Scrabble Rules

I recently ran into a web application (with source code!) called Scrabbler that lets you cheat at Scrabble. It triggered a lot of childhood memories.

(Picture courtesy: Wikipedia)

I spent endless hours as a kid playing Scrabble with my cousins. There was a great thrill in finding words and placing them strategically to gain high scores. Unaware of any special rules, the Oxford Dictionary was our only reference and arbitrator. The blank letter was a prized tile. The letters 'Q' and 'Z' were despised. Occasionally there would be quarrels over words and cheating attempts. One fine day the game board mysteriously causing quite a heart-break.

A year ago I played the game online on the defunct website Scrabulous with a stranger. I was quickly defeated by the opponent who constructed weird words claiming they were on the official Scrabble word list. I resigned and never played it again. The rules do not make sense to me as the greater joy of playing Scrabble is in discovering new words, learning how to place words strategically and improving one's vocabulary. I plan to buy the board game soon but will stick to a standard dictionary while playing it with family.

Rleated: Free Programmable & Searchable Dictionaries