Includes 2- and 4-player scoresheets, advanced tile-tracking grids, and players' pocket word lists.

From the only two-time national champion in Scrabble history comes a challenging and extensive collection of 1,000 Scrabble puzzles. Diagrams throughout.

Newly revised with updated new strategies and words, the classic how-to guide to one of the most popular board games of all time. First introduced to the public in the mid 1950s, Scrabble has gone on to be one of the biggest selling board games in history—and is currently gaining legions of new fans in the online world. Offering relevant game tips for both the beginner and the seasoned pro, Everything Scrabble includes basic board strategies, tips for utilizing the letter "Q" (with and without the letter "U"), the latest in high scoring words, a complete list of two-letter words that can to increase players’ scoring averages by thirty to forty points—and much more. Featuring a complete history of the game, this extensively illustrated guidebook covers all facets of the game and worldwide Scrabble culture—including tournaments, champions, and rules—and is a must have for every serious fan.

This “marvelously absorbing” book is “a walk on the wild side of words and ventures into the zone where language and mathematics intersect” (San Jose Mercury News). A former Wall Street Journal reporter and NPR regular, Stefan Fatsis recounts his remarkable rise through the ranks of elite Scrabble players while exploring the game’s strange, potent hold over them—and him. At least thirty million American homes have a Scrabble set—but the game’s most talented competitors inhabit a sphere far removed from the masses of “living room players.” Theirs is a surprisingly diverse subculture whose stars include a vitamin-popping standup comic; a former bank teller whose intestinal troubles earned him the nickname “G.I. Joel”; a burly, unemployed African American from Baltimore’s inner city; the three-time national champion who plays according to Zen principles; and the author himself, who over the course of the book is transformed from a curious reporter to a confirmed Scrabble nut. Fatsis begins by haunting the gritty corner of a Greenwich Village park where pickup Scrabble games can be found whenever weather permits. His curiosity soon morphs into compulsion, as he sets about memorizing thousands of obscure words and fills his evenings with solo Scrabble played on his living room floor. Before long he finds himself at tournaments, socializing—and competing—with Scrabble’s elite. But this book is about more than hardcore Scrabblers, for the game yields insights into realms as disparate as linguistics, psychology, and mathematics. Word Freak extends its reach even farther, pondering the light Scrabble throws on such notions as brilliance, memory, competition, failure, and hope. It is a geography of obsession that celebrates the uncanny powers locked in all of us, “a can’t-put-it-down narrative that dances between memoir and reportage” (Los Angeles Times). “Funny, thoughtful, character-rich, unchallengeably winning writing.” —The Atlantic Monthly This edition includes a new afterword by the author.

They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen’s Gambit in this “stunning…unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly) thriller set in the world of competitive Scrabble, where a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages. CATALYST 13 points noun: a substance that speeds up a reaction without itself changing When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It seems that even though Najwa is trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet. But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it. As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.

Whether at an official tournament or a home kitchen table, every SCRABBLE player wants to be a winner--and these specially selected words and expert hints are guaranteed to boost scores. Based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, Fourth Edition (currently one of the bestselling games and puzzles books) and with foreword by World SCRABBLE Champion Brian Cappelletto, this is the equivalent of an intensive training course. Complete with winning word lists, such as those that combine high-scoring letters, those that have a preponderance of vowels, and those that allow multiple I and U dumps, it also offers tips on hitting triple-triples and achieving those elusive 7-letter bingos. SCRABBLE, the distinctive game board and letter tiles, and all associated logos are trademarks of Hasbro in the United States and Canada and are used with permission. � 2007 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

A guide for game preview and rules: history, definitions, classification, theory, video game consoles, cheating, links, etc. While many different subdivisions have been proposed, anthropologists classify games under three major headings, and have drawn some conclusions as to the social bases that each sort of game requires. They divide games broadly into, games of pure skill, such as hopscotch and target shooting; games of pure strategy, such as checkers, go, or tic-tac-toe; and games of chance, such as craps and snakes and ladders. A guide for game preview and rules: history, definitions, classification, theory, video game consoles, cheating, links, etc.