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| Scrabble: Should letter values change? | Scrabble: Should letter values change? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| By Laura Gray BBC News | By Laura Gray BBC News |
| The value of the letters in Scrabble were assigned according to the front page of a US newspaper in the 1930s. Is it time the scoring system was updated to reflect today's usage? | The value of the letters in Scrabble were assigned according to the front page of a US newspaper in the 1930s. Is it time the scoring system was updated to reflect today's usage? |
| All Scrabble players know that Q and Z are the highest scoring tiles. You can get 10 points for each, in the English language version of the game. | All Scrabble players know that Q and Z are the highest scoring tiles. You can get 10 points for each, in the English language version of the game. |
| But according to one American researcher, Z really only deserves six points. | But according to one American researcher, Z really only deserves six points. |
| And it's not just Z that's under fire. After 75 years of Scrabble, some argue that the current tile values are out of date as certain letters have become more common than they used to be. | And it's not just Z that's under fire. After 75 years of Scrabble, some argue that the current tile values are out of date as certain letters have become more common than they used to be. |
| "The dictionary of legal words in Scrabble has changed," says Joshua Lewis, researcher and creator of a software programme which allocates new, up-to-date values to Scrabble tiles. | "The dictionary of legal words in Scrabble has changed," says Joshua Lewis, researcher and creator of a software programme which allocates new, up-to-date values to Scrabble tiles. |
| "Among the notable additions are all of these short words which make it easier to play Z, Q and X, so even though Q and Z are the highest value letters in Scrabble, they are now much easier to play." | "Among the notable additions are all of these short words which make it easier to play Z, Q and X, so even though Q and Z are the highest value letters in Scrabble, they are now much easier to play." |
| Joshua Lewis's programme is called Valett and it recalculates the letter valuations by looking at three things. | Joshua Lewis's programme is called Valett and it recalculates the letter valuations by looking at three things. |
| Firstly, there is the frequency of the letters in the English language. Secondly, the frequency by word length - how many times a letter appears in two, three, seven, and eight-letter words. | Firstly, there is the frequency of the letters in the English language. Secondly, the frequency by word length - how many times a letter appears in two, three, seven, and eight-letter words. |
| And finally, he looked at how easy it is to play the letter with other letters. For example, Q is a difficult letter to play so would warrant a higher score than S, which can be played with many more. | And finally, he looked at how easy it is to play the letter with other letters. For example, Q is a difficult letter to play so would warrant a higher score than S, which can be played with many more. |
| According to Lewis's system, X (worth eight points in the current game) is worth only five points and Z (worth 10 points now) is worth six points. | According to Lewis's system, X (worth eight points in the current game) is worth only five points and Z (worth 10 points now) is worth six points. |
| Other letter values change too, but less radically. For example, U (one point currently) is worth two in the new version, G (two points) becomes three and M (three points) becomes two. | Other letter values change too, but less radically. For example, U (one point currently) is worth two in the new version, G (two points) becomes three and M (three points) becomes two. |
| Reset | Reset |
| What's your favourite word worth? | What's your favourite word worth? |
| Type in a word to find out if the score has changed | Type in a word to find out if the score has changed |
| Not all letters change under these proposals but those that do tend to have fallen in value. In explaining why his overall point distribution is lower, Lewis blames Q which, as he puts it, is an "outlier", much harder to play than other letters. | Not all letters change under these proposals but those that do tend to have fallen in value. In explaining why his overall point distribution is lower, Lewis blames Q which, as he puts it, is an "outlier", much harder to play than other letters. |
| "You get this justified separation between Q at 10 and Z and J at six, and in general the non-Q letters are a bit more compressed in value." | "You get this justified separation between Q at 10 and Z and J at six, and in general the non-Q letters are a bit more compressed in value." |
| He looked at increasing the value of Q to 12, but decided against putting too much power in a single tile. | He looked at increasing the value of Q to 12, but decided against putting too much power in a single tile. |
| Lewis is not the first to propose an updated version of Scrabble, says John Chew, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association. He says he hears from people once or twice a year saying that the tile values are incorrect. | Lewis is not the first to propose an updated version of Scrabble, says John Chew, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association. He says he hears from people once or twice a year saying that the tile values are incorrect. |
| In fact this has been happening ever since the game was invented in 1938 by the American architect Alfred Butts, who calculated a value for each tile by measuring how frequently each letter appeared on the front page of the New York Times. | In fact this has been happening ever since the game was invented in 1938 by the American architect Alfred Butts, who calculated a value for each tile by measuring how frequently each letter appeared on the front page of the New York Times. |
| Source: Joshua Lewis | Source: Joshua Lewis |
| "Alfred Butts had a selection bias in favour of printed newspaper English which many people have suggested ought to be rectified," says Chew. | "Alfred Butts had a selection bias in favour of printed newspaper English which many people have suggested ought to be rectified," says Chew. |
| But is there a market for a revised version of Scrabble? | But is there a market for a revised version of Scrabble? |
| If the tile values changed there would be "catastrophic outrage", says Chew. | If the tile values changed there would be "catastrophic outrage", says Chew. |
| "Some people would just continue playing with the old tile distributions because people who've played the game often enough tend to remember that the Q is worth 10 points, the Z is worth 10 points and so on." | "Some people would just continue playing with the old tile distributions because people who've played the game often enough tend to remember that the Q is worth 10 points, the Z is worth 10 points and so on." |
| What's more, he says, seasoned Scrabble players know there is an important difference between the value written on a Scrabble tile and that tile's real value when played in a game, a notion he calls "equity value". So a blank tile or an S have an equity value that far outstrips their face value because they can easily earn a player so many points. | |
| So could Scrabble tiles really be changed to adapt to our evolving vocabulary? | So could Scrabble tiles really be changed to adapt to our evolving vocabulary? |
| No, according to Mattel, the company which manufactures Scrabble in Europe. | No, according to Mattel, the company which manufactures Scrabble in Europe. |
| "Mattel has no plans to change Scrabble tiles. It is not a game where fairness is paramount, it is a game of luck and changing the tile values wouldn't achieve anything," says Philip Nelkon, Scrabble's UK representative. | "Mattel has no plans to change Scrabble tiles. It is not a game where fairness is paramount, it is a game of luck and changing the tile values wouldn't achieve anything," says Philip Nelkon, Scrabble's UK representative. |
| Even Joshua Lewis, inventor of the new system believes the traditional valuations can make the game more exciting. | Even Joshua Lewis, inventor of the new system believes the traditional valuations can make the game more exciting. |
| "You're really lucky if you pick an X because it's over-valued and unlucky if you pick a V. So if they were to re-do the values of the tiles that would reduce the level of luck. | "You're really lucky if you pick an X because it's over-valued and unlucky if you pick a V. So if they were to re-do the values of the tiles that would reduce the level of luck. |
| "That might be desirable in tournaments but it might not be as good in casual play where you want the less skilled players to have a shot periodically at beating the more highly skilled players." | "That might be desirable in tournaments but it might not be as good in casual play where you want the less skilled players to have a shot periodically at beating the more highly skilled players." |
| So those players who rely on good luck when playing Scrabble can breathe a sigh of relief. | So those players who rely on good luck when playing Scrabble can breathe a sigh of relief. |
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