The Scrabble scoundrel feigns respect for the rules. He's not the sort of lowlife who would stoop to sneaking peeks at the idle tiles or peering over the rim of a rack. He strikes a suave pose, shuffling his hand, as though an endless number of words might be wrought from seven random letters.
He lifts a tile and clicks it onto the board, drawing gasps. Not that he's executed a bingo _ arranging all of his letters into, say, "scrummy," Brit for scrumptious. Not that he's intimidated his opponent with "crwth," a vowel-free actual word. He's played a single letter, forming a two-letter word, twice _ and earned a stunning 66 points.
Call it luck, or cunning, or tolerance for slang. You wonder: Is "za" a real word?
Scrabble-weary, you pull seven random ingredients from the fridge _ potatoes, Sriracha, mayo, onion, sausage, cheese and eggs _ and arrange them into pizza. Scrummy slice in hand, you consult the updated Scrabble dictionary _ as well as your high-scoring breakfast za _ and are forced to concede: Yes.
