Even the world?s most popular board game has to change with the times, and its got its millions of fans literally scrabbling around for clues. Scrabble now has another 5,000 words added to The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, which will be out next week from Merriam-Webster. What players know as of now is that the new version contains words that have become part of everyday urban language, like ?selfie?, ?hashtag?, ?bromance? and ?frenemy?. The new words add about 40 pages to the Scrabble-sanctioned dictionary, which already lists more than 100,000 playable words. To be included in the 36-year-old official dictionary a word must be found in a standard dictionary, cannot require capitalisation, cannot have hyphens or apostrophes and cannot be an abbreviation. Among the highest potential scorers among the new additions is ?quinzhee?, a shelter made by hollowing out a pile of snow. Merriam-Webster has not identified all 5,000 new words but released a list of about 30 that also include ?chillax? and ?mojito?.
The addition of new words should enthuse Indians who are part of the very active Scrabble tournament circuit in the country. There are enough of them so that players get ratings. Many are open to players from outside India, like the annual event in Bangalore, the iGate International Scrabble Tournament. There is also the Chennai Open which attracts top players from all over the world with its prize money of $12,000. Goa has its own Open tournament every year and so does Pune and Hyderabad but the biggest is held in Mumbai, the annual Bayer India Nationals. The winner of this tournament is declared National Champion and Indian representatives to the World Scrabble Championships. Having 5,000 new words to play with presents more scoring opportunities and should give scrabble enthusiasts plenty to think about.
