Start thinking—and playing!—like a tournament player with these lesser-known Scrabble rules
13 Obscure Scrabble Rules Serious Players Need to Know
Tournament players use glossy tiles
The tile sets you buy at your local store likely have engraved letters, which aren’t legal in tournament play. “Players could braille the letters or at least know when they are drawing a blank,” says David Koenig, who has played tournament Scrabble since 2002 and was ranked in the top 10 players in North America. Tournament-legal tiles have letters that can’t be identified by touch, and players must hold the bag above eye level when drawing tiles.
Competitive Scrabble is timed
“Competitive games tend to be a lot faster than the Scrabble you might play at home with the family,” says Koenig. That’s because each player only gets 25 minutes to make all of their moves—and chess clocks are used to keep time. Each side typically makes 11 to 13 moves in a tournament game, which equals about two minutes per play. Exceed your allotted time and you’re penalized 10 points for each minute over 25.
Special rules apply for tournament challenges
In international tournaments, if a challenged word is valid, the challenger does not lose a turn. Instead, the challenged player earns five extra points, explains Koenig. “This penalty is, of course, much less drastic than losing a turn, so players will challenge more frequently,” he says.
“Coffee-housing” isn’t allowed
During tournament or club play, refrain from making small talk or even cracking your knuckles while your opponent is taking a turn. “Coffee-housing,” or trying to distract or mislead the other player, is considered unethical in Scrabble rules and is strictly forbidden. Unless you are challenging a play or questioning the score, it’s best to simply stay quiet.
Some foreign words are accepted
According to the official Scrabble rules, “all words labeled as a part of speech” are allowed, including those listed as “archaic, obsolete, colloquial and slang.” Foreign and uncommon words are permitted as long as they appear in English dictionaries. This includes the French words adieu (farewell) and amour (love), along with the Spanish words bandito (thief) and hombre (man). However, proper nouns, abbreviations, stand-alone prefixes and suffixes, and words requiring a hyphen or an apostrophe are not accepted words.
You can play words without vowels—even seven-letter ones
As the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary does not consider Y a vowel, the following two-letter vowel-less words are legal: by, hm, mm, my and sh. There are also 34 three-letter words, 32 four-letter words, 38 five-letter words and 24 six-letter words without vowels. As for seven-letter words, glycyls, rhythms and tsktsks are the only three that are acceptable.
You can always pass your turn
If you don’t want to make a move or exchange your tiles, you can always pass your turn. You get zero points for passing, and the next player takes their turn. However, per Scrabble rules, the game ends if there are six consecutive scores of zero, so make sure somebody makes a play on the board before the sixth pass!
There’s a difference between Double Challenge vs Dingle Challenge
Your opponent may challenge your word before the next play, and if it’s found to be unacceptable, you take your tiles back and lose your turn. Under the Double Challenge in North America, Israel and New Zealand, the challenger loses his turn if the word turns out to be valid. Scrabble games played elsewhere follow the Dingle Challenge Scrabble rule: the first incorrect challenge is not penalized, but subsequent errors result in the challenger losing a turn.
Your rack should be balanced
“Most people mistakenly think a good vocabulary is needed,” says Richard Silberg, who has been playing in Scrabble tournaments for decades. “Actually, the skill is trying to score well and balance your rack.” Balancing means saving a mix of vowels and consonants on your rack that can help you score well on your next turn. Silberg gives this example: “If you have “ACKRSTU,” you could play ‘track,’ ‘truck,’ or ‘struck.'” His advice is to play “truck,” as “the ‘A’ is much more desirable than the ‘U’, and keeping the ‘S’ is usually worth giving up a few points.”
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At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experience where appropriate. For this piece on Scrabble rules, writer PJ Feinstein received insight from Scrabble tournament players, David Koenig and Richard Silberg. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing, and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- David Koenig, Scrabble tournament player who has been competing since 2002. He was ranked in the top 10 Scrabble players in North America; interviewed August 2019.
- Richard Silberg, Scrabble player who has been competing in Scrabble tournaments for decades; interviewed August 2019.
- CPR News: “New Scrabble Dictionary For A New Generation”
- Medill Reports Chicago: “From ‘Aa’ to ‘Za:’ Memorize every two-letter Scrabble word with these 5 tips from the game’s experts”
