian Caws 126 0036 Dol Taylor 136 0423 Alec Robertson 130 0920 Eleanor Dobson 126 Gill (Taunlon) 135 0856 Minu Anderson 130 Jean Dymock Thompson 135 1544 Anne Atherton 130 0223 June Edwards 125 1242 JohnGarcia 135 0330 Viv Beckmann 130 0475 Jill Fisher 125 1146 Leonora Hutton 135 1282 Barbara Goodban 130 1265 Joy Fox 125 Hari Nanayakkara 135 Sally Lewis 130 0868 Christine Gillespie 125 Mauro Pralesi 135 1269 Richard Moody 130 1199 Richard Hitchcock 125 0246 Wendy Tilcy 135 RogerOrdish 130 0297 Norma Howarth 125 1175 Rosalind Wilson 135 0443 Ann Pilblado 130 0414 Jill Jones 124 0390 Betty Balding 135 Fred Rankin 130 0804 Mary Oram 124 Jill Burgess 134 Liz (Leicester) Allen 130 Jo Ramjane 124 0107 Joan Caws 134 1373 Slany Arnold 130 0895 David Reading 124 0539 Lynn Giles 134 Gillian Ashworth 130 Annette Tinning 124 1413 Geoff Goodwin 134 1559 Joe Bridal 129 Jean Carter 124 0759 John Harrison 134 )oe Caruana 129 0718 frt Friend 124 0772 David Hoyle 134 1514 Victoria Ktngham 129 0570 Jean Gallacher 124 Medina Hull 134 0161 Margaret Pritchett 129 Maureen Greening- 124 0858 May Macdonald 134 Carole Thomas Steer 124 Miri Purse 134 0248 lean (Cardiff) Williams 129 1136 Ted Lewis 124 0152 Marjorie Smith 133 0922 Barbara Allen 129 0077 Joy Lloyd 124 1231 David Steel 133 0899 lake Berliner 129 0938 Helen Polhill 124 Maria Trcadwell 133 0238 Margaret Burdon 129 1593 Tom Sharp 123 Elizabeth (IW) Allen 133 1331 Carol Grant 129 Sheila Wall 123 1455 Angela Burke 133 0401 Sharon Landau 128 0512 Etta Alexander 123 Bcvcrley Calder 133 Nola Marrow 128 Gail Allen 123 0915 Shirley Chidwick 133 Malcolm Roberts 128 1182 David Carrod 123 Georgina Cook 133 0995 Carol Sienkicwicz 128 Barbara Dein 123 1257 Mary Hopwood 133 Wojtek Usakicwicz 128 Phyllis Fernandez 123 Sheila Jcffcry 132 0840 Rhoda Gray 128 1305 Jason Goddard 123 1110 Pamela Kikumu

20 123 0864 Margaret White 118 1607 Annie Hawes 113 0184 Cclia Osborn 122 0898 Alistair Baker 118 0626 Martha Mitchell 113 Willie Scott 122 0849 lohn Ball 118 0385 Ken Quarshie 113 1071 Barbara Solomon 122 Sue Ball 118 JoTcbbult 113 Monica Stockwell 122 Noel Barnes 117 1391 JanBailey 113 Sally Twine 122 0924 Linda (Lincoln) Barratt 117 0854 Joseph Doku 113 Cyndy Walker-Firth 122 1158 Wasinee Beech 117 0948 Eileen Foster 113 lane Weston 122 1473 Neil Broom 117 1181 Sue Ison 113 1521 lohn VVilcox 122 1212 Marjorie Cillott 117 Ann McDonnell 113 June Wilson 122 1238 tuliet Green 117 1511 Colin Nicol 112 Joyce Ashmore 122 0142 lane Lowndes 117 Ralph Obemeasor 112 Irene Catherall 122 0320 Fay Madeley 117 0826 Elizabeth Terry 112 Eunice Conibear 122 1237 Dorn Osborne 116 Shirley Angcll 112 Eve Dwyer 122 Christina Rice 116 Joanne Hawkins 112 1298 Hclgamarie Farrow 122 Heather Roberts 116 0798 Peter Lindeck 112 1080 Margaret Mitchell 121 Fat Broderick 116 0477 Malcolm Shaw 112 U83 Priscilla Munday 121 1262 GinnyDixon 116 0052 Martin Summers 112 Norman Partridge 121 1456 Andrew Eames 115 1263 Barbara Barker 112 1478 Vivienne Stokes 121 1035 Andy Gray 115 Linda Beard 112 Julie Tale 121 0347 Kathleen Higgins 115 0257 Syd Berger 111 0761 Mary Adams 121 0715 Barbara Hill 115 MaisicCulpin 111 Mary Brodbin 121 1608 David Holmes 115 0156 Dorothy Dean 111 GillCarr 121 1007 Margaret Irons 115 Ann Fiddler 111 Marjorie Gardner 121 1510 Jessica Pratesi 115 Marian Fiamer 111 Doug Hill 121 Helen Rccs 115 Roma Hollingworth 111 1169 Yvonne Holland 121 0616 Gertie Roberts 115 1113 Christabel Jackson 111 Joy Reason 121 0169 Sue Thompson 115 0752 Peter Kelly 111 0692 Margaret Seabrook 121 Judy Young 115 Joan Lawrence 111 Kathleen Ward 120 1310 |im Bladder 115 1315 Tanya Robson 110 Doreen Acton 120 Val Couzens 115 1383 Sarah-Jane Taylor 110 1532 Lyn Allcock 120 Heather Cruickshank 115 Michael-lohn Turp 110 Nora Bain 120 066S Ceridwen Davies 115 Sandra Walton 110 Ann Croll 120 0402 Sally Fiszman 115 1276 Evelyn Wansbrough 110 MarieDavie 120 1479 Bob Jarvie 115 1585 Martin Walerworth 110 Marlcne Diskin 120 0263 Sheila Joiliffe 115 0356 Pamela Windsor 110 1340 Paula Docherty 120 1244 Jayanthi Kannan 114 1063 Irene Atkinson 110 lill Dyer 120 1533 Colin Kendall 114 Maureen Austin 110 1458 June Faulkner 120 0211 Philippa Morris 114 Anne Backley 110 Lena Glass 120 Angela Mort 114 1002 Margaret Boyd 110 1073 Jenny Harris 120 0236 Hazel Parker 114 Jane Comer 110 1064 June Johnstone 120 0972 Denise Saxton 114 1424 Len Edwards 110 1452 Ivo Kiddle 119 Harry Beckett 114 Marie English 110 James Mutton 119 0493 Kale Boutinot 114 Joyce Gcrshon 110 0952 Jean Owen 119 1207 Hannah Corbel! 114 1054 Barbara Lukcy 110 1171 Susan Thome 119 1027 Margaret Firmslon 114 0976 Adrian Noiler 110 0134 IslaWilkie 119 0737 Margaret Harkncss 114 1159 Vivienne Plewcs 109 Don Beavis 119 0333 Judy Monger 114 Rose Spencer 109 1049 Ken Bird 119 1215 Mary Morgan 114 1339 Carole Wheatley 109 Fran Burling 119 Mark Murray 114 1434 KatWilkes 109 1029 Tricia Cooper 119 Maureen Underdown 114 1003 Shcena Wilson 109 Joan Ellis 118 0518 Eileen Basham 114 Rosemary Wood 109 0640 Daphne Fletcher 118 Bobbie Bennett 113 0709 Betty Benton 109 Noel Foulkes 118 Doreen Blake 113 Margaret Bigg 109 Mary Orr 118 0982 Ron Bucknell 113 0603 Linda Bradford 109 Joan Rees 118 0755 Carmen Dolan 113 0736 Molly Lane 109 0917 Nicola Staunton 118 Eileen Douglas 113 Rhian Lewis 109 1317 Marjorie Struggles

21 109 1468 Kathy Suddick 104 Joyce Frost 100 Dieter Turk 109 0644 |.in Vokcs-Taylor 104 Barbara McLaren 99 Marie Anderson 108 Beryl iirowner 104 Sandy McLeod 99 Jack Baker 108 Martin Byrne 104 0946 Sheila Reeve 99 0415 Marjoric Garrctt 108 1052 BarbaraHaggctt 104 1445 Jean Robinson 99 1089 Viviennc Newman 108 0298 Mavis Harding 104 0851 Sheila Smith 99 Rcnee Painc 108 0941 Audrey Harvey 103 Elisabeth (Clvlnd) 99 0485 Ann Toft 108 0934 Joyce jarvis Allen 99 Alice Tozcland 108 0400 Margaret Johnson 103 0953 Peter Bailey 99 1450 Christine Tudge 108 BarbaraKent 103 Sylvia Baidock 99 0872 Jacqui White 108 0954 Dorothy Pearson 103 1503 Maureen Barlow 98 Gilly Batten 108 1009 Jenny Sakamoto 103 1540 Rowan Callaghan 98 0563 Fred Burford 108 Isobel Smith 103 Len Choules 98 Anne Connolly 108 1271 Claudia Wiseman 103 0527 Dorothy Churcher 98 0410 Myra Coplcston 107 1038 Jacquie Aldous 103 Cecilia Cotton 98 David Darman 107 1259 Sheila (Rmfrd) 103 Gwyneth Cox 98 1200 Caroline Elliott Anderson 103 0683 Mavis Ernest 98 Maggie Fleming 107 0579 Sheila Booth-Millard 103 0799 Cindy Hollyer 98 1492 Peggy Moore 107 lenny Burgess 103 0486 Marjorie Lefley 98 Moreen Shillitoe 107 0827 Ann Clark 103 0927 Audrey Medhurst 98 Derek Turner 107 1439 James Couch 103 1085 Betty Simmonds 98 0935 Ian Whytc 107 0791 Rosemary Jordan 103 Heather Stevens 98 1442 Gordon Winter 107 lean Mainwaring 103 1398 Jill Warren 97 0526 Keith Churchcr 107 0931 janel Milford 102 0951 Bill Anderson 97 1119 Anne Darby 107 0782 Richard Pajak 102 Eileen (Kdng) 97 Steve Davic 107 Shirley Scoberg Anderson 97 Pelcr Dittcrt 107 0357 Jean Shaw 102 0985 Carmen Borg 97 Douglas Emmott 107 1341 Pamela Sparkcs 102 Jean Buckley 97 Fay Colile 107 Sheila Szzvanowski 102 Sue Bullock 97 Pele Ison 107 Sheila Tull 102 Bat Burgess 97 Mary Keevy 107 1520 PaulWalford 102 0405 Peter Ernest 97 1134 DorothyKemlicz 107 1441 Jean (Ryde) Williams 102 Barbara Etheridgc 97 1509 Heather Laird 10b Betty Bates 102 Rona Falconer 97 1304 Linda Moir 106 1248 Margaret Colcman 102 1008 Yvonne Goodridge 97 1554 Vicky Nelson-Owen 106 1522 Matthew Edwards 102 0783 Barrie Hall 97 1297 Graham Pace 106 1112 Peter Johnson 102 Paul Harding 97 Connie Riach 106 1506 Gill (Norwich) 102 Marina Mehta 97 0578 Susan Richardson Thompson 102 0970 SheilaMiller 97 1253 Philip Turner 106 ISO4 Andrea Waddington 102 1598 Carmen Toscano 97 0900 Amabel Winter 105 0725 Paul Cartman 101 Philip Boviden 96 Alex Beckmann 105 0513 Florence Davies 101 0384 Mabel Choularton 96 1081 Anna Blakey 105 0374 |oy Hodge 101 Les Costin 96 Alan Everilt 105 June Lindridge 101 Joan Everilt 96 1600 Sheila Johnston 105 David Paine 101 1502 Cathy Poacher 96 1496 Margaret Keeper 105 1118 Remic Salazar 101 Christine Pullen 96 Moltic Moran 105 Helen Sandier 101 Gwen Roberts 96 Susan Paton 105 0451 Vera Sime 101 Beryl Shoesmilh 95 0877 Shirley Cave 105 0564 Jean Stevens 100 1168 Brian Beaumont 95 1218 Terry Masierson 105 0376 Claire Violett 100 0928 Iris Comish 95 1516 Hazel Parsons 105 0671 Chris Wide 100 1261 Jo Holland 95 Hcpzi Rodrigues 105 0436 Irene Woolley 100 Olive Holroyd 95 0818 RoseWall 104 Madclainc Baker 100 1410 Hilbre Jenkins 95 Henry Woodward 104 0474 Eileen Bradshaw 100 1222 Bronagh Kenny 94 0758 Kalhy Carson 10-1 Bridget Busk 100 1560 June Peck 94 0726 Christine Carlman 104 1489 Anne Chccsman 100 0083 Pat Rockley 94 Mary Connell 104 1306 Margaret Emmott 100 Josie Rogers 94 1453 Anne Corpc

22 94 loscphine Croasdale 87 Joan Garlick 76 1548 Vivicnnc Bishop 94 John MacLellan 87 1148 Rcnee Gilbert 76 Mary Harris 94 1219 lean Masterson 87 Marcia Hall 76 1324 Margaret Jaggs 94 Isabelfe McLean 87 1526 Matthew Hall 76 1541 Marjoric Lunn 94 Sonja Wyld 87 Sally Hanson 76 JeanRoss 93 1525 Caroline Foy 87 Evelyn Mankelow 75 Joan Murphy 93 1616 Iris Graver 87 Nicholas Robertson 75 1135 Sylvia Oalcs 93 Patricia Holmes 86 1524 Malcolm Davis 75 Audrey Patcy 93 Patrick Kelleher 86 1039 Dorothy Edwards 75 OliveSmilh 93 Irene Lawes 86 Dorothy Henry 75 1205 Patrick Tcaguc 93 Olive Matthew 86 Lionel Howard 75 1283 Millie Ward 93 1030 DerekNcath 86 1147 Brenda Lock 74 0908 Ted Anderson 93 Esme Norris 86 Pat MacLellan 74 Marie Cross 93 Doreen Searles 86 1267 Margot Montgomery 74 Dorothy Double 93 1454 land Watson 86 Judith Puttick 73 0541 Pamela Brown 92 Rulh Binding 86 Reg Wiseman 73 1485 Winnie Haston 92 1104 i lazel Brannan 85 0998 lean Hendrick 73 1545 Helen Nelson 92 1558 Maxinc Brookes 85 Zoc Marlowe 73 1086 Margarcl Webb 92 I'ruc Buckingham 84 1235 Rita Barton 73 Keilh Woodruff 92 loan lohns 84 Eileen Hunter 73 Nancy Yorkston 92 Rose Lawson 84 Margaret (Edbgh) 72 Michael Double 92 Monica Warden 72 Eileen Johnson 92 1587 Irene Newberry 84 1405 Elizabeth McNab 72 Muriel Mortimer 92 1546 Grace Peel 84 1390 Maria Raffaelli 72 1377 Maria Moscley 92 1633 Robert Peters 84 Jilt Russell 72 George Sinclair 92 Les Searle 84 1629 Maggie Shult 71 1316 Veronica Baker 92 Kcna Waddell 84 1252 Ruth Turner 71 Connie Hardacrc 91 0359 Vcra Allen 83 Anna Churchouse 71 Jane Thomas 91 1176 Gordon Lamb 83 Connie Hudson 70 Doreen Colcman 91 Olive Martin 83 Jan Hudson 70 Christine Hall 90 Bernard Bruno 83 1480 Doreen larvic 70 Alec West 90 1289 Kerry Constant 83 1588 Angela Rigley 69 Margaret Scott 90 1162 Belly Hailed 83 1448 Joy Rowe 68 Michael Slow 90 Rosemarie Howis 83 1399 Carol Russell 68 Carl Suvanowski 90 0778 Gwen Linfoot 83 Kalpana Thakker 67 Edna Lindeck 90 0859 John Macdonald 82 June Lovett 66 Shelagh Howes 90 0828 Moira Meicalf 81 Chris Baker 66 Helen Tegg 90 Winifred Stitt 81 1574 Ken McGinness 65 Jessie Chisholm 90 Richard Tempest 81 Alison Peters 65 Glenys Jones 90 1174 Peter Trcmbath 81 Trevor Warwick 64 1028 Peggy Lavender 90 1332 Sheila Wyatt 80 Alice Bennell 63 0949 Barbara Horlock 89 0030 Ruby Flood 80 PatCarr 63 0153 Mary Lindsay 89 Anne Lawton 80 1586 Sheila Cresswell 63 1386 Betty Meazcy 89 1392 Chris Leathern 80 Paul Grimshaw 61 1284 Margaret Hallin 89 1068 Lionel Miltmore 80 Ena Harding 61 Kath Harrison 89 1141 Michael Murray 80 1531 Lydia Sharkey 59 Zandra Bcgg 89 Patricia Parton 79 Helen Thompson 56 Maureen Knox 89 0119 Mary Ralfs 78 Hilda liristow 55 1614 Simon Roscnslone 89 0253 Peter Shulllewood 78 Frank Goodier 89 Beryl Trace 78 Ann Gregson 88 Jan Gibson 78 Teresa Haycock 88 0132 Loma Llewellyn 78 Jacqueline King 88 1084 RodWinfield 78 Peter Munt 87 Peter Basham 77 1290 Mary Kennedy 87 1385 Mark Bradley 77 1334 Catherine McMillan 87 1465 Dorcen Clayton 77 Iris Scmus

23 vox \ taW

\S\Vy WAYNE KEU£\ V x- We have another shortish Across the Board asthere is an abundance of content for this month. We have a board position from one BMSC game and a few Moves to be Proud Of, including one from the final game between Phil Robertshaw and Paul Allan, which was decisive in Phil getting the final WSC place and almost got him vitory overall. Before all that I'll start by blowing my own trumpet! Once In A Lifetime Below is the board which saw me clinch victory at the Nomads event on the Sunday, complete with back-to-back nine-timers, plus a list of all the moves

abcdefchijklmno

I When I played MISUSAGE with the j rack ?EGIMSS, I had a higher scoring i alternative through the I at B15 - what I was the word?

Wayne Opponent FANNERS O8a 78 78 WHIN FSd 18 18

MHO E3d 26 104 URAO Did 24 42 COX C3d 44 148 FOOTIE D8d 18 60 JEON BtOa 27 175 IOWARI BiOd 32 92 MISUSaGE Ala 140 315 (DIVERTOR) I4d 0 92 pINBALLS A15.1 158 473 (DIVESTOR) |4d 0 92 SIZED JBd 35 508 (OVERD1ED Hiia 0 92 ACEN C12d 26 534 OVEREDIT Hiia 74 166 DIETINE O8d 27 561 RAVAGE J14a 24 190

UNT1TLED M4d 61 622 DEPUTY |4a 32 222 Ql 17a 11 633 CAKY Old 39 261 PELF K3d 18 651 AUNE E6d 14 275 BORT B4d 26 677 +AUY +6 683 -AUY -6 269

24 Ain't That Just The Way Allan Simmons has sent in this board position from his penultimate game at this years BMSC.

abcdcfghi k 1 m n o

Score: Allan 306

Opponent 345

Unseen:

ADENNOQRTVV

■ E EGO

Allan

Allan's opponent has just played AgE onto BLIND for 30 , total 345

Allan last played ARISEN and now holds OUTGEEP, total 306

There is great playof POUKIT available at Aid (42) to make up the deficit and leave one in the bag. Given the unseen letters is there a better play?

Allan playedGl (3) to block the only Q spot at K4d. There are no other Q plays possible with the unseen letters and the best chance of winning is if his opponent has the Q already or picks it next turn, using just one tile minimises the chances of pickingthe Q if it's in the bag and/or the two Vs. If his opponent plays two tiles next turn then POUKIT could then be played because of the odds against the Q being the las remaining tile in the bag. Holding the U will help Allan if he does pick the Q but the options for scoring well with it do not currently exist (eg QUA E10a 14, or QUOTAS G1d 16).

Unfortunately Allan picked the Q to give a rack of OUTQEEP and was forced to go for broke by playing theP at N12 to set up SIP(E). If his opponent didn't know SIPE or didn't have the last unseen E a winning play was still possible. Allan picked an R for REQUOTE but his opponent was clearly aware ofSIPE so blocked it with VET/SIPE.

Allan then played POT N12d to set up an outplay of QUEER/POTE. His opponent dumped OVA at E10a. Allan's QUEER then lost by 2 points.

25 Moves to be proud of 1. Phil Robertshaw, BMSC, August 2007 a b c ■4 c h 1 k i m n o ■ j ' rn ■r~ 1 ; ■ n 1 Score: 3 k; Phil 194 4 Hit V 5 u T 1 ■Ui Opponent 165 6 1 z A ■ 7 A inj 8 CHE A ft r A B R U!P Tl ■ 9 1 iE R 0 S E L Y U |C[DE E Pisk 0 ■ M 1 F F I L II M J 0 R l ! T 0 | Phil 12 * ! U N ■ 13 lUNW ED N Y

14 I f. I ■■-1 _ 1L it 15 ■ I P _■ i b c I m n o

2. |ohn Ashmore, Club game, 2007

Score: |ohn 100

Opponent 75

3. Samantha Beckwith, Club match, 2007 abcdcfghijklmno

Score:

Samantha 97

Opponent 160

Samantha

26 Compiled by David Sutton (Puzzle solutions ort inside back cover)

The Five-Minute Anagram Challenge

Below arefour sets of anagrams, presented in ascending order of difficulty. Each anagram has a unique solution. It is suggested that full marks in set A corresponds to a ABSP rating of around 125; in set B to 150; in set C to 175; and in set D to 200, though of course people differ in their vocabularies and anagramming skills so any such categorisation can only be loose and intuitive. Give yourself five minutes for the chosen set. Of course, by all means try the harder sets, but don't be discouraged if the going gets toughlAs from this issue the anagrams are drawn from the entire CSW lexicon, so the words may be 'old' or 'new'.

A. PEBIC REDSKINR GALTERS MINGEES ISOGEND

RUNBELT SOFTNED VIDEOUS AGESTIC TRENNAL

B. LAPMAN KARTLESS ANTIJUNG BRYCE JITEE

ADEIMRT ANDSAGE SYNAZI ATUNING UNABLER

C. ACCRIST REDBUSY DURKEYS CAVENICWETROCK

UFOURS MODERAL LAKINESS EFOREVERUNPINGED

D. IMNOSSY AACCOPRS HALFTOYHYETOPSSUBMOON

SEXOIL CULLRITE SPOTTRAY RIOTCHAP UPSCALER

Curio Corner There are surprisingly few words that exhibit perfect front and back hook symmetry: that is to say, exactly the same letters that can be used to form front hooks on them can also be used to form back hooks. Most of the ones that do exist involve S e.g. TAY with STAY/TAYS. Setting these S cases aside, there are only seven words that have one-letter hook symmetry, and just four that have two-letter hook symmetry. Here arethe seven:. L atria L E metis E T rammies T T sores T A viatic A T wos T H aggadot H

can you find the four for yourself? (answer at back)

D D S s R R D D S S U u S S S S

27 Watch Your Language: 6. Irish

Continuing our series in which we take a look at some of the more exotic languages that have contributed to the Scrabble player's lexicon. Those wishing to pursue a particular language more fully might care to look at the Words page on the ABSP web site. Irish hasalong history - indeed, some of its earliest texts give us what one scholar has called 'a window on the Iron Age' - and it is still the official language of Eire, a compulsory subject in all of Ihe schools and a requirement for civil service and some other posts. It is estimated that there are now about 300,000 people able to read Irish. However, nearly all these are English by upbringing, and there are fewer than 50,000 people, mainly in the western areas, to whom it is a mother tongue, and all but a handful of these are bilingual. For whatever reason, Irish hasgiven the Scrabble player a lot more words than its relative Welsh. Here is a selection; words that have come in new with Collins are marked with a +. acushla an Irish term of address, darling. [Irish cuisle, pulse of the heart]. aisling a vision or dream. alannah my child, a term of endearment used with one's child. alpecn a cudgel. (Irish ailpin). ardri, ardrigh a title given to the High King of Ireland. arrah an Anglo-Irish exclamation expressing wonder etc. [Irish ara]. asthore sweetheart. banshee, banshie in Irish folklore, a female spirit who wails and shrieks before the death of a member of a family. bawn a fortification round a house, an enclosure for cattle. bodhran a shallow one-side drum used in Gaelic music. borecn a lane. bosthoon-f a boor. bowsey+, bowsie+ a mean person. brehon a judge or magistrate in ancient Ireland. bodhran camogie an Irish game, a form of hurling, played by

women. claddagh-t- an Irish ring, traditionally given as a token of affection. colleen an Irish girl. [Ir. cailin dim. of caile countrywoman, girl). coshery the ancient right of an Irish chiefain to quarter himself on his tenants. craic+ pleasant conversation. crios+ a multicoloured woollen belt traditionally worn by men in the Aran Islands. chddagh crubeen a pig's trotter, asfood. [Irish crub, hoof).

28 cuddy the right of a lord to entertainment from his tenant. culchie a rustic, a country labourer. dawney+ dull or slow. drisheena type of Irish sausage made with sheep's blood. dudeen, dudheen a clay pipe. eriach, eric, erick a blood-fine paid by a murderer in old Irish law. fainne-t- a ring-shapedmetal badge worn by supporters of the Irish language. feen+an informal word for a man. feis an ancient Irish assembly for the proclamation of laws etc: FEISEANNA. florin a species of creeping bent grass. fraughan+ the whortleberry. garda an Irish policeman: GARDAI. gillaroo an Irish trout with a thickened muscular stomach. [Irish giolla ruadh, red lad]. gombeen usury; chiefly used attrib. as gombeen-man, a money-lender, usurer. hooley a boisterous party. jackeen a person from Dublin, esp. one with a parochial attitude. maormor, mormaor a high-ranking or chief steward. moryah-t- expressing annoyance, disbelief etc. musha an interjection expressing surprise. oanshagh-H a foolish woman or girl. ochone, ohone an Irish interjection of lamentation. ogam, ogham a 6th century Irish writing alphabet. ollamh, ollav an Irish master poet. ologoan+ to complain loudly without reason. omadhaun a fool, idiot, simpleton. pishoge, pishogue sorcery. r pucan+ a traditional Connemara open sailing boat. rawmaish+ foolish or dissolute talk. shoneen an Irishman who imitates the ways and manners of the English. sidh+, sidhc+ fairy people. slainte an Irish drinking toast:, your health. slane a turf-cutting spade. (Irish sleaghan]. sleeveen a crafty, smooth-talking person. slieve+ a mountain. sliotar+ the ball used in hurling. sorehon an ancient Irish exaction of free accommodation by a lord ofa tenant. spalpeen a scamp, a good-for-nothing fellow. sugan+ a straw rope. taig+ derogatory for a Roman Catholic. tuath a tribe, people. furlough a pond thatdries up in summer. uillean+ as in uillean pipes, a kindof bagpipes developed in uillean Ireland and operated by squeezing bellows under the arm. wisha an interjection expressing surprise.

29 Anagrid:

HORIZONTAL CLUES: VERTICAL CLUES:

1 GALKOT - SCENTIP a DMMERY - SAOURAL 2 LISBANI b GEEDEST 3 LOYMENT - IOANKLE c STORTOG - THYRIAN

4 COVEATS d SIMIATE 5 MERMATE - STIPPRO e SITTAAM - RAPSESS 6 MESTIGO - MANCIE f SELVITE - ERERTE 7 DIGITNESS - ARSEN g MANYORBIT - ESYST

8 - h - 9 PAIRT - MULARKEYS i KERPI - GRAINMENT 10 HARERE - MOTNAME j TANICE - SEMTMON

11 YYEDOSS - TIMBRAS k POISINS - SOREBUM 12 NERREST 1 RANSERL 13 LIASERS - YORNAXE m CITROEN - SWALKEN

14 TRISENT n STEMOLE 15 ESSILIA - ESSETT o SPHARES - ASYSTA

30 Cryptogram

25 1 11 16 26

26 3 20 24

26 20 20 14

24 12 ~20~

22 8 24 ~26~

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

u

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

31 The Story Continues... The New Collins Fives

This is a story designed to help you remember the 667 new five-letter words that came in with CSW. It features all of them except for those which are inflections (plurals or verb forms) of new threes and fours that have already appeared in earlier instalments of the saga. I am awoken early by the sound of an ADHAN; it's my next-door neighbour as usual, a devout MALAM who's practising to be a muezzin. Nice chap, but he will keep trying to convert me; says it's part of his duty to the Islamic concept of DAWAH. I get out of bet) and do my morning exercises, standing in front of the mirror. Not bad for my age, I think, I'm still nicely ABBED and with a well-defined GIUTE. I flex my BICEP a few times, then do ten minutes hard rowing on one of my ERGOS. What am I going to wear today? I'm tempted by my new LYCRA SKORT, but I'm not sure it would go with my BEANY, so in the end I settle for an ORLON shirt with gold LUREX thread, very snazzy. I've also got a shahtoosh sweater made from the wool of the CHIRU, but unfortunately it's gone pink in the wash so it looks a bit FEMMY and I have decided that wearing it might be a bit of a BARRY, in fact yes, it would DEFFO be a BARRO. I have breakfast andcheck the mail. Two items: one is a bill for my COPAY, as my medical insurance is due; the other is about my holiday property in Spain, a FINCA I have shares in. I put on the televison to hear the morning news, but reception is playing up and all I can get is the IDENT. Then it's time to see to my pets. I feed the fish in my aquarium: I have a JEWIE from Australia; also a few crustaceans, including a couple of KOURA and a ZOAEA. Then I see to the songbirds in my aviary: I have a MOHUA from New Zealand, quitesmall with a yellow head and breast, a TAHOU, also from New Zealand, that is greenish-coloured, an Australian LOWRY and a YITIE. I check my stick insect, as usual having quitea job to spot it: it is quite amazing how its FURCA looks exactly like a cleft twig. I'm also thinking of getting another dog, because I'm afraid my apso is getting a bit old now and has started having trouble with its CAUDA. I'd really like an AKITA but they're rather big so I think I'll have to settle for something smaller like a FOXIE. I'd also like to branch out into reptiles and get myself a DRACO lizard, but there's nowhere much for it to fly and I don't want to overdo it: frankly the house is getting a bit ZOOEY already. I check my plants too and DEBUD my homa a little, I don't want it getting out of control. After breakfast I do a bit of work on the computer. I download an EBOOK, edit some text files with an EMACS program I've written, andadd a TUPLE or two to my relational database. I wonder again about converting to LINUX, but think I'll stick with Windows. I wonder how long it will be before quantum computing really hits the CYBER world. It will be funny to start thinking in QUBIT terms. I suppose people will get even more NURDY. But at least the encryption possibilities might put a stop to WAREZ, which really annoy me given that I make my living from writing software.

32 I'm having a bit of trouble with my Internet connection, which is definitely UPTER, and wonder if I should ring technical support, but I do so hate to put myself in the position of a LUSER. Perhaps the problem has something to do with the LECCY supply. I could ring my TELCO, but all they'll do is send some technician along with his CALVO, who will either decide that I need some fancy widget like a new BALUN, and charge me the earth, or else he'll say the whole system is FUBAR and tell me I need new one, balun when probably all he needs to do is UNJAM some switch. I've LUBED a couple of things myself but it hasn't done much good. I catch up with my Maori friend Tairongo's blog. Good old Tairongo, I still chuckle at the thought of him chasing that UMPIE all over the place and threatening to stuff him in the KHAZI or do something painful to him with a PUNJI stick; it's not surprising that he went BERKO though I don't really approve of BIFFO. Good news - you remember I said he was working as an ACKER in Australia - well, it seems he's well on the way to being an ASPRO. His family, or AINGA as they would call it in Samoa, must be thrilled to have suchan ARIKI. He's uploaded a picture of himselfstanding in front of his WHATA on the outskirts of his KAIKA. It looks as if he's just come back from a trek, because he's carrying a PIKAU and has his dog withhim, a native GOORY, really a pikau rather disreputable mongrel, but Tairongo has a great AROHA for it. I know Tairongo often goes off in the wild for days at a time, sleeping on a bed of RAUPO leaves and living on rather unpalatable things like KAURU, which is the edible stem of the cabbage tree, ARUHE, which is edible fern-root, and various grubs. Not the AWATO though, because his NGATI have a RAHUI against eating that, but vegetable goory caterpillars sound pretty YUCKO anyway, though better than the KIORE he says he ate once - ugh, fancy eating a rat, even if he did roast it over a HANGI. He admits he does sometimes snaffle the odd PULLI from a farm. In the photo Tairongo's head is outlined against the RANGI, and he looks even taller because he's wearing a POTAE. He'svery solid-looking, and you'd certainly never take him for a KEHUA. He mentions also that he gets on really well with the native Australians who have adopted him as a MURRI, one of their own. He's put up another photo of some initiation ceremony hehad to undergo: it involved a lot of running round on a beach in the NUDDY; sounds NUTSO to me and enough tofrighten any PARRA who happened to be passing, but it wouldn't bother him. As least he's put a WAGGA round him for the photo.

33 He's holding the tribal totem, a little furry BILBY. A bit different from his own tribe's totem, which is the KAWAU or black shag. It all reminds me how socially adaptable Tairongo is. He might not be one for a lot of BIZZO, but he's just as much at home playing TRUGO, that's a sort of Australian croquet, with the nobs, as mixing with a bunch of DORIC BREDS from the back of beyond. Yes, he has a great MAURI, and a good social conscience: there's another photo of him taking part in a HIKOI back home about land rights. It's time to go down to town. I'm tempted to take my motor-bike today, but I don't know, maybe I'm getting a bit old for it, it's a rather BOYSY sort of thing and I don't want to look like a BAMBI. In the end I settle for my pedal-bike instead; it's a MIXTE. I sling my NUNNY bag over my back, ideal for shopping as sealskin is very tough and things can't poke through it. As I get it out Mohammed from next door calls over the fence to ask me if I like his new hat. It's a bit FEZZY, but I suppose it'll do to keep the sand out of hishair when there's a GIBLI when he's on the way to whatever MEKKA he

nunny decides to visit next year. He says he's pretty hungry, but it's Ramadan and he can't have anything else to eat till after sunset, when he can break his fast with an IFTAR. The Koran is pretty strict about this sort of thing and has a HUDUD prescribing various penalties for breaking ritual. He says fingering his SUBHA takes his mind off being hungry. As I pedal out of the gate my West Indian neighbour on the other side greets me; he's mad on old cars and subh.i is in his drive working on his RESTO. He's a bit BLINC but a very nice chap, thoughhe calls me a BAKRA and thinks I'm a bit HINKY because of my taste in clothes. I suppose using derogatory ethnic names is an understandable defence mechanism of minority cultures, like Romanies calling a non-gypsy a GADJO, or Spanish-Americans calling a white American an ANGLO, and after all we do things like using the word GINZO for an Italian. I expect even a Malaysian aborigine or SAKAI blaff has some uncomplimentary name for a white man. But as I say, he's all right, and I went round to his place the other night andhad a really tasty BLAFF. My first port of call is the climbing shop. My girl-friend has ask me to pick up a spare BINER or two and also a replacement KLETT, she lost one of hers dropping it down a NAMMA hole when she was climbing near Alice Springs. I should explain that she likes climbing down into things almost as much as climbing up things: she has climbed down into MAARE and once in karst country descended into a POLJE. hincr

34 Next I callinat a picture gallery, where I choose a couple of still LIFES for my sister's birthday, one of a beautifully VUGHY rock cavity lined with crystals; she likes things like that. Coming out of the gallery I meet my South African friend Hendrik. He is in even more ofa FITNA and AGITA than yesterday; he has lost all his usual VOEMA and looks in a real DWAAL. 'Things no better with you than yesterday?' I ask. 'Much worse', he says. 'NOOIT!', I say, 'what's gone wrong now?' 'You remember that KERRY KEREL I told you about yesterday who crashed into my car then blamed me, well, now the MUTHA has taken out a prosecution against me and I'm worried I might even end up in TRONK'. 'JIRRE!' I say. 'And then last night my wife was trying to put a picture up and managed to SMUSH her thumb with the hammer; I had to take her to the OZZIE and leave her there as a PREOP. The doctors are treating her like a GOMER and say she should just leave it to get better of its own accord but she's sure if she doesn't have it treated it will heal up all SKEEF. Hospitals, bah - they've got enough money to spend on a new SASER for their Ultrasound department, or a new microscope to study the CURLI on E. coli bacteria, or a new brain- scanningdevice to study the CUNEI in the cortex, or any kind of WALDO they need, but when it comes to treating patients who need it they're too SNOEP to spare a bit of plaster. Perhaps it would be different if she had something more interesting to them, some rare tropical thing like BORNA disease. It's enough to make you KOTCH. "And this morning I get a letter from home saying locusts have eaten up all the crops on my family's PLAAS back home - nasty GOGGA, the locust. And then my sister took a trip to Uganda and on her way home from a LOUMA she nearly had her money stolen by a KONDO; fortunately her husband was with her and he was able to grab a JEMBE from someone hoeing his vegetable patch and drive the fellow off with it shouting HAMBA! And then when they get back to lo'burg she's walking down the street and a HOMIE comes up and threatens to stab her if she doesn't hand her bag over'. 'JINNE!' I say, 'you are having a bad time'. 'Ach', he says, 'she knew something bad was going to happen from the way the DOLOS had landed before she went.' It appears Hendrik's sister believes in divination using dolosse, or the knuckle bones of a sheep. Hendrik is in such a state and so anxious to talk to someone that it reminds me of the state of extreme dependency you get among Malays after a trauma; they call it LATAH. I promise to go round to his place for a BARBY some time and he says he'll get some special meat from his local SPAZA and teach me how to BRAAI it properly over spnza hot coals; he's sure I'll SMAAK that. By the time I get away from Hendrik it's getting on for midday, and I decide to take lunch at the new International Food Court. This is a really good place: you can get dishes there from all of the world. The other day I had a Spanish AREPA - a sort of corn-cake, MUCHO YUMMO. I wander round, finding it hard to choose. There's a Polish stall that does a wonderful BIGOS, if you fancy stew. There's a Yiddish stall specialising in PAREV food if you don't want dairy or meat ingredients. There's an Indonesian stall that does a great SATAI and also a PILAO or as some say PULAO, though even better is their LAKSA which is noodles served in curry or hot soup, and their ROJAK, assuming you like chilli sauce on

35 y°ur sa'ac*- T^ey a'so do various fish dishes with ASSAM or tamarind. There's an African stall that serves POSHO and UGALI,washed down with MALWA. There's an Indian stall where you can get THALI or a BHAJI for starters, follow it up with MACHI chips or a QORMA or a BALTI topped with BHUNA, thencool your palate with some delicious KULFI; if you want to take it away they provide a DABBA. The New Zealand stall has an amazing kulfi variety of fish - there's NANUA, (you may know it as moki), KANAE, or grey mullet, PARAE, PORAE. AHURU, BARRA and many others. The New Zealanders also provide a little room apart where you can eat the food, like a DONKO in a New Zealand factory, ora MUNGA or army canteen. The Japanese stall is very popular, they do things like GYOZA, which is a sort of fried dumpling, served with ADUKI or AZUKI beans, KONBU (that's a kind of seaweed) and SHISO leaves dressed in PONZU sauce. It all combines to make a delicious UMAMI flavour, and then you can follow it up with NASHI pears for dessert. Again if you want to take your food away they provide a BENTO. The only thing is that if you want a cup of tea with it they insist on going through this rather drawn-out CHADO: for a start the water has to be BILED three times. chado Then there's a Canadian stall that does RAPPE which is grated potatoes with pork or chicken. Or you can go Swiss-German and get a ROSTI, Jewish and get a SHISH or DONER kekab, or Russian and get a BLINY. The French stall specialises in BOEUF bourguignon followed by charlotte RUSSE, though I notice a waitress just EXING this last from the menu; 'we did not have ASSEZ' she says. In comparison with all these the English stall is a bit uninspiring: it serves things like BAGIE soup and UMBLE pie, and a wine that wouldn't be too bad if it weren't OAKED. I tried some COLBY from their cheese section, but I'm afraid it was a real SWIZZ and tasted like SORBO rubber. It would also be belter if they didn't serve everything on PYREX and cover it over with MYLAR. They've taken a lot of trouble with the decor too: there's an open-air quadrangle in the middle where they've planteda lot of tropical trees to enhance the ambience: there'sa BANAK from Honduras, a KIAAT and a sprawling BITOU bush from South Africa, a HINAU, a TAWAI, a MAPAU and a coniferous evergreen MATAI from New Zealand, a MUGGA from Australia, very handsome with its darkbark and pink flowers, and also from Australia a BELAR, a YACKA and a HOVEA with purple flowers. There's a WENGE from West Africa next to a TONKA tree with its shiny beans and a TENDU or Asian ebony tree, and a SITKA spruce from Canada. Naturally you also have to have a palm tree or two, so there's a SABAL, and to make it look even more tropical they've trained a ROTAN up the wall, and put in a few clumps of BLADY grass. (to bo continued)

36 Personal Profile: Ross Mackenzie

This is a series in which well-known players are encouraged to reflect on the game and reveal the secrets of their success. My guest this time is Ross Mackenzie. Ross has been a leading light on the Scottish Scrabble scene for some years now, and also does sterling work as the ABSP Treasurer, not to mention contributing the Cryptogram and Anagrid puzzles for this publication. As well as being a Scrabble player, he is a keen musician, playing the oboe in a local orchestra.

How did you first get into Scrabble, Ross?

My mother is a great believer in toys being educational, and played Scrabble with me when I was young, mainly because I liked numbers and spelling. When I was 13, another boy and I won a place as a two-man team at the London finals of Mattel's Schools Scrabble competition for two years, which was brilliant fun. I then had a break for five years, but during a boring summer while I was at university I decided to see if there were any Scrabble clubs in existence.... I turned up at Glasgow club, was made extremely welcome, and went to my first tournament before the end of 1999.

What has your progress up the ratings been like?

My current rating is 166. It peaked in 2002 at 174, which was an outrageous fluke after a very good Nomads and Scottish Masters back-to-back. It's fairly consistently in the 164-169 band now, after a steep decline during 2002 (when I joined the ABSP committee - hmm!) and steady, incremental progress since. I have had only one outright tournament win - my specialty appears to be consistency rather than brilliance! - at Lothian in 2003. But two second places at the Scottish Masters and that Nomads performance still rank in my mind as high points of my Scrabble "career".

How many rated games do you reckon to play per year? In the past it's been between 150 and 200, I think, but it's likely to be fewer in the future as I'm not currently a Scottish League regular and I've started attending more tournaments as an adjudicator or computer operator rather than player.

Approximately how many hours per day, on average, do you devote to the play and/or study of the game? Averaged out, maybe one and a half to two hours. Club and tournament play make up the majority of this: study (including the informal wordbashing I do in the car on the way to tournaments and when I'm attending a tournament as a non-player) makes up most of the rest.

Can you describe what forms your study takes, in order of importance to you? Self-testing on anagrams works best for me, although I have used 6-letter stems in the past and still refresh them occasionally. My vocabulary of shorter words tends to be picked up just through play, which makes my knowledge of them rather erratic and unreliable. I haven't

37 played a computer in over a year and I never sim. Any study of annotated games or those on CentreStar tends to lie cursory - a five-minute diversion rather than something serious.

Can you say roughly what proportion of your study timeyou spend on each of the word lengths from 4 to 8? Recently I've been going over fours that I should already know, so that's maybe 15%. Nothing on fives or sixes; maybe 70% on sevens since they arethe ones I enjoy most, and the rest on eights, mostly the vowel-heavy ones.

In the ease ofseven- and eight-letter words, canyou roughly quantify the way in which you weight your study, if you do, towards higher probability words? If I'm studying a category with a lengthy list, I'll often restrict it by probability to a more manageable number, according to whatever time I have at that moment. But it's nothing rigorous or scientific.

Do you study 'bonus steins? Only the very high probability ones, apart from the odd occasion. However, if I'm drawing up a list for a car journey to a tournament, it's a convenient way of quickly compiling a list that may be a little more taxing for the passengers.

Do youuseany mnemonic techniques, e.g. anamonics, associative phoneys, or the kind of more elaborate techniques described in 'How To Win at Scrabble'? Not consciously, although I have picked up a few. I've a knack for remembering how many anagrams are in a set (e.g. PIRATES gives 7, HYPNOTIC 4) but find that the meaning ofa word is often as good a memory fix as anything else - plus you can then use it in conversation if the occasion arises!

Er • sorry, Ross, but PIRATES now has 8 - the latest update added PAIRESTI Moving on, when you look back at your own games (if you do), doyou find that when you miss the optimum move, this is most often because you simply don't know the word, or because you know the word but don't find it? I don't analyse, but I suspect mainly the former. I don't thinkI'm too bad at finding the words I know, but misses do happen, especially if I'm having an off-day.

Can you give a rough idea of what proportion of the current SOWPODS lexicon up to and including 8 letter words you would claim to 'know' in the sense of being able to state confidently that any given word from it is valid or not? Significantly less than half! It doesn't stop me taking educated guess though.

Do you attempt to 'peak' for certain events (i.e. intensify your study)or do you tend to keep at a consistent level throughout? If I'm approaching a weekend event or my first games in over a few weeks, I might do some little revision just toget unrusty*. There aren't any events that I specifically target, though - it depends more on what else I'm up to in the preceding week.

38 To what extent do you find that once you have learnt words you tend to remember them and to what extent do you findthat your word knowledge suffers from 'fade' and requires constant reinforcement? I rarely remember a word from one occurrence - in the past I've challenged the sameword twice withinthe space of a week! Words I've studied are always reinforced by seeing them on a board during a game, but if I haven't revised a list for a while they definitely take longer to dredge upand will sometimes only surface halfway through the next move.

How interested are you in the meanings ofthe words, on a seale of 1 (donot wish to clutter my mind with sued irrelevant information) through 5 (interested when I come across them but make no special effort to acquire them) to 10 (passionately interested in meanings and cannot imagine remembering words without them)?

Six. Meanings are almost always interesting, and help fix words in my mind, especially those I have difficulty spelling. Since I started using Zyzzyva I'm more receptive to meanings because I don't have to get the Chambers off the shelf. Plus I've found that words I've picked up from your word lists on uk-s often stick only because the meaning has piqued my interest.

Please rate your attitude towards significant extensions to the Scrabble lexicon (such as happened with OSWI and Collins) on a seale of 1 (oh God not another lot of words to learn) to 10 (wowee this is incrediblyexciting and I can't wait to get stuck in)

As a player, I'ma firm 5. Updates are a necessity, but the extra words are soon absorbed andyou forget you ever played without them, or which ones are "new" and which are "old". As a committee member, I'm more inclined to say I'ma2 or a 3. Although I wasn't deeply involved in the shenanigans of the last update, and onlyheard of the shenanigans from the update before that, it canbe a stressful process!

Do you feel that as far as individual tournaments go, being 'in form' plays a significant role in Scrabble success, or that any such factor is swamped by theluck of the tiles?

Luck certainly plays its part, and I think the 12% figure some people quote is on the low side, especially between people of similar ability. I think luck and "on-form-ness" play equal parts in a game or short tournament. After the first day ofa longer contest, the on- form player will edge it over the lucky one, though.

How much doyou think success at Scrabble depends on a natural ability which, perhaps like musical ability, one tends to have or not have and how much do you think it is overwhelmingly a matter of application?

Nine parts nurture to one part nature. Maybe a good natural memory or an obsessive personality will help, but I am convinced that this is virtually insignificant compared to what can be achieved through study. (As an aside, I think the 9-1 ratio applies to musicianship too, speaking as someone who doesn't feel inherently musical but seems to have made not too bad a job of appearing otherwise!)

39 Do you feel that you have pretty much got as far as you're going to in the game, or do you feel that you have the potential to get significantly better? If the former, what would you consider your limiting factors?

Yes, I've got about as far as I'm going to. The limiting factor is a conscious choice not to make Scrabble an obsession. This sounds like a feeble excuse for not being any better than I am, but I'm very wary of starting to take it all too seriously. Perhaps I'm paranoid, given there are so many experts and grandmasters out there who clearly aren't dangerously obsessive, butI'm happy with Scrabble's place in my life as a casual hobby, nothing more.

Do you think that you would study more and take the game more seriously if the material rewards were greater, e.g. serioas prize money in tournaments? I hope not, in light of my last answer!

What would you single out as your outstanding Scrabble memories? Winning Lothian was amazing, but I often find my most memorable games are those where I've beaten someone higher-rated for the first time (Paul Allan, Neil Scott and Helen Gipson spring to mind). Luckily I can easily forget the numerous defeats to those people prior to the wins! One of the biggest pleasures of attending the Scottish tournaments is that, without seeing the list of entrants, you can bank on seeing the regulars there - too many to name individually! Yes, it's nice to play people you haven't played before, but there is so much fun in playing against a friend who you can have a laugh, moan and commiserate with.

I remember you once told me that being a Scot, and thushaving a head start on the several thousand Scots words in the lexicon, isn't as much of an advantage as it might seem because there are quite a few Scots words in common use that aren't in the lexicon, and so can prove a pitfall. Can you elaborate? Fewer examples exist now that we have moved on from OSW4 and gained such words as CHIB, ONY and OOR. Also, I'm not a great one for knowing orusing such words myself, so quite often I'll challenge a Scottish word, scandalising my Scottish opponent! Maybe hearing many of these Scottish words in everyday speech is more of an advantage now than it was when I started. But you still need to know how to spell them - and most of them occur in speech alone, so it's not always clear which spellings Chambers or Collins will have used for them (HAWF* or HAUF? FLYPE or FLIPE*?). And of course some are just local pronunciations of common English words (DEID, HEID, DEIF instead of DEAD, HEAD, DEAF). In short, onie bawheid snashing thae Scots hae a scoosh hasnae a scooby.

Quite. Finally, any other hints for our readers or observations you would like to make? I used to find my enjoyment of an event was pretty solely based on the number of wins I got at the end. Nowadays it's the people and company that make it a good one or a bad one, plus whether the games are enjoyable or not. I think this is why I don't find it much of a hardship to occasionally attend as an adjudicator or helper - I don't feel I'm missing out as much as I used to!

Thanks, Ross, both for this and your committee work for the Scrabble movement.

40 Adrian Keefe: Just writing to everyone who was either involved in my Scrabble/Cycling holiday, or who took an interest. I've been back for a week and have found my land legs again! It was a fantastic experience. The people I met, the cycling, countryside, Scrabble and accommodation were all great. I cycled 1,372 miles in total, averaging 60 milesa day, made it to all the places I planned to go to and kept to my schedule. Nothing much hampered my efforts, except it was the wettest June on record! Fortunately I only got soaked a couple of times and avoided the worst areas of flooding. The countryside that stirred me the most was to be found in Cambridgeshire, Shropshire, Yorkshire and the Lake District, while the prettiest villages were in Leicestershire, Hampshire and (unsurprisingly) the Cotswolds. My favourite town or city was without a doubt theold part of Lincoln. It really is lovely there, especially at night with the cathedral and castle lit up. I've uploaded all my photos onto a public access website where they are veryeasy to view. Simply go to www.photobucket.com and use my login (zoz261) and password (golden) to see all 245 of them! The pictures from my trip round Scotland last year will be on the screen, so you will need to click on the England subfolder. You can view them individually or as a slideshow. Better quality images are available as email attachments on request. Let me know if any of the places or names are wrong. As you can see I have a particular fondness for animals and signs! Please email/post any photos you took. I am hoping to do a similar trip each year and setting my sights on America for 2008. Thanks for all your support, encouragement and enthusiasm. If you ever travel north of the border please stop by for a game of you-know-what! May the Q be with US.

SOLUTIONS TO ACROSS THE BOARD

Once In a Lifetime: I could have played MISGIvES at A15a for 158 instead of MISUSaCE for 140, but I am very glad I didn'tl

Moves to be Proud of: 1. Phil played PESTICIDE at C5a for 64 points. 2. John played CINEMAtIC from C5d for 84 points. His finaltally was 634 - and he was playing his muml 3. Samantha played WHIStLINGS from 011a for 114 points but wenton to lose the game by 2 - Ouch!

41 -..-. y ■'*■■;■■;■'

Compiled by Paul Cartman, ABSP Tournament Coordinator

Stafford (6 games) |L Disabled access to playing area can be Saturday 6th October l>^ made from specific entrance thereby Contact Paul/Christine Cartman avoiding steps. Suitable toilet some way S 01785 211851 from playing area. 3/4 Rated divisions Emergency Number Entry costs: £13.00 for ABSP member S 07792591089 £15.00 for non-ABSP member Venue St Joseph's College, London Rd, Deduct 50p if prepared to lend a timer TrentVale, Stoke-on-Trent, 1 non-rated division ST4 5NT Cost £10 per player Registration 10.00 Cheques payable to Stafford Scrabble Club, First game 10.20 Departure 17.45 and sent to Christine Cartman, 9 Chapel Tea and Coffee machines available, sandwiches Terrace, Stafford, ST16 3AH will be made (less than £2.50 if pre-ordered)

Edinburgh Tickled Pink Event (6 games) First game 10.45 Departure18.30 Saturday 6* October Tea, coffee and soft drinks provided. Please Contact Margaret Harkness bring your own lunch. Raffle etc. in aidof 8 0131440 3649 Breakthrough Breast Cancer Emergency on the day Entry costs: £9.50 for ABSP members S 07804 889468 £11.50 for non-ABSP member Venue Liberton Kirk Halls, Cheques payable to 'Margaret Harkness - 30 Kirkgate, Edinburgh Edinburgh Open' and sent to 2 Fowler Registration 09.45 Crescent, Loanhead, Midlothian, EH20 9RX

Lothersdale Hotel MORECAMBE Draft Timetable for holidays 12th-15th October Friday: Arrive from 3pm, Dinner at 6pm, games start 7:30pm Three Counties Hotel, HEREFORD Saturday: Games from 9:15am to 1:30pm, 26th -29th October Dinner at 6pm, games start 7:30pm Cairn Hotel, HARR06ATE Sunday: Games from 1:00pm to 5:00pm, 23rd-26th November Dinner at 6pm, games start 7:30pm Entry forms areavailable now. Monday: Depart

Contact Viv Beckmann or John Harrison S 0191 2742420 01661 854336 [email protected] 0798 6768056

42 Bournemouth (6 games) Registration 09:30 First game 10:10 Departure 17.30 Sunday 7th October 3/4 Divisional tournament Contact Ruth Marsden Tea/Coffee available throughout the day 8 01202 707148 Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member Venue Rooper Hall, 5 Victoria Park £14.50 for nonABSP member Road, Moordown, Cheques payable to Bournemouth Scrabble Bournemouth Tournament and sent to Ruth Marsden, 27 Emergency on day only Spencer Road, Canford Clifife, Poole, BH13 7ET 8 07720 949 825 Closing date for entries 28th September Cock of the North (16 games)

8th - 9th October or John Harrison Contact Len Moir fi 01661 854336 9 0151 6061112 8 0798 6768056854336

Cardiff Weekend Contact Mary Allen 13th-14th October 8 0191-274-2420 Salisbury (6 games) Entry costs: £13.00 for ABSP member Sunday 14th October £15.00 for nonABSP member Contact Bob Lynn Deduct 5Op if willing to lend a timer 8 01722-325623 Cheques payable to Robert Lynn Scrabble Emergency Number Account, and addressed to Robert Lynn, 8 0771-818-9630 4 George Street, Salisbury, SP2 7BA Venue Winterboume Glebe Hall, Winfne Earls, Salisbury, SP4 6HA

NSC Final London Contact Phil Nelkon Sunday 21 st October 01628 500283 Elgin (5 games) 2 division tournament Saturday 27th October Tea/Coffee and biscuits on arrival, lunch Contact Lorraine Gordon and refreshments prior to leaving 8 01466-794332 Entry costs: £14 for ABSP members Emergency noon day £16 for NON-ABSP members No further discounts a 07967 129188 Cheques payable to Elgin Scrabble Club Venue Elgin Community Centre, Trinity Road, Elgin and sent to Lorraine Gordon, Glenview, Aberdeen Road, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Registration 10:00 AB54 6JD Closing date for entries 20.10.07 First game 10:45 Departure 17:30

Lincoln Round Robin (8 games) Registration 09.15 Saturday 27th October First game 10.00 Departure 18:15 Contact GerardFox Refreshments will be available through the day 8 01522 681656 Entry costs: £20.00 for ABSP member Emergency number £22.00 for nonABSP member 8 07971838352 Deduct 50p if bringing timer Venue North Hykeham Day Care Early entry deduction of £4 if you enter and Centre, Neale Road, North pay before August 31" Cheques payable Hykeham, Lincoln Gerard Fox, 29 Rydon Grove, Lincoln, LN6 QP

43 Nailsea Bristol (4 UNRATED games) Registration 12.45 First game 1.45 In aid of Breast Cancer Departure 18.00 Sunday 28lh October 2/3 divisions Hot and cold drinks available Contact Pam Sparkes from bar or machine all day. Plated teas S 01275 853808 available after game 4 Entry Cost £6.00 Emergency number Cheques payable to Nailsea Scrabble Club 8 07905856504 C/o Pam Sparkes, 15 Nailsea Park, Nailsea, Venue Mizzymead Recreation Bristol BS48 1 BA Closing date 22"' October Centre, Nailsea

M EW E' — FIRST TIME LISTED

Essex League Event (7 games) First game 09.30 Presentation 18.10 High Prizemoney event (£500 per division) Tea/Coffee available throughout the day on Sunday 28|S October a self serve basis Contact Christina French Emergency number on day 01708 701578 S 07736 686092 Venue Ardleigh Green Com Assoc, Entry costs: £30.00 for ABSP member 42 Ardleigh Green Road, £32.00 for nonABSP member Hornchurch,RM11 2LG Cheques payable to Christina French, 57 2 div. tournament Registration 09:00 Cranham Road, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 2AB

Isle-of-Wight Main Event (If games) 10th Veetis Event (S games) 3rd - 4th November 2nd - 3rd November Contact Noel Turner Contact Noel Turner 9 01983 614426 (Home) 9 01983 614426 (Home) 9 01983 202516 (Work) 9 01983 202516 (Work) Venue The Broadway Park Hotel, Venue TheBroadway Park Hotel, Sandown Sandown

Cheadle House Contact Amy Byrne Saturday 3"' - Sunday 4th November 9 0131 661 3869

Romforc 1 (6 games) ^—, First game 10.00 Departure 18.00 Tea/Coffee and biscuits available before the Saturday 3rd November start and between games Contact Cindy Hollyer Entry costs: £12.50 For ABSP members 9 01277 822050 £14.50 for nonABSP member 9 07712 960642 Deduct 50p if you are able to bring and Venue Kelvedon Hatch Village Hall lend a timer School Road, Kelvedon Cheques payable to Romford Scrabble Club Hatch, Brentwood, Essex c/o Cindy Hollyer, 78 Peartree Lane, Division accordini! to entries Doddinghurst, Brentwood, Essex, CM 15 0RH Registration 9.15

44 Luton (6 games) First game 10:00 Departure 17.40 Saturday 10th November 4 divisional tournament. Contact Adrian Noller Tea/Coffee and squash available at points 8 01582 656234 during the day but lunch is not provided. Emergency no. on clay only Entry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member 8 07753 143262 £14.00 for non-ABSP member Venue Whitefield Junior School, Cheques payable to Luton Scrabble Club Stockholm Way, Luton. and sent to Adrian Noller, 1 Wendover Registration 09:20 Way, Luton LU2 7LS

Glasgow (6 games) First game 10:30 Prizegiving 17.30 2 possibly 3 divisional tournament Saturday 10th November Tea/Coffee and biscuits available at points Contact Tom Wilson during the day but lunch is not provided. a 01324 832257 Entry costs: £9.50 for ABSP members Emergency number of venue £11.50 for non-ABSP member 8 07789 442051 Cheques payable to 'Glasgow Scrabble Venue Cathcart Trinity Church Hall Club Tournament Account', Mrs Mary 92 Clarkston Road, Jones, 40 Riverside Park, Netherlee, Glasgow, G44 3DA Glasgow G443PG Registration 09.45

King's Manor Hotel, Edinburgh Contact Amy Byrne Saturday 17th - Monday 20th November 8 0131 661 3869

Eastbourne Extravaganza(13 games) Contact Amy Byrne 23rd - 25th November 8 0131 661 3869 Venue Langham Hotel Eastbourne

Milton Keynes Winter Matehplay entry (including 60p rating levy). Saturday 24th - 25th November dinner, Sunday lunch. Tea, coffee and Contact Shin biscuits at refreshment breaks. Sunday 8 01908 675303 breakfast (residents only). Swimming pool Venue Holiday Inn, Saxon Gate West, and health club (residents only). Resident's C'tral Milton Keynes MK9 2HQ parking free (Non-resident's parking is The entrance fee includes: Tournament chargeable).

Mayfield (7 games) Registration 9.30 Saturday 1a December First game 10.00 Departure 19.00 Contact Amy Byrne A light lunch will be provided as will 8 0131-661-3869 afternoon tea/coffee Venue McSence Conference Centre, Entry costs: £23.50 For ABSP members McSence Business Enterprise £27.50 for non-ABSP member Park, 32 Sycamore Road, Cheques payable to 'A Byrne', 12 Northfield Mayfield, Dalkeith, EH22 5TA Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 7PX Number of divisions dependant upon entries

45 Nottingham (8 games) Registration 09:30 High Prize Money Event First game 10:00 Departure 18.55 Sunday 9'b December 3 Divisions according torating Contact Stewart Holden Tea/Coffee available at points during the 8 0115-841-5179 day, near tolocal Tesco Emergency Number Entry costs: £25.00 for ABSP member 8 07971-634098 £27.00 for non-ABSP member Venue Richard Herrod Leisure Centre, Cheques payable to Stewart Holden, 14 Foxhill Rd, Nofham, NG41RL Dale View Road, Nottingham, NG3 7A|

10CHEE (6 games) First game 10.00 Departure17.3O Sunday 9'*1 December Soup only will be provided in the interval. Tea, coffee and soft drinks available Contact Amy Byrne 8 0131 661 3869 throughout the day Venue The Baptist Church Hall, Bright Entry costs: £11.50 for ABSP members Street, Lochee, Dundee DD2 £14.50 for non-ABSP memlxM- Cheques payable to Amy Byrne, 12 Registration 09.30 Northfield Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 7PX

Stoke Rochford (12 games) Contact Christina French 1 5th - 16lh December 01708 701578 Twixmas (13 games) 29th-30th December Contact Amy Byrne Venue Staverton Park, Northampton 0131 661 3869

2008 Entry fee includes 4 nights dinner, B&B. UK OPEN (38games) £3,000 First prize Monday 7th - Friday 1 lth January Contact Len Moir Contact John Harrison 8 0151 6061112 Venue Aston Court Hotel Coventry,

West Berkshire (6 games) Tea/Coffee available throughout theday.as Sunday 13"' January is afternoon cake. Lunch is not included Contact Ian Burn Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP members 8 0118-984-5045 £14.50 for non-ABSP members Venue The Barn, Beech Road, Deduct 50p if willing to bring and lenda timer Purley on Thames, Berkshire Cheques payable to West Berks Scrabble Charity event proceedsgoing to local Club Tournament Account and sent to Ian charitable causes. Burn, Valley View, 92 Purley Rise, Purley- Registration 09.30 on-Thames, Berkshire, RG8 SDH along First game 10:10 Departure 18:10 with SAE or email address to which 3 divisional tournament. confirmation and directions can be sent

Pitloehry 1 (14 games) Wednesday 23rd- Friday 25th January Sunday 20th - Wednesday 23rd January Contact Alan Sinclair Pitloehry 2 (9 games) S 0131 669 7316

46 Chester (17 games) Contact Kathy Rush 26th - 28th January 01928 733565 West Sussex (6 games) Departure 17:45 Sunday 271*1 January 3/4 divisional tournament. Contact Peter Hall Tea/Coffee available all day but lunch is not 8 01903-775396 provided. Entry costs: £13.00 to ABSP members Emergency number on day 8 07724-545641 £15.00 to non ABSP members Venue The Woodlands Centre, Deduct 50p if bringing a timer Woodlands Avenue, Cheques payable to The Rustington Scrabble Club and sent to Peter Hall, 34 Rustington, West Sussex, Lawrence Avenue, Rustington, West Sussex, BN16 3NB BN16 3HX Registration 10.00 First game 10:20

Nottingham Nomads (16 games) Contact Clive Spate 8 0115-920-0208 Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rdh February

Brentwood (6 games) First game 10:00 Departure 18:00 Saturday 9's February 2008 Tea/Coffee available at points during the Contact Cindy Hollyer day but lunch is not provided. 8 01277-822050 Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member Emergency no on day £14.50 for non-ABSP member 8 07712-960642 Deduct 50p if bringing clock and are Venue Kelvedon Hatch Village Hall prepared to lend it School Road, Kelvedon Cheques payable to Brentwood Scrabble Hatch, Brentwood, Essex Group and sent to Cindy Hollyer, 78 Registration 09:30 Peartree Lane, Doddinghurst, Brentwood, Essex, CM 15 0RH

Wirral Open (15 games) Feb 9th-10th Contact John Harrison Venue Leasowe Castle 01661 854336

Andover (6 games) First game 10:20 Departure by 18.00 8* GRAND HAMPSHIRE OPEN SCRABBLE Entry Cost £1 7 for ABSP members CHAMPIONSHIP (competitive) playing in the competitive section Incorporating 8'" ANNUAL TEST VALLEY £19 for non-ABSP members Sunday 17lh February Deduct 50p if bringing a timer and are Contact Alan Bailey prepared to lend it 8 023 9238 4360 £10 for the recreational section In emergency on the day phone Hot lunch will be provided as will Tea/ 8 07763 894738 Coffee in breaks. Cheques payable to Venue John Hanson School, Floral Andover and District Scrabble Club, C/o Way, Andover., SP10 3PB Alan Bailey, 84 East Lodge Park, Farlington, Registration 09:15 Portsmouth, P06 1AQ

47 Leicester (6 games) Registration 9:15 First game 10:15 Saturday 1" March Departure 18:00 3 Div tournament Contact Alison Sadler Tea/Coffee will be provided 8 01509 550797 Entry costs: £10.50 to ABSP member Emergency Number £12.50 to non-ABSP member 8 07773 629118 Deduct 50p if willing to bring and lend a timer Venue St Peter's Church Hall, Cheques payable to Leicester Scrabble Club Church Road, Clenfield, c/o Alison Sadler, 136 Bottleacre Lane, Leicester Loughborough, LE11 1JQ Fernlea Park Hotel, Lytham-St-Annes Contact Viv Beckmann 8 0191 274 2420 14*_ 17»< March or lohn Harrison 8 01661-853135

East Sussex (6 games) Tea/Coffee available at points during the day but lunch is not provided. Saturday 15* March Entry costs: £15.00 for non-ABSP member Contact EdBreed £13.00 for ABSP member 8 01424 219 334 Deduct 50p if bringing timer Venue Hailsham Community Hall, Cheques payable to East Sussex Scrabble Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, Tournament and sent to Ed Breed, 19 BN27 2AE Magdalen Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Registration 09:00 Entries not accepted Sussex. TN40 1SB after 09.45 Departure time 17.45 Sae for confirmation and directions 2/3 divisional tournament.

Southampton (6 games) 4 Divisional tournament A-D Sunday 1y" April Tea, coffee and juice will be available Contact Alan Bailey between each round 8 023 92384360 Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member Venue Hedge End Village Hall £14.50 for non-ABSP member (close to M27) Deduct 50p if bringing timer and are Emergency no on day prepared to lend it 8 07763 894738 Cheques payable to Southampton Scrabble Registration 09:05- 09.45 Club, C/o Alan Bailey, 84 East Lodge Park, First game 10:00 Departure 17:50 Farlington, Portsmouth, P06 1AQ

Aylesbury (6 games) First game 10:00 Departure 17:45 3 divisional tournament Saturday 19th April Tea/Coffee available on arrival and Contact Janet Bonham throughout theday. 8 01296 483717 Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member Emergency number on day £ 14.50 for non ABSP member 8 07870 545082 Deduct 50p if bringing clock which you are Venue Stoke Mandeville Village prepared to lend. Cheques payable to Community Centre, Eskdale 'Aylesbury Scrabble Club Tournament Park, Eskdale Road, Stoke Accounf, and sent to lanet Bonham, 14 Mandeville, HP22 5UJ Earlswood Close, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP21 7PG Registration 09:15 Sae or email address for confirmation of entry

48 Havering Evergreen Tournament First game 10:00 Departure18:00 (6 games) (X~ Tea/Coffee available at points during the Saturday 26Ih April I2h day but lunch is not provided. Entry costs: £12.50 for ABSP member Contact Cindy Hollyer £14.50 for non-ABSP member S 01277-822050 Deduct 50p if bringing clock which are Venue St John's Hall, Church Road, prepared to lend. Cheques payable to Mountnessing, Brentwood, Havering Scrabble Club and sent to Cindy Essex, CM15 OTH Hollyer, 78 Peartree Lane, Doddinghurst, 2 divisional tournament Brentwood, Essex, CM15 0RH Registration 09:30

Bourne (6 games) Tea/Coffee available on all day Sunday 27th April Entry costs: £12.00 for ABSP member Contact Betty Benton £14.00 for non ABSP member 8 01778 425234 Deduct 50p if bringing a timer Venue Bourne Corn Exchange, PEIO 9EF Cheques payable to Bourne and District Registration 09.15 Scrabble Club and sent to Betty Benton, First game 10:00 Departure 18.00 Walnut Farm, Twenty,Bourne, Lines, PEIO OBH 3 divisional tournament of up to 96 players Closing Date for entries 22nd April 2008

Edgeways Solutions

The 5-Minute Anagram Test

A. BICEP DRINKERS LARGEST SEEMING DINGOES BLUNTER FONDEST DEVIOUS CAGIEST LANTERN

B. NAPALM STALKERS JAUNTING CYBER EEJIT READMIT AGENDAS ZAYINS ANTIGUN NEBULAR

C. ARCTICS RUDESBY DUYKERS VACCINE TWOCKER RUFOUS EARLDOM SEALSKIN OVERFREE UPENDING

D. MYOSINS ASCOCARP HAYLOFT TYPHOSE UNBOSOM SOLEX TELLURIC PYROSTAT ATROPHIC SPECULAR

Cryptogram Anagrid

1=V, 2=G, 3=S, 4=X, 5=C, 6=Q, 7=W, 8=O, 9=N, 10=Z, 11=U, 12=A, 13=F, 14=1, 15=B, 16=L, 17=D, 18=P, 19=J, 20=T, 21=H, 22=Y, 23=K,24=R, 25=M, 26=E. M JJSM s if! i InIq Curio Corner tBe The four words exhibiting two-letter PBYiAlR hook symmetry are: RS ancho RS

DS eco DS SU pend SU DS windle DS A quick reference to forthcoming competitions (fuller list and details inside)

Date Tournament (no. of games) Contact Telephone

Oct6th Stafford (6) Paul Cartman 01785 211851 Oct 6th Edinburgh Open (Pink) (entry form) (6) Margaret Harkness 0131440 3649 Oct7th Bournemouth (6) Ruth Marsden 01202 707148 Oct 8lh-9lh Cock of the North (16) John Harrison 01661 854336 Oct 12lh-15th H-B Holidays - Morecambe (14) Viv Beckm.inn 0191 2742420 Oct 13lh-14th Cardiff Weekend (14) Mary Allen 029 20757311 Oct 14th Salisbury (6) Bob Lynn OI722 325623 Oct 21st NSC Final (5) Philip Nelkon 01628 500283 Oct 26th-29th HB Holidays - Hereford (14) Viv Beckmann 0191 2742420 Oct 27th Elgin (5) Lorraine Cordon 01466 794332 Ocl 27lh Lincoln Round Robin (8) Gerard Fox 01522 681656 Oct 28lh Essex League Ik (7) Christina French 01708 701578 Nov 2nd-3rd Isle of Wight Vectis (entry form) (5) Noel Turner 01983 614426 Nov 3rd-4th Cheadle House, (15) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3869 Nov 3rd Romford (6) Cindy Hollyer 01277 822050 Nov 10th Luton (6) Adrian Noller 01582 656234 Nov 10th Glasgow (6) Tom Wilson 01324 832257 Nov17th-20th King's Manor, Edinburgh (IB) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3B69 Nov 23rd-26th H-B Holidays - Harrogate (14) Viv Beckmann 0191 2742420 Nov 23rd-25th Eastbourne Extravaganza (17) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3869 Nov 24th-25th Milton KeynesWinter Malchplay (12) Mike Willis 01908 668117 Dec lit Mayfield (7) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3869 Dec 9th Lochee (6) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3B69 Dec 9th Nottingham Eight (8) Stewart Holden 0115 841 5179 Dec15th-16th Stoke Rochford (entry form) (12) Christina French 01708 701578 Dec 29th-3Oth Twixmas (entry form) (13) Amy Byrne 0131 661 3869 2008 |an7th-llth UK Open - Coventry (38) lohn Harrison 01661 854336 Ian 13lh West Berks (6) Ian Bum 01189845045 Ian 2Olh-23rd Pitlochry (14) Alan Sinclair 0131669 7316 Ian 23rd-25th Pitlochry (9) Alan Sinclair 0131669 7316 Ian 25th-27lh Chester (entry form) (17) Kathy Rush 01928 733565 |an 27th West Sussex (entry form) (6) Peter Hall 01903 775396 Feb 2nd-3rd Nottingham Nomads 06) Clive Spate 01159 200208 Feb 9th Brentwood Spring (6) Cindy Hollyer 01277 822050 Feb 17th Andover (6) Alan Bailey 0239238 4360 Feb9th-10th WirralOpen (15) lohn Harrison 01661 854336 Mar 1st Leicester (6) Alison Sadler 01509 550797 Mar 14th-17th H-B Holidays - St Anne's on Sea (14) Viv Beckmann 0191 2743420 Mar 15th East Sussex (6) Ed Breed 01424 219 334 Apr I3lh Southampton (6) Alan Bailey 0239238 4360 Apr I9lh Aylesbury (6) lanet Bonham OI296 4837I7 Apr 26th Havering Evergreens (6) Cindy Hollyer 01277 822050 Apr 27th Bourne (6) Betty Benton 01778 425234 May 2nd-6th H-B Holidays - Worthing (20) Viv Beckmann 0191 2743420 May 16th-19th H-B Holidays • Morecambe (14) Viv Beckmann 0191 2743420 lun 6th-9th H-B Holidays - Hereford (14) Viv Beckmann 0191 2743420

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