Canny Minds Blog

Scrabble TV Programme

Posted on 04. Jan, 2010 by Jenny in Articles, Games Room, General

There was an interesting TV programme at Christmas on the origins of Scrabble. Did you know that the game was invented by Alfred M.Butts in 1931, initially named Criss-Cross Words, and generally rejected by the trade for 20 years until department store Macy’s stocked and promoted the game? And that the inventor cut out the individual wooden tiles for the letters by hand?  Apparently he perused the front page of The New York Times every day in order to decide on the frequency and value of each letter. And now it has sold 150 million sets around the world, spawned a variety of championships and is keenly contested online. Those who saw the programme may have picked up some key unusual words, used by top competitors. If not, try one of the Scrabble books available on our site .  http://cannyminds.com/index.php/puzzle-brain/scrabble.html.

Photo courtesy of unloveablesteve

Tags: scrabble