Marathon Scrabble tourney word: l-o-n-g

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Word lovers scrambled to play a marathon of the popular word game Scrabble during a 48-hour, cash-and-rank tournament in Minnesota.

The Red Eye Scrabble Tournament, played in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, pushed the limits of how many games of competitive Scrabble can be crammed into two days, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported Monday. The answer: about 28.

Lest you think this is a casual, take-your-time game, this tournament crowned winners in three divisions -- awarding $500 for each of the top spots -- and can affect ranking leading up to this summer's national championships with a $25,000 price in Orlando, Fla. Players are timed as well and limited to 25 minutes per game.

The Red Eye Tournament is the 24th consecutive weekend competition for Winter -- that's his full, legal name -- a record, the newspaper reported. Competitive Scrabble players number about 3,000, Winter said, adding he believes he's good enough to break into the top 10.

"Scrabble is my social life," he said. "I can tell you this, though, my personality being what it is, if I did get in the top 10, that probably wouldn't be good enough."