2014 SCRABBLE Word Showdown Announcement

The following announcement about the 2014 SCRABBLE Word Showdown was sent out to NASPA members on March 12, 2014.

SCRABBLE Fans to Choose Newest Playable Word
in the SCRABBLE Word Showdown

Merriam-Webster’s Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary to Be Updated with a Fan-Voted Word

Dear NASPA Members,

Are you ready for a new kind of SCRABBLE Showdown? It's time for the first-ever SCRABBLE Word Showdown, where you get to help choose a word that will be added to our official lexicon this year.

The Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary, and our own companion edition, the Official Tournament and Club Word List, are due for an update this August at the 2014 National SCRABBLE Championship in Buffalo, NY. The lexicon will be updated as in past years, through the joint work of the NASPA Dictionary Committee and the professional lexicographers at Merriam-Webster, based on a rigorous process involving selecting words that have survived the test of time to end up in one of our source dictionaries.

It’s easier than ever now, though for neologisms to catch on throughout the English-speaking world, and so for the first time there will be a way for one deserving new word to jump to the head of the dictionary. In the first phase of the SCRABBLE Word Showdown, from March 12th to 28th, you can nominate your favorite word through the Hasbro Game Night Facebook Page. Then, on April 2nd, Hasbro SCRABBLE and Merriam-Webster will unveil a pool of 16 possible new words from the nomination process. From there, fan bracket voting will lead us to the new word, to be announced on April 10th.

The chosen new word, along with all the others selected through the regular process, will be in the new editions of the word list, available at the National SCRABBLE Championship, and will take effect in official competitive play later in the year.

If you’ve ever wanted to add a word to the dictionary, now’s your chance to make your wish come true!