Scrabble 2023, Episode 1

[billmcdee]

Hello friends,

I am just about ready to restart Scrabble on NBC.  Many thanks to Tony Lane for his blessing for me to begin hosting this again.

I'll explain the rules as we go along, rather than posting them.

I will need three players, two will play a best 2 out of 3 game match during the crossword round, and 1 player will be the Scrabble Sprint champion pro tempore.

Once I get three to sign up, I will do a drawing with these three players to decide who gets to be acting Sprint champion.

Thank you,

Bill

[mringgenberg]

I'll Play

[billmcdee]

Welcome aboard Matt.  As I recall the last time I did this game you were the last player too, so seems appropriate.

Two more needed now.

[nelson21]

I'll play

[gameboy2000]

I'll play

[billmcdee]

Great.  I'll be sending each of you a PM some time today and have you all do a drawing to see which 2 play the crossword match and which one of you will be the acting Sprint champ.

[billmcdee]

The tile drawing is complete.

David drew the letter "B", so he will be the designated Sprint champion.  Whatever the winner of the crossword match wins we will match that total and David will win that also, since he will not have the chance to play the crossword round for any money.

Matt drew the M tile and Nels drew the Q, so Matt will go first during the first game of the crossword round.

The episode I am hoping to be able to begin possibly as soon as tomorrow, but more than likely it will be later in the week, so please stay tuned!

[billmcdee]

(Opening theme)






Frank Caliendo (as Charlie Tuna)

A ten-letter word, the clue is, it's a way for some to practice their spelling...





(Audience)  WITCHCRAFT!!!!!


Frank:  From the NBC Studios in Burbank, California, it's the return of the crossword game you've played all your life, but never quite like this!






Audience:  SCRABBLE!


And here's your host, Bill McDee!






That's me!  Thank you everybody, thank you Frank and welcome back to the return of Scrabble here on NBC daytime.

I want to thank and gratefully acknowledge Tony Lane who had hosted the previous version of this program for all he did and for his permission and blessing to bring this classic back again.

We still have the classic crossword game, which will now be a best two out of three game match, and the winner of that match will be the Scrabble Sprint challenger later on in the show.

The current Scrabble Sprint champion is David Barkow, and we will meet him later on.  David become the champ by way of a letter tile drawing that we had before going on the air, and David's draw was the letter closest to "A".  So while he stands by, we'll get game 1 of our Crossword match underway to find out who David's challenger will be.


Please welcome Matt Riggenberg and Nels Snesrud!






I want to wish you both the very best of luck in our game today.

As always, the first player to get three words right wins the game, but now it takes two games to win the match and to move on to the Scrabble Sprint, and each and every day now, the Scrabble Sprint winner will go on to play a new end game that we call Bonus Tiles, for up to $20,000 in cash!  So a lot at stake each and every day.


Should each of you win one game of this match, the third game will be decided by a single, sudden-death Speedword.


During the tile drawing we did, Matt's draw was next closest to A, so by virtue of that, he will get to play first.





Also each word is now worth cash, randomly determined before the show by our computer.  Words can be worth $125 up to $250, and if it's the third and winning word, we pay double the value.

This first word is worth $225, and players, all money you make on words and bonus tiles is yours to keep, no matter what!

As with the old version of the show, if you solve a word when a letter is placed on a blue tile, it's $500 in bonus money to you, $1,000 if it's on a pink square.

Our first word in our first game today is a 9 letter word, and we're building off of the letter "T" Matt, and the clue is...


It's pretty inactive until after sundown.

If you think you know the word, you can try to solve it right now.  If not, I'll ask you to select a pair of numbered tiles that you see between you and Nels.  The remaining letters of the word are scrambled up and controlled by those tiles but be careful, because three of those tiles have letters that do not fit in the word.  Those are called Stoppers, and if you try to play one of those, you will lose your turn.


Okay Matt, if you think you know the word, you can solve it now, otherwise, take a pair of tiles please.

[mringgenberg]

4 and 9

[billmcdee]

S and a U to select from Matt.  Which one do you want to try?

[mringgenberg]

S

[billmcdee]

Oh no.  That was a stopper Matt.  That may end up working to your advantage however, we'll see.  Nels, it's now your turn.  You can either try to solve the word now, or take one tile to bring yourself up to speed.

[billmcdee]

(Bump for Nels)

[nelson21]

6

[billmcdee]

That gets you a P Nels.  Which one do you want to try, P or U?

The clue again is:


It's pretty inactive until after sundown.

[nelson21]

P

[billmcdee]

Here comes the P...

















televisiontunes.com/Scrabble_-_Letter_Check.html











televisiontunes.com/Scrabble_-_Stopper.html







Jumpin' Jiminy Christmas!  Second stopper already!  Are we sure we have the correct word loaded here?


Matt it's back over to you again.  You can solve the word if you think you know it, or draw one tile to bring yourself up to speed.

What's your pleasure Matt?

[mringgenberg]

2

[billmcdee]

You have an I and a U Matt, which one do you want to try?

[mringgenberg]

I

[billmcdee]

Let's try that I...










































televisiontunes.com/Scrabble_-_In_Puzzle.html
















(Bronx cheer from the crowd)  Yes!  We finally have a right letter!  Matt do you want to try to solve it, if not, we'll have to try that "U".

[mringgenberg]

The U

[billmcdee]

Let's see if the U works.



























(razzle)
























(ding)  Yes it does.  Matt if you don't know it yet, select 2 more tiles.  I'd suggest even if you DO know it to take 2 tiles because there's only 1 stopper left in the mix, and two chances for a $500 bonus for you with those 2 blue squares still up for grabs.

[mringgenberg]

1 and 3

[billmcdee]

This time you have a G and a B to work with.  We know at least one of those letters is safe.  Which one do you want to try Matt?

[mringgenberg]

B

[billmcdee]

Let's try the "B".
























(razzle)






















(bonus bells)






Again the clue is:  

It's pretty inactive until after sundown.

Matt for $225, one word, plus a $500 bonus, can you solve it now?  If not, you'll have to try that G.  What's your pleasure?

[mringgenberg]

The G

[billmcdee]

(razzle)




































That fits.  Matt, again I'd suggest to take 2 more tiles as there's still a chance at some bonus cash and only one stopper left in the mix.

[mringgenberg]

7 and 10