If it were a basketball game, the crowd would've gone wild.
At stake: The championship title. Seconds remained on the clock, as the losing team fought to close the spread. The players exchanged words throughout the game, and there was even sort of a protest at the end.
As time ticked away, Jim Geary of Phoenix spelled "SENATES" on the Scrabble board, clearing out his last letters. The move forced his opponent, Carol Kaplan of San Diego to add the points from her leftover tiles and transfer the total to Geary's score.
Geary got the last word, but Kaplan, who had the home field advantage (it was her board), got the win. The final score: 403-401.
"Amazing," she said. "Talk about a squeaker."
Geary, who is ranked the fifth-best Scrabble player in the nation, conceded the loss only after rescoring all moves and double-checking the addition.
"OK. Game," he said finally, reaching to shake Kaplan's hand. Then he shrugged, "That's life."
Kaplan finished 10-5 and won by (sic - a net) 730 points making her the top winner this weekend at the Phoenix Snowbird Classic Scrabble Tournament. She took home $350 and was one of 72 players who traveled to the Encanto Park Clubhouse Friday through Sunday to compete. Players were grouped into five skill divisions, from novice to expert, based on their National Scrabble Association ratings.
The games were quiet except for the rattle of Scrabble tiles as players drew letters and the occasional shouts of "Challenge!" or "Hold it down, please!"
If a player challenged an opponenet's word choice, word judges, armed with the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary and Merriam-Webster's 10th Edition, decided legitimacy.
Some of the words that players tried to get away with, but didn't: BLEET, SNEARY, AMORPHIC and MALLERS(defined as someone who walks the mall). Words that withstood the challenge: CLARIES, REMINTS, WEKA, DURRIES, LORICATE and PASTIES.
The players came from places as varied as Illinois and Israel, bringing with them custom-made Scrabble boards with engraved nameplates, tile bags and 25-minute game clocks.
"It's really silly," joked Tucson's John hart, an expert-level player. "We could be doing something useful with our lives."
Scrabble clubs meet weekly Valleywide. For more information call Barbara Van Alen at 926-4854.
Last Modified 2/7/00