Scrabble

Just for the record, we have started playing two handed scrabble again, after a long pause.

We have been reminded what a good game it is, with a round in our case taking about an hour with our scoring in the region of 200 each.

We have kept FIL's master list of acceptable two letter words in the box, as a souvenir, but do not use it, preferring a more relaxed approach.

And while we do not enforce the challenge rule, we do make occasional use of the dictionary, with a word being acceptable if it is a head word in bold, or some obvious derivative like the plural or past participle. The dictionary in question is the first edition of the OED, published between 1888 and 1927. We do not allow words which only gain entry in the 900 odd pages of the 1933 supplement.

PS: presently wondering about the wisdom of hanging onto letters like 'Q' and 'Z', rather than missing a go and turning them in. On the one hand there is the possibility of making a big score, on the other one has the drag on one's hand of a dead letter. A bit like playing football with 10 rather than 11 men; it does make a difference.