Scrabble Kerfuffle!

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Three-letter word sparks scramble at televised Scrabble championship
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It wasn’t a four-letter word but it was close enough to cause a stir at the National Scrabble Championship on Thursday.
In the final round, eventual champion Trey Wright played the word “lez,” which was on a list of offensive words not allowed during the tournament.
Normally, no word is off-limits but because the games were being taped for broadcast on ESPN, certain terms had been deemed inappropriate, including the three-letter slang for lesbian.
“There are words you just can’t show on television,” Scrabble Association executive irector John Williams said.
Wright, a 30-year-old concert pianist from Los Angeles, played the word and then drew two replacement tiles so quickly the referee didn’t notice at first. When he did, he said the slang term had to go.
ESPN officials told Williams the word could stay but the issue was Wright had already selected new tiles.
“He violated the rules. But there were also people who were upset that the word was played,” Williams said.
Eric Chaiken, a tournament participant and director of Word Wars, a documentary about the Scrabble championship, said the definition of “offensive” was open to interpretation.
“The ultimate absurdity is that you can’t play the word ‘redskins’ on ESPN,” he said.
Williams spoke with Wright and his opponent, David Gibson, then called an emergency meeting of the Scrabble Advisory Board. The board unanimously agreed to remove the word. Wright then returned the two tiles he had selected and played a different word, Williams said.
“We kind of took two steps back,” he said.
Wright, using more innocent words like feijoa (an evergreen shrub) and zebu (a domesticated ox), won the best-of-five final round in three games and pocketed a $25,000 prize.
“Meaning has no consideration when I play,” Wright said.

― Huck, Friday, 6 August 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

They should just move the Scrabble tournaments to late-nite programming.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Next on HBO - 'Real Sex' "Scrabble Time!"

― Michael White (Hereward), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I like that, ordinarily, "lez" is an acceptable word.

― Huck, Friday, 6 August 2004 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Drunken slang. As in "Lez jusht shit down here. M'legs 's tard."

― Michael White (Hereward), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Our new hero:

http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/players/w/wright_trey.jpeg

― Huck, Friday, 6 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

“Meaning has no consideration when I play"

I expected him to be more borg-like.

― Michael White (Hereward), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

heh, i was best friends with him in junior high/high school. he's an eccentric genius type of fellow, lots of fun. the last time i saw him, ten years ago... he came over and we played scrabble.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

...and then lezzed up!

― Huck, Friday, 6 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's weird that 'lez' is allowed, not because it's "dirty," but because it's, um, not really a word. Isn't it like slang or an abbreviation or something?

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

slang is in fact made up of words.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

What about "What's the 411, girlfriend?" That has some numbers in it too.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I have an idea: lezzy strip scrabble!

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

all-number scrabble quickly gets tiresome.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"I had an E, 2 Gs, an I, an R, an X and a Z. The only word on the board was 'CAN'. What was I supposed do, spell 'RICE'?"

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 6 August 2004 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

GINGER?

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Sunday, 8 August 2004 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

is "asshat" allowed? or "cockfarmer"?

― ken c (ken c), Sunday, 8 August 2004 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

One of the mongrels is Australian scrabble champion, you know. We need him here.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Edward O to thread!!!!!

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Here's some context. Back a few years ago, the Yanks posted the third edition of their dictionary, but they removed all offensive words. Tournament players still continued to use an unexpurgated version of the dictionary.

Because the final was to be televised, both players were given a list of words that would not be allowed - this including all the words you can't have on TV, but also relatively minor nasties like LEZ. Strictly speaking, ESPN didn't have a problem with LEZ but since it was on the list of words not allowed given to the finalists, it was decided to err on the side of safety.

Needless to say, I think it's disgraceful. If I was in the final of a major event and I needed a word like LEZ to win and was denied it I would fucking play it and tell the TV people to fuck off.

In 2001, web coverage of the World Championships was censored - FUCK was played in a featured game but BUCK appeared on the site.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:20 (twenty-one years ago)

scrabble ideologist!

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:21 (twenty-one years ago)

They should've replaced it with "beep".

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:22 (twenty-one years ago)

It's just lucky it was in game 3 of a 3-0 finals win otherwise it would be sparking massive debate. Actually it is causing a bit of discussion on a lot of the Scrabble email lists.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:25 (twenty-one years ago)

what do you think of 3-d scabble edward?

*ducks*

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:26 (twenty-one years ago)

It is an abomination.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:27 (twenty-one years ago)

conservative

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

That sounds like the kind of game Terrence McKenna would play while on DMT.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I am a Scrabble fascist in a way, but not as much as the fascistic American Scrabble association.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 8 August 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

BEST THREAD EVER!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 8 August 2004 11:16 (twenty-one years ago)

We saw "Word Wars" a couple of weeks ago - truly amazing movie. It made me want to play Scrabble (preferably with someone bad who I could beat).

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Sunday, 8 August 2004 21:34 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

this week's Imagine, the bbc1 arts programme (tuesday, 11:35) is all about Scrabble.

(am wondering whether the footage that they shot in the lexington a month or so ago will turn up here)

― koogs, Monday, 21 December 2009 08:41 (fifteen years ago)

"I had an E, 2 Gs, an I, an R, an X and a Z. The only word on the board was 'CAN'. What was I supposed do, spell 'RICE'?"

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, August 6, 2004 8:28 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark

ZINGER, iirc.

― ian, Monday, 21 December 2009 16:37 (fifteen years ago)

Actually, depending on where bonus spaces fall, you might be better off with ZIG/ZA, since you'd get at least 20 points from the Z.

― Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc), Monday, 21 December 2009 16:41 (fifteen years ago)

this week's Imagine, the bbc1 arts programme (tuesday, 11:35) is all about Scrabble.
(am wondering whether the footage that they shot in the lexington a month or so ago will turn up here)

i put in "ARSE" and "FL_NGE" (and a convoluted way of placing the tiles for "COUNT"....) while they were filming our game that day... i hope that'll appear!

― I sb'ed your mum (ken c), Monday, 21 December 2009 18:00 (fifteen years ago)

no one would play the A in can adjacent to a double letter score would they?!?!

― ian, Monday, 21 December 2009 18:37 (fifteen years ago)

Pre-empting the Yentobbery with a photo of the game filmed for the BBC docu...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/4110781306_df0041d744.jpg

― Michael Jones, Monday, 21 December 2009 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

"I had an E, 2 Gs, an I, an R, an X and a Z. The only word on the board was 'CAN'. What was I supposed do, spell 'RICE'?"
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, August 6, 2004 8:28 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark
ZINGER, iirc.
― ian, Monday, December 21, 2009 8:37 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Actually, depending on where bonus spaces fall, you might be better off with ZIG/ZA, since you'd get at least 20 points from the Z.
― Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc), Monday, December 21, 2009 8:41 AM (3 hours ago)

ian's right, ospd4 ("ZA") wasn't published until may05 iirc

― quiet and secretively we will always be together (Steve Shasta), Monday, 21 December 2009 19:53 (fifteen years ago)

i recently played my first ever IRL scrabble games with an ilxor, 69, who I've played countless times on scrabulous and fb scrabble.

the first game he wiped the floor with me (3 bingos and both blanks to my 1 lousy sub-80pt bingo), but i saved face with a second game comeback victory.

― quiet and secretively we will always be together (Steve Shasta), Monday, 21 December 2009 19:55 (fifteen years ago)

ZA was such a stupid word to add. (/challops)

― abanana, Monday, 21 December 2009 20:39 (fifteen years ago)

no, it was, i agree

― that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Monday, 21 December 2009 20:40 (fifteen years ago)

after ospd4 hit the stands, i wrote a letter to Hasbro proposing V₄ (the only >3 point letter that doesn't form a 2 letter word) be raised in value.

i never heard back shockingly..

― quiet and secretively we will always be together (Steve Shasta), Monday, 21 December 2009 21:38 (fifteen years ago)

Has anyone ever heard a pizza called a 'za' before ospd4?

― just a moonful of sugar (Abbott), Monday, 21 December 2009 23:59 (fifteen years ago)

Or after?

― just a moonful of sugar (Abbott), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 00:00 (fifteen years ago)

The Nintendo DS version of Scrabble is really well done. They give you the definition of whatever word you play, meaning I can now define 'qi' quite succinctly ("The force that in Chinese thought is the essence in all things"). I find it amusing that they always give you the verb definition, wherever possible, of whatever word you play, ie 'to arrange ona plate' if you play "plate," por ejemplo.

― just a moonful of sugar (Abbott), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 00:02 (fifteen years ago)

there's a local restaurant here called zza's. what a horrible horrible name.

― wmlynch, Tuesday, 22 December 2009 00:03 (fifteen years ago)

xxxxp it's a chicago thing?

― ┌∩┐(◕_◕)┌∩┐ (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 00:04 (fifteen years ago)

i've heard people say 'za many times.

― ian, Tuesday, 22 December 2009 04:03 (fifteen years ago)

It's all about QI bitchez

― $hatner's Bassoon (Pillbox), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 04:07 (fifteen years ago)

xxxxp it's a chicago thing?

I thought it was a Seventeen magazine thing. Like "'rents."

― Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 04:15 (fifteen years ago)

In my mind it sounds like a word someone invented for a wacky neighbor/stoner tv character to say. "Totally gonna nom on some wisked zas, bro!"

― just a moonful of sugar (Abbott), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 04:41 (fifteen years ago)

I am terribly grateful to Chicago & whatever other areas adopted it, however, as it's a choice Z dump.

― just a moonful of sugar (Abbott), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 04:42 (fifteen years ago)

big fan of zee and zed over here.

― ian, Tuesday, 22 December 2009 06:30 (fifteen years ago)

^ this

remember za as a word in use by vans-wearing/rattail-having fake surfer peeps in the 80s

― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 07:25 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/Peeps.jpg

― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 07:29 (fifteen years ago)

remember za as a word in use by vans-wearing/rattail-having fake surfer peeps in the 80s
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Monday, December 21, 2009 11:25 PM (15 minutes ago)

...perhaps you were mishearing "brah"?

― ┌∩┐(◕_◕)┌∩┐ (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 22 December 2009 07:42 (fifteen years ago)

this apparently did feature k.chu. i was watching screenwipe.

― koogs, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 07:48 (fifteen years ago)

It's not scheduled for a repeat (at least not in the next week) but it is on iPlayer.

― Madchen, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 14:31 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

just laid down EBONICS on ian iirc

― 69, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 19:02 (fourteen years ago)

dick move

― one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 19:21 (fourteen years ago)

Recently legitimized word? It's not in my Scrabble dictionary (3rd ed).

― what made my hamburger disappear (WmC), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 19:45 (fourteen years ago)

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