Scrabble

Aug. 9th, 2005 07:44 pm
So, I need to get a new version of Scrabble one of these days. I can't afford it just at the moment, but I should be able to soon. I do already have a version of the game, but it's been lost in a box somewhere for two years. And it's a travel version, so I'd like something full-size for at home.

There are two versions that interest me.

For $20, there is a new, vintage-repro "Bookshelf" version. This is basically like your ordinary Scrabble game, but it's made to look like a version you'd have bought in the 50s or 60s, and it comes in a woodlike case. The tiles are the standard pale wood with black letters. This interests me because it's relatively compact and stores nicely, and because I have other bookshelf games, and really like the concept of bookshelf games. I don't think this is quite the same as the Nostalgia edition, but if not, it's close.

For $30, there's the "Deluxe" version, which has the cool gridded rotating board. The tiles are dark with gold letters on them. The convenience of the rotating board with grids to stabilize letters is not lost on me. However, it costs more, it's harder to store (the board doesn't fold), I've heard that it's kind of cheaply made, and when I played with a travel set that has snap-in letters (mine doesn't), they flew off the board more often than they stayed in place. I don't know if the Deluxe has snap-in letters or just letters that sit in a plastic grid?

(There's also a more expensive wooden deluxe version, but that's out of my league at $50. And Target sells a "Michael Graves" wooden version that is not a "deluxe" - IE, no grid, no rotating, also $50. It has a new peg-based scoring system.)

At any rate, I'd like your opinions....

[Poll #548834]
Today I won a game of Scrabble, had good coffee, finished watching series 3 of Jeeves and Wooster, and managed to do a reasonable amount of housework without too much exertion. That is, you can see a difference but I didn't break a sweat or feel like I spent the whole night cleaning.

As far as Scrabble goes... I'm lost against anyone who actually has a good strategy. I rely too much on my fancy vocabulary. The good news is that most people won't challenge me when I put down a word because they assume I know what I'm talking about. The bad news is that anyone who is actually a good and frequent player can kick my ass even if they don't have the fancy vocabulary, much more so if they do or if they've made a point of memorizing some of the useful word lists. I rely on "qi" a lot - it's the same as "chi", the energy that's supposedly addressed in feng shui. Apparently I shouldn't rely on it, though, since I'm not seeing it on word lists. ("Xi" IS legal: a Greek letter.)

Very disappointed that an apartment complex that LOOKED nice from the outside, and is in my basic neighborhood, has a plethora and panoply of truly horrible reviews on internet apartment review sites. May be the worst complex in town. Is under investigation by Columbus housing authorities. Overall, it seems like people writing reviews are forgiving of problems in apartment complexes if several factors are in play: the maintenace team must be decent (at least making a strong, skilled effort to fix something properly, as well as being friendly), and the management staff must also be polite, friendly, and effective. Bad maintenance or rude management? Way higher incidence of complaint. I saw buildings with fairly high reviews that had serious problems, but because the staff was kindly and made an effort, people were willing to say positive things about the complex. Places with fewer problems and a very rude, ineffectual staff got lower reviews.

Profile

verbminx

March 2010

S M T W T F S
  12345 6
7891011 1213
14151617181920
21 222324252627
28293031   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 8th, 2025 08:22 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios