I've just been playing Scrabble with my brother and his girlfriend (a Scrabble whizz), and when I put the letters R, E, L and D around 'axe' to form 'relaxed', they said I couldn't surround a word like that - that you can only add letters to the beginning or end of a word, not both. Is this true? I won the argument (and the game ) on the basis that a) it's a wordplay game so all methods of adding acceptable words should be allowed, and b) if it doesn't say you can't do it in the rules, then it's allowed (admittedly the latter argument's a bit weak, since the rules don't say I can't hit my brother over the head with the Scrabble box, but I'm pretty sure that's a no-no).

And that brings me on to a second "doesn't say you can't do it" rule. Can you put an -s plural down straightaway? My parents have always insisted that the only way you can have such a plural on the board is to add an S to an existing word, when the S is part of a new word you're adding to the board, but again, there's nothing in the rules that says you can't go straight in with a plural.

I think Scrabble is one of those games for which every family has its own set of rules...

It's a while since I played Scrabble but I always added letters to either end of a word if I wanted to.

And so far as putting down a plural word - there's no reason why not but it's often bad play. If you put down, say, eggs, you get the score for it. But if you put down egg and then in the next play you add the s, you get the score for the whole word again, plus the value of the s.

Yes, I think you are right about "family rules." You should have seen our "hearts" rules, compared to those of other people.

I am no expert, but I thought you could only add to the beginning or end of the word.

With the plural, I think it is okay to just add an "s." However, if you can change the word to plural with the "s" and also make a new word with that "s," that of course will increase your score.

You'll be pleased to hear that you are correct on both counts here.

You can put letters down at either end of a word (and even in the middle too if you're lucky enough to find an opportunity). The only limitations are that you can only place tiles in one direction at once and the completed word must be one continuous word.

For example:
_F__F_
_UNFAIR
_M__R_U
_E_AM_N
______S

Could become:
_F__F_
_UNFAIR
_M__R_U
_EXAMINATION
______S

If you were lucky enough to have X I A T I O N as your rack.

The adding the S rule is also perfectly valid and you should take people's reluctance to let you use it as jealousy that they didn't get to do it.

(I'm dead next time I come to your's aren't I! You'll have to protect me from them!!)

quote:

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Originally posted by Cat:
I think Scrabble is one of those games for which every family has its own set of rules...

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Back when my physique more closely resembled Michelangelo's David (Boy, those days are gone!) I actually participated in a game of "Strip Scrabble." Being proud of both my body and my Scrabble skills, I showed up in a bathing suit and T-shirt.


(...Ah, sweet memories!!)

Not wanting to make an "s" of myself, but still...

As far as I know there is no rule against adding a single s to a word and getting credit for the plural it makes. The only thing is, in general it's a profligate waste of an s. Usually it would be saved for a more productive tile placement, as it provides such a flexible connection for more point-rich plays. (Would that make them "pointier"?)

And yes, [table rules permitting] as long as all the letters you place are in the same single word you can put them at the beginning, at the end, in the middle if you can find a suitable middle, or any combination.

You can make

..IN
AT
N

into

PIN
AT
N
T

but not

PINS
AT
N
T

because that is adding letters to more than one word in the turn.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haberdasher,