# A Scrabble-esque Word Game Challenge for all takers!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [May 29, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490 "2012-05-29T23:11:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490/1 "2012-05-29T23:11:13Z")

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The goal of the game is to create a square letter grid, in which every row across and every column down spells a valid English word. For example, this would be a legal 3x3 grid:

```auto

C A T
E R A
L E T

```

The validity of words will be based on the Scrabble/Words With Friends dictionary (so no proper nouns or abbreviations, etc.). You can use the [validator on the right-hand side of this page](http://wordswithfriends.net/) to check whether a word is legal or not.

Can you do a 4x4 grid? 5x5?

Whoever can construct the biggest grid wins. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by assigning a point value to each letter, also in accordance with Scrabble rules (I assume most people here are familiar with this system but if you’re not, essentially the more obscure letters like Z and J are worth more points than common letters). All values in the grid are added up and the one with the higher sum wins.

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**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490/2 "2012-05-29T23:24:49Z")

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I used to do these to pass the time when I was in high school. There’s a famous latin one:  
SATOR  
AREPO  
TENET  
OPERA  
ROTAS

This one is pretty plain.  
HOME  
OMEN  
MEAD  
ENDS

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**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490/3 "2012-05-31T18:40:28Z")

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[Wikipedia article about precisely this topic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_square)

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**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490/4 "2012-05-31T19:13:31Z")

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> [@MaxTheVool](#):
>
> [Wikipedia article about precisely this topic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_square)

Well if you’re just going to take them from Wikipedia, that’s cheating. 😛

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scrabble-esque-word-game-challenge-for-all-takers/623490/5 "2012-06-01T15:03:10Z")

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I’m sure I’ve done better ones than this many times, in my crossword contructing days, but just off the top of my head…

S O N S  
E V I L  
T A C O  
S L E W