A Scrabble Fixation

At long last, my appetite for Scrabble is beginning to be satisfied.  I've discovered Words with Friends--a Facebook application.  Playing it is a vacation indulgence.  Lorene M. invited me, and then I played also with Rhoda M. and Dorcas B.  So far, I've lost every game.

I have a hard time finding anyone willing to play a proper Scrabble game with me.  Others in my extended family prefer "Dig" or "Take One" or whatever that individual crossword game is.  I'm not fond of how that game prioritizes speed over thoughtfulness, and fast little words over slower, longer words.  You can probably tell that my brain is about 60 years old, and I'm not the fastest sled on the hill.

I'd really like to find someone willing to play Words with Friends in a way that combines this game with a few computer-modified old Scrabble rules.  My ideal game would use the online Merriam-Webster dictionary as the reference.  Only words present in this dictionary would be played, and the entry in the dictionary could not be listed as--

--an abbreviation
--a proper noun
--a slang word

Playing like this would depend on the honor of the game participants, since Words with Friends (WWF) accepts all kinds of strange words, including many that aren't in Merriam-Webster, or that appear there with one of the above designations.  WWF can become a game of chance, which isn't necessarily bad, but it's not primarily what I'm looking for in a word game.  I suspect those most willing to play the way I'm proposing are people who have not already become accustomed to the convenience of the WWF largesse or the Scrabble Help site's "corruptions."

You see where I'm going with this.  I want a King's English game.  Using Scrabble Help would be fine, but only words that also appear in the M-W would be legal.  Since there's no way of challenging another player, looking up words ahead of time to see if they're legitimate would be needed, unlike in the Scrabble rules.

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Lest you conclude from the above prim-sounding word game preferences that I'm hopelessly stuffy, you should know that at our Christmas Day family gathering, I was christened "Giggler in Chief."  No one actually said those words, but Ronald remarked that he had almost forgotten how gratifyingly I responded to funny stories, and Rhoda said she wanted to be sure I was around whenever she attempted a joke.

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I'm excited about the prospect of snow tomorrow.  The weather site now says we have 100% chance of a wintry mix and snow.  True, it will likely stay under the 3-inch mark, and possibly not rise much over the 1-inch mark, but moisture in any form is very welcome.  I do sympathize with those who must travel, and I'm already not looking forward to Hiromi coming home from work at 8:00.  Weather like this feels best when everyone is home and the electricity stays on.

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Talk of wintry weather reminds me of that other annoyance I have--people in skirts not wearing socks when the weather is frigid--and then complaining that it's too cold in a fully heated room.  Wear socks, ladies.  Knee socks.  As far as I'm concerned you can wear long johns too.  Under an ankle-length skirt you can tuck them into your knee socks and no one will ever know.

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Any takers on WWF--according to my exacting specifications?  Email me at miriam@iwashige.com or communicate via Facebook if you're interested.  I'll not make any promises about playing beyond the end of Christmas vacation, which ends in eight days--next Monday.