I play a lot of Scrabble in my free time. Actually, I play "Literati" on Yahoo games. It is a Scrabble rip-off, apparently licensing the original is too costly. Anyway, I've got Scrabble word books, and I've learned a great many words by having obsessed on another game a couple of years ago. The online version of Boggle helped me learn many words that I have no clue of the meaning. So what am I trying to say? I play a mean game of Scrabble.
On-line, when you play, there is a chatbox below that publishes the players comments and the score made after each turn. Most of the time the chat is limited to a Hi and Good Luck at the start of the game, and a Good Game at the end. But once in a while, a player gets quite nasty because they suspect I'm cheating.
It is simple to cheat, you download an anagramming program, enter the letters, and poof - all the possible words from those letters are displayed. But this takes the fun out of the game. There is no challenge to the mind, it just becomes a simple puzzle. So I don't cheat.
In my experience, those that accuse you of cheating are actually cheating themselves. Here is a recent exchange:
Fuhkieu: (Clever moniker don't you think?) Remotion?
I had just put an "r" in front of his "emotion" and also accessed a triple word score in the process.
Tornwordo: Yes, I think it's used in court speak.
Fuhkieu: Uh-huh. You know you're anagramming.
Tornwordo: I'm not, so I'll take that as a compliment.
The game continues, and he makes a poor play opening up a great spot with a triple word score. I play the word "ziti" for 56 points.
Fuhkieu: Ziti? right.
Tornwordo: Uh, it's one of the pastas in the pasta aisle in your supermarket.
Fuhkieu: Shaddap, it's fucking cheaters like you who are ruining this game. And you're arrogant too.
Tornwordo: Let's analyze that statement, you expose your ignorance and go judging someone, but I'm arrogant.
As he furiously types some lame-ass response, the allowable time to play elapses and I have a choice to make him force forfeit. I do, and promptly boot him from the table.
Then a little cackling.
Another reason I don't play scrabble on line (well, I don't like scrabble anyway). I know the word ziti though...common enough. And remotion? I hadn't heard it before, but it doesn't look like a weird word. Not like "haet" a word I learned playing boggle on line.
ReplyDeleteAh... that's the joy of dial up for me, can't play anything on line except hearts.
Have a good weekend.
HAHA! That post nearly made me choke on my Mars bar!
ReplyDeleteI love Scrabble. When I play against hubby, I use all my big vocab words and then he smokes me with "the" "big" and "tag". Good times.
Oooh, do I have an opponent for you...my sister is the QUEEN of Scrabble...she knows every God damned two and three letter word known to man...and then a few more. Aa - did you know aa was a word? And xi? I didn't! I can't play with her, it's too painful for both of us. She has a scrabble game that you email back and forth with "more worthy" opponents - just let me know and I'll sign you up! I know she'd love it.
ReplyDeleteColleen (by way of Chunks)
Too funny... I was just watching Word Wars, the Scrabble movie, which kinda scared me that people would actually sit around and study dictionaries... and be able to look at seven random letters and be able to pull out a word using all seven tiles. Frightening.
ReplyDeleteOh was that you?
ReplyDeletefuhkieu seems to have a few issues [and EM, I know you wouldn't have such a subtle screen alias...). I love the way you called him/her on it.
ReplyDeleteScrabble is cool, but I suck so much at it. So I don't play it ;)
ReplyDeleteNice one!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of playing those online. I like both games, but Wifey won't play with me anymore.
I'm just proud of myself for knowing ziti.
ReplyDelete