Rating:  -
the book is ok, if you're a big scrabble fan, it's not horrible, but the most i got out of it was a list of 2 letter words. one would probably be better off spending the money on the scrabble dictionary instead.
Rating:  -
*****
This is a book all about Scrabble; it is ideal for people familiar with the game who want to improve their playing. It is not an introductory book to Scrabble at all. I have been playing Scrabble for over 30 years at about the same level (not tournament play, just a few times a year with friends) and found it very, very helpful for me, giving me concrete ways to go about improving my score. The cover promises new ways to improve your game instantly, and the book delivers on this promise, detailing strategies and ways of deciding things like when to exchange your letters, how to best use "S"s and blanks, and how and why you should study and know two letter words.
There are many helpful suggestions that can improve your score with study, like word lists to memorize over time, and exercises to improve your abiity to see words from the letters in your rack. Other topics covered include how to make bingos, how to maximize your use of high-scoring letters and board hot spots, how to play on an open board and a closed board, how to end the game well, how to use the letter "Q", Scrabble for children, and using or not using "phoney" words. Scrabble history and tournament play are also covered. Amusing Scrabble anecdotes are told in another chapter.
The strategies for score improvement usually have practice exercises with answers so that you can practically see how to implement the strategies.
The cover says that this book is "The Only Book Authorized by the National Scrabble Association" and I believe it. It's a great book. I think that older teens who love Scrabble would enjoy it, but younger children and complete novices to Scrabble should probably get some experience under their belt before they'd really enjoy and/or understand it. Highly recommended.
*****
Rating: -
Imagine that you are playing in the 1993 World Scrabble championship. The normal rules have been adjusted so that if one incorrectly challenges an opponent's word, there is no penalty. You are to play and it is the first move of the game. And your seven letters are AGORRTT. What do you do?
Well, isn't it obvious? You play GARROT. Given the rules, your opponent will almost surely challenge. You know that GARROT is not in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. Your word will come off the board. Your opponent may be suspicious, but will almost surely play some sort of word. And your opponent may suspect that an E is not a good letter to play, but there are still good odds that you will see a word with an E in it. And then you'll get your 50-point bingo bonus with GARROTTE.
Actually, it wasn't at all obvious. Maybe it was clever. But don't be so sure. In that tournament, the Chambers English dictionary was used as a word source. After the challenge, the judge simply told the player that GARROT was acceptable.
Okay, here is a simpler and more practical example. Again, you are to play the first move of the game. And your rack is AAADERW. What now? AWARD? WADER? Neither? Actually, AWARD is better than WADER even though it scores less. But AWA (that's really a word!) turns out to be best of all, as it leaves you with ADER, creating serious chances for you to bingo.
Of course, this isn't all this book has to offer. It truly teaches the novice how to play Scrabble. The book drills us on the "96 acceptable two-letter words." Of them, perhaps the favorite of many Scrabble players is KA, because it forms so many three-letter words. By the way, do be careful. Since this book came out, there is a new fourth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. There are more than 96 such words now!
From this book, we also learn to keep rearranging one's tiles on the rack. That makes it far easier to see words than mere staring at the rack! And we also learn to separate out popular beginnings of words, such as CON, EM, EN, EX, FORE, HAND, HEAD, IM, IN, ISO, MID, MIS, NON, OUT, OVER, POST, PRE, RE, SEA, SUB, and UN. As well as popular endings of words, such as ABLE, ATE, ED, EE, ENCE, ENT, ER, EST, FORM, FUL, GHT, GRAM, IA, IAL, IC, ICAL, IER, IES, IEST, IFY, ING, ISH, and TION.
We then are drilled on the two-to-make-three letter words and the three-to-make-four letter words. On words with J, Q, X, or Z. We are taught the ten Q-no-U words: QAID, QANAT, QAT, QINDAR, QINTAR, SHEQEL, TRANQ, QOPH, QWERTY, and FAQIR. Once again, we're not taught some new ones, such as QABALA, QABALAH, QADI, QI (two letters, to boot!), and QIVIUT (which is in the original 1978 edition of the Official Scrabble Players dictionary). We learn lists of UN and RE words, partially to enable us to challenge the most popular "phoneys." We are shown the importance of tracking tiles, so that one can play the endgame well. And much, much more.
I highly recommend this book to all Scrabble players.
Rating: -
The advice in this book ranges from the unexceptional to the outstanding, and I'm confident you can concentrate on what will really help you. I would advise that you not wait to master everything in the beginner section before at least skimming the more advanced material, inasmuch as some of that will benefit you right from the start. As with almost any activity, Scrabble is much more enjoyable when you understand some simple principles that make it easier, and this book will propel you in that direction.
The closest thing I have to a quarrel with this book comes practically at the beginning, when it is stated that the original Official Scrabble Players Dictionary was a compilation of words that appeared in at least TWO of the five popular college dictionaries of the 1970s. The truth is that an appearance in just ONE sufficed. For example, the egregious ET and DEERS appeared only in Merriam's 8th Collegiate, and hence the original OSPD as well, where they remain to this day. (For further info, see my Amazon review of OSPD.) The upshot is that Everything Scrabble contains a blizzard of unfamiliar, improbable "words" that you will not find in any "standard dictionary" as the traditional Scrabble rules require. You will find that the principles of this book apply just as well to real English Scrabble played with a standard dictionary; for that matter, they apply pretty well to Scrabble played in a foreign language (which is what you may come to think of OSPD Scrabble). In all probability, an updated version of this book reflecting recent additions to the OSPD (such as Emmy, Brillo, Jurassic -- I kid you not) is in the works, but if you're just going to use this book's principles with a standard dictionary, then there's no need to wait.
Rating: -
I bought this book a few weeks ago and my Scrabble score has already dramatically improved. I think more strategically and have learned many new words. The two and three letter word lists - as well as words to make when you have a lot of vowels - are all very useful.
Not only is my score better, but I think my husband (who is much better at Scrabble) is enjoying playing with me a lot more. I'm now a "formidable opponent" and have even beat him the past two times we've played. (He blames the lousy letters, but I know the book is what helped!)
Good for players at all levels - there's something for everyone to learn from this book.
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