Los Angeles Scrabble Club

05/01/2026

Attendance: 22

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

A high attendance figure of 22 showed up last night, our best of the year so far. Two new women showed up too as Club 44 welcomed Jules Loops and Steph Farber. They seemed to enjoy their maiden visit and promised to return in the near future.

When the dust cleared as well as all the tiles too, the last man standing was Joel Elkins. He finished 4-0 with a 479 average and 10 bingos. In his third game, Joel was matched up with Jem Burch, the standings leader. Joel opened the game by playing EXPIATE for 98 points. That's the same word he missed last week in one of his games. Funny how that happens sometimes. Joel had to hold on to outlast Jem 485-468.

In a game I played vs "name withheld" my opponent jumped to a big lead and I was already resigned to losing that one. But then I played CRAZE for 80 points followed by XENIA for 81. Then on my next play a 52-pointer. Later I added a bingo and won going away scoring 504. You just never know when the tiles will turn in your favor!

In another game between Robin Torrance and Inae Bloom, Robin opened with STEELER for a bingo. Yup, you can be a football player from Pittsburgh but that word is not acceptable in our word source. The play went unchallenged and stayed on the board. Later in that same game Robin plays RESTEEL. Another phony that also went unchallenged and anagrams of each other. WTF! There are no acceptable bingos in those letters. So Inae let Robin get away with both...and of course she ended up winning the game 419-363. That's Scrabble at its weirdest!

Another reminder that we will be closed June 6. Mark that date so you don't forget.

Let's have a bunch more people next Wednesday! Enjoy your weekend,

Alan

04/24/2026

Jem Burch, Club 44 standings leader, fired up another 4-0 night fueled by a 488 average score. One of his victories was a 473-450 game defeating Judy Levitt. Jem also led the session with 10 bingos and the High Non-bingo score too.

In a fourth round game vs. me, Robbin Steif opened with the bingo STALEST (66 points). Then on her following turn she played JUVENILE for 104. She coasted to an easy victory from that point forward.

Looking way ahead on the calendar we will not meet June 3 as the park will be closed that day.

Have yourselves a great weekend,
Alan

04/17/2026

Attendance: 14
Clubwebsite: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com
Clubstats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

It was Tax Day, Jackie Robinson Day, the Titanic sunk Day and just another Scrabble Day at Club 44. But what it wasn't was a 4-0 Day.

Nobody could go undefeated because maybe it was just too taxing for anyone to break the 4-0 color line but at least no one went down with the ship. Judy Levitt had the best 3-1 night with a crisp 478 average. She also set a new mark for leaving the same tote bag behind two consecutive weeks. Now there's something to shoot for. Let's applaud Judy for her 603 High Game!

The club game average was 400 so the usual high scores were abundant.

In a game I was involved with vs. Elizabeth Ralston an unusual thing happened. She was ahead near the end of the game with two tiles remaining in the bag. I bingoed for 88 points to take the lead by a few. I reached into the bag and was shocked to pull both the blanks! Elizabeth then scored enough to probably secure the win for her until I realized that there were two spaces above the Q covering a DWS (Double Word Score). I played suQ for 20 points and squeaked out the victory once I received the points for her remaining tiles. I don't recall ever seeing the last two remaining tiles in the bag be blanks. Very weird!

Please enjoy your weekends and we'll see you next Wednesday,

Alan

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03/19/2026

Attendance: 13

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

Though we had only 13 people attend, the usual Club 44 fireworks were still present. Of the baker's dozen who played, six averaged over 400 points and two more were better than 390. An average score of 401.7 across the whole session is pretty darn good! March Madness!

Jem Burch ruled the night with a whopping 499 average and 11 bingos. His fourth-round victory vs. me was a doozy of a game. Jem won 534-460 in a game which featured 8 total bingos, split evenly between us.

Jem made VIPEROUS (102), GLANCERS, HOLLEREd, ALUNITE.

I made HOMEROOm, DEAIRING, TAUNTER, OPTIMES. And for good measure played a non-bingo EXUDES (60).

A few oddities from this game:

*It only took the first four plays by us to reach the bottom and top rows.

*All four of the U's were played in the same vertical column (K), three of them in bingos and none coupled with the Q.

*There were more bingos (8) than 3-letter words (5).

This was a once in a blue moon game for sure just six points short of 1,000 combined. Check it out with some comments by Jem here: Annotated Game - cross-tables.com

Joel Elkins had the High Play (104), though Jem himself played three better than 100.

Brian Nelson surrendered four bingos to Bruce D'Ambrosio in a 467 High Loss in which Brian made just one bingo with such a high score. In the next round he surrendered four more to me. Some nights the tile gods aren't too nice.

Next Wednesday we'll crank up the racks and do it again!

Alan

03/13/2026

Attendance: 17

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

A nice group of quality players were battling it out on Wednesday. It was great to see the return of Zach Ansell who hadn't been to Club 44 since 2019. He dropped in during Spring Break from school in Cleveland. Whenever he attends, we're happy to have him. We're also happy to see Dave Postal stop by from Palm Springs, his first time in 2026.

Judy Levitt was best in the room, sporting a 449 average and 11 bingos to beat all comers. She had a 513 game, one of seven total club games above 500.

Two were near misses (498, 499) and one better than 600 and another very close to another 600 (596). The latter two games were both by Jem Burch including his 635! Wowzers!

I would like to give a shout out to everyone showing up and doing their part in playing efficiently to get us out of the room by 9:30. There was even one fourth round game which finished at 8:50. So far, this new start time of 5:40 has worked perfectly. I have made sure not to delay the first round at all and begin promptly which certainly helps.

It's going to be HOT the next few days so keep cool and hydrated if you plan any outside activities. Enjoy the Oscar telecast on Sunday evening when you can listen to annoying speeches from winners thanking too many people you never heard of.

Alan

03/06/2026

Attendance: 14

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

We moved forth into March on the fourth! Not too many of us showed up with just 14 playing our favorite game. Though, I'm sure everyone who attended had a great time.

It isn't very often that I get to play all four games, sitting out when it's odd-numbered and alternating that task with Joel Elkins. But on this night we both got to play the maximum allotted. It is even rarer when I win them all! After squeaking by with a comeback victory in round one, I was able to defeat my next three opponents on the way to the night's crown (knight's crown?). A very late bingo (VENERAtE) in round three sealed the deal there and then a walk-off bingo (NOVATION) put a nice gloss in the final game making it a perfect evening.

You can see below that there were a pair of 102-point High Plays as well as a triumvirate playing 10 total bingos.

There was even a tie game between Joel and David Pearl ending in a 432 stalemate.

Don't forget to move your clocks forward an hour before you turn in on Saturday night. And definitely don't be late to club on Wednesday! We begin at 5:40 promptly. That is, pairings are announced at that time. Arrive at 5:30 to be punctual.

Locally, this Sunday is the annual Los Angeles Marathon. By the time many of us are yawning on that morning a Kenyan runner will probably have already won. Not much changes in that event year to year.

Enjoy a warm weekend,

Alan

02/27/2026

Attendance: 16

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

We were visited by Scott Pianowski, who was in town from Michigan. Scott played regularly at Club 44 in 1999-2000 and hadn't been back since then. After three games he was driven to LAX by his host David Pearl to catch a flight back home. I'm sure he took some good memories and also a sunburn back with him.

Judy Levitt used her own burning of four opponents to rule the night. She sported a club-leading 452 game average.

There were a pair of 102-point plays by both Jem Burch and Pete Skaggs. I came close with a 101-pointer.

We were moved to room #3 from our usual room #4 as the park was working on the lights in our regular lair. It's about time they tackled that issue since some of the lights seem to be not functioning on occasion.

Sign up for the NASPA Scrabble Players Championship by Saturday to receive a free t-shirt with your registration. Otherwise, they go for $15 if not signed up by February 28. There are north of 100 people signed up already. It takes place in July in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Make your plans to attend our first meeting of March next Wednesday. Enjoy your weekend,

Alan

02/19/2026

Attendance: 18

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

When 18 people attend with half of them averaging over 400 points per game, it's a pretty strong showing. But first things first.

After winning the top division at Phoenix last weekend, Jem Burch was informed of the Club 44 tradition to provide pizza to the club to celebrate a tournament division win. His $1,000 prize earned there was more than enough to help feed us. Jem won his final 10 games to secure the title, needing the last three vs. the player in first at the time. He squeaked by him and won at the wire. Congrats and thank you, Jem!

But it was Trip Payne who reigned supreme again Wednesday having another 4-0 night. That's eight straight wins for him allowing Trip to gain an early stronghold on first place in the 2026 standings. His 10 total bingos were the most and allowed him to win 'em all.

As I began my game vs. Robin Torrance, I noticed that GOATY was played on the board next to us. I wondered out loud how one could use that word in a sentence. Robin said, "Michael Jordan is known as goaty (Greatest Of All Time)." You can't make this stuff up...I look down at my opening rack...MJORDAN are my tiles! I opened with JORAM for 44 points and then went on to lose to Robin in very unJordan-like fashion.

I'm sure there were other crazy highlights I'm not aware of from last night, but that's enough for now. Enjoy your upcoming dry LA area weekend.

Alan

02/14/2026

Attendance: 17

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

I hope everybody is beginning to enjoy your President's Day weekend and that you have a nice Valentine's Day too.

Trip Payne, powered by a 446 average, won all four of his games Wednesday. He didn't show up in the pink box below since others led the session in those categories. Trip is in second place in the current standings.

I was the other undefeated player, though I only played two games and falling just short of a 500 average.

Congrats to Jem Burch for unloading a dozen bingos and having the highest 4-game average of 475.

Please show up to club before 5:30 if you can so we can start promptly at 5:40. I have been adamant to start the first round on time so we don't run late. So far so good!

There are several Club 44 players participating in the annual Phoenix tournament. Make us proud in the desert!

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Alan

02/06/2026

Attendance: 18

Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.com

Club stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

Our attempts at beginning a little bit early and departing by 9:30 have been successful so far. Pairings were called out at 5:40 giving us a jump start and an easy flowing night. Thanks to everyone arriving in time to make that happen!

David Pearl notched another 4-0 session to hold on to the top of the standings. A nifty 457 average and eight bingos was the recipe for success this time.

Charlie Mann in second place has three losses this year, two by the hands of the leader himself.

One of our newest local members, Jem Burch, who resides in third place played the beautiful TWS-TWS BROOKITE (a mineral) for 167 points. His play is now tied for highest of the year.

Jackie Heller has authored a new novel released in December. "When Dreams Remember" can be purchased through Amazon.

I'll be MC'ing the Scrabble Players Championship once again this summer, this time in Cedar Rapids, IA. Come for the Scrabble, stay for the bad jokes. If you never played in a Nationals tournament, it's always a fun event no matter where it's held.

Enjoy the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl this weekend!

Alan

01/29/2026

Attendance: 17
Club website: https://www.thescrabbleclub.comClub
stats: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d28an

Judy Levitt dominated the session with her 4-0 night. In one of her wins Judy played QUAI for 93 points on a TWS with the Q doubling twice fueling her 509 score in that contest.

With January now done for club meetings, Charlie Mann is the early standings leader ahead of both Trip Payne and David Pearl. We can expect Charlie to be in the mix all year long with his much improved play.

Pete Skaggs dropped a 608 score including three bingos.

With the earlier 9:30 clear-the-room time now in effect, we did a good job meeting that demand finishing a few minutes earlier as we did last week too. Even though I haven't made an earlier 5:30 start official -yet, it's good to see that if we all work together it can be done even beginning at the usual 5:45 time.

I am urging all of you to arrive in our room earlier than you might have been used to. Say, before 5:30. I will do my best to get the first round going by no later than 5:40 to accommodate the new exit time. Those coming in later will be paired after the original matchups. Rule of thumb, the earlier the better for you and us as a group.

Let's do it again next Wednesday!
Alan