Fun and Interesting Facts About Scrabble Everyone Needs To Know About

When computer games became a part of the mainstream, many thought that the clock has run out for table games. And they were correct, to a point. Scrabble is one of the games that has endured through the trials and tribulations of modern gaming trends. 

Not only that, but Scrabble has come out as one of the titles that are driving back the popularity of old school table games. With that said, here is some fun, interesting, and not so well known facts about Scrabble that everyone should know about! 

Scrabble Wasn’t Always Called Scrabble 

Back when Alfred Mosher Butts, an unemployed architect, first invented Scrabble, he had a few ideas on how to name his new game. Scrabble wasn’t one of them. Instead, the first name of the game is Lexico, drawing from the word ‘lexicon’ which means words in Greek. 

Then came along James Brunot, a dear friend of the inventor, who would play the game with him. Through their time spent together playing, Brunot coined the name Scrabble. Brunot would later go on to produce the game under this name. 

Scrabble Was Once a Television Show 

Scrabble is an insanely popular table game, but not many know that it once had its own television game show. Using the same name as the game it was inspired by, Scrabble had two contestants competing against each other in the ‘crossword’ round, doing their best to form words from letters. The game was set up in such a way that every winning letter would bring a fixed prize. 

As the show became more and more popular, they’ve changed rules and awarded a larger fixed sum per the end of the round. Scrabble TV game show first aired in 1984, while its last episode aired in 1990. Despite a fairly decent run, not many Scrabble fans remember it. 

There is a Scrabble Bot You Can’t Beat 

Scrabble is a game of wits, knowledge, and quick thinking. Being one of America’s favorite pastimes for over 80 years has produced a large number of hardcore players. That being said, none come even close to the Scrabble robot. 

Namely, a Taiwan based company called ITRI has built a functioning robot that – complete with a pair of arms, a head, and a torso, who is unbeatable at Scrabble. The robot uses advanced AI to calculate the optimal next move, thus becoming the one opponent you will never beat no matter how good you are at this game. 

Scrabble Around the World…Literally! 

Scrabble is still being produced in large quantities. If you were to take all of the Scrabble tiles that were ever made, and lined them up, you’d get a continuous line of tiles that spans over 50,000 miles. That is almost one and a half times the circumference of the earth! In other words, you can go all around the world with Scrabble, quite literally. 

You Can Score 1782 Points on a Single Word 

You’ve read that right. You can score 1782 on a single word and that word is Oxyphenbutazone. The first one to use this word in a competition was Benjamin Woo, a professional player who lined up this word along the top of the board.

By doing so, he managed to hit Triple Word Score squares 3 times. Not only that, but he used this long word to line up seven crosswords downwards. Next time you play with your friends, try to look for Oxyphenbutazone, although we feel that any other chemical compound with a long name could work too! 

Scrabble as English Language Aid 

Learning a new language is hard, especially if you can’t immerse yourself in it. That being said, many people love learning new languages through games, and what better game to use than Scrabble! In fact, Scrabble is one of the most popular means of teaching English to students all over the world. 

Scrabble is Yet to Dethrone Monopoly 

Despite being one of the most popular table games in the United States, Scrabble is still one step behind Monopoly when it comes to overall popularity. The two had been at each other’s throats for decades now, but the little guy in a top hat still manages to stay in the lead.

These are just some of the fun facts and trivia about Scrabble that many aren’t aware of. There is so much more to cover. For a game that has been around for over 80 years, Scrabble has a massive history riddled with interesting people, situations, and anecdotes.