Mitchell AllenMitchell Allen

When Harry Met Sally

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Did an opponent ever shout, "Hey, you can't play proper nouns in Scrabble" after you placed a word like TOM, DICK or HARRY? Even though definitions are not a part of the game, if you can't convince your opponent, you may be cowed into revoking a legitimate play. (Not everyone has a copy of the ... Read more

Better Scrabble Through Chemistry

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Shuffling tiles around on your rack is a bit like mixing beakers of stuff in the lab. Some combinations lead to explosions, while others simply smell bad. If you remember the ideas in Body Parts, you'll be whipping up new formulas in no time. We never had a lab like this!I'm not suggesting you get ... Read more

Energize Your End Game

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When the board is tight, forget about that brilliant seven-letter word that is taunting you in the rack. Look between the gaps for generating shocking end-game plays. Brilliant! OIL and GAS are obvious energy plays; however, you can really power up your end game with all kinds of weird units of measure, including these energy-related ... Read more

Oh No! Ma, I'm Poetic

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Onomatopoeia is the formation of words whose sound is imitative of the sound of the noise or action designated. BAM! Before we dive into this noisy ocean, let's be clear on one thing: onomatopoeia is the written equivalent of cupping a hand to your ear in Charades to signal, "Sounds like …." This is in ... Read more

Body Parts on the Rack

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Are your tiles seemingly locked up with no chance for release? Don't despair! Look for common little words that can be "hooked"—that is, they take a letter on either end—or combined with another small word to make a new word. It is easier to shuffle three or four tiles around a main word than it ... Read more

Nth Degree

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Today, we'll deal with all of those juicy consonants. Actually, they're not so juicy when there's hardly any place to play them! You really need to know a handful of vowel-starved words to minimize the penalty points at the end of the game. That 30-point lead you enjoy will be wiped out if you have ... Read more

Breaking Your Vowels

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Aiieee! You just filled your rack with every vowel in the bag. Or so it seems. You are sick of playing two-letter words and you don't have the guts to play ILEA. Before you decide to trade in those tiles, read on! Praise the Cat and Pass the Fish Learn these variant spellings for hallelujah ... Read more