So I saw this on Reddit about Scrabble:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-secrets-of-scrabble-masters/phoney.html

Basically, you can get points if you can bluff with a fake word. So, Lois could have legitimately played chumpy... or not? Clark called her out on it. So is getting away with it a matter of conviction or what?

I had always played with the bluffing rule. I never bluffed myself, though, because:

a) I have no poker (Scrabble?) face to speak of; I'm an even worse liar than Clark, and

b) If you are caught in a bluff, you forfeit your turn. (Of course, if you are challenged and your word is in the dictionary, the challenger has to forfeit their turn.)

So, in my understanding, Lois was not cheating with "chumpy," but she should have lost her turn when it was not in the dictionary. Or, if they didn't have a dictionary available, then she should have admitted to making up a word, taken back her tiles, and let Clark go again; but this is Lois we're talking about. That was never going to happen.

Joy,
Lynn

Hubby claims he used to bluff all the time. I really haven't had much opportunity to test it, though. I await the time to do so breathlessly. Don't think I would be able to bluff well, though.

Although if you're playing with a computer/online I did find out that bluffing is out of the question (it will tell you, "'ert' is not a word, try again").

I wonder if "chumpy" would be accepted as a word by an online Scrabble game.

Only one way to find out, anyone up for a facebook Scrabble tournament? (PM if you want to).

I have tried it in the dictionary feature of my Scrabble app (using the Android platform Scrabble) and it rejects "chumpy" as a word.

Darn... a little disappointed, I must say. I bet you can't fool the app into accepting made up words. Though I have no idea what seemingly made up 'qi' or 'za' means (which are accepted), but I use them if I can get a double or triple score.

Edit: I usually play Words with Friends, and not Scrabble through Facebook. Maybe it's different?

qi: the circulating life force whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy and medicine.

za: in feudal Japan, any of the mercantile or craft guilds that flourished about 1100-1590.

qis also works.

xi, jo, and gi are also two letter favorites of mine. (I just crossed a xi and gi and earned myself 22 points.)

I have to admit, I play more like Clark than Lois. I'm more interested in the challenge of spelling long words than winning. (although, it is very satisfying to break 100 points by hitting two double word spaces within one word.) It's very frustrating to have a good long word and not having a place to use it. (I'm still hoping to use all tiles at once, but it hasn't happened yet.) My most recent long word was "capered". It was a few days ago, so I can't remember how many points it was, though I don't think it earned me as many points as "eighty" which hit a triple word space.

I must admit it is annoying to find out that slang words aren't accepted, but words I've never heard of are.

I apparently depends on what dictionary you use. My husband's aunt plays against my husband's dad. She uses the UK dictionary (I believe) and it accepts Jedi, whereas the American one does not.

And yet another reason to love England. Sigh.