Word-game house rules?

introverte and I played Quiddler and Pick Two this afternoon. We both agreed that restricting our words to those that would be legal in Scrabble(R) seemed silly; we instead instituted a house rule that anything findable in NI2 or 11C would be considered a legal play, even if it's an abbreviation, proper noun, or a foreign word found in a phrase common enough to appear in the dictionary. After all, those are crossword-legal; why not use them?

So I was wondering --- are we loosey-gooseys here, or do others out there agree that word games don't have to inherit Scrabble's limited vocabulary?

We also resolved an ambiguity in the Pick Two rules to mean that a blank may be swapped for any other tile that keeps the grid legal, not just for the letter that one intended when one initially played the blank tile.

And what other house rules would you recommend for word games? A three-letter minimum?

Word-game house rules?

introverte and I played Quiddler and Pick Two this afternoon. We both agreed that restricting our words to those that would be legal in Scrabble(R) seemed silly; we instead instituted a house rule that anything findable in NI2 or 11C would be considered a legal play, even if it's an abbreviation, proper noun, or a foreign word found in a phrase common enough to appear in the dictionary. After all, those are crossword-legal; why not use them?

So I was wondering --- are we loosey-gooseys here, or do others out there agree that word games don't have to inherit Scrabble's limited vocabulary?

We also resolved an ambiguity in the Pick Two rules to mean that a blank may be swapped for any other tile that keeps the grid legal, not just for the letter that one intended when one initially played the blank tile.

And what other house rules would you recommend for word games? A three-letter minimum?

Review of the new OU Machzor

I just received my copies of the new machzor (the special prayer book for the High HOly Days) published by the Orthodox Union with commentaries based on the teachings of "the Rav," Rabbi Joeseph B. Soloveitchik. ( First impressions of the first impressions )

In short, I have great expectations that these machzorim, despite their technical flaws, will deepen my understanding of the Days of Awe and help me to make better use of this transformative time to become a better person and a better Jew.

Review of the new OU Machzor

I just received my copies of the new machzor (the special prayer book for the High HOly Days) published by the Orthodox Union with commentaries based on the teachings of "the Rav," Rabbi Joeseph B. Soloveitchik. ( First impressions of the first impressions )

In short, I have great expectations that these machzorim, despite their technical flaws, will deepen my understanding of the Days of Awe and help me to make better use of this transformative time to become a better person and a better Jew.