Speed Scrabble

Here's one from way back. In the college days I was introduced to a variant on the classic board game, Scrabble.

I don't know where the game originated before it was passed down to us, but I can tell you where we got it. I was taught the rules by my good friends Andy and Mark, who, in turn, learned from the family of a man that was once the VP of Development at Bluefield College. Mark and Andy were both semi-frequent visitors to this family's home. I regret to inform you, I've forgotten their names.

But from that relationship came Speed Scrabble.

Speed Scrabble is played without a board. That's right, no double letter scores, no triple word scores. You have to rely on the letters alone for your points. Basically, you have the tiles in a draw pile in the middle of your table. At the start, each player draws letters. At the same time, everyone flips over their letters and begins forming words as quickly as possible. Everyone has their own crossword going. The first to use all their tiles to form legitimate words calls out "Take Two!" Whether the other players are ready or not, everyone must take two more tiles. This goes until the draw pile runs out.

There are few restrictions. Throughout the game, if the words that you have formed are not conducive to the letters you keep drawing, you can rearrange.

I've introduced this concept to the Greenes, and now they're addicted. I'm hoping it spreads from here. Not necessarily from this blog, but from this family. Nicole is traveling to LA to see Jen for a few days, maybe she'll introduce the game to her. Maybe I should do some research on the interweb to see if Speed Scrabble is already a legitimate thing. Or you, my readers, should do the research. Let me know in the comments.

By the way, Allison was sent home tonight on Idol. I'm right so often it creeps me out.