Date: Fri 11-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

SCRABBLE-tournament-library

Full Text:

SCRABBLE Players Match Wits And Words At Library Tourney

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

All serious SCRABBLE players dream about The Big One, a record setting score

or at least one that knocks the immediate opponent into oblivion. Keith Thoma,

10, had that feeling last weekend at The Friends of the Booth Library's

SCRABBLE Saturday fundraiser when he attained the highest score in his age

group.

"It was really cool, really great," said Keith about the event. "It's kind of,

like, a special game - putting words down and getting points for it."

Keith, who learned to play SCRABBLE this year at Head O' Meadow School, knows

the value of the letters off the top of his head. One of his biggest coups on

Saturday was the 42-point word, "quiz." The Q and Z both have a value of ten,

he explained.

"We're going to do it again next year and hope it will turn into an annual

event," said co-chair of the event, Marian Wood. "We want to keep up the

excitement about spelling and reading in the community."

About 35 people brought their boards to Edmond Town Hall for the tournament.

They traveled from Branford, Wilton, Weston, Bridgeport, Trumbull, Southbury,

Brookfield, Danbury and New Haven. Players ranged in age fro 8 to 80, the

oldest participant being W. Hersey Howard from Easton.

John Dalton had the highest cumulative score in the adult class of 1,147 for

three games. Enthusiasm was so high, one player spontaneously decided to begin

a SCRABBLE club and his sign-up sheet filled with names. The library may host

the club when the Main Street building reopens.

Donna Howard, another co-chair, read SCRABBLE trivia much to the delight of

players. The highest score ever achieved in a North American tournament was

770 points by Mark Landsberg in April, 1993.

Kyle Corbin of North Carolina devised an imaginary (though possible) SCRABBLE

game, which included one play that formed eight words simultaneously and

scored 1,774 points, the highest possible score attainable in one turn for an

acceptable play. The eight words formed were: oxyphenbutazone, opacifying,

xis, preinterviewed, bladderlike, aforethought, zonetime, and ejaculating.

"Folks who had the pleasure of producing the tournament had every bit as much

fun as those who participated," said Ms Howard. "It was a good time. We've met

a lot of new people."

Lunch was offered by the Back Door Cafe students from Newtown High School; all

leftover food was donated to the Dorothy Day Hospitality House in Danbury. The

Newtown Woman's Club registered participants, tabulated scores and made

desserts for the bake sale. PepsiCo donated soft drinks; library trustees

totalled scores, baked, and helped with clean-up; and the Friends of the

Library organized the event and also baked.

The two other committee chairmen who worked on the event for past seven months

were Catherine Brodnan and Edna Perry.

Artist Donna Kern signed her most recent book. And the library's raffle quilt

was unveiled, drawing a first-day sale of 55 tickets.

Playing against someone you don't know can be fun. But then again, the

unexpected does happen.

"The second round wasn't really my best," explained Keith Thoma. "In the

second round, I was playing with a girl who brought a dictionary. "