If you’re a writer (and if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you are), you most likely enjoy playing with words. After all, that IS what writing is about, isn’t it? Choosing and maneuvering and finagling the 26 letters in the English language into words, and those words into sentences, to paragraphs, to chapters, etc. etc.
It’s amazing how many different words can be made with the two dozen and two letters at our disposal. And, of course, putting them in sentences is only ONE way to “play” with them. Another involves a game created by a man who was born 113 years ago today.
Today, my friends, is National Scrabble Day, in honor of the birth of this game’s creator, Alfred Butts, on April 13, 1899. After losing his job as an architect during the Depression, Butts created the popular word game in 1938. According to Wikipedia, the game is sold in 121 countries and there are 29 different language versions. Approximately 150 million sets have been sold worldwide, and sets are found in roughly one-third of American homes. (Including mine!)
I don’t know about you, but Facebook Scrabble is one of my favorite diversions. Somehow, it doesn’t feel like procrastination or avoidance of writing – I’m still working with words, right?? (Please let me live in my little delusional world, folks. I like it here 
)
And since it’s National Scrabble Day, perhaps I’ll spend a bit MORE time over there (or perhaps even pull out the “real-life” game and give it a play.
Are you a Scrabble fan? Do you plan to “celebrate” Scrabble day? Any fun Scrabble stories?
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11 Comments until now.
I like the word – universe.
Uni = One
verse = Word
Gen:1 God spoke things into existence.
John: 1: 1, 14 Jesus is the Word.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
I LOVE Scrabble. I celebrate it everyday.:-) In fact, I belong to a Scrabble Club that meets every Wednesday. And, yes, I admit to taking time out from my writing to play a game or two on the computer. Scrabble is always on the menu when you visit my house!
Scrabble is not wasted time – it’s brain exercise.
Thanks for letting us know about the holiday so I can CELEBRATE! 
An old riend was in a serious collision while on vacation. I flew out to Idaho to be with her in a hospital there. She was there for five weeks. I was able to stay for two. Almost every day, in between morphine shots, we’d play a little bit of Scrabble. By the end of the two weeks, we got a whole game in.
For Christmas I mailed her a little pendent made from an old Scrabble tile.
It probably meant more to me than her.
Or maybe not, Diane.
Was thinking the same thing, Anne. I LOVE your story, Diane. Very cool.
Diane, your favorite Scrabble story has become my favorite Scrabble story, and should be told to Hasbro: they would want to know!
As much as I like words, I DO NOT like Scrabble. It involves too much spelling and moves too slow. My favorite word games are Taboo and Password or Scattegories. Does anyone remember a word game called Probe?
Don’t recall probe, but I was a terrific Password player holding my own with the adults in the family. Perquacky is a fun word game I still play when visiting my mother. You have three minutes to form as many words as possible with the toss of lettered dice.
My son and I had fun playing Jr. scrabble . We found out he could not spell good , but We do not raise him.
I wrote the school and asked him to help him with his spelling. He won the
scrabble Jr. game over Nancy Ortega ,
father Matthew Tron and mother Nanette Tron and won one dollar and fifty cent. I am glad he won our Jr. scrabble game. I pray that he will become an excellant scrabble player in 2012 and that we will get a Adult Scrabble Game. I pray He makes an A in Spelling. and passes into the next grade.
WOO HOO! Adore playing Scrabble and all word games. Always appreciate invitations to play.