It's Just a Game - Words with Friends

Tuesday is my grocery shopping day, but it has been snowing and I am waiting for it to stop.  So, I got on my Kindle and looked to see if any of my opponents in Words with Friends had made a new word.

While I was waiting, I decided to google 'zyngawf' to find out who these random opponents with that name and a bunch of numbers after it actually are. While doing so I came across some websites dealing with not only the game, but, 'heaven forbid', people who cheat while playing.

Here is an example of one of the complaints:  constantly uses words like alow, mu, wiz that are not real words

Guess what genius, they are all REAL words. 

On the same site, the author tells you how to identify cheaters:    If your opponent plays an improbable word with a TW-TL combo within a few seconds from your last move, there should be little doubt that you are playing with a cheater.     

Man, you must have an IQ in the low double digits.  The first thing I do when I get my next set of letters is decide what words I can make, look to see where it will get me the most points without giving my opponent an advantage  (do not leave a triple open without a high score of your own), and then say ten 'hail mary's' praying they do not take your spot.  Alas, some opponents seem to have a knack for doing this, e.g. Sheryl and Steve.

Do I care if an opponent is using help in finding words?  Heck no.  I just remember the word in case I need to use it in the future.  I also google words they play to find out the meaning, plural form, and alternate spellings.  I see this as a learning experience.  I mean, really, it is not like I am going to win a prize here.

Obviously, playing online invites all sorts of peculiarities that don't happen when you play alone.  No time limit.  The game itself allows you to send it off to a friend to play.  And your opponent could actually be ten people, not one.  Who cares?

Last night I had someone question my word 'puces' which gave me 48 points.  I was thinking of the color 'puce'.  I did not know until he mentioned the French word for fleas, which is 'pulce', that the color was derived from it.  See.  I learned something and so did he.

In reality, a lot of this game and Scrabble, depends on the tiles you get, the words your opponent makes, and the openings on the board.  Get letters like I have in the above mentioned game right now,  WHOUEEA, and you will not be making any 50-point words.

Some of my opponents are just frustrating.  Right out of the gate a random opponent wasted an 's', something the Scrabble website tells you not to do.  Sadly, the young girl could have made another 20 points just by rearranging the letters she used and using her 's' on another word.

So, here is my tip to all the crying players:  Go to the Scrabble website and study.  There you will find words like mu and nu, za and qi, and miaou, which I actually had to use last week.  And forget about winning.  Think about learning. 

Is it no wonder that the best players are from Thailand and most don't even speak our language?