Wordy

I missed a day of blogging again, didn't I? Sara knows why:

It's true. I've forsaken you all for Scrabble. No, not really, I just got kind of carried away. First this:

Then this:

 

Yes, I whupped her. But she has whupped me on other occasions. And her husband and I are busy whupping each other at the same time as all this is going on. Crazy suburban housewives, what won't we do next?

(Meanwhile, why is it that I get nothing but 7-letter words when I'm playing with friends, but as soon as EditorMark includes me in a game with a bunch of Real Editors, I freeze up and play words like TIT and FA? Sigh.)

But this is not all about Scrabble. This is also about the aforementioned Words With Friends. A comparison, if you will.

Scrabble: The main pro is a big one: It's that same old board we all know and love, with double- and triple- scores in all the usual places. And same with the letter point values, which are all kinds of crazy in Words With Friends. (2 points for N? Have you all gone crazy?) I haven't yet compared the letter distribution between Scrabble and Words With Friends (Debra, is this a job for you?). If you've been playing Scrabble for almost 40 years, this sort of thing is a major comfort.

So why wouldn't you play Scrabble all the time? First of all, you have to connect through Facebook, which (despite popular belief) not everyone has. Second, it's a pain in the butt. If I do it on the computer, more than half the time I get the dreaded L-O-A-D-I-N- screen, but the G never shows up. If I do it on the iPhone, it always works, but it's a lousy iPhone app for many reasons, the most egregious failings being these:

1. It takes forever to load.

2. Once it loads, the app is very crowded and takes up all available screen space, so you can't see the time, signal strength, battery power, etc. at the top.

This is Scrabble:

  

(Yes, I played TRANNY, so sue me.)

And this is Words With Friends:

Isn't that a much cleaner interface? So much more iPhone-y? (Meanwhile, lucky I just edited a Grade 4 math textbook, or else RHOMBI might not have leapt to mind.)

3. The chat function doesn't work the way all other iPhone chat functions work. It doesn't automatically fix typos, it doesn't let you go back to fix a typo (that is, you have to delete everything up to that point), it doesn't automatically capitalize and punctuate, and so on. Peh.

That being said, I like a few features in Scrabble that Words With Friends doesn't offer:

1. The WWF support site claims they're trying to make the center square (for the first play of the game) give a double score, but so far no luck.

2. Scrabble tells you how many tiles your opponent has left; WWF does not.

3. Scrabble tells you how much a word would score before you play it; WWF does not.

And, Words With Friends gets a little buggy almost every evening and I end up going to bed hoping that my last few moves got made.

All this being said, I'm addicted to both games, so if you're either on Facebook or have an iPhone, challenge me ("wisekaren") to a game!

Comments

[jude]

well maybe, i am afraid of fb apps. they mess with my pc. but, i might waive this rule of mine for a game with you!! i dont know what tranny means thou.
so, see you soon, i think. not tonight , i am beat from tackling the insect world to save the cats that are rachel's and jes' but i do all the work so i say they are my cats, to justify all the work i have done this past 6 days!!!!!!

[nina]

I won't sue you for playing "tranny" but I might challenge you. Where's my official Scrabble dictionary anwyay? Do they let you challenge in these games, or do they have their own internal dictionaries?

[Karen]

They have their own internal dictionaries, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can try lots of different combinations that you aren't sure are real words -- but that also causes people to try EVERYTHING imaginable. It either accepts or it doesn't, and there's no penalty if it's not an allowable word.

[Sara]

Tell them the truth Karen. You let me win a handful of games and lured me into a false sense of security before going in for the kill!

[Kelly]

No false sense of security with me. The editor keeps kicking the tail out of the former English teacher. :)

[Debra Hamel]

Okay, I may of course have made some errors, but here is what I get for letter distribution in WWF:

Blank -- 2
A -- 9 -- 1 point
B -- 2 -- 4 points
C -- 2 -- 4 points
D -- 5 -- 2 points
E -- 13 -- 1 point
F -- 2 -- 4 points
G -- 3 -- 3 points
H -- 4 -- 3 points
I -- 7 -- 1 point
J -- 1 -- 10 points
K -- 1 -- 5 points
L -- 4 -- 2 points
M -- 2 -- 4 points
N -- 5 -- 2 points
O -- 8 -- 1 point
P -- 2 -- 4 points
Q -- 1 -- 10 points
R -- 6 -- 1 point
S -- 5 -- 1 point
T -- 7 -- 1 point
U -- 4 -- 2 points
V -- 2 -- 5 points
W -- 2 -- 4 points
X -- 1 -- 8 points
Y -- 2 -- 3 points
Z -- 1 -- 10 points

Regular Scrabble Letter Distribution:

A-9 B-2 C-2 D-4 E-12 F-2 G-3 H-2 I-9 J-1 K-1 L-4 M-2 N-6 O-8 P-2 Q-1 R-6 S-4 T-6 U-4 V-2 W-2 X-1 Y-2 Z-1 Blank-2

Or, with point values:

* 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
* 1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4
* 2 points: D ×4, G ×3
* 3 points: B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2
* 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2
* 5 points: K ×1
* 8 points: J ×1, X ×1
* 10 points: Q ×1, Z ×1

[Rivster]

First of all, I would never challenge an editor to any type of word play.

Next, how did you get an image of your Twitter stream into your post???

[Di]

I am addicted to Words with Friends. However...I think there should be an agreement that you sign that promises that you are not googling "words with five letters that end in z" or something. I've played with people and I just find it hard to believe that they know some of these arcane words. I mean, you pick them up along the way...that three letter word that starts with Q...not posting it here in case I end up playing any of you.

Look for me: dineer526

I must disclose that I was an English major in college. I read a TON. And I'm actually earning money as an editor these days. So, when you completely annihilate me, you can brag to your friends. And if I happen to win, you can use it as an excuse.

[Karen]

There will always be people who "sit on the dictionary," as my sister refers to it. No one begrudges someone for looking up a particular word, or trying out a potential word, but hunting is cheating! I think veteran crossword solvers have an edge (as well as veteran Scrabble players, obviously!). But SO much depends on what tiles you draw. I've had games where I got ALL the high-scoring tiles and other games where I didn't get any. You never know!