Could YOU Play Tournament Scrabble? Quiz

Answer: fibrE (28)

You have several aims here. They include high scoring, letter turnover, not opening high scoring squares for your opponent, and rack balance.

FIBER is not advisable because it would put the I and the E next to a Double Letter square, and even a simple word like 'WE' would be worth 20 points. In general, it is better to put a consonant next to a premium square.

BRIEF is better, but NOT in that position. If your opponent has an 'ING', he would get 45 points for extending your word to the Triple Word square.

FIB could be discounted because of the lower score, even though it leaves a nice rack of ' E I R X'.

Answer: K+NUMB

Mzee is a word that comes from the Swahili language, meaning 'old wise man', jnana is a Sanskrit word meaning 'wisdom, or enlightenment', and is also a type of yoga. Doff means 'to remove', and usually refers to clothing, specifically a hat.

Answer: Exchange tiles

Passing is rather a rare tactic, because it 'telegraphs' that your opponent is close to scoring an eight-letter word, but is missing one letter. Unless you have a high-scoring starting word (e.g. QUELL for 48 points), the best move is to get rid of the hard-to-fit tiles (e.g. C, V, U), and make him bust up his good combination.

Answer: Yes

V's and C's are not conducive to building bingos, and nor are 'doubled' (or 'tripled') letters. Get rid of the lot, and hopefully your opponent will pick them up!

Answer: IQAD

Many 'Q, no U' words were admitted into the SOWPODS dictionary in the 1990s- there are actually 72 of them! Words such as FAQIR, QALAMDAN, QOPH and TALAQ are all acceptable.

Arguments rage about the legitimacy of 'QI', an Oriental life-force, and many feel that the 10 points awarded for the Q is now excessive.

In this instance, the letters in IQAD can be anagrammed into either QAID or QADI.

Answer: After he has hit his clock

A move is not 'complete' until the clock has been hit. A player is entitled to change his mind about the word at any time before this. There is also no obligation on his part to 'announce' the words he has just played. After he has hit the clock, the procedure is:- Announce that you are challenging the word or words, stop both clocks, write the word on a challenge slip, and show the slip to your opponent for his agreement that you have spelled it correctly. Next, cover both racks (or lay both player's letters face-down on the table), present the slip to the word-checking official, and show your opponent the result of the check. If it is indeed a legal word, play continues and your clock is started. If the word is a phony, your opponent must remove his letters from the board, and lose that turn.

Answer: Play the U off cheaply, or exchange it

The 'SATIRE' list is one of the most important group of words that any aspiring serious player can familiarise themselves with. The letters S-A-T-I-R-E combine with all but 6 letters of the alphabet (these letters are J, Q, U, X, Y and Z) to make a bingo. Other similar lists are 'TINEAS', 'RETAIN' and 'SINGER'.

Answer: Yes

It is not only perfectly legal, but also highly recommended! Most tournaments have a list of the letter distribution printed alongside your scoresheet, so that you can cross each letter off as it is played.

Just imagine being able to play 'AX' next to a vital Triple Word Score space, KNOWING you have the only E left in the bag, and being able to place a hooking bingo onto it. 'Tile Tracking', as this practice is called, will enable you to know what letters your opponent has, and you can plan your plays accordingly.

Answer: Play three letters, so as to get the last three tiles

Obviously, getting rid of all your letters in one turn is the ideal situation, but bingos at this stage of the game are usually hard to find, because of the congested state of the board.

Taking the last letter in the bag is very risky, as your opponent may find that elusive bingo. As well as scoring the bonus 50 points, he would also score double the value of the letters on your rack, and your supposedly comfortable lead would be obliterated!

Blocking off as many open letters is also a good ploy, although if you have played a crafty game, there should not be too many of these on the board.

Answer: otarine

According to Webster's Dictionary, an otary is 'an eared seal'. The other three words are figments of my imagination.

I hope you have enjoyed my quiz, and please feel free to drop by my place for a friendly game of Scrabble...