By Jimmy Boegle. I noticed the motto you have for the tucsonscrabble. I change that every once in a while with something clever. The last one was, "Where the elite meet to spell m-e-a-t. How many people usually show up for the weekly meeting at Denny's? About There's every variety of person you could think of. There's every age--our youngest is in the mid-late 20s, and the oldest is pushing They come from all walks of life. We have engineers, a retired CIA person, an entomologist and teachers.
Why Denny's? Because they put up with us. Also, more practically, some of our players are from Sierra Vista, Sonoita, the Patagonia area--and this tends to be a little closer for them. Some of our players drive miles roundtrip to play every week. It's very addicting.
What makes it so addictive? The level of competition. It's a very strategic game. Also, there's an element of luck involved, and that makes it interesting.
There's a mathematical aspect, but it also gives attention to people's love of words and language. What's the highest word score you've ever gotten? The one I can remember is points. The word was "cherries. I hit two triple word scores at the same time, meaning it was nine times the point value, plus a point word bonus.
That's called a "triple triple. We return all of that, save 25 percent of it, in the form of cash prizes. We might have a prize for high game of the evening, or an award for a "high and dry"--the best word score with a word that contains the letters D-R-Y.
