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 CLICK HERE TO HELP END WORLD HUNGER. Take this vocabulary test to see how many grains of rice you can have donated through the United Nations World Food Program with your correct answers. 1 word = 10 grains 5 words = 50 grains Please play daily and help feed hungry people. ========== What's an evening like at the Lauderhill Scrabble® Club #276? Read John Thomason's June 2007 article which appeared in the Sun-Sentinel. "Lauderhill Scrabble Club #276 is Not for Novices."
|    ===================The following is an interesting article which appeared on the ScientificAmerican.com web site last April 2015. Winning SCRABBLEand the Nature of ExpertiseStudying a game yields insights into what it takes to be great at something By David Z. Hambrick on April 21, 2015 http://www.scientificamerican.com  Clearly, expert SCRABBLE players are to some degree “made.” But there is evidence that basic cognitive abilities play a role, too. In case you didn’t hear the news, there was a major shake-up in the competitive SCRABBLE world last summer in Buffalo. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, a 24-year old graduate student from Portland, Oregon, won the $10,000 first prize at the National SCRABBLE Championship, making him the youngest American to ever win the tournament. But the big news was that the win ended Nigel Richards’ run of four titles. Richards, a reclusive New Zealander, is widely regarded as the best SCRABBLE player of all-time—the “Michael Jordan of the game,” as one co-competitor put it. Along with five U.S. National titles, Richards has won the World SCRABBLE Championship three times, and the Thailand International—the largest SCRABBLE tournament in the world—eleven times. SCRABBLE has been one of the most popular board games in the world for decades. And, now, as an increasingly popular domain for scientific research on expertise, it is giving psychologists a better understanding of the underpinnings of complex skill and a clearer picture of the origins of greatness. The overarching goal of this research is to better understand the interplay between “software” and “hardware” aspects of the cognitive system. Software factors include knowledge and skills that are acquired through experience, whereas hardware factors include genetically-influenced abilities and capacities. SCRABBLE is ideal for research on how these factors interact not only because it is relatively easy to find research participants from a wide range of skill, but because it can be imported into the lab. The basic goal of SCRABBLE is to create intersecting words by placing lettered tiles on a board containing a 15 x 15 grid. Knowledge is, of course, critical for success in this task. If you want to become a great SCRABBLE player, first and foremost, you have to know a lot of words. A top player will know most of the two hundred thousand or so words in the SCRABBLE dictionary (not their definitions, just the words themselves). Among the plays in the final game at the National SCRABBLE Championship in Buffalo: WAB, TROOZE, HOURI, AA, KIBI, and QUA (all real words, apparently). You also need to be adept at identifying potential plays. Expert players can rattle off dozens of possible plays for any given rack—for, say, GINOPRS, words like SPORING, GIPONS, PIROG, PINGO, OS, and SORN. Many serious SCRABBLE players “cross-train” by playing anagramming games like Boggle, or by just solving anagrams, which Conrad Bassett-Bouchard compares to a basketball player practicing free throws. Finally, you have to know SCRABBLE strategy—or what aficionados call “rack management”—such as how to keep a good mix of consonant and vowels (the key, according to reigning World SCRABBLE Champion Craig Beevers, is to “score and leave”—go for points but be mindful of what any play will leave you on your rack). People aren’t born with this type of specialized knowledge. Research indicates that we may come into the world equipped with the building blocks for complex skills such as math, but certainly nothing as specific as knowledge of words in a particular language. Thus, experience is necessary to become an expert in SCRABBLE. And, in fact, SCRABBLE skill has been found to correlate positively with the amount of time people spend engaging in SCRABBLE-related activities. In one study, using official SCRABBLE rating as an objective measure of skill, researchers found that groups of “elite” and “average” SCRABBLE players differed in the amount of time they had devoted to things like studying word lists, analyzing previous SCRABBLE games, and anagramming—and not by a little. Overall, the elite group had spent an average of over 5,000 hours on SCRABBLE study, compared to only about 1,300 hours for the average group. Another study found that competitive SCRABBLE players devoted an average of nearly 5 hours a week to memorizing words from the SCRABBLE dictionary. Clearly, expert SCRABBLE players are to some degree “made.” But there is evidence that basic cognitive abilities play a role, too. In a study recently published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Michael Toma and his colleagues found that elite SCRABBLE players outperformed college students from a highly selective university on tests of two cognitive abilities: working memory and visuospatial reasoning. Working memory is the ability to hold in mind information while using it to solve a problem, as when iterating through possible moves in a SCRABBLE game. Visuospatial reasoning is the ability to visualize things and to detect patterns, as when imagining how tiles on a SCRABBLE board would intersect after a certain play. Both abilities are influenced by genetic factors. Further evidence pointing to a role of these abilities in SCRABBLE expertise comes from a recent brain imaging study by Andrea Protzner and her colleagues at the University of Calgary. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), these researchers recorded the brain activity of SCRABBLE players and control subjects as they performed a task in which they were shown groups of letters and judged whether they formed words. (fMRI measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow within different regions of the brain.) The major finding of this study was that competitive SCRABBLE players recruited brain regions associated with working memory and visual perception to perform this task to a greater degree than the control subjects did. What might explain SCRABBLE experts’ superiority in working memory and visuospatial reasoning? One possibility is that playing SCRABBLE improves these cognitive abilities, like a work-out at the gym makes you stronger. However, this seems unlikely based on over a century of research on the issue of “transfer” of training. When people train on a task, they sometimes get better on similar tasks, but they usually do not get better on other tasks. They show “near” transfer, but not “far” transfer. (Practice SCRABBLE and you’ll get better at SCRABBLE, and maybe Boggle, but don’t count on it making you smarter.) For the same basic reason that basketball players tend to be tall, a more likely explanation is that people high in working memory and visuospatial reasoning abilities are people who tend to get into, and persist at, playing SCRABBLE: because it gives them an advantage in the game. This explanation fits with what behavioral geneticists call gene-environment correlation, which is the idea that our genetic makeup influences our experiences. These findings challenge the dogma that anyone can become anything they want to become—like the best SCRABBLE player in the world—with enough hard work. At the same time, they add to an emerging understanding of complex skill that may ultimately bring expertise within reach of a larger number of people than is currently the case. For example, it may one day be possible to give people precise information about their abilities, and of the likelihood of achieving success in particular domains given those abilities. It may also be possible to design approaches to training complex skills that accelerate the acquisition of expertise. =====================Click on this link Club News Page to see what has been happening at Scrabble Club 276 during the months of April 2016 through June, 2016!  ====================== SCRABBLE CLUB #276CELEBRATED ITS 27TH ANNUAL SCRABBLE AWARDS NIGHT ON JANUARY 13, 2016 |
| New Word | Definition and Extensions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DA | dad [n -S] | family.txt |
| GI | a martial arts garment [n -S] | japanese.txt |
| PO | a chamber pot [n -S] | toilet.txt |
| TE | the musical note TI [n -S] |
New Three-Letter Words
According to NASPA, there are 66 new three-letter words. The following 66 are what we have found:
New Word Definition and Extensions Notes AJI a spicy pepper [n -S] CAF a cafeteria or cafe [n -S] : CAFF(s) coffee.txt CAL unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 CUZ coz (cousin) [n CUZZES] family.txt DAS da [n] DEP a convenience store [n -S] DOH the first tone of the diatonic scale, Homer [n -S] also an interjection DUM cooked with steam [adj] ECO ecology [n -S] EEW eeew [interj] EMO a style of rock music with emotional lyrics [n -S] : EMOCORE(s) EST a group technique for raising self-awareness [n -S] trademark? FAH fa [n -S] FOO a name for a temporary computer variable or file [n -S] finally, BAR has its missing companion. Computers.txt GIF a computer file in a type of image format [n -S] GIS gi [n] GRR use to express anger or annoyance [interj] HOM a sacred plant of the ancient Persians [n -S] : HOMA(s) HOO used to express surprise or apprechension [interj] LAH the tone la [n -S] LOR unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good LUD a form of address to a judge in a court, ma lud [n -S] LUN a lee [n -S] MAM mother, mama [n -S] family.txt MEH not impressive, boring [interj] MES unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good MMM mm [interj] MOI used instead of "who me?" to feign surprise when accused of something [interj] french.txt MUX to multiplex [v -ED -ING -ES] NAV navigation [n -S] aviation.txt NUG a chunk of wood sawn from a log [n -S] OCH used to express surprise or regret [interj] OIK a very rude or stupid person [n -S] stupid.txt OMA grandmother [n -S] : OPA(s) OOF used to express discomfort [interj] OPA grandfather [n -S] : OMA(s) family.txt ORG an organization [n -S] OWT anything [n -S] PAK a pack [n -S] PHO a Vietnamese soup of rice noodles and veg [n -S] POS plural of new PO, or the state of being infected or certain [adj] REZ reservation [n REZES or REZZES] ROO a kangaroo [n -S] RYU a school of Japanese martial arts [n -S] japanese.txt SAN a sanatorium [n -S] note SANS already good (different definition) SEV an Indian food of deepfried strands of flour [n -S] SEZ unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 SHO unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 SIG a short personalized message at the end of an email, a signature [n -S] computer.txt SOC a sociology course [n -ES] SOH another name for the tone sol [n -S] SUS to suss [v SUSED SUSING SUSES] TEC a detective [n -S] TES plural of the new TE TIX tickets [n/pl] TIZ tizzy [n TIZES] : TIZ TIZZ TIZZY TUM tummy [n -S] UMS new definition for um: to hesitate or pause in speaking [v UMMED UMMING UMS] UNI university or a uniform [n -S] VIN french wine [n -S] french.txt, alcohol.txt VOG air pollution caused by volcanic emissions [n -S] portmanteau WUZ unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 XED unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 YAS ya is an asian pear new definiton so now YAS is good. Fruit.txt YER unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 YEZ unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5
New Four-Letter Words
There hasn't been an announcement about the number of new four-letter words, but by comparing comparing MW online with OWL2 there appear to be 185 new fours:
New Word Definition and Extensions Notes ACAI a purple berrylike fruit of a tropical palm [n -S] fruit.txt ACRO a skiing event in which a skier performs acrobatic moves to music [n -S] AFRO a curly or frizzy hairstyle [n -S] about time! Hair.txt AGLU agloo [n -S] more Inuit AGRO a student of agricultural studies [n -S] AJIS aji [n] AREG areas of shifting desert sand dunes [n/pl] ARGH used to express despair or frustration [interj] : AUGH these get added to: AARGH AARRGH AARRGHH AUGH used to express despair or frustration [interj] : ARGH these get added to: AARGH AARRGH AARRGHH BANC a bench [n -S] french.txt BAWK an Atlantic seabird [n -S] birds.txt BAWN a meadow for cows [n -S] cows.txt BAZZ to throw (as a stone) [v -ED -ING -ES] BEAL an infected sore (a painful place on the body) [n -S] : BEALING(s) BIBE a creature whose crying is an omen of death [n -S] death.txt BING used to indicate a sudden action [interj] fruit.txt BISH a bishop [n -ES] religion.txt BLAG to rob with violence [v BLAGGED BLAGGING BLAGS] crime.txt BOBO a well-to-do person who holds bohemian values and leads a bourgeois life [n -S] BURK a berk [n -S] CAFS caf [n] coffee.txt CALS unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 CAMI a camisole [n -S] CAVA a sparkling Spanish wine [n -s] alcohol.txt CAZH slang for casual [adj] CERT an event considered certain to happen [n -S] CHEM a chemistry class or course [n -S] CHOC a piece of chocolate [n -S] candy.txt CINQ cinque (the number 5) [n -S] french.txt CLEG a horsefly [n -S] insects.txt CLIT unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good expurgated? COMM communications [n -S] : COMMO(s) CRIP unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good assuming this will be in expurgated list CUMS unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good assuming this will be in expurgated list DEPS dep [n] DESI a person of Indian, Pakistani, or Banladeshi birth who lives abroad [n -S] hindu.txt DEVI a Hindu goddess [n -S] hindu.txt DOBE adobe [n -S] already good:ADOBE DOBIE DOBY, polyorth list DOHS doh [n] also an interjection DOOB a doobie [n -S] smoking.txt DOSA an Indian pancake made from rice flour [n -S or -I] hindu.txt DOSH money [n] currency.txt DOUT to extinguish (as a fire) [v -ED -ING -S] fire.txt ECOS eco [n] EEEW used to express disgust [interj] : EEW EKKA a one-horse vehicle of India [n -S] EMOS emo [n] ERUV an enclosed area in which Jews are permitted to carry on activities normally forbidden on the Sabbath [n -S or -IM] ESSE essential nature [n -S] ESTS est [n] trademark? FAFF to make a fuss [v - ED -ING -S] FAHS fah [n] FILK a type of popular music that parodies folk songs [n -S] FOOS foo [n] finally, BAR has its missing companion. Computers.txt GACH to gatch [v -ED -ING -ES] : GACHER(s), GACH GATCH GAUCH GEAN unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good OED defines as a wild cherry, fruit.txt GIFS gif [n] GOJI a red berry [n -S] fruit.txt GRIZ a grizzly bear [n GRIZ] GYNO a gynecologist [n -S] : GYNIE(s) reproduction.txt GYPO a small-time logging operator [n -S] : GYPPO(s) trees.txt HEPS new definition for hep : hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) [n] disease.txt HIYA used as an informal greeting [interj] hellogoodbye.txt HMMM unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good HM and HMM already good. HOLO a hologram [n -S] HOMA a hom [n -S] HOMS hom [n] : HOMA(s) HORK to spit [v -ED -ING -S] HWYL an emotion that inspires impassioned eloquence [n -S] ICKS new definition for ick : something sticky or disgusting [n] JIRD a long-tailed rodent [n -S] JIZZ unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good predicting this will be in the expurgated list JOOK a tavern that has a jukebox [n -s} JUDY a woman [n JUDIES] names.txt KAPU a Hawaiian set of rules for daily life [n -S] KETA a type of salmon [n -S] fish.txt KRAI an administrative district in Russia [n -S] : KRAY(s) KRAY krai [n -S] LAHS lah [n] LARN to learn [v -ED or -T, -ING -S] LEDE the introductory section of a news story [n -S] another about time LEVS new plural for lev [n] : LEVA currency.txt LIAS a blue limestone rock [n -ES] LIPO liposuction [n -S] LOTO lotto [n -S] LUDO a simple board game [n -S] LUDS a form of address to a judge in a court, ma lud [n -S] LUNS lun [n] MAKI a sushi roll [n -S] japanese.txt MAMS mam [n] family.txt MECH a mechanic [n -S] cars.txt MOFO unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good predict this will be in the expurgated list MOHO a boundary separating the earth's crust and the mantle [n -S] MOOK a foolish or contemptible person, or a bad guy in a movie [n -S] MUNG a round green bean [n -S] MUSO a musician [n -S] NAES new plural, nae [n] NAGA a half-snake, half-human creature in Hinduism [n -S] hindu.txt NANO science that deals with materials on an atomic or molecular scale [n -S] numbers.txt NAVS nav [n] aviation.txt NEWB a newbie [n -S] NIFF to stink [v -ED -ING -S] NUFF enough [n -S] polyorth NUGS nug [n] NYAH used to express contempt for another [interj] OATY tasting or smelling of oats [adj OATIER OATIEST] OCHE a line behind which players stand when throwing darts [n -S] OFFA unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 OIKS oik [n] stupid.txt OLDE old [adj] OMAS oma [n] OPAS opa [n] family.txt ORGS org [n] OUTA unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good not in OSPD5 OWLY resembling an owl [adj OWLIER OWLIEST] birds.txt OWTS owt [n] OXER a fence for keeping in cattle [n -S] cows.txt OXIC denoting a process involving oxygen [adj] PAAN a betel leaf folded around pieces of betel nut and spices [n -S] PAKS pak [n] PALI a cliff in Hawaii [n -S] PAUA Maori name for abalone shell [n -S] (but IWI* is still not good) PERC a chemical used in dry cleaning [n -S] PHOS pho [n] PIPA a four-stringed Chinese lute [n -S] musicalinstruments.txt POGO to jump up and down as if on a pogo stick [v -ED -ING -S or -ES] trademark? PROB a problem [n -S] math.txt PUDU a small deer of South America [n -S] PULK a small sled [n -S] : PULKA(s) Inuit RENO a renovated house [n -S] places.txt ROOS roo [n] RUKH a roc [n -S] birds.txt RYUS ryu [n] japanese.txt SEPS an african lizard [n -ES] SEPSES already existed as a plural of SEPSIS. Reptiles.txt SESH a session [n -ES] SEVS sev [n] SHEN the spiritual element of a person's psyche [n SHEN] SHHH SH [interj} : SH SHH SHHH SH and SHH were good already SIGS sig [n] computer.txt SITU unknown : not in OSPD5 but MW site says it is good SITUS was already acceptable SKED to schedule [n SKEDDED SKEDDING SKEDS] SKOL to skoal (to drink to the health of) [v -ED -ING -S] alcohol.txt SKRY to scry [v -SKRIED SKRYING SKRIES] SOHS soh [n] SOJU a Korean vodka distilled from rice or sweet potato [n -S] alcohol.txt SUKH a souk [n -S] SOOK SOUK SUK SUQ already good. Polyorth SUMI a type of black Japanese ink [n -S] japanese.txt SUMY new definition and plural for sum: a monetary unit of Uzbekistan currency.txt TASE to stun with a gun that fires electified darts [v TASED TASING TASES] crime.txt TECS tec [n] TEGU a large lizard of South America [n -S] reptiles.txt TEIN a monetary unit of Kazakhstan [n -S] currency.txt TIAN a large oval cooking pot [n -S] TIYN tyin [n -S] : TIYIN(s) TIYN(s) TYIN TYIYN TYIN and TYIYN were already good (but they don�t take -S). Currency.txt TIZZ tizzy [n TIZZES] : TIZ TIZZ TIZZY TOCK a short, hollow sound [n -S] TOCO a South American toucan [n -S] birds.txt TOLT an isolated hill [n -S] mountain.txt TOSA a dog of a breed of mastiff [n -S] dogs.txt TREM an electric guitar lever for producing a tremolo [n -S] musicalinstruments.txt TROU trousers [n/pl] TUMS tum [n] TURR a murre [n -S] birds.txt UMMA the whole community of Muslims [n -S] : UMMAH(s) arabic.txt UMPH oomph [n -S] UNIS uni [n] VEGA a large plane or valley [n -S] VIFF to change direction abruptly of a VTOL aircraft [v -ED -ING -S] aviation.txt VINS vin [n] french.txt, alcohol.txt VLEI a hollow in South Africa in which water collects [n -S] VLOG to blog videos [v VLOGGED VLOGGING VLOGS] : VLOGGER(s) computer.txt VOGS vog [n] portmanteau VOLK the Afrikaner people [n -S] VULN to wound [v -ED -ING -S] WAAH used to express wailing [interj] WALI the governor of a province in an Arab country [n -S] WETA a large wingless insect of New Zealand [n -S] insects.txt WIKI a website that allows users to add and edit content [n -S] computer.txt YAGE a tropical vine of the Amazon region [n -S] YEOW used to express pain or shock [interj] YOMP to march with heavy gear over rough terrain [v -ED -ING -S] YOOF youth [n -S] YUZU an asian citrus fruit [n -S] fruit.txt, japanese.txt ZEDA grandfather [n -S : ZAIDA ZAIDEH ZAIDY ZEDA yiddish.txt ZIZZ to make a buzzing sound [v -ED -ING -ES]
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"The Last Word" - Club News: Scrabble Club 276
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It's a bird. It's a plane! No, it's Letter Man!
Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3 , Lesson 4 ,
Lesson 5 , Lesson 6 , Lesson 7, Lesson 8,
Lesson 9, Lesson 10,Lesson 11,
Lesson 12
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