Knowing it in an instant is often the difference between a good player and a great player. Just because you know the word FLOCKED doesn’t mean you would realize you had it on your rack if you were looking at the tiles K, D, E, L, C, F and O. Being able to recognize that the random sequence of letters on your rack can actually make a word is where the ability to anagram comes into play.
The top Scrabble players often are able to anagram words instantaneously with robotic precision. Weissman was amazed when a fellow player at a tournament introduced herself as being from Minnesota and another player who happened to be walking by instantly said, “nominates,” the anagram of Minnesota.
The jury is out on whether being anagram-obsessed might have an adverse effect on other areas of your life. For some players the game of Scrabble is just one aspect of a diverse lifestyle, while for others it is all consuming.
“It’s a good way to keep your mind sharp. Of course, take that with a grain of salt. Ever since I started learning words you’d be amazed how much else I’ve forgotten – stuff most people would say is a lot more important. I can’t even remember my own grandmother’s birthday, but I know a lot of words,” Hodges says unabashedly.
In fairness to Hodges, Scrabble is not his only interest. He writes an online movie column, bowls and is an avid Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns fan. In fact, he is such a diehard Suns fan that he had the team’s logo painted onto his Scrabble board in an effort to merge his two greatest passions.
“It is kind of a conversation starter, but most people think it’s too bright,” Hodges says.
Hodges and his unique board can not only be found at the Phoenix Scrabble Tournament every year but also at the weekly Phoenix Scrabble Club meetings, where he is one of about 25 regular attendees.
Rand and Van Alen run the club every Wednesday night. For the past five years the club had met at the Washington Activity Center near 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road in Phoenix. But at the beginning of this year, the center began to require a $100 nightly fee. (Previously the space had been available at no charge.) The Phoenix Scrabble Club, which is a non-profit group, was in no position to pay, so Rand and Van Alen scrambled to find a new location for the club.
Fortunately, a contact from one of the club’s longtime members paid off, and the Phoenix Scrabble Club found a new home at Chris Ridge Village, an assisted living center just a few blocks from the Washington Activity Center. Viva la Scrabble!
Solving these types of logistical problems is nothing new for Rand and Van Alen, who were named the 2004 Scrabble Directors of the Year by the National Scrabble Association. During tournaments they are constantly called upon to settle disputes during games, help people find lost equipment and make out-of-towners feel at home.
The efficiency with which they perform their duties and their dedication to the game of Scrabble is not lost on the players, many of who cite the couple as one of the main reasons they attend the Phoenix Scrabble Tournament.
“It’s just a very well run tournament. Larry and Barbara run a very smooth tournament and always draw a very strong expert field,” says Trip Payne, a Division 1 player from Boca Raton, Florida.
Local players agree.
“It’s well directed by Barbara and Larry. They do an excellent job. And I don’t see anything bad happening at these tournaments – if it does happen, I don’t see it,” says Bonnie Redland, of Sun City West, who has played in the past 10 Phoenix Scrabble Tournaments.
So you can be sure that wherever they meet, be it a community center or an assisted living facility, Rand and Van Alen will see to it that the weekly meetings of the Phoenix Scrabble Club are not disrupted. Problem solving is what they do best, after all – except, of course, for anagramming. But you already knew that, since you surely figured out long ago that their AAAGMNR license plate is nothing more than an anagram for ANAGRAM.