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Comments on 2019-02-06 Operation Wifebeater

Have you tried adopting the Nigerian short word defensive style of Scrabble play?

TrevorLDavis. 2019-02-07 22:03 UTC.


Trevor! No I have not, in part because I hadn't heard of it and in part because it seems to require memorizing every five-letter word and shorter in the dictionary. But also, is the Nigerian style a myth?

Ron Hale-Evans. 2019-02-07 23:44 UTC.


Not a Scrabble expert but that article seems to say it was an old and well-known (but still valid) strategy. I do imagine you could do quite better with a boost in Scrabble vocabulary (although I don't think it need be so comprehensive to give you a non-zero win probability versus your wife). If you drip in a list of high-marginal-value Scrabble words (say 5-10 a day) into a space-repetition software of your choice (aggressively suspending "leeches" that fail to click to save on overall review time) I'd imagine with only 2 minutes a day or so of review you might be beating your wife in Scrabble in only a couple of years when combined with a solid Scrabble strategy! Probably up your Crossword game as well...

TrevorLDavis. 2019-02-08 18:48 UTC.


That's not how I read the Slate article. To quote the end of the article,

...the importance of shorter words doesn’t represent some sea change blowing in from across the Atlantic. “In general, passing up bingos to make shorter plays is a thing that happens in Scrabble,” Clinchy says. “But it’s very rare, and the authors [of the Journal article] clearly don’t understand the nuances of when and why it happens.” (Two examples of when skipping a bingo does make sense: You’re holding a blank and can score 40 or more points without burning it; late in a game when bingoing is the only way to give your opponent a spot to play that would allow him to win.)

In other words, the winning strategy is to play short words when it's appropriate to play short words and long words when it's appropriate to play long words. Well, who can't agree with that?

Ron Hale-Evans. 2019-02-09 00:40 UTC.


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