Scrabble Fans Spell Out Fun
- Sangamon County News
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Today, word nerds, board game buffs, and competitive spellers are gathering their tiles to celebrate National Scrabble Day, a day dedicated to the beloved game that has challenged vocabularies and sparked friendly rivalries since 1938. Whether you're a triple-word-score tactician or someone who still thinks "QI" isn't a real word (it is!), April 13th is the perfect day to embrace your inner logophile.
The Origins of Scrabble
National Scrabble Day falls on April 13th in honor of the game's creator, Alfred Mosher Butts, who was born on this day in 1899. Butts, an architect from Poughkeepsie, New York, combined his love of crossword puzzles and games to invent "Lexiko," the precursor to Scrabble. By assigning point values to letters based on their frequency in English words, he created a game where strategy meets language mastery.
The game didn’t gain widespread popularity until the early 1950s when it caught the attention of entrepreneur James Brunot, who renamed it "Scrabble" and secured its spot in living rooms and coffee tables worldwide.
Fun Scrabble Facts
The highest-scoring Scrabble word ever played in competition is “oxyphenbutazone,” which theoretically scores 1778 points. However, it’s more of a unicorn than a real-world occurrence.
The shortest possible game of Scrabble could end with just 6 moves, assuming players strategically block their opponent at every turn.
Over 150 million Scrabble sets have been sold in more than 120 countries, and the game is available in 29 languages.
Scrabble even has its own official dictionary, updated regularly to reflect modern language trends. Recent additions include “selfie,” “emoji,” and “vax.”
Play Like a Pro
If you're looking to sharpen your Scrabble skills, experts recommend learning high-value two-letter words (like “qi” and “za”), memorizing the Q-without-U words, and always keeping an eye on the coveted triple-word score squares. And don't forget—bluffing is legal, so confidently play that obscure word you think might exist. You might just get away with it.
A Game for the Ages
From family game nights to international competitions, Scrabble has a unique way of bringing people together over a shared love of words. On National Scrabble Day, it’s not just about winning—though let’s face it, that 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles feels amazing—but about celebrating a game that has turned language into a competitive sport.
So grab your board, draw your tiles, and may the best speller win. And if anyone challenges your word, just remind them: it’s all in the dictionary. Happy National Scrabble Day!