Comments on: Choosing a Tile

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:13:17 +0000

That must have been it, he added a letter to a pre-existing word to round it all out. We spent a lot of time figuring it out with an actual Scrabble board there, so I know it was correct, but it was a few years ago, so….

By: The Lunatic

The Lunatic — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:53:02 +0000

Hmm – I just added it up and it looks like Quizzical is 392 points. But I think Quetzals is only 374 points by itself (both plays could be increased if you complete other words at the same time, of course)

By: Geoff

Geoff — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:53:23 +0000

You didn’t say what the score would be!

We have a whole scene in Weeping Willow where Lee’s first word in a game is “Pismire” for 78 points, then, later in the game, plays “Quetzals” (a kind of bird) across two triple word spots for an even 400 points. The game, of course, effectively ends there.

It was loosely based on the actual game we played that prompted the whole “choose a tile” thing. Of course, Steve didn’t get a 400 point score, but it was the less literary version of the same thing.

By: The Lunatic

The Lunatic — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:32:54 +0000

Years ago, I tried to figure out what the highest scoring play in Scrabble could ever be. I came up with “Quizzical” – with the “Q” on the triple word score and the “Z” on the double letter score (you’d need to use the blank for the second “Z”) – which would put the “A” on the second triple word score (so you’d basically get 9X word score, using both the “Q” and “Z”, with the “Z” doubled). And since you’d use all 7 letters you’d get the 50 point bonus! To make it even more challenging, two of the other letters would need to already be in the correct place beforehand (since it is a 9 letter word), but it is possible, and I believe it’s the highest score you can get. Of course, I’ve never actually been able to make this play in an actual game – but if you’re going to aim for the right tile … you might as well aim high!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:10:27 +0000

Wow. Another piece of my current puzzle. Thanks for the reminder. Choosing a tile replaces fear and worry. That was that pesky corner piece, to use a double (mixed) metaphor.