Scrabble - North America: Resources
Scrabble has become a household word world-wide. As many sources of information exist as there are players. Websites dedicated to Scrabble players have popped up on the internet and have been around long before the internet. A Google search for Scrabble returns numerous links to a myriad of sites dedicated to Scrabble play. One such organization is North America's National Scrabble Association.
There are official word lists and even an official Scrabble dictionary. Both are assembled by the National Scrabble Association (NSA) consulting the Merriam-Webster brand dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary is considered the ultimate source from which the NSA draws it's word lists.
The NSA is considered the definitive source for North American game play and is operated as such. The NSA consists of a governing body with elected officials. The NSA is divided into separate committees: the rules committee, an advisory board, a technology committee, ratings committee, Tourneyman Task Force, a dictionary committee, and pairings committee. It has been in existence for over 60 years, celebrating it's 60th year in 2006. Through the NSA members can obtain copies of both the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OWL) and the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD).
Until recently, membership in the NSA was required to access either the OWL or the OSPD. Recently the NSA began releasing the OSPD to the general public. The OWL contains words that are approved for tournament use and drawn from the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. The most recent edition of OWL contains over 178,000 words. Additionally, there is an 'Official Long Words List'. This list contains acceptable ten to fifteen letter words that are not currently included in the OSPD.
The NSA is very much involved in the marketing of Scrabble. The NSA has it's own website. The website lists the various sponsored tournaments and offers signup rosters and such. In addition to this information, the OWL and OSPD. For the more serious Scrabble fan, the NSA offers a limited variety of apparel: mainly hats, shirts and ties. The NSA sponsors tournaments year round, and annually hold a tournament in a major U.S. city. This tournament culminates in a "Best of Five" tournament broadcast on ESPN. In addition to it's sponsorship of Scrabble tournaments, the NSA has participated in the educational process through it's school Scrabble program. The school Scrabble program not only assists in the educational process, it provides another generation for Scrabble play.
An alternative source for Scrabble play is the Internet Scrabble Club (ISC). This club requires members to connect to a server to play. This allows the more serious players to play Scrabble and chat with each other without interruption from the less serious players. In order to participate, users are required to download their interface program. Registration is also required. Clubs such as these have posted their own 'rules of conduct' for players, to ensure smooth operation. The ISC complies with all regulations promulgated by the NSA.
More information on Scrabble can be found through Hasbro's Scrabble web page. Ordering information can be found there.
