GOTTA’ LOVE THAT CANDOR — by Steve Nadis
What words of encouragement does the U.S. scrabble champion have to impart to the rest of us civilians? “The typical American who plays in their living room is terrible,” says the champ, MIT undergraduate Jason Katz-Brown. But surely there’s something useful he can tell us–some helpful hint that will enable us to improve our games. Katz-Brown points to the official Scrabble dictionary, which lists the 80,000 or so allowable words. “I know every one of them,” he says.
If only I’d thought of that, maybe he’d be writing about me in his blog and I’d be, uh, playing championship-level Scrabble. Oh well, I tell myself in times like these. I can’t be number one in everything. (Or anything, for that matter, if you want to be that way. But please don’t. After all, it’s a well-known fact that “Mean People Suck.” You don’t have to take my word for it. I read it on a bumper sticker somewhere, so it’s gotta’ be true…)
Posted by
at
18:15:07
You’re the Number 1 blogger named Snake. (At least in my book)
Thank you, WFW. I appreciate it. And that’s no slight to “guttersnake,” another blogger who has commented here.
My rule of thumb is to avoid anyone who feels the need to prove he/she is better/smarter/stronger/more talented than everyone else. Unfortunately, this means staying away from an awful lot of people.
But there is some consolation in knowing that however brilliant the person may be, he/she is totally clueless about the rest of humanity. Or, as Shakespeare once said, “It is better to have lost and loved than to win and be hated by all your friends.” (Or something like that.)
Sounds like a good rule of thumb, Gatemouth. The only catch is, if I followed it, I might not have any friends.
Dont worry , there’s always softball
reunions,
Beer and stories about “remember when”
…….so i’ve got a few stories abut ya
that i swing around the fire.
so youre wellthought in my part of the hemisphere
the good DR ’s and the “mouth”
I think championship-level puzzling is just as worthy, and you are well on your way if you can just get your reckless streak under control. FYI, you are well thought of in my hemisphere as well, regardless of how the puzzles turn out, or whether they are all of puppies.
Thanks Dar’n it & Z for that rare compliment. To be “well thought of” in one or two hemispheres is no small matter in my book. Though it makes me wonder: What hemispheres are we talkin’ about here?
Isn’t strategy more important than vocabulary? What good is knowing 80,000 words if you don’t also know how to play them in the multi-point squares? Bet my grandmother and her cronies could beat the pants off that snotty kid!
For granny to pull it off–an upset of heroic proportions– I reckon it’d have to be a team effort.
[quote] The typical American who plays in their living room is terrible,” says the champ, MIT undergraduate Jason Katz-Brown.[/quote]
There’s the problem RIGHT there… move the Scrabble game to another room. We always play in the kitchen. And I didn’t even go to MIT to know that. So there smart-ass Jason.
The kitchen, eh? ? That’s pretty tricky. We’d play in the parlor if only we had one…
……V
……A
..JASON
EXEMPLIFIES
……T P
……Y -MARCO
……………..L
……………..O
{the blog insisted on the .s ;)~
…………V
…………A
….JASON
EXEMPLIFIES
…………T………………..P
…………Y……….-MARCO
…………………………L
…………………………O
{see if THAT’s better.. ?}
……………V
……………A
……JASON
EXEMPLIFIES
……………T………………..P
……………Y……….-MARCO
………………………………L
………………………………O
{Hmm… 1 more go @ it…}
grrr! Last Attempt…
…………..V
…………..A
…..JASON
EXEMPLIFIES
…………..T………………..P
…………..Y……..-MARCO
……………………………….L
……………………………….O
:D~
Well done, Marco! I was slow on the uptake (I’m one of those “terrible” Scrabble players) but now I get it.
Seriously? Champion o’ Scrabble? For the last week there has been the World Cup and the NBA Championships… and for some reason every friggin’ time a go to the gym, someone has the TV turned to the Championship of Dominoes or The US Open. Why not just video tape some highschool nerds playing Dungeons&Dragons in the cafe after class? Somehow this is linked to American obesity, I just can’t prove it quantitatively yet. Shoot, how many points is that in Scrabble?
i love your blog, will keep looking you blog every day.