The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: A must for scrabble players
Review: As a casual Scrabble player and enthusiast, I knew that I wanted to get an official source of all the Scrabble words. After purchasing this dictionary, I'm confident that I have the definitive source of all the 2-8 letter words that you can play in Scrabble.

This book does have some shortcomings, though. Some of the definitions are really weird. For example, when I looked up matilda it said something about a hobo's travelling bag. When I looked up the word in the dictionary the definition was different. The definitions of words are usually quite obscure. If the word can be used as a verb then that form is used. Another thing I don't like about this dictionary is the font of the words. Every word is listed in capital letters only (AARRGH). That makes it harder to memorize.

Overall, this is a good book though. This paperback edition is convenient and a bargain. It's portable, perusable, and pliable. There are enough words here to quench the thirst of any word freak. I have already learned some new and interesting words like goliard, otalgia, zyzzyva, and matilda. I frequently peruse this dictionary and there's always a new word to learn. This dictionary has more words than I can handle and it's mind boggling how someone can memorize these words. From the obscure to the archaic, this dictionary will provide you words that will give you an edge in playing Scrabble.

Rating:
Summary: Toss up but go for it
Review: First off, if you don't have a Scrabble dictionary and play Scrabble, you NEED TO buy this book. But let's say that you're like me and you have an older edition. Well the older editions had separate sections that listed all those nifty two letter words that can rack up big points (ex: aa, ae, xi, em, jo, etc). But you can find all of those words in the new one, just not listed separately. However, if you're like me and want to use all the new-fangled words like zit then you won't find them in any edition but the new one. I'm sure that there are many other new words in this edition, zit is just the only one that I've noticed so far. It's a trade-off, yoúr choice: the convenience of common-word lists in the older editions or the proff that newer words exist in the new version. I have both; maybe that's your best bet.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Companion for Any Scrabble Player
Review: I have enjoyed playing Scrabble for many years, but it can also get very frustrating when you get a rack of tiles that seem totally useless (like mostly consanants or mostly vowels). Since purchasing the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, I may still get frustrated at times, but now I have a much better resource for figuring out what I can do with seemingly useless tiles. (This dictionary has been especially useful when I want to place a word parallel to an existing word on the board and create one more more two- to three-letter extra words in the process.)

The font used in the dictionary is very easy to read. Words defined may be limited to between 2 and 8 letters, but at over 100,000 entries (including unusual words not defined anyplace else, like "brr"), this dictionary cannot be beat for playing Scrabble.

I spent a little more money to buy the hardback edition instead of the paperback one: it's much easier to inspect the pages of a dictionary when you don't have to fight the binding to keep the book open to one place.

You might need other useful resources when playing Scrabble, but none are as good as the Offical Scrabble Player's Dictionary. I give it a rating of 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Helpful, but technically not official
Review: If you play scrabble around the home, this is a fun, helpful book to have around.

The National Scrabble Association web page on May 2004, has a tournament rules list that is dated May 2002. In these tournament rules, the reference section is as follows:

a) Official Tournament & Club Word List

Official Tournament & Club Word List (OWL) contains the only 2- to 9-letter words acceptable for club and tournament play, published by Merriam-Webster, Inc.

b) Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition (MW10)
For words of more than nine letters, the OWL is consulted first. If a longer word (more than nine letters) is not listed in the OWL, to be judged acceptable it must appear as a main entry or inflected form or alternate spelling in bold print in (MW10). It must not be capitalized, hyphenated, contracted, foreign or listed only as part of a multi-word phrase.

Words of fewer than 10 letters listed in MW10 but not in the OWL are not acceptable, nor are inflections of main entries of fewer than 10 letters. Any word used in the definition of another word but not listed itself is not acceptable.

Rating:
Summary: Good word list, but incomplete
Review: The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 3rd edition (OSPD3) is more valuable as a list of acceptable words for use when playing Scrabble than it is as a dictionary. That being said, it is not totally useful as a list of words. The 3rd edition updates the word list from the 2nd edition, but leaves out offensive words, to allow the dictionary to be used when playing with children. If you don't mind not having offensive words in your Scrabble word arsenal, then this book is fine for you.

However, if you want your word list to be complete, then you need the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OWL), which is available only from the National Scrabble Association. Unfortunately, you need to become a member before they will sell you the book. It doesn't contain definitions, either, only a list of 2- to 9-letter words. And, you still need Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition to get the longer words.. ..

Now that you know how to collect all the words allowable in Scrabble tournament and club play, know this: Your friends and family will complain when you try to use many of these words! The official word list is a compilation of all the words from the 10 most popular dictionaries that satisfy the conditions listed in the Scrabble rules for acceptable words. So, some dictionary has defined ED to mean "education" (presumably from phrases like "special ed" or "driver's ed"). However, it's not considered an abbreviation because that dictionary didn't specifically mention that it's an abbreviation. Also, foreign words are unacceptable, but there are a lot of words of foreign origin that are acceptable (CHEZ, CIAO, CASA, etc.), and spellings of foreign letters (ALPHA, BETA, XI, QOPH, etc.). And good luck explaining that KUE is "the letter Q".

So, if you need a list of a lot of words that are appropriate for school or family play, get the OSPD3. If you want definitions, (What the heck is a JNANA, anyway?) get the OSPD3. If you want to use lots of swear words and derogatory names, don't get the OSPD3. If you want an official word list, get the OWL and MW's Collegiate Dictionary, or find a word list online. If you want to tick off your opponents with your immense vocabulary of useless words, any of these word lists will work great.