Scrabulous

I'm in six matches already!

I have seven open but nobody's playing right now. :(

i have a bingo but nowhere to play it ;_;

x-post -- Then start a game.

What is a bingo?

I'm too scared to start shit like this on FB or I'll get even less work done than I already am.

I play on Internet Scrabble Club, where you can watch the best players in the world on any given day.

I keep losing to British Scrabble-sharks. ;_;

I'm too scared to start shit like this on FB or I'll get even less work done than I already am.

Haha, yes. But the last couple of days it's definitely been more interesting than ILx.

a bingo is when you play a 7 letter word. super-bingos occur when you add your seven letters to a word already on the board (possibly creating other additional words in the process).

my only 2 so far have both been from my first move.

damn.

I pretty much suck at scrabble.

Two nonintuitive things to remember if you want to be good at scrabble:

1. Scrabble is not a word game, its a probability game.
2. What you leave on your rack any given move is just as important as what you play.

The most used words are crap like qi and za and vowel dumps like anoa and toea and other nonsense that are only English in the most expansive sense. Any good player memorizes these. Having a good English vocabulary is not the same as knowing the words that are useful in scrabble.

On the other hand, knowing how to multiply the value of the tiles on your rack; how to use esses and blanks, and when not to use them; and which letters are not worth holding and which are, are fundamental scrabble skills. This is especially true because games are often won on the basis of who gets more bingos -- there's nothing like that 50 point bonus, so a game that ends with the score 350 - 300 may really be a game where the score was 1-0, one bingo to none.

The way you maximize the chance of pulling a bingo is: dump worthless letters ASAP (v and u are the worst, but don't be holding those z's or k's either), leave easy to use letters on your rack (e, a, n, t, etc.), NEVER use an s unless it's adding eight points to what you can do without it or a blank unless it's adding twenty points to what you can do without it, and keep those racks balanced: you always want four consonents and three vowels, so try to leave 3/2, 2/2 or 2/1.

(After you've mastered all that, it's time to memorize word lists. Or, more sanely, it's time to acknowledge that your rating is going to be 1400 forever (expert is 1700+) because you refuse to memorize word lists.)

sounds like a hoot

wow. I have my work cut out for me.

Bring it on suckas!

Kenny OTM (though I describe Scrabble as a "math" game, since there is other math involved besides probability).

Quite -- and the calculations can be fiendish but fun (sometimes as simple as whether to go for a double letter over a double word score, for instance, depending on the letter). Anyway I'm off to get dinner so all my games are in pause...

I'm off to bed. finish with you when we can Ned.

it's time to acknowledge that your rating is going to be 1400 forever (expert is 1700+) because you refuse to memorize word lists.

my rating is a bit over 2000 and i've never worked to memorize word lists. i have no interest in studying for a game--i learn by playing.

it really is an addictive site for the scrabble-inclined.

I am on this now, but I have not played scrabble in a long time, and I am by no means a scrabble-master

Kenny OTM about it not really being a word game, except his post sounds a bit hostile to people who just, yannow, like to play games. "If you don't study, you can never beat ME!" Oh, hush.

If you study to play games, I'm sorry, you're a loser.

You lose.

don't you mean "winner"?

No.

oh, I get it. Yes. "Winner."

Confession: all of you can kick my ass to hell and back at scrabble.

Kenny, apologize to kenan for seeming hostile in your post.

Kenny, come here. I need you to freshen this drink. Then tidy up a bit, will you? That's a good lad.

I'm fairly good at this. Anyone want fight? (Not now, as I'm going to bed soon, but at some point...)

i want a fight! later, because i'm way too fucking sleepy.

Julia will crush 90% of you.

I Scrabble vicariously through her.

EdO should get on this, he'd trounce everyone.

right, fuck sleep, who wants fight

God, I sound awful! Like I'm putting a fighting dog out there. "Good musculature, aggressive personality, and amazing Scrabble proficiency. I'll put $2000 on her."

She is good, though.

ha. now i can't sleep because i'm too damn nervous about moving in two days. what's your username?

i tend to be in the robot room, hard difficulty level. julesb74.

c'mon, play me while i'm on sleep drugs.

I haven't played online since Rock Hardy and Dom Passantino waxed my clock in a few matches of Literati.

ooo, rock hardy should play. he's good. eazy too.

The amazing thing is that I thought I made it clear that I don't memorize word lists, and therefore I don't win against really good players at Scrabble. I referred to that as "sane". You never know . . .

aw shit, you missed a chance to play my drug-addled self. but now i think i need to pass out, really this time.

xp

yeah, sane is the way to go. you made yourself sound like a word-list-memorizing fanatic though, tbh. i don't so mcuh agree with that attitude--best to pick up on all of it thorugh playing obsessively, fuck studying. though maybe obsession isn't sane either...

ez and rock hardy can kick my ass, but they're fun to play. lots of really good people are a bore, hence my frequent play with robots.

kenny, you were talking so specifically about strategy that i figured you were hardcore. others seemed to as well. i really like internet scrabble club, which you mentioned earlier (there are def more strong players than on scrabulous), but the super-high-rated people are kind of on another planet. i guess ih ave no inclination to work to get better--i just want an enjoyable diversion that might make me feel smart. if you take it soooo seriously is it any fun anymore?

i should really just go to bed. really really.

Finger me on ISC -- handle emergency -- if you really want to know what i think about memorization . . . (and yes I'm on playing right now, as I usually am after the kid goes to sleep and I want to listen to music and wind down)

Someday I'll resurrect my anti-Scrabble rant, which is probably the same as Kenny's. In the meantime I'm playing whoever wants on facebook (once I wake up).

Julia has kicked my ass in person though.

I am absolutely, hopelessly addicted. And that's with people who keep beating me (Starry Sarah managed to completely kick my arse with like a 450pt game this week).

I AM BEATING SARAH (due to two flukey bingos). i fully expect facebook to be taken down should i actually win the game, thus leaving me with no proof...

I am so not playing scrab against any of you, you would all roundly kick my arse :(

I beat Sarah by 100pts but only because I used TWL instead of SOWPODS and she was left bereft without her hooj cache of little words. Then we played with the right dictionary and she absolutely murdered me - strategically, bingo-wise, everything. So the first one was a fluke. I have eked out a couple of narrow wins over the missus though, which is nice, considering she used to do me 450-300 on a regular basis when we played Travel Scrabble on train trips. In fact, with the kids around, this may be the only way we can play Scrabble now...

c'mon then, let's be 'avin you

It's a bit tricky to demonstrate to yr work colleagues how maxed out you are and how deadlines are just gonna have to move cos yr department is overstretched when they look over your shoulder and you're pondering a 15x15 coloured square that really doesn't look like an Excel document. So two games at once, max.

Stevem trounced me earlier. He is mean :(

Actually what is difference between TWL and SOWPODS?

TWL is a FOUL AMERICAN CORRUPTION i believe...

srsly, does anybody fancy a game? i'm not sure how to find specific players, so you may have to -horror of horrors- befriend me first...you all know my name by now

JGO, host a table and I'll play you.

Ah feck it. Friended you. Bring it on.

:-D

It won't work for me on Facebook! Gutted. I just spent the last two weeks (on my holiday) playing ...

c'mon mr nol, i hath had at ye, how do you respond?

aha. wasting your good letters before we reach the triple-letter scores, eh?

anyway can kick my ass (although only on facebook at the moment)

JGO you started 3 games, I was confused. As to the triple-letter scores? Use the letters when you can if possible. Fuck being stuck with an X at the end!

I accidentally refreshed a couple of times, not knowing that this starts a new game. I've resigned the two extraneous tourneys.

So I saw. I was a little bit alarmed at the... eagerness. All is well though. How I hate playing with people who use multiple words.

hahaha, you'll LOVE my last move :p

You sunk my battleship!

yeah, but those pesky destroyers are always the last to go. you'll be pleased to know that i was rewarded for my frankly stunning move with a rack containing 6 vowels

still get a 30-point move, mind :p

Your mindgames will not work on me I'm afraid. Your scrabble abilities might though. I am seeing the problem with my "spread everything out across the board" practice.

get a room you two

I dunno, that last one was in a fairly confined space. Your tactic opposes my own 'keep it compact' proviso...

there is an in-game message facility y'know

YEAH OK, but I think Scrabulous regulars have seen enough of kv nol's awestruck admissions of casualty to know that I, JUST GOT OFFED, am a CONTENDER.

i have a bingo but nowhere to play it ;_;

I had this yesterday (not on Scrabulous) but instead I had to settle for 11 points or some crap. Gah! Still I got my own back later on when I thought it had happened again and then realised that my word had an anagram which would fit by sticking an R on the front of "evokes" for extra smugness.

Is this Facebook thing real Scrabble with a real Scrabble board and not just some Literati-like thing then? That on its own is almost reason enough for me to join Facebook after swearing I wouldn't, and I'm not even any good at Scrabble (only know a handful of 2s, never mind anything else - doesn't really seem like fun any more playing like that, plus no more playing against friends or family at that stage, I mean what is my gran going to say when I start playing QANATS so as to form QI and five other bits of word shrapnel in the other direction?).

(I'm just buttering him up for the fall ILX. Honest, he is stepping straight in to my trap)

haha, I just tried to submit a metal band as a word

('chimaira')

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/AQUA/24-385~Chimaira-Posters.jpg

oh fuck, FUCK, those two unnecessary games I resigned have gone down on my official records as LOST games! : - O

ok, i'm going for an eye test now, back later to complete this outright humiliation

You don't need to JGO, I'd let you off now that you know what you're messing with. You feel like more humiliation when you're back I'll be ready. Remember: Punks jump up to get smacked down...

Both my current rivals have run away claiming they have appointments. Such cowardice! Come back and accept your defeats!

Is this Facebook thing real Scrabble with a real Scrabble board and not just some Literati-like thing then? That on its own is almost reason enough for me to join Facebook after swearing I wouldn't

It's real Scrabble, but you can join and play Scrabulous via their website without doing so through Facebook.

i'm really not very good at scrabble

HI DERE

you were saying? :-D

...and this time, I get rid of ALL my letters, only to be rewarded ONCE AGAIN with six vowels. It ain't fair, you know.

erm, you there?

I just got back from the dentist. Wondering how many turns I'll have waiting from eleventeen million games.

Sam, I'm about to have back at you, but then I'm going to the pub. Sorry :-/

It's okay. I have to work anyway. Today is Friday. I expect beer-drinking and scrabbling tonight.

No, I'm not, because it won't let me look at any of my in-progress games. Fuck it. I'll just go to the pub then.

yeah, it's crashed :-/

Yes, it is jacked up.Glad it's not just me. We are breaking it.

it is working again

So it is. I haven't gone to the pub yet.

Damn girl, get to drinking already!

JGO sorry man. I'm working! I'll also be drinking in 20 minutes. Your beatdown might have to pause for a while. To tell you the truth that's no bad thing. I'm shocked man, shocked! That's Cambridge level scrabble? Sheesh...

Nah, I'm drinking in the house as pub companion is delayed.

well, whilst our game is on hold, does anyone else fancy challenging me?

I just put this on, I don't know how to play, though.

Neither does JGO obviously! Why don't you learn together?

i was on 190 after about 6 moves FYI :p

Oh lordy. Bye-bye all the work I had hoped to accomplish today.

See how he tries to steal my score? Shameless, that's what he is! I bet he'll even photoshop the final screen to swap our names. It's depressing, that's what it is...

I've started getting spam about scrabulous.

I've slowed down a bit now, here's your chance to get within 80 points...

I'm now playing 9 games, this is madness!

argh, I didn't realize you only got one point for blanks!

ok, i started a game, and I got the letters ttufnre. so i wrote nutter and i don't think the other person is there.

you have to wait for them. they may not be online.

In the meantime some of youze should add me to yr facebooks so we can play. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503952851

done, prepare to be murked

it's on, will.

That was so fast it's crazy.

I will add you Will but wait for me to challenge you. I have too many games going on right now.

and am sucking at all. :( Practice makes perfect though.

Sam, well done with "moire"! My "beef" couldn't compare.

Well, you don't all have to challenge me at once.

I am sorry that I challenged you before reading that... you'll be okay though, I have 7 vowels and not even the good ones.

Sam, well done with "moire"! My "beef" couldn't compare.

Don't get too excited. You will be pwning me soon.

xxpost

I'm challenging no one until I finish a few of these games. It's affecting my overall performance I think.

They let you use the French wordlist btw.

I've added you as a friend, and will challenge you at some point, though am still not intending being around this PC for much longer at the moment.

xpost to Casuistry

I am sorry that I challenged you before reading that...

Me? If so don't see you on there. Perhaps I've reached my scrabulous limit.

btw i am doing this at work, and we have an open-concept office so i might take a while (hiding scrabble is tougher than hiding ilx from prying eyes, and it's lunchitme so people keep walking on by)

xp oh shoot! sorry, i challenged another ilx person and didn't read names. i need to wake up :)

dude, will, nice double word action. too bad you're KILLING me.

ez and rock hardy can kick my ass, but they're fun to play. lots of really good people are a bore, hence my frequent play with robots.

Aw, thanks! Actually, I remember us being very evenly matched, Julia. But that was then and this is now; I haven't played more than one or two games since the second round of the Lit tournament, because Edward O tore me to SHREDS. Like PP was saying, a beatdown like that takes a lot out of a person.

I also read his post as saying that Dom and I waxed his cock. I think I've been working too hard.

The worst is that the best players really milk multiple silly tiny words which is too bad... it's fun to make big words! then again I say that but that's all I am doing vs. molly (I had 7 vowels D:)

will, i just had 2 Vs, 2 Ns, and 3 Is. Yuck.

Casuistry, I'm sorry I haven't been on facebook enough to actually get anywhere with that game. Nothing personal, but I can't access facebook at work and I've been somewhat too busy to play otherwise. :(

hha, in that case, nice work throwing out "vine"-- get rid of a bit of each eh?

Alisa is wiping the floor with me

yep, exactly! i was able to do something with earwig! hurrah!

also, why won't scrabulous accept "zen"?

perfect game against kv nol followed by remarkably indifferent one vs. will m, although it could still go either way

re: zen, I know right?

everyone has left my office and I fear the temptation to scrabble the rest of the afternoon away.

I also fear I will never get Ailsa's name right.

I'm sucking it up big time on both games. No one is here either! I have a headache and don't feel like staring at books. A computer screen is a much better idea.

It's going to be Halloween before I have time to check this Scrabulous thing out.

Maybe I'll be done with my games by then and ready to challenge you.

MW, it's ok, it happens, I just wish I had realized I could let you kick me in le cul en français.

woohoo, I won a game!

Thanks, Molly. I'm sure you'll get me on the rematch. :)

Hey! Congrats! I had total bummer letters.

Well done, Will, for "puke".

thanks! clearly my mind is full of very clever vocabulary. I played that despite the fact that you may have had an S...

...aaaaaand you did.

everyone add me, i want 9 concurrent games too

I totally did.

You sort of have to play dirty, though, when you're down to a few random letters. "What can I pluralize or put in the past tense?"

set up kill, executes magnificently

wow, I just challenged you again, Molly, and to begin it gave me "ooeauee."

Bring it on!

"Eau"? "Eh"? What's next? "Don Cherry"?

would it take "peau"? (i don't have a P, though)

hey, assuming louis doesn't run out of letters, i get to run out of letters next! that will dampen the blow of my playing miserably and losing by 60 points. little ivctories, will, little victories...

I was surprised I won! I had crap letters, and was coming up with such bummers as "gore" and "nova."

he ran out of letters. awesome.

hey, gore and nova aren't bad!

xxpost: ha, you didn't even win that one! :p 72-point margin! fancy a rematch? i did get q, x and z after all...

I feel a sense of inadequacy when I can't come up with big words. ;_;

rematch it is. i don't care if i win as long as i am playing!

AS LONG AS I HAVE FWENDS

all mine are bummerz. my vocabulary is limited.

I'll be going home soon. Hopefully people will be at home like me on a Friday night.

<i>i don't care if i win as long as i am playing!</i>

WILL HAS A SCRABBALICIOUS ATTITUDE! YAY WILL!

Louis I will play with you, but should we use TWL or SOWPODS? :o

i've been using TWL, because everyone else has. but feel free to pick either, i'm not fussed (nor do i know the difference)

Yes, explain the difference.

SOWPODS sounds way cooler.

hits the triple-word after four moves, not looking good for will already :p

SOWPODS = britisher
TWL = americunts

and then i hit curtis with my favourite meal! good times.

dudes i cant even work out where facebook apps are

Do you want an invite? I don't your even my friend yet.

i. hate. having a bingo and no place to put it.

There's no place to put anything on our board! We have played ourselves into a corner.

i love putting bingos down. sorry, molly! :-D

that's okay!

wait, bingos are the blanks, right?

bingos are like seven letters.

louis, you're totally kicking my ass. i didn't even know "blowiest" was a word.

xpost - oh, thanks sam. yeah, don't expect any of those from me.

that's a statement of intent, william!

arf

i didn't say WHOSE game I had it in, louis :D

SOWPODS = American + British, actually.

xpost - oh, thanks sam. yeah, don't expect any of those from me.

Same here! I rarely get more than four letters. :/

I say sowpods for more options.

no, william, i meant your latest word in my our game

oh hahahaha. right. i thought we were talking about bingos. TOO MANY GAMES SPOIL THE TRAIN OF THOUGHT THEY SAY

i tempted you, and you did as you ought :(

OMG LOUIS I HAVE ALL VOWELS ;_;

:-/

i can only empathise

quiz?! son of a...!!

Alright, I'm going home. I'll check in later.

i promise u, im not usin haxx

louis is absolutely slaying me. ;_;

Aw, Sam, didn't realise you were going, just played to try and finish off this game. Catch up later, yes?

(last word not directed at you, louis. it was either that, or "RAG", and I got more points with "FAG")

hahaha, you've already called me a 'girl' and a 'boob'! :-D

I'm nothing, if not classy. :D

18 points for FEY!

(really, I swear... they're just coming to me)

Incidentally, I could have played 'fuck' instead of 'muck' earlier, thus gaining 3 more points, but, ever the gentleman, I declined to take advantage of vulgarity (not that it's a permitted word anyway)! ;-)

I quite liked using ILEX the other day against Sam because that's a bit like ILX.

Gentlemen don't whoop the ladies by, uh, 200+ points. :D

I have crap letters.

My dear lady, surely you'd hate to be patronised? ;-)

sheer poetry from will

Oh, totally.

There's no chance of me coming close to winng, with the terrible odd consonant, and string of vowels I'm getting, therefore I give you: GAY

:-D

Louis, u a bitch!!

louis you are having too much fun with my words...

sam, yeah, hook me up as your friend at least. i think my facebook name is katarina bee

curtis, will all your words be computer-related? :p

yes.

actually I was thinking of a restaurant.

i see, the meze served by a hired server, we could start a themed story (or not)

I got some shitty letters this game, damn

HAHA, I'm even being an artful pedant within my moves! I quote: "There are one tiles (sic) left in the bag. Last move was TILE by Louis J for 8 points."

my limerick for scrabulous:

my vocabulary seems haggard
our two scores are very much staggered
if only they banned 'im
for reasons so random
i wouldn't have got L0u1s J@gger'd.

got = BEEN

Louis puts down the most masterus game possible

2nded.

My score is embarrassing.

just when I think I have him beat, he flips my own shit back on me x1000

curtis, i shall friendster you, so we can play later (i'm going home soon).

sweet. Actually I'm going home now too, I'll keep on Scrabblin' tomorrow.

curtis, you're only 31 points behind with a go in hand...this shit's got a loooong way to roll yet.

sorry about that, molly. :-(

you gotta admit, though, 438-154 is fairly impressive :p

That's okay, Louis. I bow down before your supreme SCRABULOUS skillz. :D

xpost IT IS V V SAD FOR ME

hey, it's ok. i got all the good letters!

Note that in my final move I reasserted my virility with both 'Man' going one way and 'Ab' going the other...

I quite liked using ILEX the other day against Sam because that's a bit like ILX.

haha, I don't even now what that means! We'll finish one of these days.

Someone challenge me if you're around.

*going to add Sunny*

Incidentally, I've just pulled off an absolute peach against Steve D. Absolute stunner. I'm almost tempted to do a jig about the room.

*can't find sunny* :(

chris, if i abruptly stop playing, it's because fucking ATT turned my internet off a day early in addition to my phone. hopefully the connection will hold up, but otherwise i'll be back online on monday.

344 to 233; Ned, you was CREAMED!!

Which was that? Because I'm still up by 20+ pts

The 'Blather/Bonzer' spectacular, if you're asking...

...and yes, you are winning. So far.

perfect game against kv nol

I live to teach. Hopefully the thrashing that I am giving you is proving educational.

aw fuck, i wish i had time to do this. but like trayce said at the top of the thread ... must ... resist.

given that the probability of me losing my job/sticking it up someone else's arse is quite high, though, this is something to look forward to. hurrah!

ZOMG Ailsa.

I nearly threw my hands in the air and played CASUIST for laughs before I finally saw the bingo.

ha, sorry about that :-)

This is my favouritest way of passing time ever!

i'm getting absolutely violated up the back passage by dom passantino

paging ILEpitaphs

!!! 61 point "QUACK" with the Q and K on triple-letter spots, and the C connecting with "HUM" to make "CHUM"

Curt1s got pwned

FUCK

and I have 3 double letters in my rack :/

Make BOOKKEEPER.

Ha, kv_nol played GYBE against me and I was all "that's not a word! How the hell is Godspeed You Black Emperor" a word!". But, somehow, it is. bah.

um. delete a " from there.

I've already started to day... productivity be damned.

I got a bingo! Fenagle!

I just got one too - COTTONED. only 66 pts tho.

playing RJG seems to come with the condition that i must have five vowels (inc. three of the same letter) at all times.

all are welcome to challenge my intermediate ass.

I like to think I'm getting really bad letters, but it may just be that I'm not so hot at scrabble.

worth reading this... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble

i think my game is getting better just from reading the strategy there.

Wow, Ailsa, that was a nailbiter of a game.

I think I have won 2 out of 12.

I really think a lot of it depends on the letters you get. I played one game where, for the first 90% of the game, most of my letters were vowels. Still strangely fun and addictive!

Wow, Ailsa, that was a nailbiter of a game.

Aye, thought I had it in the bag at one stage. Well played *applauds*

It's important to know when to dump all your tiles rather than play with a shitty rack.

can you dump all tiles at once?

someone online who wants to play right now?

Yes, you can. Put all seven on the board and click the "swap tiles" button.

Are all you people getting pwned normally good scrabble players? I really dont feel like getting my ass kicked so hard I look like a retarded kid :/

I'm not normally, no.

I might install this in a while, can't promise my plays will be timely or at all lucid/smart if I do tho :D

This look awesome. Anyone up for a game? (I'm Chris B0eckmann)_

I just added you, then you can challenge me.

I am sad that my scheduled treadmill time is preventing me from being crushed by by you guys playing right now.

Anyone who hasnt worked out where I'm at I'm Trayce F0rb3s on this thang. Dont expect clever, instant responses from this addled workbrain though! ;D

THX!

Click on the little dictionary thing for the 2-letter words, etc.

I love how you can use that to check about whether a word you want to play is, in fact, a word.

Also awesome - holding down control and selecting "numbered board" to see what all the shaded squares offer for higher scoring.

If you want to, you can disable the dictionary when you start a game.

if you are smart, you just go to another game you are playing at the same time and use the dictionary in that one instead

Open dictionary is pretty much the only thing that makes this game fun.

This doesn't touch AIM Trivia

a) i'm a terrible scrabble player
b) uh am i the only person who can barely ever get this thing to WORK? sorry three pplz i'm in games with but i can't actually go in and make moves.

It's sometimes locked up for me but not consistently.

Also awesome - holding down control and selecting "numbered board" to see what all the shaded squares offer for higher scoring.

In your settings you can make this the default.

Knock on wood, it hasn't froze up on me in a few days.

it's pretty regularly locked up for me, and then i end up losing the notifications that it is my turn so i forget if it doesn't start working within an hour or two.

ally, i think i may be the worst scrabble player of all time. my last attempt at the word "BONER" only got me 8 points. ;_;

tweeze was pretty good.

I never use the notifications. I just leave the 'current games' open on a tab and check back every now and then to see if it's my turn. hmm, maybe I should get back to work.

The only problem I've been running into is that notifications don't always work. I get around this by obsessively looking to see if it is my turn yet. I could see where this wouldn't work for everyone, though. ;)

neither of my opponents is continuing his game with me right now ;_; Someone else wanna play me?

Am I not already playing you?

Curtis, my scrabulous claims it's your turn.

ah you're right! Sorry aboot that.

I am also always happy to play. (I'm Sara R0bins0n-C00lidge...) I can't promise a fast-paced game, though; sometimes I have to do stuff with my kids.

it's your turn against me too, curtis!

No problem! I have 15 games going (!!), and I really ought to be doing work. Ahem.

15!!!! Wow.

I have no time to play this I'm afraid. Life and work want to keep me from pwning u all. Especially JGO, the terrible beating that he is suffering from mine hands is being drawn out unnecessarily. How I hate prolonging his suffering.

Your game shall always be alive on my board, kv.

Lol. Cheers Ms. M.

Neverforgettile.jpg

talk about cheating death

The battle of ILX young'uns is going right down to the wire. Who will prevail? Curtis has been mighty, mighty impressive, but will the loquacious Britisher nip his challenge at the last?

if you actually have something of value left you'll probably win

AAAARGH

you have cooked me a maid and eated it

329-320 :(

i don't have facebook, but i did just sign up for the scrabulous site (username: Lingbert). is it still possible to play against you all?

I signed up at the site, but haven't had time to try it yet. I'm irrationally excited by the idea of playing against ROBOTS.

Via Facebook, I just started a game in French with my friend who used to live in Belgium. Which would be a lot cooler if I remembered more than 15 words of French myself... it just seemed like it would be fun. At the time.

I want to play a Frenchy game! I tried starting one with Stevie D. but he got bored. And I'm afraid of what M. White would do to me. So try me if you'd like. (Chr!s P!um@.)

I am so <i>awful</i> at this. I'm usually grebt at regular scrabble!!

x-post -- M. White would roast your guts. Or should I say fricassee.

Man how did I just fuck up my game with Tep? I put down my word, the thing froze and when I reloaded it it said I'd had my turn BUT THE WORD ISNT THERE I've been robbed!

Casuistry, I will add you and then try to start a French game with you. It will probably go slow, though, since I'm all, "uh.... let's see.... 'lui' is a French word, right?!"

Oh god my ass is getting kicked like a bastard :(

ill play to distract myself from writing this fcking presentation. m4x r34d.

i'm in three games but they're all progressing at a rate of like one move a day...

OTM. I'm also finding it v boring. Methinks an application that I will remove as it only makes me feel guilty knowing that others are waiting for me.

8 games on the go and no-one's played a move for 3 hours now. C'maaaaahn...

Tep is ruining me ;_; but I am beating one of my other friends, haw. I got "froze" right out of the blocks which was awesome.

I'm a little confused by the scoring. I just spelled "neath" horizontally as the first word of a game with "n" on the centre square and "h" on a light blue square, which I understood to be a "double letter" square. By my calculations, this should be worth 12 points but Scrabulous gave me 24. I'm not complaining but I wonder if I'm not understanding something.

(Yes, the rack management strategy tips here allowed me to score my 1st Scrabulous bingo and narrow the gap with Louis.)

You might have a French game on your hands, Chris. I wonder if I'd stand more of a chance against you in that language.

neath = 8
+ double score on h = 12
+ double score as first word of game = 24

The start square is also a double word score, hence 24 ad 2 x 12!

I wish this existed in Dutch. I don't think I'd perform well at it now, I mean, the English version. :-(

OTM. I'm also finding it v boring. Methinks an application that I will remove as it only makes me feel guilty knowing that others are waiting for me.

Don't feel guilty. For me some games move slower than others. I attribute this largely to time zone differences and the different part of the day we are all online. I like the pace, esp when I'm in multiple games

French Scrabble has made it clear that I am in dire need of a better French dictionary. And that high school French class was a REALLY long time ago.

haha I've been playing for a while without realizing that the centre square is a double word square!

Bah, French even crapper at that. Voulez vous jouer Scrabble avec moi alors?

They don't use the same letter sets for English and French, do they? A "K" should be worth a lot more than 5 points in French!

Man, why did I open this again... now I am going to be distracted for another 8 hours of workday.

Sundar, in "real" other-language scrabble, they have different values. here's french, courtesy of wikipedia:

French-language editions of Scrabble contain these 102 tiles:

* 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
* 1 point: E ×15, A ×9, I ×8, N ×6, O ×6, R ×6, S ×6, T ×6, U ×6, L ×5
* 2 points: D ×3, G ×2, M ×3
* 3 points: B ×2, C ×2, P ×2
* 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2
* 8 points: J ×1, Q ×1
* 10 points: K ×1, W ×1, X ×1, Y ×1, Z ×1

Diacritical marks are ignored.

xpost It's keeping me from cleaning my house. I can't bring myself to feel bad about that.

one of my racks is currently "boroque"-- what should i do? throw away a n O, hope for an A or S? play it on the first A in play?

I'm being crushed by nearly everyone. For those of you not crushing me, I thank you. Pls continue to challenge me.

Never fish for letters. Never. Ever. Either dump all (except blanks/Ss) or play as best you can (keeping rack management in mind).

Find a good place to play the Q (double/triple letter, playing in two directions at once, use that QI to your advantage). Or play the BOO -- the RQUE gives you more options than the rest of your letters.

Yeah, I wasn't seriously going to do it-- it sadly ended up being irrelevant, because we used the wrong ictionary and deleted the game :)

Holy shit, that was brilliant, Will.

Why're all you brits using the american word list?

ps who wants a game NOW?

which one was brilliant? when I played spaz? haha yeah, that is the highest score i've ever gotten in scrabble ever.

GET SCRABBLE NOW

- 100% guaranteed SCRABBLE TONIGHT in your local town

- Meet up with singles, couples or even a foursome...SCRABBLE SCRABBLE SCRABBLE, however you like it

- TWL or SOWPODS, we've got just the opponents you need!

- Thousands of users online at any one time

Get online and get SCRABBLING!

"rack management"

p.s. Steve D u r a bastard

^^^^ i concur

Arses. I just did the QI thing with the Q on a triple letter, and pulled an I out of the bag straight after. If I'd had that I, I could have played it down from the Q and got the triple Q twice :-/

I AM SCRABBLE KING!!!!!

omg

Will had DITZ for 42 points. Well done, sir!

Ailsa starting a game with AMPUTEE right off the bat for that many points is just cruel! ;_;

I'm terrible at this.

Aye, sorry about that, I just thought I'd start a game with you, and the letters were just there :-)

I just hit Casuistry with a 91-pointer, if it makes you feel any better (he's still beating me though)

Um, Trayce, I'm so so SO sorry :-/

Hahaha its ok! I'm being arse-reamed at all of my games bar one I'm winning but thats fine, I really am very bad at scrabble :D

just lost by 4 points to dom. he had been 40 points ahead when i idly tossed away my last letter, but he also still had the q and the j. i now realise I could have put that I (in all probability) in a far more propitious place. SUCH AGONY

STOP GIVING ME VOWELS! i swear, steve, i have had the worst letters against you

STOP GIVING ME VOWELS!

^^ OTFM.

I get vowels constantly, you'd think the bag was full of A and I and fuck all else the luck Ive been having ;_;

I got the opposite problem - no tiles left in bag and HLPRTVY on the rack. Point deductions here we come...

OMG steve had the blank YOU WILL PAY IN BLOOD FOR THIS SHIT

my 'blather/bonzer' masterstroke is now a dim and distant memory

i'm sorry!!!

heh, i don't mean it THAT MUCH ;-)

Ailsa, are you ready to post the follow-up to your 91 pointer?

*cries*

(I was hoping you didn't have an S, but that was worse)

I didn't think you'd have a bingo, since we'd played such a ridiculously tight board. But I figured even if you did at least I'd have options to play off, finally, and it was late enough in the game that you wouldn't have time to get a bingo if you didn't have one...

Well, I was more or less right...

Casuistry just countered my 91-pointer with a 92-pointer, bah. I thought I'd pulled the game back right at the last minute as well.

wau

my scrabble skillz are getting better! still, i am without a bingo, but i have had such gems such as "ovum".

m0lly d4hl if you want to hit me up.

What is with this 90 point insanity, the best Ive managed is around the 40 point mark, why I suck.

re: 90 yeah no shit

I don't think I'll ever get a bingo

i got a 95 the other day :P

Woo-hoo! 'Zinc' on a triple word score!

Yeah, Will, it was when you got 98 points for a four-letter word that I was referring to. Judging by this thread, it seems like that's the highest anyone's got. My pleasant lead is a distant, distant memory.

dom passantino: three bingos in his opening 5 moves, one on a triple word-score. even when barred from ilx he torments me...

I am srsly intimidated by all of you now.

i gotta friend dom just for the potential scalp

i've already beaten him, trouble is, he's beaten me 3 times now

HOLY FUCK he's done it again ON ANOTHER TRIPLE WORD SCORE

he is on 507 points

Has everyone taken an hours-long break or does my Scrabulous have issues?

challenge me again, sundar!

sorry Sundar, I haven't checked FB in awhile! Your turn.

Thanks 'Z,' for, y'know, showing up now...y'know, the board sure is full, but I'M SURE IT'LL BE EASY TO FIND SPACE FOR AN EASY LETTER LIKE YOU. Asshole.

dom wins 553-286 :(:(:(:(:(

Dom is deadly at this shit.

That is unbelievable, seriously. Wow.

I start a new game and Dom's first move is a bingo. I ask you.

hax

crap I just made a shit move

84 points on 'Zingy'

:D :D :D

If I remember the trivia correctly, there's about a 1 in 6 chance that your first move will make a bingo. Some suggest that if it doesn't (or make a great point-filled word like QUIZ) that you should just toss all your letters right away and hope for another bingo on the next rack.

I'm within a day or two of being able to play. Do I have to have a Facebook acct?

Sorry I havent had my moves y'all, yesterday was a really horrible day and I wasnt in the mood. I'll try and catch up with all my games this morning. At least you can all beat me if no one else :(

This thread is useful for deciding who to challenge!

Yeah everyone if you need an ego boost just play me. I'm a complete idiot.

SALIENT LJ?? damn. . .I doubt I even spelled that right.

omfg Louis

"SEXTILE" for 83 points :(

haha :D

if it's any consolation, i haven't yet made a bingo on Scrabulous without having to use at least one blank tile.

Has anyone done a challenge game?

That sounds interesting. . .

I'm trying not to be addicted. Sam, you keep setting it up for me to snag the triple words! I don't mind, but I feel a bit guilty :)

I'm much rather play a challenge game. All this dictionary hunting just seems a litte weak.

All my games with Dom have been Challenge.

Um, if you're playing challenge, you can just hop into another non-challenge game and use the dictionary there. Also, SOWPODS and TWL are easily available online.

(I thought about this after RJG started kicking my arse in a challenge game)

You're not supposed to admit cheating, it's online Scrabble's dirty secret.

Actually, I don't mind about the cheating. Me cheating online is making me a better player offline.

Have I mentioned how open dictionary is the only thing that makes Scrabble tolerable?

Dom and I are in a very slow challenge game.

Have I mentioned how open dictionary is the only thing that makes Scrabble tolerable?

I agree on open dictionary, but playing online takes things a bit further as you have tools that'll give you high scoring words you've heard heard of - not quite the same as checking on a word you've actually thought of yourself.

Scrabble rockist :-)

cheat

Open dictionary during Scrabble is like putting money under Free Parking in Monopoly: an abberation.

Open dictionary makes it more of an abstract strategy game than an SAT game.

Dan Perry is sonning me heavily right now. He opened up with a 90 point bingo. OW OW OW

That was seriously lucky, though. I wasn't even sure that was a word!

Playing words that don't exist is, what, 30% of what being a good Scrabble player is about.

I think Sara is still crying in a corner a bit. My first *and* second moves were bingos.

"WHOMPING" is entirely appropriate, Ned. So OTM.

Despite my sadness, I was still able to fill and run the dishwasher. That being said, I'm afraid to see where Ned is going to go next.

"PALLED"

Current score:

Me: 47
Ned: 191

So, so sad. (Well, for me anyway!)

I'm holding my own against Ned... for now.

Bit by bit. I've actually lost more games than I've won, there are some v. good players here.

Meantime, 'sith' is actually a word? I always thought it was some random thing Lucas came up with.

According to the dictionary I looked it up in moments ago, it means "since." But yeah, I had serious questions about whether that was going to work. "Jane" was also a puzzle (hey, it's my mom's NAME), but apparently it's like "girl" or something.

See how much we're learning here? Now you must include these words in future essays.

"Sith You've Been Gone"

On second thought, that is clearly begging to be a song title.

...true.

Okay, I want to play a game. What's the deal, do I have to invite or get invited?

I've been trying to come up with something genius for the past day (four letters left...need to get, like, 60 points or something). :(

Ha ha, Tape Store - I feel your pain!

xpost to Rock Hardy - you can invite someone or get invited, either way. Go into the Scrabulous application and look to see who of your friends is already playing and you can just sort of start a game with them. I think you can also play with people who aren't your Facebook friends as well... hope that helps.

I make so many dumb moves with good words :(

I just created the acct, so I don't have any friends yet. Everybody friend me, I'm W!ll!am Crµmp.

Yea, you can generate a link to invite people to play with you

http://apps.facebook.com/scrabulous/?action=newgame&with=3700497

^ mine

I think ned and i are being too strategic

I think Ned needs to face his former self in combat. HERE IS MY CHALLENGE. Only two people here have yet thrashed me at this (namely, Dan Perry and El Passantino), you ought to be the third.

Dom's about to have his overall lead cut to 3-2, however. His 553-point game was probably one of those freak occurrences.

Dan Perry is insane

^^^^ How is this news?

(OH NOES now Dan will crush me in Scrabble even worse than before)

Rock Hardy, it looks like there are multiple people with your name... very confusing. If you join the ILE group, people will find you more easily.

I think ned and i are being too strategic

Yeah, probably!

I think Ned needs to face his former self in combat.

No, probably not!

Too late...I've sent a friend request! Prepare to feel my grandiloquence!

Thank you, no.

Wait, how many people IS Ned?!

ooh, BURNED!

I think Ned needs to face his former self in combat.

This would be a good movie. Usenet Ned talking to ILXor Ned about music while playing scrabble.

wait didn't pixar do that already!?>!?1

That is the strangest interpretation of Monsters, Inc. I've ever heard.

Fire up Photoshop, someone.

Does anyone play go?

duxes/xu/ska with the x on a triple-letter score, fairly impressed with myself there! :D

xpost

i was interested in go and played against the computer on a 9x9 board for a while, but i bet i'd be pretty lost on a full-size board.

I play go. Not well.

xxpost

Open dictionary makes it more of an abstract strategy game than an SAT game.

It's never been an SAT game! SAT words are all like 12 letters long. It's more like a Maleska-era NYTimes horrorfest. "It's an Arab leaf, quite hallucinogenic, I hear!"

Scrabble IS an abstract strategy game, a math game. But one where the math is tempered by your sense of language. That's why it's interesting.

but playing online takes things a bit further as you have tools that'll give you high scoring words you've heard heard of

If you're doing something other than thinking up a word and seeing if it's in the dictionary, that seems like cheating to me (because at that point you might as well let the computer do it) (also, where "cheating" means "not much fun" rather than "morally wrong").

most awesome scrabble/scrabulous moment of my life just occurred:

i got VAGINA for 12 points!

sizeable...

dude louis DON'T pass two turns in a row when there's only a couple of points difference between us and i've only got one letter left!! can't believe you gave me that game.

You know what, blueski? I had one letter left for both gos, and that letter was 'v'. IT. DID. NOT. GO. ANYWHERE. I should have played it earlier when I had the chance; I'd have won comfortably.

those scabulous games just last a-g-e-s. Like, days.

That's twice in two games I've had bingos with nowhere to put them.

i have heard "a bingo" described as "a scrabble". what is the official term? *is* there an official term?

You know what, blueski? I had one letter left for both gos, and that letter was 'v'.

haha fair enough then. unlucky!

ok the amount of times i'm winning games just by playing my last letters first and then getting the points from the other player's remaining letters is getting silly now (sorry ailsa)

Rack management is probably the most important skill that needs learning to play Scrabble.

truly yours is a rack that won't quit

Sounds like bullying to me.

I'm sucking at this sooo bad. I blame it on too many games at once and not being able to think through my moves. You are all making me feel stupid.

I also giggle every time I see "your rack".

rack off (xp)

*cries*

I had a good word to play after that, but I thought I'd nab the triple word score before you did - didn't realise you would have finished off and nabbed my J points etc. Bad tactics :-/

Would there be any remote interest in some sort of ladder/elo scoring set up to chart the results of all these inter-ILx games?

I also giggle every time I see "your rack".

-- Ms Misery, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 8:51 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

im glad its not just me

Would there be any remote interest in some sort of ladder/elo scoring set up to chart the results of all these inter-ILx games?

let me

1= Dom Passantino
1= Dan Perry
2= everyone else

LJ seems pretty fierce.

Have you not played the DPs yet? They're like murder with seven tiles.

I've yet to get a seven-tile word!

I justr installed it but am afraidf to send out invites. I fear I'll only bother people cause I suxor at it. :-(

Ned is pretty awesome as well. (I still haven't recovered from him starting off with WARKING and then following that up with WHOMPING.)

I have yet to have a 7 tile word. And it would be nice if I could at least beat my husband! Sigh.

Nathalie, I suck at this, you should play with me.

I also suck, you'd have no problem playing me.

alright, who is using anagram generators?

i just got a bingo!!

MOTIVEs

I'm mediocre at best and bored at work. I don't know how to find many of you on Facebook but I'm easy to find.

k who wants to make a java settlers facebook app?

So far today I have got to use lez, busty and erection. And, before he finished off too quickly against me, I had jism all lined up for blueski.

(this is my gift to the out of context thread)

someone please play with me. :-(

ill play with you nath but my responses are SLOW because facebook is blocked at work

Meanwhile Charlie Brooker completely OTM

Just friended you, nathalie.

(I only just discovered that there's a dictionary next to the board!)

I might play with later Nath, I'm trying to wrap up some other games before starting new ones.

my 'joxey' word is 'fezactrim', which would have fetched me about 170 points during a game way back when. i also have far too much pride to use something like 'scrabble solver'. at the very most i'll check a word to see if it exists.

Dom is way better than I am.

i've been "soft cheating" a bit since the dictionary is included in the app. the ability of anyone to super-hard-cheat undetected (using a scrabble board solving algorithm) plus the days-to-weeks game durations has mostly killed my interest.

i don't really mind if people 'cheat' and look up words/list of words based on their selection. it's not like we can choose our letters so there's still the luck element plus rack management/tactics as Dom mentioned upthread.

I'm strongly thinking about joining the London Scrabble League, but I worry that it'll involve mainly hanging out with the elderly and the Asperger's-riddled.

can't...think of...suitable...zing...

i would do well to score over 120 in a real life game where i couldn't look anything up to be honest. having/being able to take loads of time to think of a word is the real killer.

Louis is kicking my ass, I have nowhere to put any of my letters ;_;

hanging out with the elderly

I think Scrabble geeks refer to them as Blue Hairs.

Yeah, one thing I'm discovering (mostly because Dom does it so much) is that denying your opponent an easy high-scoring outlet is just as important as scoring big yourself.

I'd like to add that the overall score between myself and the aforementioned London Scrabble League youth prospect currently stands at 3-3 with two further closely-fought games nearing their respective conclusions...

Sara, I just started a game with you! YAY! I SUXOR BEDLAY!

YAY!

stevienixed, I just noticed now that you'd accepted my friend request. I have to leave work in 5 min and prob won't be back on this evening but we'll continue the game tomorrow.

There are ways of dealing with people who are keeping the board closed.

in one of my games (not with anyone here) my hand contains q-u-e-t-z-a and there's an open L on the board near a double word score, and I am actually really excited-- am I a junkie?

I'd like to add that the overall score between myself and the aforementioned London Scrabble League youth prospect currently stands at 3-3 with two further closely-fought games nearing their respective conclusions...

5-3.

:(

i was totally winning one of them until dom came up with 'qat' on a triple-letter score. what i'm discovering is that in order to beat dom, you have to beat him well. all my victories have been fairly convincing, but he's nabbed all the close ones and then thrashed me a couple of times for good measure. i think closing out a hand is an art-form i haven't quite gotten round to understanding yet.

stevienixed, I just noticed now that you'd accepted my friend request. I have to leave work in 5 min and prob won't be back on this evening but we'll continue the game tomorrow.

No problem at all! :-D

There are ways of dealing with people who are keeping the board closed.

-- Casuistry, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 3:06 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

tell me your secretsssss

Well, it's generally better play to keep the board open, because both sides will get better opportunities for higher scores, and then it boils down to good rack management and luck (and knowing your wordlists, if it's closed dictionary).

Anyway the ideal things are to force your opponent to open the board, or to open the board dramatically at some point -- ideally when you think you are close to a bingo rack or when you suspect your opponent doesn't have a good hand (perhaps after playing a word with a lot of strong tiles in it - ERS etc.).

Or open the board in such a way that it puts more than one choice square up for grabs. (Similarly, if someone makes a triple available but you don't have a good play for it, why not make ANOTHER triple available while improving your rack? That way even if your opponent uses one there'll be another left for you -- and perhaps you'll have the better rack to take advantage of it.)

hurrah, I just played the word WANKS against Matt DC.

I think Scrabble geeks refer to them as Blue Hairs

Think? THINK? Admit it, you are a Scrabble geek and you know this stuff :-)

I am not good enough at Scrabble to be a geek. I find it a fascinating game but I don't even have the inclination to learn the 2 letter words.

I tried Literati on Yahoo games the other day. It's an interesting rip off but I don't like the positioning of the bonus squares, or the fact that I managed to draw 3 Qs in one game.

I appear to have a new addiction as far as scrabble goes... I apparently love setting up five letter words off the first play that allow me to play off of them later for the triple. In a previous game, I played drill and hoped I'd get m-a-n before everyone else, and I just cashed in on quest by getting i-?-n.

i accidentally just played "sw" in a challenge game. i fail.

"Fandango" for 92 pts!

(Thank you, Queen.)

(Not that that's exceptional by this thread's standards but it is by mine.)

Sundar, sorry I suxor so badly in this game. :-( English isn't my first English. Just remember that. And Sara, please be soft and gentle on me as well. I'll lose anyway. :-)

Also, I'm not sure if my rules are right. Can I use the past tense for example? Or do plural? :-(

try. if it doesn't let you, then there you go.:)

And Sara, please be soft and gentle on me as well. I'll lose anyway.

You're ahead of me already! You'll be fiiiiiine...

You're not doing badly, stevienixed! (AFAIK, plural and past tense forms are fine.)

As long as you have the plural/past tense/etc spelled correctly, it's completely valid-- they're all words, and everything that's an English word is accepted. In fact, of the 20 most popular bingos in the game, something like 19 of them end in things like -ies, -ing, stuff like that. I forget where I heard that though.

I am stupid ... where is the button to see which squares are the triple word, triple letter etc??

blue: letter
red: word

light: 2x
dark: 3x

thanks

You can also just hold down control, click on the board and choose "numbered board." (I can never keep straight any of the color coding...)

oh, i didn't know that. that's easier.

Thanks for the tip. Also, is there anyone who wants to play. Warning, i have never played scrabble in my life :D

Now you can use all of your BRANE POWER to make words!

(This does not seem to be helping me much, however.)

xpost

heh, I'm always happy to play, but I'm terrible at it, so you won't learn any good tricks from me...

I've played "stout" and "foamy" vs. Sundar, I think I need to go get myself a beer tonight or something. My brain is telling me.

haha I just noticed that. That's great.

Obviously a sign from the SCRABBLE GODS

You can go to settings and make it show numbered board by default

I is bored. Who wants to play me? I am kinda average at this.

(I've signed up to real non-facebook scrabulous too, but have the fear a bit)

I'm below par (am I currently playing you ailsa?)

Does anyone else just randomly put letters on the board to see if they're words?

haha Sam, no, I don't. What I do, is put'em up and stare at it. Don't ask me a sane reason cause I don't have one. This is just sleep deprivation and pregnancy taking over. I know it is wrong because according to the "strict rules" you can not do that, right? Once placed, you HAVE TO KEEP'EM ON as though they are glued on the board. So when I do it, then I feel very FERRY guilty. :-) But not so much cause I know I'll lose the game anyway. hah. I have to pratice some more. We used to play (in dutch) on a daily basis but it's been ages and I'm rusty as a result.

No you don't! at least not on this version. You can clear tiles. Also, when it tells you invalid word, you have to try again or pass, it won't submit it.

No? Man, my husband has been feeding me these rules just to WIN! :-) (If you placed it and it's wrong: TUFF SHIT, chance ruined.)

Maybe that's true for the RL version.

Just in the Married Couples rules, I think.

Sam, no you aren't playing me just now. Also, you know there's a built-in dictionary so you can check and see if things are words before you play them (unless you're playing a challenge game in which case it's disabled, as is the "chucking the word off if you've made it up" feature, to allow people to go "hang on, you've just made that up" like what you do in real life)

Nath, doesn't your Scrabble box have the rules written in the lid?

I'm too lazy to use the dictionary. ;)

You're on, ailsa (and for the first time ever, I scored a bingo on the first word.)

Aye, I noticed :-/ I didn't realise you could play with people who aren't in your friends list. How did you do that?

oh, OK, you've added me as a friend. I get it now. Ignore ^^^

Actually, I challenged you to a game before adding you as a friend. IIRC I saw you listed in Chris' games and challenged you.

Worst thing ever = being one letter away from a bingo but that one last letter not being anywhere on the board, bah.

Grrr, I am being pwned by Sundar due to having the worst possible letters ever every turn :-(

Don't you hate it when people blame the letters when they get pwned?

are you my friend on facebook?

Hey, I don't see you joining in this scrabbling. Seriously, I have had nothing but vowels and all the shitty letters from the off.

xpost

I just suck plain and simple.

I hope to improve though. My vocabulary has taken a nose dive since SAT days.

*cries*

"Scrabulous is taking a Coffee Break!

We will be back by 18:00 GMT.

Here's your chance to finally do some work! "

I DON'T HAVE ANY WORK!

I got that too!

Bastards.

Oh well, I'm about to go bowling. :)

Hey, I don't see you joining in this scrabbling. Seriously, I have had nothing but vowels and all the shitty letters from the off.

I'm at work, I think I can just about get away with ILX on screen but not Scrabble. I tried playing on non-Facebook Scrabulous again the other night and it kept freezing plus everyone seemed to have seriously high ratings.

Learn some vowel dumps. Give opponents some credit.

I don't know a lot of vowel dumps but some of the ones I use often:

aria
oboe
urea
aeon
titi (not REALLY a vowel dump but you understand)

Of course, if you have a rack of just the letter U and I, why not throw the whole thing back in the bag?

AALIIS and AUREUS are great for ridding yourself of horrible 'I's and 'U's.

*writes down all these words*

I *am* learning! Also, bemoaning the shittiness of my racks is not taking anything away from Sundar, and I'm sorry if I've given the impression I'm actually being rude rather than just being whiny and flippant. Keep yr wig on :-)

(I did dump a couple of vowels and got a different couple of vowels in return)

is aaliis a plural?

still down :(

I really hope this comes back soon. I am getting antsy! I am remembering that addiction feeling!

woohoo!

Java applet freezes while loading on Firefox and I get auto logged out on IE.

"Your previous login has not timed out. Possibly because there was a problem in your internet connection. Please logout and try logging in again."

Shitty error messages that make no sense C/D.

Fuck it.

It makes sense, you're trying to log in when your previous login hasn't yet timed out? Therefore making two active sessions which is just CrAaAaAaAzYsAuCe? Try again now anyway.

It appears all of the people I play w/ haven't noticed it's back up again so I started another grudge match with El Jay and another with the mummenshanzer.

oh man, i feel like a dick... i joined this one game, and the lady's like "no cheaters! i don't want to play against someone who's just going to keep using up all of their letters." so i start a game with her, and my rack's like tpponia, and i am like "i will just put point" then the "ap" are just lying there and I am like :(((( APPOINT

It makes sense, you're trying to log in when your previous login hasn't yet timed out? Therefore making two active sessions which is just CrAaAaAaAzYsAuCe? Try again now anyway.

Tried logging out and deleting cookies etc and the same thing keeps happening.

xpost - wait, how is using your letters up cheating? Isn't that sort of the point?!

I assume people were cheating and doing it over and over with obscure words that they learned from websites made to help you cheat.

"tiles not connected" on every play! aarrghh! (<-- valid scrabble word btw)

if this happens log out/back in

Yeah, me too. I had such a great word. haha Not really. But now I forgot it. :-(

what do the colored squares mean?

Make your settings show numbered board. They show where you can multiply letter and word values.

I think I should go play a bunch of literati games to get my chops back. Dan started a game with me and I immediately fell into my constipated defensive style of play when I was faced with a C in my opening rack.

I'm not on Facebook and afraid of it cuz I spend so much time here and on myspace already but I lurv scrabble. Maybe I'll have to do it. I'm a little skeered.

Ok, I have an account and I found Scrabulous. Ms Misery, how do I find you on there?

search 'i love everything' on the groups option and you'll find ms misery in the members. and join the group! ;)

I haven't made a move in a week...I have six tables going on. I hate myself. :(

thanks, rubyredd!

I get 500+ groups when I search for "i love everything"

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2382779449

hope this works ;)

also, i am 'just1n3 paul' if you want to add me

i joined a random person in a game

bingo: CRANIUMS

Dom Pa$$antino has successfully challenged "SHOFGEUI" in Scrabble Game #446680

hahaha

i got away with 'failrate' the other day, your one's probably a bit too far-fetched even with the elite code of honour in place.

what do you do if the opponent keeps giving up their turn and you only have a C and there's nowhere to put it? How do you end the game?

In theory you're supposed to be able to pass three times and that'll end the game. In practice, I think that part of the program is broken?

it works - you keep passing and after 3 times the game ends.

The moment anyone I am playing proves they are better than average I will start sulking and stop playing :p

petrajane sed i had to do this or she wouldn't marry me -- i joined scrabulous, do i have to join facebook to find you guys?

ok i am dub dob dee on facebook

whoo, I am playing four games now. This slo-mo scrabble is taking some getting used to, though.

I need to drop Petra Jane a line, it has been too long!

I am playing 10, but several are dragging and I think at least three have been abandoned by the opposition.

i still have worked out how to actually play a game, which is good for my productivity (it has been zero today for OTHER REASONS) but presumably a bad indicator re my uh skeez

my finest hour
http://lolrider.com/images/113.jpg

Are you playing dirty scrabble or something? If so, I am not cooking Indian food around you ever.

I am sorry, scrabblo fiends, I have been too otherwise distracted to have my goes lately. I really must catch up. You're all too damn good.

I'm VERY willing to play anyone! I'm crap so keep that in mind. If you want a sure win, pick me! :-)

Oh btw I'm stevie nixed on facebook.

Note to all my opponents: I have not abandoned you but must cut my scrabble time drastically. Work is intense and I need now to only play during lunch and since my wireless is down at home I can't really play there. Sorry, dudes. :(

My suckiness shall boost your statistics again soon.

Hope work gets less stressful soon - and that your wireless at home is soon repaired!

Due to extremely high loads, we are currently adding on another server to this application. Service is temporarily interrupted. Please check back in a few hours.

lol ilx kilt it

nobody impressed by my 113 pointer? :(

that was a nice one, ken c.

Dude, I was impressed and intimidated and amazed. WOW!

it's back! and it's running like a very fast thing right now (9:00 GMT) i guess cos no one is playing cos they think it's still broke...

I caught up last night since my computer was fixed. Play your moves against me as boy is going out of town and I'll be scrabbling tonight.

Can I just reiterate that I suck at this game but still want to play anyone willing to trample all over me?

just sent you a friend request, nath!

I think you're beating me nath!

Nath, consider yourself challenged!

Last move was SLEWING by William C for 111 points.

Meanwhile, Dan is schooling me on an alternative spelling of baritone.

DANG P 401
WILLIAM C 395

Really good game!

I have challenged nath, too. Despite being quite wordy, I manage to be terrible at Scrabble, so you shouldn't have too difficult a time.

note to self: do not play dan or rock hardy

I CALL SHENANIGANS because I thought I still had a turn left! ;_;

(good game, tho, that last play you made was KILLER)

i suck so badly at scrabble but don't frigging care. :-) the only pos thing for others who play me: you have an assured win so that'll up your rankings. ;-)

Not quite killer enough, though. I enjoyed the game so much I took a screen shot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/WilliamCrump63/scrabdanp.jpg

Dan started strong (PISSOIR, BARYTONE) and I finished strong (UNHEEDED, RECLINED). I used my 3rd-to-last turn to dump the Q, but Dan was able to use it, which made all the difference.

God, I drool at those words. Wish English was my first language (hahahaha as if that would change my chances). :-)

The same Dan who was battling me for last place in the Literati tournament?;)

No, different Dan.

God Dan. Give up ur Literati addiction! Weak etc

HELLO! Everyone can beat me. Come challenge me to boost your stats. I'm being clobbered. :(

hah! A bit like me then. I realize that my biggest mistake is not playing tactical.

You're kicking my ass!!!!

I know. All the rest I'm losing. I guess with you I was lucky. We'll play again to test it out. :-)

Don't think I'll get used to the slow pace. I like 3:00/turn time limit games better.

You did great towards the end, stevienixed. (And I did terribly, with an all-vowel rack that I didn't even use as well as I could have.) I started a new game in any case.

ms misery is kicking my ass by about 60pts. and i'm losing my two other games. what the hell is is a 'weskit'??

weskit = waistcoat

ptee put "obo" on our game as part of a v/wantable cluster of words and i wz so sleepy last night i didn't spot and didn't challenge and played my turn

i am quite happy to believe it is some kind of owl or something but starry will kick my ass if i let ptee LIE his way to a win!

MONGOLIAN PRAYER CAIRN of course, same as ALL OTHER WORDS YOU DON'T KNOW

hello challenge me if you like - i've found out how to get it working at work again so like, BRING it on

Me as well, I am procrasinating like mad just now and only have two games on the go.

i think i better wait till i get back from france b4 i go wide on playin everyone -- it seems a bit unfair to doom yall to two weeks hiatus the moment we start

it's ok - we can now do a FORCE WIN after 7 days of inactivity! (hi everyone who is playing mark s now take note ;))

ms misery is now beating me by 80 freakin' points :(

Ha, I have FORCED WINS over a few folk (sorry, y'all), but have gracefully decided not to do so to kv_nol since I know he's on holiday.

RJG 336
Steve M 337

yet another win by clearing rack first but v enjoyable affair with tense climax

http://lolrider.com/images/scrab.jpg

HAHA that's our game!! now i know what letters you have!!

waitaminute HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS???

haha! from that 2 point letter tile on the board???

i am teh psychic of ilx.

Sundar, thanks!I realize I could do better, but I'm extremely absentminded (read: actually should be working). :-(

Where's Farrell, he hasn't played a move in our game in over a week.

FORCE WIN!

IT HAS CROSSED MY MIND although he's winning by 60 points so it would hardly be fair. I've twice nearly clicked it instead of "view board".

ms misery is now beating me by 80 freakin' points :(

Sorry to rub in that you're about the only one I'm beating. You've just started though right? You'll be kicking my ass in no time.

apologies to anyone here I forced win. I needed the boost.

Bugger Ailsa. I should take my turn. I will now. Sorry.

Waitaminute. Louis, did you force win? You sneaky swine. You should have taken your hiding like a man! No more scrabble with you EVER!

What galls is that it was your turn for over a week!

oh wait, so you can NOT play for a week, and then FORCE WIN?

I thought you'd quit for good, and I wasn't letting such a massive points difference go to waste!

I promise I won't do it again, if you fancy picking on a sitting duck like me again...

Kv_nol is lying about me not playing for a week, it was more like 3 days. And no, Ken, you can't. It was he who hadn't played.

ken: four words in one hit and you only got 9 points?? you suck.

I think that has something to do with how Scrabble scores although I'm not that familiar with the rules.

no, i'm just kicking ken's ass.

you're beating me by 80 points now!!

Louis: Not a chance. Find someone else to cheat thanks! It was also more than 3 days. For shame etc.

well done stevem

no, i'm just kicking ken's ass.

I'm just giving you a chance darling ;)