Literacy Volunteers of Greater Augusta held its third annual Scrabble tournament fundraiser on Sunday afternoon, and I served as timekeeper at the competition table (most of the participating teams played more relaxed "social" games). Team Weevil won the competition finals, edging out the dominant Blankety-Blanks, who won the tournament when I served as timekeeper two years ago.
Great games all around, in the best possible cause, and I learned a few words to boot. These are five valid words the Weevils and the Blankety-Blanks played yesterday that were new to me.
1. Amido. A chemistry term meaning "containing, or derived from, amidogen," which in turn is "a compound radical, NH2, not yet obtained in a separate state, which may be regarded as ammonia from the molecule of which one of its hydrogen atoms has been removed." I do wish I'd paid closer attention in chemistry class.
2. Bazar. Alternate spelling and also the plural of bazaar, which can be a street (esp. in the Middle East) lined with shops and stalls, or a fair or sale or store that sells miscellaneous goods.
3. Peh. Alternate spelling of pe, the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
4. Talion. A legal term meaning a system or legal principle of that makes the punishment fit the crime, such as the death penalty for murder; the root is the same as for the word "retaliation."
5. Wawl. A verb meaning "to make high-pitched, whiny noises."
Got any good unusual words for my next round of Scrabble? Leave them in the comments section.
cwm
ReplyDeletea Welsh valley
Our new M.E. installed a Scrabble board in the newsroom. Isn't a game really but people play words at random as they pass by the board. One of the copy editors, who is a tournament player, used that one.
-Joe
I'm always quite partial to 'qat'. Very helpful. It's a leafy plant that grows in the East Africa/Arabian Peninsula, and is a controlled substance in many countries due to its use as a stimulant.
ReplyDeleteExcellent example of the use of w as a vowel, Joe! And Zach, I use "qat" a lot, too, as well as "khat," but someone played "kat" yesterday, and that variant was new to me.
ReplyDeleteIf you are stuck trying clue, try clew as in one part of a triangular sail.
ReplyDeleteSailing is an excellent source of Scrabble words!
ReplyDeleteTime to confess: I've never played Scrabble. Am I deprived or lucky?
ReplyDeleteIs "I" a valid word in scrabble?
ReplyDeleteNo - Scrabble words have a two-letter minimum.
ReplyDelete