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Between Friday January 31st and Sunday February 2nd, the Shanklin Beach Hotel hosted the Annual Isle of Wight Scrabble Tournament.
There were 38 players split in to 3 divisions of 10 and one of 8. Players played 10 games, and then there was promotion and relegation before a second tournament of 10 games.
5 East Berks players took part. Pat (who started in D), Wanda, Helen and Graham (who all started in B), and Richard who started in A. The hotel is right on the seafront, and a get place to go between games. Here are the East Berks players taking in the winter sunshine!
How did each player at the tournament ? Here are their mini-reports ....
Pat :

At the start of the first tournament, I was listed as the weakest person in division B so was pleased to have won 4 out of 10 games and stay in Division B. In the second tournament I fared slightly better winning 5 out of 10 games.
In my third game of the second half I was pleased to play SWEATER only to draw VAQUERO out of the bag followed by ISOLATE thus playing three bonuses in a row!
In my fifth game I drew the letters ESQUV??. The only playable bonuses were QUIVERS and QUAVERS neither of which would play but I did manage to play VAQUEROS around a floating A!
In the final round of the tournament I was drawn against the only player in Division B who had won 9 out of 9 games and I beat him! Definitely the highlight of my tournament.
Some of the more unusual words I played:-
SPINOUT-75 ECHOISES-84 DELOUSED-63 VAQUERO-93 VAQUEROS-68 ATABRINE-75 TAMALES-82
Here is Wanda playing Helen in game 1 of the first tournament.
Helen :



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2024-2025 WINTER LEAGUE
Played Won Lost Draw Win-Bon AvgBon Total AVERAGE Division A
Division B
Division C
During the season (up to the end of January, subject to bad weather etc), every player will have fixtures rearranged, broadly a range of different players each week. You may play some people more than once. A WIN is worth 10 points, a DRAW 5 points. Sadly nothing for a LOSS.
If you beat a player one Division above you, you get a 10 point bonus (WIN-BON). If you have beat a player 2 divisions above you get a 20 point bonus.
If anyone, winner or loser, in any division, exceeds their average score they will accrue a 5 point bonus. (AVG-BON). It doesn’t matter if you can’t play every week, as the total scores are averaged by the number of games played to see who won the league.
Promotion / relegation for those that play more 17+ games. |
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Best improver for the first quarter of the season is Deborah, ahead of Fiona in second place and Charles in third place. Welcome to Tim Charlton, Lesley Richards, and Lizzie Hewitt, and welcome back to Sian Gates.
High-scoring words:
• 167 PATIENCE Graham
• 107 SQUIRMER Tim
• 101 SEGMENT Graham
• 99 SLOWING Maire
• 98 GEOMETRY Joy
• 98 HERIOTS Tim
• 97 EQUANTS Helen
• 95 FARTING (!) Joy
• 93 NICTATE Jim
• 92 DUCKLING Joy
• 92 HEXAGON Charles
• 92 MUNCHERS Wanda
• 90 DECLINES Helen
• 88 AIGLETS Jim
• 87 BONDERS Joy
• 86 QUOTIENT Charles
• Other words: 85 WAISTED Jim, 81 UPSTAGE Jim, 80 JEES Deborah, 80 POTTIES Maire, 78 QUIVERS Keith, 77 DESIRES Jim, 77 GOATIER Jim, 77 GROUTED Jim, 77 LOUNGER Jim, 77 TINDERS Jim, 77 TRANNIES Jim, 76 IRISATE Jim, 75 ANGLERS Maire, 74 CRUSADER Jim, 73 LEANEST Jim, 73 SOARING Jim, 72 MELTING Keith, 70 LADDERS Maire, 70 SEDATER Wanda, 70 SHATTER Keith, 70 STONERS Maire, 68 HITTERS Jim, 68 OTARINE Jim, 67 RELATES Maire, 63 TINNERS Jim, 63 WETTING Maire, 62 AVENGERS Charles, 62 RATIONS Maire, 62 REGISTER Maire, 61 TINNERS Maire, 60 IRONIEST Jim
Many bonuses or high-scoring moves by one player in a game:
• TRAINER 69 RESIZING 88 PLAYMATE 80 SARSNETS 77 YODELLED 86 Graham
• AROUSAL 66 ADERMINS 92 LISSOME 75 STRADIOT 77 Richard
• EMOTIVE 73 AVENUES 75 STABLER 72 PROTECTS 66 Helen
• ENROOTS 71 UNDERLIP 74 LEASURE 90 INCITED 80 Graham
• FANCIER 70 AUREATE 72 DENTURE 69 LINEAGE 74 Richard
• GARNETS 76 ENTRAINS 66 RUINATE 79 NOTAIRE 72 Helen
• MADEIRA 74 LINEATE 77 ROSEOLA 70 INSTANT 83 Helen
• ONSETTER 66 AZURINE 78 INDUCIAL 60 MINDSET 65 Richard
• TRIPLES 83 OUNDIER 71 CAUTERS 69 INFLATES 62 Richard
• ATTORNED 80 GAIETIES 60 CHEERING 80 Richard
• BELATES 69 ALOETIC 82 COSTERS 68 Helen
• BERLINS 70 PROTEAS 77 OUTHIRE 68 Wanda
• DARSHAN 89 QUIRTED 81 EARLIEST 66 Richard
• DONATES 73 NIBBLES 78 CRUSTIER 62 Deborah
• DORMERS 87 SCOURGE 74 ENJOINER 67 Charles
• ELUSION 60 ROTTENS 66 WHACKER 95 Graham
• EXERTED 70 ASTONES 71 PERUSAL 64 Wanda
• GEODETIC 89 CORAMINE 77 AEOLIAN 77 Richard
• GRANTED 76 EMPAIRE 92 FRENZIES 96 Richard
• HOARDNG 74 MISDOERS 74 RETAILER 77 Helen
• MANTIES 74 REDTAILS 72 ZINEB 72 Helen
• RADIALS 79 EELIEST 61 OVARIES 68 Wanda
• RESTORE 76 ISOLATE 69 DEBONER 71 Graham
• STANINE 71 ACHIEST 78 DESCENT 81 Wanda
• TINDERS 72 PORTENTS 75 RELICTS 64 Wanda
• TOENAIL 62 NESTLES 66 POINDERS 72 Fiona
• UNSAILED 63 GATHERS 81 GRIPIEST 62 Graham
New personal best: Polly 368
Name Old Rating New Rating Rating Change P W D L Average Highest score Highest ever
Deborah Porter 136 148 12 21 13 0 8 351.9 439 542
Fiona Titcombe 149 161 12 14 8 0 6 371.6 439 551
Charles Parker 99 106 7 25 10 0 15 344.6 483 509
Martin Stephens 109 115 6 18 10 0 8 329.4 401 477
Helen Harding 187 192 5 31 26 0 5 429.8 507 609
Amanda Lowe 93 97 4 29 11 0 18 296.3 373 392
Polly Vallance 91 93 2 15 6 0 9 310.7 368 368
Richard Spencer 208 210 2 24 22 0 2 457.9 564 634
Keith Radbourn 71 72 1 29 5 0 24 277.0 377 418
Maire Bennett 58 58 0 23 2 0 21 249.7 343 498
Wanda de Poitiers 178 176 -2 27 21 0 6 419.6 529 598
Joy Wade 106 103 -3 25 7 0 18 336.2 431 484
Hepzi Rodrigues 132 129 -3 20 9 0 11 359.9 480 554
Graham Harding 181 175 -6 36 25 0 11 424.3 562 661
Sharon Hewitt 131 124 -7 19 10 0 9 354.4 436 548
Jim Macey 122 114 -8 13 5 0 8 354.7 441 478
Pat Llanwarne 130 122 -8 15 6 0 9 346.0 422 516
Michael Spencer 82 70 -12 14 2 0 12 294.3 350 502
Insufficient games – a previous quarter’s result, or 13 games, are needed to qualify
Tim Charlton 197 209 12 13 12 0 1 422.8 481 481
Megel Barker 184 195 11 2 1 0 1 393.5 431 583
Jen Brennan 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 436
Mary Twomey 105 0 0 0 0 0 0 430
Maureen Barlow 122 0 0 0 0 0 0 528
Sian Gates 63 53 -10 2 0 0 2 238.5 242 300
Lesley Richards 87 65 -22 2 0 0 2 223.0 285 285
Lizzie Hewitt 93 68 -25 2 0 0 2 256.5 261 111
Ann Boswell 93 67 -26 2 0 0 2 245.0 281 281
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The UK Open tournament was held in Reading, and East Berks Scrabble Club was one of the nearest clubs. Our members were aware we might be needed for publicity purposes. How right we were!
Early morning of the first day of the tournament, the organiser, James Burley, had appeared on BBC Radio Berkshire and given East Berks Scrabble Club a little mention. As we checked into the tournament 3 hours later we were told Radio Berkshire were attending and wanted us to do some radio interviews with them. Many of us did, including Richard and Pat – and by mid-afternoon an article about the UK open appeared on the BBC Radio Berkshire website, including a great picture of Richard.
That evening the radio interviews were broadcast during the drivetime show.
As all of this was happening, BBC Radio Berkshire had discovered thar Graham and Helen met through playing Scrabble. They decided to run a Scrabble ‘love story’ angle to the UK Open.
As Graham and Helen were playing their first few games, Radio Berkshire contacted James for a follow up. Here is Graham and Helen’s account of what happened next…
“Can Helen and Graham make a phone interview early Monday ?”
“Actually, change that, can they come into the studio for 840?”
“Can they bring a scrabble set with them..”
“…and any wedding photos!”
840 Monday morning (when we really wanted a lie in) we were interviewed live by Radio Berkshire. After our interview, we were re-interviewed at home for more information. An article also appeared on the BBC Radio Berkshire website.
The touchpaper was lit.
The BBC had found a ‘feel good story”. On Tuesday BBC South Today were due to film at the UK Open, before that however they came to our house for an hour – part interviewing, part filming, part playing Scrabble. Our piece was to be edited into the rest of the filming.
We were meeting a few friends in the afternoon - some had seen our presence on the BBC Berkshire website … “You’re a celebrity” we were told for the first of many times that week.
We arrived back to two more media enquiries. The first was from SouthWest News Service. Since Helen was originally from Gloucester, this seemed reasonable and we gave an interview ensuring we mentioned Gloucester. We also had an enquiry from a company that provides content to Freeview Channel 7. (A local station available for rolling local adverts/news).
The BBC South Today article aired just before 7pm on Tuesday evening. Within a minute of its broadcast we had a message from an acquaintance … “saw you on the telly” !
Wednesday morning: Isle of Wight player Penny Downer was on BBC Radio Berkshire duty – another great interview.
That day we had a zoom filming piece with Freeview Channel 7, and as we were speaking to them setting up zoom, ITV Meridian (the local regional ITV) phoned to arrange a filming slot.
South West News Service have many outlets, and they printed various articles in various publications including a far better article in the Reading Chronicle that had appeared as a ‘cut and paste’ article earlier in the week. We know it was sourced from South West News as they mentioned ‘Gloucester’.
Meanwhile ITV News at Ten were filming all afternoon at the UK Open and produced a great piece which aired that evening.
South West News caught up with us again on Thursday. Did we want to sign an exclusive contract with them and appear in a ‘ladies magazine’ ? Answer – we’ll think about it, but realistically no.
Friday, back to the hotel for a final photo shoot of the week. This time with ITV Meridian before they did their interview with James, Fiona Titcombe (her second interview of the week) and shots of the room.
We also noticed on Friday, yahoo!news, foxnews, msnnews (and their spin-off sites) showed us too.. we know it was South West News again, as the word ‘Gloucester’ appeared.
BBC Radio Berkshire hadn’t had their fill and interviewed Harshan and produced a summary of his interview, the diversity of ages at tournaments, the Bob Lynn/Linn game and another mention for us.
We later discovered that we appeared in the Sun that week, and the Radio Berkshire interview was replayed as part of Radio 4’s Pick of the Week.
A busy week !!
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Fiona was the only East Berks player due to play in the 16 game Final Fling, and she was also a reserve for the main, gruelling, 27 game main event ("The UK Open").
On the morning of the UK Open, a space became unexpected available, so Fiona played in both tournaments. Her report of the two events is here :
I attended the main event (Division B) and Final Fling (Open Division) of the UK Open Tournament.
The main event was held over 3 days, and had 27 games. I started well, winning 5 of 9 on day 1, but had a terrible day on day 2, only winning 3 of 10 games. Day 3, everything went my way and I won 7 of the 8 games (one was so close that we had a recount - the result being I won by 4 more points than originally thought!), finishing on a respectable 15 out of 27 games, which, as someone starting towards the bottom of the division, I was delighted with! I also managed to achieve an average score of over 400 per game (helped by the 9 timer - see below!). I got one of the ratings prizes (awarded to players who have played above their rating) which was a nice bonus!
The two day Final Fling did not go well for me, only winning 5 of the 16 games, although two of those wins were against much higher rated players - I think perhaps they become a little complacent when they see a low rating, but always nice to take a scalp or two :)
Bonuses aplenty, with the highlight being my first tournament 9 timer - cABBA(G)ES for 167 points! Most of the other bonuses were fairly common words, but I was pleased with SOSATIE (a South African meat dish), HENTAIS (one of the new CSW24 words), STOREYED which I wasn't sure of, and INFANCY and RIBCAGE which used less common letters. Other words which were challenged by my opponents were PINNATE (a botany leaf thing), MANATEE (a sea-cow) and RENEGUE (probably more commonly spelt RENEGE). I did have a few dud bonuses challenged off too!
Here is Fiona receiving her ratings prize from Tournament Organiser, James Burley, and the Hotel Manager. (Picture credit : Nicky Huitson).
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