Assault on the Bee

Turns out, the Aug 11 Bee prize is only $1,000 for first, $500 for 2nd, and $300 for 3rd. I had read the news report from last year's bee, and that was the one for $5,000. So they must have lost a sponsor between then and now.

Still, $1,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Nor is $300. I'd be happy with that.

Books I checked out of the library yesterday:

Barron's Spelling The Easy Way
Improving Your Spelling
I Always Look Up the Word Egregious
Better Spelling in 5 Minutes a Day
1001 Commonly Mispelled Words

I don't know that any of these will do me any good. These are for people who need help with "average" spelling, if I may call it that. I have no problem with that. I have an excellent memory and an excellent vocabulary.

The book I need is the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary,. edition 11, which I ordered last night. That's the book from which all the words will be taken for this Bee.

On the other hand - I have always had trouble with "connoisseur" - but I've got that down pat now. And "reconnaissance." Two Frenchy words!

Busy days

In order to do well at the Spelling Bee on Aug 11 - I want that $5,000! - I have to study a couple of hours every day.<P>

I'm not worried about the polysyllabic words that they'll be asking during the written test - those I can handle. But its those unfamiliar words that they'll be using during the oral portion - those have got me worried. Anything over 10 letters, if you're trying to visualize it and spell it in your mind phonetically...what happens if you lose your place? Since you can't write it down to make sure it "looks right" - tragedy may ensue!<P>

My plan is to work for an hour first thing when I get up, and another hour before I go to bed - at a minimum!

August 11, 2012, Spelling bee in Cheyenne

I have a chance to win $5,000 on August 11 - that's the day of the AARP spelling bee here in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

I decided to sign up after going through a few of the words on the bee's sign up page - they're spelled phonetically and you have to type in the actual spelling, and it tells you if you're wrong or not. SO they were all easy and I got them all right, so I thought, "heck, I'll go for it."

So I gout out my credit card and sent in my $40 fee.

Then I came across the links to the PDFs of teh 2011 and 2010 spelling bees. The bee is in two parts - several rounds where you apparently write down the words, and then everyone who gets past those rounds goes to the Oral rounds.

And once again the writing down rounds had easy words. And my heart was singing. Then I got to the Oral rounds, and my heart fell to my toes. Not a single recognizable word.

I'd intended to go through the Scrabble dictionary from now until August 10, but now I'm thinking I'll have to abandon that and go with an actual dictionary instead, because most of those words were much longer than the 9 letter words in a Scrabble dictionary.

But $5,000 is nothing to sneeze at. I will have no problem with the easy words - college level English. IT's the hard words - the chemistry and scientific words, etc., that I've got to start studying.

Also there will be the nervousness factor. I assume that if I make it to the Oral rounds, those will be held with us standing up in front of microphones, in front of an audience, with no ability to write a word down to see if it "looks right" - we'll have to spell it right the first time.

And hopefully I won't get nervous and "choke."

I had expected the spelling bee to be easier than the Scrabble tournament. After all, a great deal of winning at Scrabble is luck - getting the right tiles throughout the entire game. Whereas at a spelling bee, it's just your knowledge that comes into play.

But they've just got to use these words that no one has ever heard of, just like in Scrabble. That's so stupid, IMHO. There are thousands of hard-to-spell words that people would use in their day-to-day lives, that it would make sense for them to learn, to make learning them for a spelling bee worthwhile. Instead we have to learn these multi-syllabic words that we'll never use anywhere else than in a spelling bee!

Ah, well. The die has cast. The money has been sent. I'll have to do my best!

SPelling Bee in Cheyenne in AUgust for 50+ old folks

I don't normally look at those newspapery things in grocery stores or liquor stores (where I go to buy cheap Pepsi, mark you, not liquor!) but someone had suggested that I advertise my Scrabble tournament in that, because it was free.

So I picked up an issue and there were lots of interesting Community Events in it that I circled and will attend throughout the next couple of weeks... but I also saw an advert for the AARP Annual Spelling Bee to be held in August.

The entry fee is a bit steep, $40, but I think I'm going to go for it. They've got a website where they give you phonetic spellings of words and you're supposed to spell them for real, and I did pretty well. They were all "real" words, that anyone with a large vocabulary might know, as opposed to those stupid words that are asked on kids spelling bees, that no one has ever heard of .

So, I think I'm going to give it a try.

This Spelling Bee is an annual event hosted by the Wyoming AARP, and I tracked down their website and asked them if they'd like to partner with my Scrabble Club. It makes sense, doesn't it? Good spellers would naturally like to play Scrabble...

So, we'll see what happens....

Meet a local legend: Scrabble expert Robin Pollock DanielMeet a local legend: Scrabble expert Robin Pollock Daniel

From The Star: Meet a local legend: Scrabble expert Robin Pollock Daniel
Toronto’s Robin Pollock Daniel is indeed a local legend. As North America’s highest rated female Scrabble expert she spends many hours perfecting her game. On Monday, she’ll be a guest player in the Scrabble With The Stars, a fundraiser for The Performing Arts Lodges, which helps members of the entertainment industry living at PAL Place, a residential complex in downtown Toronto.

For information, visit www.scrabblewiththestars.ca.

Q: Most people would likely call it a “word” game. Do you agree?

A: Words are involved but: to me at least: it’s more about math. Scrabble has just so many dimensions. It’s visual, it’s spatial it’s massive. The game’s inventor, American Alfred Mosher Butts, was an architect.

Q: How did you discover the game and how long have you been playing.

A: My mother always played crosswords so I’m sure part of it comes from that. But when I was in my 20s,I was in the hospital for a while and I would play with a friend. When I got home a neighbour who played heard I was getting interested and that’s when it really took off.

Q: How do you become an expert?

A: I love the game, so that’s a start. But simply learning words is a big key. You don’t have to know what the word means, but you do have to know that it’s an acceptable configuration. I can tell the level players are at just by looking at their boards. Casual players use the tried and true three and four letter words but “expert” competitors will be stringing together eight, nine often 10 letter words. It looks like the board is being covered in spider webs as the long configurations spread up and down. Tiger Woods gets all the attention and money but Scrabble players put just as many hours into their game going to websites and such.

Q: How often do you compete?

A: Well, there’s a competition somewhere every weekend but right now I’m focusing on family life and I may just got to four or five a year. It’s always a great time. There’s actually an entire Scrabble community where everyone knows everyone else. We’re very close and we even get involved in matters outside of Scrabble. And yes, there are Scrabble widows and widowers like every other pastime where some get so involved in travelling and practising they lose contact with their spouse. At the same time, there are lots of couples where only one plays and their partner comes along for the fun and socializing.

Scramble for Scrabble

From the Toronto Sun: Scramble for Scrabble
It’ll be a triple-word score at Scrabble With The Stars Monday, with Canadian celebs laying down tiles alongside some of the world’s top Scrabble players — all for the benefit of Toronto’s Performing Arts Lodge.

The 8th annual gala benefit at the Arcadian Court on Bay — in which public-spirited civilians and businessfolk pay to play — helps fund Toronto’s PAL, a celebrated retirement residence on the Esplanada for Canadian artists, actors, musicians, etc., who don’t generally reach retirement age with much of a nest egg.

This year’s event proceeds will specifically be directed toward an assisted-living care projects for aging performers with health issues.

VIP players this year include Gordon Pinsent, Colin Mochrie, Deb McGrath, Naomi Snieckus, Air Farceur Alan Park, Dave Broadfoot, Canadian be-bop drum legend Archie Alleyne, Jennifer Dale, MacHomer star Rick Miller, cast members from War Horse and hosts Jeanne Beker and Barry Flatman.

As well, world champion Joel Wapnick and top-ranked North American female player Robin Pollock Daniel, will be on hand to auction off their skills.

Typically they attract bids of $1,000-plus to stand over shoulders and suggest plays.

More info at scrabblewiththestars.ca

A A A A L T and a blank

I just picked up a book called The Complete Blank Book. It is a humongous book which lists all the letters you can get - 6 of them, with a blank, and the bingos (or Scrabble O's, which I prefer to call them) that you can spell with those letters.

So, what Scrabble-Os can you spell with a blank, 4 As, an L and a T?

Easy.

ATALAYA (the blank being a Y).

And what does it mean?

Well, according to Dictionary.com it doens't mean anything.

In Spanish, it means "watchtower." (Alta being high, and laya presumably meaning watch.)