Hacking Scrabble (part 1)
This post isn’t really about Scrabble. It’s about taking a load of ugly data and hacking around with some scripts to refine it into something I can commit to memory. Then its about Scrabble. Winning at Scrabble.
The Problem
Knowing exactly which two-letter words exist gives a player a sizeable advantage because it opens up tight corners of the game board and allows them to run two words side-by-side. Sadly most of us only know a handful, and beyond that we’re guessing. Then we’re arguing. And then (inevitably) looking on Google for a list of valid words.
Personally I’m all for having the 2-letter-word-list on display during play to help us out of tight spots and to keep things fair. But I’ve had plenty of opponents object to this, saying that if I really want to play like that I should memorize the list. How hard can it be?
