Hardcore Scrabble players play obscenities

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Curse and swear words, dirty or obscene words are all fair play for "competitive" Scrabble players, who look down on so-called kitchen table Scrabble.

Stan Angrist, director of the Pittsburgh Scrabble Club, told the Pittsburgh Post his club members can't afford to be squeamish about vulgarities, as their only goal is to win within a 25-minute game and catch opponents trying to make up bogus words.

He said while casual players often use the official Scrabble dictionary sold at bookstores and sporting the seal of Merriam-Webster's, it has been sanitized of racy or obscene words. So, competitive players use the Official Word List, or OWL book, he told the Post Gazette.

Angrist is the adjudicator of disputes, including one in which a woman played a tile upside down as a blank, even though both blank tiles were already on the board. He ruled that because the player immediately after her turn didn't challenge her right away, the tile could stay and play continued, the newspaper said.