Playing with the Champs

With some expert coaching my husband and I played the Scrabble game of our lifetime. We had important Scrabble people for dinner tonight and after dessert, we got to see how the pros do it.

Joe Edley is the guy who writes the Scrabblegram that is syndicated in the Washington Post and in other major newspapers throughout the country. One of his best friends is Jerry Lerman, the guy we just happened to meet on the 4th of July. They are both here this week with their families, Joe as an instructor and Jerry as just another Chautauqua guest.

We made piles of BBQ chicken, lots of potato salad, steamed broccoli, and a recipe of lemon bars. It was a nice night to eat out on our large deck.

After dinner some people peeled off to go to the evening concert put on by the music school, that included excerpts from Carmen. The rest of us hunkered down to watch a Scrabble game between Joe and Jerry.

Joe’s first play was a Bingo, a play that used all 7 of his tiles. I had never even heard of more than half the words they played. In many cases, they knew the words were allowed, but could not define them. They used a clock to record how much time each person took. Joe was ready to play almost immediately each time it was his turn. He had the better letters and ended up winning 482 - 358. For someone who has seldom topped 200, these scores are phenomenal!

My husband and I offered ourselves up to be “coached” by Joe and Jerry. The idea was that we should come up with the words ourselves, but they could advise on strategy and weird 2-letter words. We both got just a little more help. I managed 3 Bingos and had the best letters I have ever drawn. I edged out my husband at 412 - 386. Here is the resulting board.

I can’t wait to see how Joe and Jerry do in the upcoming national championships. What a treat to see Scrabble in a new light.