Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Games World of Puzzles

    NATIONALS 2019: A COLLEGIAN ZAGS HIS WAY TO THE TITLE

    Sep 26, 2019 5 minutes
    BY SCOTT APPEL

    About 300 Scrabble players and fans, myself included, gathered in a large conference room in Reno, Nevada, this past July. We were watching the decisive game of the 2019 North American Scrabble Championship live on a huge screen, as Alec Sjoholm (pronounced SEE-home) of Lynnwood, Washington, and Carl Johnson of Hillsboro, Oregon, battled for the title. It was great theater, with many lead changes and five bingos (plays that use all 7 tiles, each earning a 50-point bonus). After the game, Carl and Alec were kind enough to discuss the action, offering lots of insights into the way top players think through their games.

    TURN 1

    Carl: EKOORTV

    Played: VOTER 8D 24

    I didn’t particularly like playing VOTER, and [spent too much time] looking for something better. Alec can play a word

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Games World of Puzzles

    Games World of Puzzles3 min read
    Points Of Departure
    In this variety cryptic, when clue answers disagree at a given square, resolve the conflict by entering both and adding a third letter such that new entries using all 3 letters (in any order) can be formed in both directions. For example, if CANT and
    Games World of Puzzles1 min read
    Bank Heist
    It’s 2 am, and everyone in town is asleep. Time for a bank heist! Enter the bank through the vent (lower left) and find a safe path to the vault (upper right) without tripping any of the lasers. Lasers always originate from one of the four walls, and
    Games World of Puzzles3 min read
    This Old Game
    If we are anything alike, when you send an email you expect it to arrive instantaneously (and expect it to be answered in the blink of an eye). An email can travel halfway around the world in less than 0.2 seconds—literally faster than the blink of a

    Related