Word Weirdos

I have a Netflix membership that I use to mostly rent TV series. I started with the Sopranos and I am now starting the Wire. Every once and a while, however, something will be out of stock and I'll get the next available item on my list, which is generally a movie. I keep a long list of movies in my queue knowing that I'll probably never watch but still want to remember them. A few weeks ago, a Wire disc was out of stock so I received Wordplay, a documentary about crossword puzzle solvers and tournaments. It featured Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, and other notables who love crosswords. It was a really delightful little movie.

Then, coincidentally, I picked up the book Word Freak, about obsessed Scrabble players. Scrabble players are a different lot than crossword puzzle solvers. Good Scrabble players memorize thousands and thousands of words and are expert anagrammers. Some of the best in the U.S. don't work, instead focusing all their time on Scrabble. They play constantly. They obsess. They're odd. So, I decided my next rental would be Word Wars, a documentary about the same Scrabble players featured in the book.The movie was great. But while I appreciate the players' talents and continued practice, not unlike a professional sports figure, I can't understand devoting one's life to memorizing letter combinations. Until reading the book and watching the movie, it never occurred to me that Scrabble really isn't about knowing words. I mean, does a word have meaning, if one doesn't know its meaning? Of course it does, but not in the context of Scrabble. Instead, the word has value, not meaning.

I've never been into word puzzles, crosswords, Scrabble, Boggle, etc. I wonder why? I've always read a lot and I have the mathy brain associated with good word puzzlers. I have to admit, though, after reading the book and watching the movie about Scrabble, the oddballs seem very appealing. It almost makes me want to take up the game. After all, I have a great memory.

(Note to my husband: I'm kidding. It ain't happening. Post-dissertation fantasies are very compelling.)

Comments

[Christopher]

Great post. I love to play Scrabble, and I've long wanted to see that movie and read the book. I'm not a very good player, but I have delved into trying to memorize all the two-letter words, because you can score a lot of cheap points by playing XU and XI. The breakthrough for me came when I read a quote by an international-level Scrabble player who said something like, "Everyone thinks Scrabble is a word game, but it's not - it's a math game." I'll try and dig up the article where he said that.