1. First of all please try to be on time as we always try to begin precisely at 7:00 p.m. If someone is late, none of us can start as it can affect the pairings. If you are scheduled to be coming and you're going to be late or can't make it, please try to phone and let us know.
2. New players will be supplied with a 2 & 3 letter word list which they can use while they are playing, for their first 4 visits. We really like to encourage new players to come, no matter what their skill level and the few rules that we have will be very loosely enforced for the newcomers.
3. We will be playing with the TWL98 dictionary, which is similar to the green Scrabble dictionary you might be familiar with. There are a few changes in the three letter words, such as DA, DEI, KEV, VIN, VON, PDQ and a few others are no longer acceptable. Again, no need to worry about this if you are new.
4. To begin every game, we draw tiles. Low tiles starts, BLANK is low, then A.
5. We do not play with timers but have a 55 minute total time limit per game. Try not to use up more than your share of the time as a courtesy to your opponent. If you run out of time, both players will have the tiles deducted that they're holding and the current score will stand.
6. If you decide to throw back your tiles, place the tiles face down on the table and announce the number of tiles that you are trading in. Next you draw your new tiles and then put your old ones back in the bag.
7. If you think your opponent is playing an illegal word (a phony) say HOLD! You can then think about it for a moment and if you want, you can then say CHALLENGE. The word will then be checked in the dictionary and if it is not found that player will lose his turn. If the word is good, the person doing the challenging will lose their turn. You can always say HOLD and then change your mind about challenging, but if you are going to challenge you must do so before the player takes his new tiles as that ends the turn.
8. Most importantly, have fun as that is the whole reason why we play!
