Scrabble

Scrabble Fact: In some countries Scrabble is played with the "X-plus-1 rule" -- if you draw more than 7 letters onto your rack, the player who sees your infraction is entitled to remove the surplus letters PLUS ONE MORE, so that you have to play the next turn with only 6 letters.

Scrabble at Games.com - Java applets allow you to join a live game of 2-4 players or open a table of your own here. If you register a screen name and log in, you'll be rated based on the games you win and your name color-coded so you can choose the level of opponents you want to play with. Be careful -- it's addictive!

Newnet Scrabble - If you have a PC (not a Mac) and want to join the party hosted by Gumshoe and his Scrabble-nut buddies, download the shareware NetWordZ program and you can play online via Java chat or IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

Internet Scrabble Club - Download the ISC's WordBiz program and you can use it to play live Scrabble on their servers with club members from around the world -- in English, French, Romana, Italian or Dutch.

Scrabble Blitz at Games.com - If you always tire of waiting for your opponent to make a word, try this superfast time-limited form of Scrabble, in which up to 50 players spell as many words as they can in the space of 4 minutes -- whoever has the most points when the clock runs out wins.

Scrabble at Playsite.com - Playsite uses the same Java applet for Scrabble as Games.com, but some players say it's faster and less buggy. There are lots of Scrabble rooms, which close when they get 150 players.

Hasbro Word Builder - At the official Hasbro Scrabble site, you can do a quick search for playable words from your letter tray using Word Builder.

Scrabble Helper at Wordplays.com - Among the goodies at Richard DiSimine's Interactive Word Games site is this handy little tool to help you see words on your rack: type in the letters you have, give beginning, ending or "anywhere" letters you can attach to on the board and it offers possible plays.

Scrabble Search at Puzzle Help - This word-finding utility gives you a choice of word lists to search and you can display the results ordered by Scrabble score, word length or alphabetical order.

Scrabble Letter Pattern Search at a2zWordfinder - This tool is a little harder to look at than the WordPlays Scrabble Helper, but it allows you to search for words based on patterns on the board that are more complex than just single letters to hook your new word to.

Power Tools for the Serious Scrabble Player - If you're serious enough about your Scrabble studies to want to download training software, try this collection of shareware/freeware utilities, including WORDY (pattern matching & custom word list generators), a flash card training tool & lots more.

Hasbro Scrabble Dictionary - At the official Hasbro Scrabble site, you can settle challenges online using the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Player's Dictionary (3rd edition).

Word lists at Scrabble Australia - A great collection of specialized lists for Scrabble players -- hooks, stems, 3-letter additions to an opening 5-letter word to reach the triple-word square, 5 vowel words, Q words without U's...

Scrabble Word Lists at Puzzle Help - In addition to the word-search utility there are easily accessible word lists here, too: 2-, 3- and 4-letter words, consonant-only Scrabble words, and J, Q, X and Z words.

ENABLE Word List (for the Serious Scrabble Player) - Free for the downloading, the ENABLE (Enhanced North American Benchmark LEexicon) is a 173,000 word standardized tournament-level master list used by the Scrabble learning software also available on this page, Power Tools for the Serious Scrabble Player.

Word Lists for Competitive Scrabble - At his omnibus Scrabble FAQ site, Steven Alexander has collected a good selection of links to individual Scrabble players' posted words lists, including some with definitions (for players who tire of rote memorization).

National Scrabble Association Club Roster - This list of contacts for all the local Scrabble clubs sanctioned by the National Scrabble Association (U.S.) is the first place to look for organized Scrabble games and tournaments in your area.

North American Scrabble club links - The NSA club roster (above) gives meeting locations & email contacts but NOT Web page addresses -- to find out more about your local Scrabble club, use Steven Alexander's listings to visit its Web site.

Scrabble Australia Club Locations - Want to connect with Down-Under Scrabble players? Use this directory of local clubs in Australia.

Federation Francaise de Scrabble Clubs - There are 650 Scrabble clubs in France, and you can look them up here by location.

Scrabble in Africa - From the South African National Scrabble Players' Association Web site, here are links to English-speaking Scrabble-playing clubs all over the African continent.

NSA Upcoming Tournament Calendar - This is the official listing of tournaments sanctioned by the National Scrabble Association (U.S. and Canada) -- the first place to look if you want to get into competitive Scrabble in North America.

Association of British Scrabble Players Calendar - The ABSP's calendar lists rated events all over Britain (and some British-sponsored weekend getaway tournaments elsewhere in Europe), with details, contact phone numbers, entry forms & advice for first-time players -- everything you need to play tournament Scrabble in the UK.

Federation Francaise de Scrabble Calendrier - Francophone Scrabblers can use this comprehensive calendar to plan their entry into French-speaking Scrabble tournaments all over the European continent, from Romania to Switzerland to the Cote d'Azur.

Scrabble Australia Tournament Calendar - Among the resources at the extraordinarily useful Australian Scrabble Players Association Web site is this listing of Scrabble events all over the continent.

World Scrabble Championships 2003 - The official Web site for WSC 2003 isn't complete yet and will take you around in circles -- so if you're interested in the biggest Scrabble tournament of all, check the National Scrabble Association's page for the pertinent information.

Top 5 Books for Scrabble Players - Erik Arneson, Board Games Guide at About.com, has selected the essential Scrabble player's library and provides links to purchase them online.

Official Tournament and Club Word List (for NSA members only) - After the big flap about the 3rd edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (from which a number of "offensive" words were expurgated), the National Scrabble Association began using this modified dictionary, available only to members, in tournament play. (Scroll down to see it.)

Scrabble games at Amazon.com (ToysRUs) - Six forms available in the US: standard, deluxe (with swivel base and grid to hold the tiles), the new folio edition (travel Scrabble -- you can zip it up in the middle of a game and continue later), Spanish Scrabble, Scrabble Junior, and Scrabble Express handheld electronic game.

Scrabble at Boardgames.com - Boardgames.com has good prices on Scrabble in its various forms, including some special editions like Golf Scrabble and the Madeline version of Scrabble Junior.

Scrabble auctions at EBay - Use this link to keep an eye out for vintage Scrabble games & anything Scrabble offered for auction at EBay.