1 Equipment
1.1 Players are to bring 2 pens that are not red, to be used for the games. Pencils will not be allowed for gameplay. Players are to write their words with one color, and count their score with the other color.
1.2 Paper will be provided and all games shall be played with the paper provided. Either a red pen or pencil will also be provided per table for marking your opponent's words.
2 Competition Overview
2.1 There will be two (2) games in each round.
2.2 All the players will play their games simultaneously.
2.3 The time limit for each game is three (3) minutes. Players will be informed when there are fifteen (15) seconds remaining.
3 Playing the game
3.1 Players will take turns to shake the board, with the player on the left of the pairing list shaking first.
3.2 Players are allowed to hold their pens but are only allowed to start writing when the chief umpire tells them to do so.
3.3 Words are formed from adjoining letters. Letters must be joined in the proper sequence to spell a word. They may be joined vertically, horizontally or diagonally.
3.4 No letter cube may be used more than once in a single word.
3.5 In the case of the cube “Qu”, the “u” within the “Qu” may be ignored in the formation of a word. For example, the word SUQ can be formed from the tiles “S”, U”, and “Qu”.
3.6 Points will be awarded based on the number of letters in the word formed. Refer to 4.11 for the awarding of points.
3.7 Full credit will be awarded for singular and plural forms of words, provided that the player has written them down as separate words.
3.8 No discussion is allowed during the game. Any player found doing so will immediately be disqualified and his/her points for the game reduced to zero.
3.9 Players are to put their pens down immediately when the time is up but may finish up their last word. When finishing their last word, players are advised to obtain their opponent’s attention to avoid disputes. A player accused of writing additional word(s) after the time is up will be put on the watchlist. If found guilty, the first offence will result in a penalty of 50 points, and the next offence committed will result in disqualification from the tournament.
3.10 No penalty will be imposed for illegible writing and/or repeated words as long as the player can identify his own handwriting.
3.11 Any other disputes will be settled under the discretion of the chief umpire, whose decision is final.
3.12 Only issues regarding the game raised by the players before the submission of the result slip will be valid. Objections raised thereafter will not be entertained.
4 After the game
4.1 Once the time is up, the player who did not shake the board will cover the boggle set with a blank sheet of paper.
4.2 The players are to count their own individual scores and write down the total points on the same sheet of paper with a different colour pen. Failure to do so will constitute a warning for the first offence, and subsequent offences will result in a 10 point penalty. Players are allowed to cancel the words that they do not want to be added into their score, but are not allowed to rewrite the words once cancelled.
4.3 The player will then exchange his/her list of words with the opponent who will double-check each other’s words and score. Either player may remove the paper covering the boggle set once the lists of words are exchanged.
4.4 A maximum of fifteen (15) minutes will be given for the combined process in 4.2 and 4.3. After that amount of time has elapsed, only words that are circled will be challenged, and play will move on to the next game.
4.5 If the handwriting is illegible, the player who wrote the word is not to look at the boggle set and give his/her answer. His opponent is to cover the boggle set while asking the player to verify a word.
4.6 Players are advised to verify each word they wish to challenge, to prevent disputes with their opponents. All challenged words are to be circled.
4.7 If there is any miscalculation in the score, the opponent is to circle the score.
4.8 Players may opt not to challenge a word or not to point out any miscalculation of the scores.
4.9 There will be no penalty for miscalculation of scores.
4.10 After the word list has been cross-checked, both players are to proceed to the computer together to challenge their words. They may only do this once per game. No other words are allowed to be challenged after the players have left their seats to go to the computer.
4.11 Points will be awarded as follows:
| Number of Letters | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 or more |
| Score | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
5 Challenges
5.1 Penalty points will be awarded/deducted as follows:
| Number of Letters | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 or more |
| Penalty | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
5.2 For a successful challenge (the word challenged does not exist), the points credited to the word will be deducted. In addition, penalty points will be deducted from the challenged player’s score.
5.3 For an unsuccessful challenge (the word challenged exists), the points equivalent to the penalty will be added to the challenged player’s score.
5.4 Penalty will also be imposed for the following:
a) Words that cannot be identified by the player himself/herself.
b) Words that cannot be formed on the boggle set.
c) Words that cannot be found in the dictionary.
However, penalty will not be issued if the opponent does not challenge the word.
5.5 All addition and subtraction of scores are to be done on the sheet of paper itself. The spread (winner’s score minus loser’s score) shall be calculated and verified by both players, and the final score shall be written on the results slip. There will be a maximum cap of 200 spread points per round. Any spread larger than 200 shall be taken as 200.
5.6 The dictionary used will be Collins Scrabble Tournament and Club Word List 2012 (CSW12).
5.7 Word finder software Zyzzyva and Zarf may be used to verify challenged words.
6 Tabulation of Scores
6.1 A player is awarded points in a round as follows:
a) 1 match point is awarded for a win in 1 round.
b) 0.5 match points are awarded for a draw in 1 round.
c) 0 match points are awarded for a loss in 1 round.
6.2 The player with the higher raw score after both games of a round is the winner for that round.
7 Tiebreaks
7.1 Final ranking will be decided by match points, spread, and then progressive tiebreak in this order of priority.
7.2 If there is still a tie for prizes after the abovementioned tiebreaks, the chief umpire and/or the organizing committee has the discretion to split the prizes,
or conduct a round robin match of 2 games between the players involved.
7.3 If there is still a tie after the round robin match, players will proceed to a sudden death match. If there are 2 players, they will play up to two (2) additional games where the first non-drawn game will determine the ranking. After which, the prizes will be shared. If there are 3 or more players, they will draw lots to play, with the losers of each game eliminated and the last man standing wins.
Liew Kian Boon
Gabriel Cheang
Nicholas Tan
Yap Zheng Chen
1st Word Games Society Committee
Nanyang Technological University
