# New Scrabble rules change to allow proper nouns (names) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210 "2010-04-06T22:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/1 "2010-04-06T22:42:29Z")
I’m just happy I roomed with Zxyblonji in college. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/2 "2010-04-06T22:43:30Z")
[Story here](http://www.newser.com/story/85327/scrabble-allows-proper-nouns-in-trickster-version.html) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/3 "2010-04-06T22:45:23Z")
I love the quote about such a change “tarting up the game”. I would feel that way if it were a sweeping change, not just a rule specific to one version of the game. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/4 "2010-04-06T22:47:30Z")
I just always thought they should just allow some proper nouns in the dictionary. This is just all PR, as it’s not like you couldn’t allow proper nouns before if you wanted to. Unless this “Trickster” version has multiple cases of letters, which could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/5 "2010-04-06T23:19:50Z")
I’m **C[SIZE=“1”]3 O1 N1 F4 U1 S1 E1 D2[/SIZE]** Why is this on the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/6 "2010-04-06T23:51:16Z")
[Mattel: New Version of Scrabble, not Changing Rules](http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/dpgonc-mattel-new-version-of-scrabble-not-changing-rules-fc-20100406_6936727) > [@](#): > > Scrabble purists can relax: Mattel is not changing the official rules of its word board game to allow the use of proper nouns, as was reported Monday. > … > But John Williams, executive director of the American Scrabble Association, told CNET News that Mattel is actually planning to release an entirely new and separate version of the game called Scrabble Trickster in England. > > In Scrabble Trickster, anything goes: proper nouns, words spelled backwards, even the “stealing” of letters. Well Ok. I am mollified, so long as they only mess with the foreign language versions. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/7 "2010-04-07T03:41:03Z")
What’s a 7 letter word for heresy? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/8 "2010-04-07T03:48:14Z")
I’m so relieved this is just a new version of the game, not a rule change. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/9 "2010-04-07T03:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by \*\*GIGObuster > > C[SIZE=“1”]3 O1 N1 F4 U1 S1 E1 D2[/SIZE]\*\* This bears repeating, just because it’s so prettily done. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/10 "2010-04-07T05:49:35Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I’m > > **C[SIZE=“1”]3 O1 N1 F4 U1 S1 E1 D2[/SIZE]** > > Why is this on the pit? I added a new word. [spoiler] \*\*    R1     E1     P3 C[SIZE=“1”]3 O1 N1 F4 U1 S1 E1 D2[/SIZE]     R1     T1     E1     D2\*\* To get it moved to another forum, silly.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/11 "2010-04-07T06:00:20Z")
[Much ado about nothing](http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2010/04/06/don-t-panic-proper-nouns-will-not-be-allowed-in-scrabble.aspx); it’s a bit like worrying over all those silly movie tie-in versions of Monopoly or what have you. The standard game is still the standard game and isn’t going anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/12 "2010-04-07T10:50:27Z")
I’m shocked; Shocked to see this thread in The BBQ Pit, so I’ll move it to The Game Room. \*\* Gfactor\*\* Pit Moderator ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/13 "2010-04-07T12:10:02Z")
What needs to be pitted is the horrendously misleading headlines that have been attached to this story all over the place. Meanwhile, this new game actually looks like fun, and the inclusion of proper nouns in the rules for it will only make it moreso, I think. Gotta love a game that will let you spell words backwards and still get points, too. The fastest mind will dominate. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/14 "2010-04-07T17:09:42Z")
My opponents and I play “Scrabble Fuck It,” in which random strings of letters are acceptable. It’s not particularly challenging, but boy is it fast-paced! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/15 "2010-04-07T17:49:02Z")
Looks like the description from the back of [this game](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7213/red-letter) will need to be adjusted a bit, assuming it’s still in print. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/16 "2010-04-07T18:11:50Z")
They should add number tiles, to facilitate L337 spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/17 "2010-04-07T21:09:59Z")
Are you allowed to turn tiles upside-down to make Cyrillic letters? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/18 "2010-04-07T21:23:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are you allowed to turn tiles upside-down to make Cyrillic letters? No, but there _is_ a separate ‘mirror’ tile that you can place on any side of a regular tile, so as to make the tile’s reflected image available for word play; 4 points too! ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/19 "2010-04-07T21:25:57Z")
Okay, I didn’t read the whole thread. Removing post. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210/20 "2010-04-07T21:46:15Z")
“The company said it expects existing fans to enjoy the change, but it appears to be extremely wrong.” Bwahaha. Personally, my friends and I like to get drunk and play Inappropriate Scrabble, where you can play anything you want (including bizarre phonetic spellings and phrases) as long as it’s inappropriate in some way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-scrabble-rules-change-to-allow-proper-nouns-names/535210.md?page=2)