Just invent a login and away you go. I appear to be the only person not using a daft alias, but never mind.
Challenge me, I need to stop feeling smug with my 100% record....
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 09:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 09:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
and mark just bingo'ed. gr
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 10:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
actually come to think of it this is good as i have much to do IWL!!
― mark s (mark s), Friday, 13 December 2002 11:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 11:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
sorry, you are whooping my slow ass, and will win no doubt. i am rubbish
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 11:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Friday, 13 December 2002 11:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 12:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
Here is the official line (taken from a readme from my own scrabble game for RiscOS!)
The valid two-letter words always cause arguments. According to the makers ofthe Scrabble® game, there are a 109 2-letter words that are acceptable in theBritish English version of their game. Interestingly, though there are only 96in the North American version, it is not a sub-set: there are 12 extra wordsnot in the British English version (AB AG AL DE ED ET HM MM OP PE UH YA).The only significance of the lowercase words is that they are deemed 'commonplace'.AA rough, cindery lavaAD advertisementAE one (Scottish)AH expresses delightAI three-toed slotham form of 'to be'an indefinite articleas to the same degreeat in the position ofAR the letter 'R'AW expresses protestAX cutting toolAY affirmative voteBA (Egyptian) eternal soulbe to have actualityBI a bisexualBO a palby prepositionCH obsolete pronounDA Burmese knifeDI plural of deusdo the verbEA running waterEE eye (Scottish)EF the letter 'F'EH expresses doubtEL elevated railroadEM the letter 'M'EN the letter 'N'ER expresses hesitationES the letter 'S'EX the letter 'X'FA a tone of the scaleFY interjectionGI judo/karate outfitgo to move alongGU Shetland violinHA sound of surprisehe male personhi used as a greetingHO expresses surpriseID part of the psycheif a possibilityin the prepositionIO an interjectionis form of 'to be'it neuter pronounJO sweetheartKA (Egyptian) spiritual selfKO Maori digging stickKY cow (Scottish)LA tone of the scaleLI Chinese unit of distanceLO expresses surpriseMA motherme personal pronounMI tone of the scaleMO a momentMU a Greek lettermy possessive pronounNA no; notNE born with the name ofno a negative replyNU a Greek letterNY archaic 'nigh'OB an objectionOD a hypothetical forceOE Faeroe Islands whirlwindof coming fromOH to exclaim in surpriseOI interjection to grab atentionOM a mantraon the prepositionOO we (Scottish)or alternativeOS a boneOU interjection (Scottish)OW expresses painox the animalOY expresses dismayPA fatherPH measure of acidity (allowed because the p is lower case!)PI a Greek letterPO chamberpotQI life forceRE a tone of the scaleSH urges silenceSI ti (a tone of the scale)so sol (a tone of the scale)ST interjectionTA expresses gratitudeTE alternative spelling of TITI a tone of the scaleto in the direction ofUG arouse loathingUM indicates hesitationUN oneup to raiseUR interjectionus personal pronounUT note in music (archaic)we pronounWO woeXI a Greek letterXU Vietnamese currency (apparently)ye pronoun (archaic)YO used to call attentionYU precious jadeZO Himalayan animal
The only significance of the lowercase words is that they are deemed 'commonplace'.
AA rough, cindery lavaAD advertisementAE one (Scottish)AH expresses delightAI three-toed slotham form of 'to be'an indefinite articleas to the same degreeat in the position ofAR the letter 'R'AW expresses protestAX cutting toolAY affirmative voteBA (Egyptian) eternal soulbe to have actualityBI a bisexualBO a palby prepositionCH obsolete pronounDA Burmese knifeDI plural of deusdo the verbEA running waterEE eye (Scottish)EF the letter 'F'EH expresses doubtEL elevated railroadEM the letter 'M'EN the letter 'N'ER expresses hesitationES the letter 'S'EX the letter 'X'FA a tone of the scaleFY interjectionGI judo/karate outfitgo to move alongGU Shetland violinHA sound of surprisehe male personhi used as a greetingHO expresses surpriseID part of the psycheif a possibilityin the prepositionIO an interjectionis form of 'to be'it neuter pronounJO sweetheartKA (Egyptian) spiritual selfKO Maori digging stickKY cow (Scottish)LA tone of the scaleLI Chinese unit of distanceLO expresses surpriseMA motherme personal pronounMI tone of the scaleMO a momentMU a Greek lettermy possessive pronounNA no; notNE born with the name ofno a negative replyNU a Greek letterNY archaic 'nigh'OB an objectionOD a hypothetical forceOE Faeroe Islands whirlwindof coming fromOH to exclaim in surpriseOI interjection to grab atentionOM a mantraon the prepositionOO we (Scottish)or alternativeOS a boneOU interjection (Scottish)OW expresses painox the animalOY expresses dismayPA fatherPH measure of acidity (allowed because the p is lower case!)PI a Greek letterPO chamberpotQI life forceRE a tone of the scaleSH urges silenceSI ti (a tone of the scale)so sol (a tone of the scale)ST interjectionTA expresses gratitudeTE alternative spelling of TITI a tone of the scaleto in the direction ofUG arouse loathingUM indicates hesitationUN oneup to raiseUR interjectionus personal pronounUT note in music (archaic)we pronounWO woeXI a Greek letterXU Vietnamese currency (apparently)ye pronoun (archaic)YO used to call attentionYU precious jadeZO Himalayan animal
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 12:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Friday, 13 December 2002 12:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― stevem (blueski), Friday, 13 December 2002 16:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
(I should email the admin guy, I guess, but I don't do email so never mind.)
― Rebecca (reb), Friday, 13 December 2002 21:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
Just restarted our game from Friday, Alan, if you want to continue....
― MarkH (MarkH), Sunday, 15 December 2002 17:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
― DG (D_To_The_G), Sunday, 15 December 2002 18:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Monday, 16 December 2002 11:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― DG (D_To_The_G), Monday, 16 December 2002 11:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 16 December 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Monday, 16 December 2002 12:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Monday, 16 December 2002 12:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2002/1220/1480138.html
― Aaron W, Friday, 20 December 2002 19:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Aaron W, Friday, 20 December 2002 20:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sarah in highbury, Tuesday, 18 March 2003 20:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sarah in highbury, Tuesday, 18 March 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
― That Girl (thatgirl), Tuesday, 18 March 2003 20:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sarah in highbury, Tuesday, 18 March 2003 20:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
― steve taylor, Sunday, 24 August 2003 15:41 (twenty years ago) link
http://games.yahoo.com/games/login2?page=lt
― JuliaA (j_bdules), Sunday, 24 August 2003 15:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Dee Dee, Thursday, 13 May 2004 02:01 (twenty years ago) link
― Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:26 (twenty years ago) link
― Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:30 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:36 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Thursday, 13 May 2004 08:37 (twenty years ago) link
Cool. what's your account id? I'm ScrabOX3.
― Grandpont Genie, Tuesday, 7 April 2020 16:08 (four years ago) link
I just got a notice yesterday on my Scrabble app yesterday that come June all ratings are getting wiped clean and a new system will be in place
anybody know what this is about?
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 16:11 (four years ago) link
kudos clemenza!
GG: verlander. I said I wouldn't go back, and I've managed not to, but I'm okay with having a game with someone specific if you can pick a time. (I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have a real addiction problem.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 April 2020 16:16 (four years ago) link
That's amazing clemenza
My highest play is WANGLERS for 167
The play I'm most proud of though is when I bingo'd with FELINES and then turned it into WIFELINESS a few turns later
*Ctrl-F* ah I posted about that already, well, I was very proud
― we have no stan but to choice (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:31 (four years ago) link
Re: the notice, it was tl;dr, but basically EA's stepping out of Scrabble and new version (Scrabble GO) from Scopely (which includes in-app purchases?) takes over in June.
My highest is CYANIDES for 158. You all are monsters.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:41 (four years ago) link
In App Store now, but requires iOS 10+. Hello, darkness, my old iPad 3.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:44 (four years ago) link
The old EA app was okay. Replicated the board game with reasonable faithfulness. I am sweetly sad that it is going away.
Scrabble Go is a garish mess, with loads of mini-games and mini-challenges and pointless levels and a baroque metasystem of gems / money / points / badges / leagues / tickets. Meant to be both opaque and addictive a la Candy Crush etc. It also very much incentivizes connecting to your Facebook friends or whatever, as opposed to playing as an anonymous guest.
There is still a decent game underneath all this colorful filigree, and I've had one or two opponents who did all right against me. But I'm at like a 98% win rate so I wanna hang back until it gets enough refugees from the old EA app who can actually play strategically.
― cuomo money, cuomo problems (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:51 (four years ago) link
ha xp
REQUESTS, 212
So I read up on the Scopely reboot and of course it fucking sucks and like everything else simple and good in the world has to be made ugly and complicated and thoroughly monetized
It looks like Candy Crush or some shit with all kinds of lights and pastel buttons and avatars, w/ ads and "social component" and interruptive "mini-games" and incentivized gold fucking tokens and leveling up etc.
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:51 (four years ago) link
WHY
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 19:52 (four years ago) link
FGTI: I remember your felines-into-wifeliness post, that's impressive. I'm guessing only 5-10% of my bingos incorporate a letter already down (and I don't think I've ever laid one incorporating two or more letters). My best play in an actual non-computer game was "quilters" on ISC; over 200, but not as high as other plays mentioned above.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 April 2020 20:06 (four years ago) link
Just so as not to be a grumpy gus, the one thing I do like is its equivalent of the speed mode (duels).
In EA Scrab you had to wait 24 hours before "nudging" an opponent. Then if another 24 hours went by you could "force forfeit" them. So a game could go on for a week or so, and so I'd have like 8 games going at once, which is not ideal. I do like the opportunity to sit down and concentrate with sufficient pushback from the other side.
― cuomo money, cuomo problems (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 20:08 (four years ago) link
24 hours?!? I used to play 3-minutes games on ISC.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 April 2020 20:10 (four years ago) link
There was a timed play option (2 or 5 minutes per move) on the EA app.
Scrabble Go duels are much faster, like 30 seconds? Also various times solo games.
― cuomo money, cuomo problems (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 20:23 (four years ago) link
the 24-hour nudge thing never bothered me because I keep as many as fifteen or twenty games going at once...I'm rarely waiting to play
anyway I'm hoping after they get ppl hooked on this they will offer up a no-frills game to buy
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 21:31 (four years ago) link
Very important correction: "executed" was for 212 points, not 262. Pogo displayed 162 for the word--correct--then I added 100 in my mind for the bingo, rather than 50. (The 'c' was already down on one double-letter square, one of the vowels was a blank, and the 't' was on the other double-letter square.)
Three minutes I can handle--30 seconds, that's crazy talk. (When I went back in the fall, the three-minute games had gotten a little too nerve-racking.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 April 2020 22:05 (four years ago) link
On EA I had 525 for best game, a 1635 ELO rating, best word was LEAVINGS for 158. 58% win percentage, which seems about right. If pitted against a broad range of serious (but not obsessed) Scrabblers I think that's about how well I'd do.
In Scrabble Go it's, sheesh, 690 "Scrabble Score" (whatever that means), best word 113, best game 465.
Nothing is comparable about these numbers because it's different conditions, a different dictionary, and a radically different competitor pool.
― cuomo money, cuomo problems (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 7 April 2020 22:42 (four years ago) link
Anyone ever played the Quackle computer? It's ridiculous. I'll have to play 25 games before I win one.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle/
http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle/doc/blockdiagram.png
― clemenza, Wednesday, 8 April 2020 01:29 (four years ago) link
On isc.ro all night, till six this morning, mostly losing. It's entirely Grandpont Genie's fault. And if not him, then China, Nancy Pelosi, and the World Health Organization.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 8 April 2020 17:27 (four years ago) link
One of the best things about the ISC, though I don't use it often, is that you can watch highly-rated games in progress, often one of their computers against a famous Scrabble player. (Yes--within this parallel universe, there are famous players.) Here's a screenshot I took of a game probably still going on between Joel Sherman and Zurix, an ISC computer. Sherman's won the National Championship a few times, I believe (and is well known for various eccentricities). He's playing the blue tiles.
http://phildellio.tripod.com/joel.jpg
As soon as I finish here, I'm going to go inhume some zatak.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 8 April 2020 21:33 (four years ago) link
good news
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/24/scrabble-forced-redesign-neon-app-purists-criticized-futuristic/
seems like this kind of thing never happens!
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 18:33 (three years ago) link
I've often said that people who complain about political correctness are far more tiresome than the thing itself. So I try never not to, especially when I almost always find alleged offenders to have sound reasoning behind whatever has been changed.
Scrabble has had problems over the years. Most of the words that got dropped along the way (they may still be allowed in tournament play, not sure) I'm totally fine with--many are deeply offensive.
Pogo recently redesigned their site--uglier, as all redesigns are--and they also seem to have really tightened their dictionary. Some of the words--fine before the redesign--that have been dropped.
"fag" and "fag(g)ot"--both have normal meanings, but they're so loaded now, I'm fine with this."tit" and "ass"--actual animals, getting sillier. (Makes me think of Aaron Spelling, for some reason.)"bitches"--to me, that can totally mean "to complain"; I get it, but I don't get it."slave"--again, I get it, but one can be a slave to one's job, right? This has regularly used, non-loaded meaning.
Am I wrong to balk at some of these changes? Too much the Scrabble player? It's a dumb online game site--not the end of the world, obviously.
― clemenza, Sunday, 27 June 2021 20:15 (two years ago) link
"try never not to"--drop that "never"
― clemenza, Sunday, 27 June 2021 20:16 (two years ago) link
i'm disturbed by all of these and i'm a fag irl
― Linda and Jodie Rocco (map), Sunday, 27 June 2021 21:48 (two years ago) link
That would always be my overriding guide: if these words still offend, then sure, take them out. I hear people say "stop bitching" all the time, but if it's a legitimate problem, fine.
― clemenza, Sunday, 27 June 2021 21:51 (two years ago) link
Happy to report that "vibrator" is still okay.
― clemenza, Sunday, 27 June 2021 22:45 (two years ago) link
Gone: "horniest."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 30 June 2021 01:43 (two years ago) link
And if you can figure out the logic that says "horniest" is offensive and "vibrator" isn't, you're way ahead of me.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 30 June 2021 01:46 (two years ago) link
Gone: "boob."
I thought at first they were trying to grapple with a serious issue. They're not--they're eliminating anything and everything that someone might object to so they don't have to grapple with it. (Who except a nine-year old boy would find prurient meaning in "boob"?)
― clemenza, Saturday, 3 July 2021 22:07 (two years ago) link
Gone: "hornier."
You can still look for an open 't' and "thornier."
― clemenza, Tuesday, 27 July 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
As I do every few years, went back to isc.ro for a month. One of the accounts I started two years ago was still active. Started out just above 1300, went up and down and dropped below 1200 at one point, slowly got back above 1300 and I think that's enough. (You get two ratings now: one for games of 4 minutes or longer, and a "blitz" rating for 3 minutes or less. There are a whole bunch of people who play 1-minute games now. I tried a few--insane.) Even at this level, I always felt overmatched. I regularly lost games where I had a big lead and then the other player dropped a bingo and other big plays right near the end. And you knew it was coming. They're like vultures; it's like they don't even want to win unless they come back from 100 points down. And the bingos...lost one game on "shylocks." (Yes: the other end of the spectrum from Pogo when it comes to offensive language.) Being a sore loser, I never responded when someone who'd just trounced me gave me a "good game." I hate that stuff.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 03:25 (two years ago) link
"Sequoias" on a triple-triple for 203 points (625 for the game).
― clemenza, Sunday, 29 January 2023 06:23 (one year ago) link
Oops--maybe a mod can remove that url.
https://phildellio.tripod.com/sequoias.jpg
― clemenza, Sunday, 29 January 2023 06:24 (one year ago) link
Someone sent this to me today--amazing and hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWD1WdIvT6Y
― clemenza, Thursday, 18 May 2023 00:07 (eleven months ago) link
lol pretty good. when i was about 12 i worked out that 'xylopyrographic' if played over three triples would get you over 1000 points but didn't get so many extra points from extending existing words - and xylopyrographic isn't in the official scrabble dictionary.
― ledge, Thursday, 18 May 2023 08:07 (eleven months ago) link
(though xylopyrography is)
looking 4 scrabble opponents!
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 15:23 (five months ago) link
Are you on isc.ro?
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 December 2023 15:57 (five months ago) link
no, i should be tho - that's what my homey [REDACTED] plays on mostly. i use the dumb scrabble phone app.
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 16:02 (five months ago) link
Too bad...can't help you there.
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 December 2023 16:20 (five months ago) link
PATRONNE or gtfo
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:06 (five months ago) link
Steve - there was nothing on the board, it was my opening rack!
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:10 (five months ago) link
i can't think of a valid bingo for PANTONE but maybe you can.
negative.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:11 (five months ago) link
i'm a negative creep, and i'm stoned.
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:12 (five months ago) link
disappointed also to learn that MANEATER is not valid. cuz of woke. (cuz of hyphenated tbh)
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:13 (five months ago) link
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anatreme
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:18 (five months ago) link
my man
― ian, Thursday, 7 December 2023 17:19 (five months ago) link
This could be my highest scoring play ever: "quibbler" across a triple-triple for 239 points (189 + 50). Last play of the game...I was helped by this Pogo rule that allows you to take a blank off the board if you have the matching letter on your rack; that gave me the second 'b.' So a little tainted.
https://i.postimg.cc/xjwG4Nf6/quibbler.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2024 04:09 (two months ago) link
Scrolled back, and not my highest: "executed" for 262. Feels like "quibbler" should be higher.
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2024 04:16 (two months ago) link