How To CH_AT at Scrabble

Well, you hide blank tiles on yourself, of course.  Just like a card cheat stuffs aces... well, wherever one can stuff aces.

The young male, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found in possession of two blank tiles, rumbled when he accidentally dropped them on the floor, at the 350-player event.

Any hardcore Scrabble player will know that a blank tile is essentially gold dust in the word-making world.

According to the report by the Daily Mail, executive director of the National Scrabble Association John D. Williams Jr said cheating is known to happen but at smaller, regional events and it has never happened at national level before.

That is a large event, and cheating in major Scrabble events has been a concern but rarely proven.  I know, because I watch it on ESPN2 (much to my husband's pain, that's the only connection I have to the network).  It would make sense for hosts to color or mark tiles to prevent such a thing, and I bet that is what they do in light of this.

Cheating at Scrabble is like cheating at golf.  There is a hidden code, a bar that has been set for players, that says they are better than the average competitor.  At times like this, we are reminded that anyone can fall from grace if they want to win too much.