From Z to A: ZYDECO

ZYDECO, pluralized ZYDECOS, is a "popular music of southern Louisiana.

Here's a video of ZYDECO music, using old-fashioned instruments like accordions and washboards.

From Z to A: ZYGOMA

The ZYGOMA is the cheekbone.

It is pluralized ZYGOMAS or ZYGOMATA.

From Z to A: ZYGOTE

There are three other "zyg-" words in the Dictionary, after ZYGOTENE,  that also refer to MEIOSIS.

ZYGOTE - a cell formed by the union of two GAMETES

ZYGOSITY - the makeup of a particular ZYGOTE.

ZYGOSIS - the process of the union of two GAMETES

A GAMETE is a mature reproductive cell.

From Z to A: ZYGOTENE

ZYGOTENE, according to the Official Scrabble Dictionary, is "a stage in MEIOSIS."

MEIOSIS is a stage in cell division, which takes place during sexual reproduction.

In the ZYGOTENE stage, which cna be pluralized ZYGOTENES, the chromosomes are pairing together.

The prefix "zygo" comes from the Greek for YOKED.

Remember that "zymo" is from the Greek for LEAVEN.

So there is ZYMOGENE, menaing "a substance that develops into an ENZYME when suitable activated"/

And there is ZYGOTENE, which is the stage in MEIOSISI where cells begin to line up in pairs, to be YOKED.

No Vowels? No problem: BRR

As I don't need to tell you, it is extremely frustrating to have all vowels or all consonants, rather than a nice mixture of each.

If you don't want to turn in letters, this series of posts will deal with words you can spell if you don't have any vowels.

BRR is a phonetic spelling of the noise you make when it is too darn cold outside.

It can also be spelled BRRR.

These are interjections, so they can't be pluralized or conjugated in any way.

From Z to A: ZYME and ZYMASE

ZYME(S) and ZYMASE(S) are defined as enzymes in the Scrabble Dictionary.

An ENZYME is a biological catalyst, meaning it causes or speeds up a chemical reaction in the body.

Most ENZYMES are PROTEINS.

According to Wikipedia,  

Zymase is an enzyme complex that catalyzes the fermentation of sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. It occurs naturally in yeasts. Zymase activity varies among yeast strains

RATIONAL SCRABBLE: FOOTIER

I just looked up FOOTIER at Dictionary.com

It's from a Northern English dialect.

The word FOOTY means poor, worthless and paltry, so FOOTIER is a superlative of that, and then there's FOOTIEST also.

So it's got nothing to do with one's foot or feet. It's just a slang word from the North of England which probably hasn't been used in 400 years.

Then there's FOOTIE, which doesn't mean British football (i.e., soccer), but rather is another spelling for FOOTSIE, which is  game two people who are flirting with each other do with their feet.

"If it helps me get rid of those tiles..."

While playing in the Loveland Scrabble tournament, Rich and I and the other players were waiting around for the games to start because two people were arriving late.

And I commented on *some* word that shouldn't have been in the Dictionary, in my opinion. Can't remember which word I said (there are so many that I think shouldn't be in there) but one of the other players agreed that it was a dumb word, but shrugged it off. "If it helps me get rid of those tiles.."


And I think that's the rationale behind the introduction of probably half of those words in the Scrabble Dictionary that DO NOT belong - thousands of words from other languages that aren't loan words, they are not in common use in the US and never will be.

In my imagination it's something like this.

Two very highly ranked Scrabble players are playing, and one of them has the tiles FOOTIER on their tile rack. And that's not a word so they can't play it.

And the guy gets annoyed by this and goes to the Scrabble Dictionary people and says, "Hey, FOOTIER should be in the dictionary." And they put it in so this guy, if he has an F and two 0s, can get a bingo with those letters.

Whereas a word like "redoers" - people who have to redo their tasks - sounds like it should be an acceptable word, but it isn't!  (I bingoed with that, until my opponent challenged it.)

But FOOTIER is an acceptable word?

To that end, I'm going to start a Rational Scrabble League. The goal, to have removed from the Scrabble Dictionary all words that are not loan words, or words in general use in the USA. In addition, if you play a word and can't define it, it comes off the board!

I think Scrabble would be a lot more popular among the general populace if it helped people build their vocabulary of words that they could use in the future, instead of words they'd never use except when playing Scrabble!

Results of the Northern Colorado Scrabble Tournament

Yesterday, Saturday, Sept 17, I and fellow Cheyenne Word Birds Scrabble Club member Rich drove down to Loveland, Colorado to take part in a one day Scrabble tournament.

For the last month at least I'd been working on my anagramming and that has certainly improved. But although I worked a bit on 3-letter words (there are a little over 1,000 that it is important to know), I didn't have them fully memorized, and that was a bit costly.

I expected Rich, one of the two best Scrabble players in the club, to do better than he did. As it is, he won one game - he beat me in an early round, and I won twice, beating Rich in the last, position round so that I came in 7th and he came in 8th.

What is annoying is that none of the people we were playing, played any words that I didn't know (except twice. Someone played MIP, which I should have challenged  - and TIZ, which I shouldn't).

The only difference between us that *I* could see was that they drew well and we drew poorly. Or if they drew poorly and I drew well during the start of the game, by the end of the game the tables had turned.

For example in one game, about halfway through, I was even with my opponent. Then I started drawing unhelpful things in triplicates - spelled a word and drew three "a",  used two of them spelling "aal" or something of that nature and then drew three "i", then three "s".  S are great but not if you draw three of them at the same time.

Then there's the strategy... my opponent would play something and all of a sudden there'd by a triple-letter-word square over a vowel, meaning if I had a high-point consonant and a way to spell two words, I'd make a lot of points. But I'd be faced with a rack full of awful letters. So, should I turn in tiles and give my opponent a free shot at that double- or triple-letter score, or should I somehow block that square by placing a low pointer there, just to prevent my opponent from using a high pointer.  (Because invariably, my opponent *would* have a high pointer.)

So I never made the right decision on those types of problems - leave it open and my opponent would grab it for lots of points - block it and I'd draw one tile of no help to me, so that I couldn't make a decent play on my next turn, either.

In talking to Rich, the same seemed true of him- on at least two of his games his opponent simply outdrew hm. There's not much you can do if you keep drawing one pointers and your opponent gets the Z, X, Q and J - spaced out enough so that each one can be properly used!  (I had all those letters once - and ALL at once, so couldn't do anything with them because I didn't have the right vowels.)

So over the course of 8 games in one day, to lose 6...is that because the players were better than I was or because they drew better?  I'm still not sure! (Well, one guy was demonstrably much, much better...but the others...not sure.)

But...for the next tournament I will have those 3-letter words down pat, I can promise you that!

MULTIPLICITY: AARGH

There are multiple ways, in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, to spell ARGH.

ARGH is an interjection and is a exclamation of pain, frustration or disgust.

It can also be spelled:

AARGH
AARRGH
AARRGHH

Note that every letter can be doubled to spell this word except the "G"!

Summary, ARGH! there are four ways to spell ARGH.

From Z to A: all the "ZYM-" words

So far, I've covered ZYMURGY (pluralized ZYMURGIES) which is the science of fermentation.

ZYMOLOGY is another name for the science of fermentation, and is pluralized ZYMOLOGIES.

ZYMOTIC is an adjective, and refers to fermentation or the spread of sickness, depending on whether you are in England or the US!

 ZYMOSIS is also fermentation, and is pluralized ZYMOSES.

All these words refer to fermentation because "zym-" is a Greek prefix meaning to FERMENT.

FERMENTATION takes place with YEAST.

So the remaining list of words also has something to do with FERMENTATION, although the Dictionary doesn't say so speciofically.

ZYMOSAN (pluralized ZYMOSANS) - an insoluble fraction of yeast cell walls.

ZYMOGRAM - pluralized ZYMOGRAMS: a record of separated proteins after electrophoresis

ZYMOGENE(S) - a ZYMOGEN(S).

ZYMOGEN(S) - a substance that develops into an ENZYME when "suitably" activated.

ZYME - pluralized ZYMES. An ENZYME(S)

ZYMASE(S) - an ENZYME(S).

So there are 13 words you can potentially make, should you have the Z, a Y and an M!

Sanctioned Scrabble Tourney in Loveland, Sept 17, 2016

This coming Saturday, I and a fellow Word Birds Scrabble Club member will be driving down to Loveland (an hour south of Cheyenne, in Colorado) for the North Colorado and Denver/Boulder Scrabble Club tournament.

There will be 22 participants, at least, with 3 more registered bt unconfirmed (i.e., haven't paid yet!).

The highest ranked individual has a 1776 ranking - this is the Word Game Players ranking, not the NASPA ranking.  NASPA is the North American Scrabble Player's Association.

I participated in their May tournament, came away with a 5-3 record by default, and took 3rd place in the lowest division.    (I was 3-3, and the guy I was supposed to play next left, without telling anyone. So I won that game by default. Then came Position Round, for third place, and I was supposed to play the same guy, so I won that game by default also!)  I won $30, I think, which paid for my entry fee.

My ranking is now 758.

I am going with a friend who is is a much better player than me, but has only a 500 rating.  He participated in a tournament in California, with a much higher level of players out there, and won onl one game, so he has a 500 rating.

We've both been practicing against each other, preparing for this tournament. If we draw well (as in drawing tiles) we should do well. If we draw all vowels or all consonants every single time, which sometimes happens, who knows!

North Colorado and Denver/Boulder Scrabble Club tournament is an 8-round Swiss/Round Robin with a final "king of the hill" game if needed. We start at 9 am and should end by 5 pm. Lunch is included in our $25 entry fee, and we'll be bringing snacks as well.

The tournament takes place in the First Christian Church at 2000 N. Lincoln Ave in Loveland.

Everyone is welcome, even walk-ins.

Regardless of your skill, why not come and have some fun?

The North Colorado and Denver/Boulder Scrabble Club holds these sanctioned tournaments every four months, so the next one will be in January 2017.

From Z to A: ZYMOSIS

ZYMOSIS, according to the Official Scrabble® Dictionary, means FERMENTATION. (The word FERMENTATION isn't in the regular Scrabble® Dictionary, but it's in the Tournament word list so use it, says I! If you have the opportunity! For example if someone plays FERMENT, put "ation"on the end!)

Interestingly, if you go to Wikipedia, and search for ZYMOSIS, you are redirected to FERMENTATION - a page on which the term ZYMOSIS is not used.

The word ZYMOLGY is mentioned, since the science of FERMENTATION is called ZYMOLOGY. There's a link to a ZYMOLOGY page.

ZYMOLOGY is also referred to as ZYMURGY.  According to the Dictionary, it can be pluralized ZYMOLOGIES. Just as ZYMURGY can be pluralized ZYMURGIES, as if there was more than one branch of science with that name.

ZYMOSIS is pluralized ZYMOSES.

Go to Dictionary.com and you'll find that ZYMOSIS, in British English, means "to spread disease."

You can also use the word ZYMOTIC, relating to or causing infection (or FERMENTATION.)

To FERMENT something is to cause it to turn into ALCOHOL.

ZYMURGY - ZYMURGIES
ZYMOSIS - ZYMOSES
ZYMOLOGY  - ZYMOLOGIES

From Z to A: ZYMURGY

ZYMURGY, pluralized ZYMURGIES, is that branch of applied chemistry that deals with fermentation for winemaking and brewing specifically.

The word ZYMURGY was coined in 1868, by combing "zymo" - the Greek for "to leaven" with "ourgia", for "working."

There's "pure" chemistry, which is the science of increasing the knowledge of chemistry, and then there's "applied" chemistry" which is the application of the principles of chemistry to solving problems. 


More words that end in "urgy":

SCRABBLE-Os (BINGOS) 7-Letter words

LITURGY - a collection of formulas for WORSHIP
 
SPLURGY - spending a lot of money. "She was feeling SPLURGY"

THEURGY - divine intervention in human affairs. "If I win this tournament, I'll believe in THEURGY."  "That was a THEURGIC win for me."

5-letter words
SURGY - "the waves are SURGY."

8 letter words
CHEMURGY - applied chemistry used in the farming industry

HIERURGY - holy act or rite of worship

MICRURGY -dissection under a microscope

Even though they don't appear in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, 5th edition, the following words can be used in Scrabble because they appear in the Tournament word list.

THAUMATURGY - the workings of miracles. "thauma" is Greek for WONDER.

METALLURGY - working with metals.

DRAMATURGY - working with theater scripts

From Z to A: ZYZZYVA

The ZYZZYVA is a weevil found in South America.

A WEEVIL is a kind of beetle.

According to Wikipedia:

It was first discovered in 1922 in Brazil and named by an Irishman.

Thomas Lincoln Casey, Jr., an entomologist at New York's Museum of Natural History thought that, because there was not a Latin name or Brazilian name associated with this weevil, it was probably named Zyzzyva as a practical joke to place it in a prominent ending position in many guides and manuals.

So ZYZZYVA can be pluralized ZYZZYVA(S), and WEEVIL can of course be pluralized WEEVIL(S).

There is also a magazine called ZYZZYVA, so named because its creators wanted it to be "the last word," and ZYZZYVA is actually the last word in the American Heritage dictionary. (At least it was in 1985 when the magazine was founded.) http://www.zyzzyva.org/.

(It is no longer the last word in the Scrabble dictionary, since ZZZ took over that spot in the 5th edition.)

From Z to A: ZZZ

ZZZ is a word used to indicate the sound of sleeping. It is an interjection, so cannot be pluralized.

The only way it can be spelled is with a Z and two blanks.

On March 18, 2009, writer Carl Bialik wrote an article about Scrabble in the Wall Street Journal. His first paragraph:

A trio of words -- one that's slang for pizza, another defined as a body's vital life force and a third referring to a snoring sound -- have conspired to change the game of Scrabble.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123731266862258869

"Za," "qi" and "zzz" were added recently to the game's official word list for its original English-language edition. Because Z's and Q's each have the game's highest point value of 10, those monosyllabic words can rack up big scores for relatively little effort.

 ZZZ actually can't get you many extra points, since you need those two blanks to spell it!

The 4th edition of the Official Scrabble Dictionary was superseded by the 5th edition in 2015. The 4th edition had actually been published in 2006, three years before Bialik wrote his article. (Which also addressed board games like Monopoly and athletic sports like basketball and football.

Price Drop: Stocks, Homes, Now Triple-Word Scores

Scrabble and Other Games -- on Boards, Fields, Courts and Ice -- Have Overvalued Points; Vermont Avenue Is a Steal

 Apparently in 2009 the prospect of lowering the values for the Q and Z were being discussed. But changing the point values would play havoc with the record books, so it was never carried through.

The addition of non-words (IMHO) to the Scrabble Dictionary began with the 4th edition and continue to this day.

Take NEARLY, for example. In the Tournament Word List, NEARLIER and NEARLIEST are viable words!

Ridiculous!

New official blog for the Word Birds of Cheyenne Scrabble Club

The Word Birds of Cheyenne Scrabble Club has been in existence (under a few different names) since 2010.

I've also had at least one other blog, but his new blog replaces that one. It will also be much more active, so be sure to check it out on a regular basis!