Official Tournament and Club Word List
Encyclopedia
Official Tournament and Club Word List or Tournament Word List, referred to as OTaCWL, OWL, or TWL, is the official word authority for tournament Scrabble
in
the USA, Canada and Thailand. It is based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
(OSPD) with modifications to make it more suitable for tournament play. Its British counterpart is Chambers
Official Scrabble Words, and the combination of the two word lists is known as SOWPODS
.
Dictionary Committee in late 2005 and took effect on March 1, 2006. OWL2 corresponds to the fourth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
, but includes words that are not considered suitable for inclusion in that work.
The print version contains several errors which have been corrected on the National Scrabble Association's web site.
The first edition of OWL was created by the National Scrabble Association
Dictionary Committee,
chaired by John Chew, and took effect on March 2nd, 1998.
To avoid controversy, it was only available for sale to NSA members, and unlike the OSPD, did not include definitions for its words.
To provide additional value for tournament players, the OWL includes words whose base or inflected forms have up to nine letters, rather than the OSPD's eight.
OSPD3 was created from OSPD2 by adding all appropriate words that had been added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (MWCD) in the interim; OWL was then formed by restoring possibly offensive words removed from OSPD3, and adding nine-letter words from MWCD.
, OWL is a list and does not include definitions. OWL also contains words not included in OSPD because they are considered offensive, and a number of other additional words (mostly registered trademarks). Print versions of OWL can be purchased only through the NSA.
OWL is supplemented by the NSA Dictionary Committee's Official Long Words List, which includes all acceptable 10 to 15 letter words not already included in the OWL. The word list was compiled using Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
in
the USA, Canada and Thailand. It is based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or OSPD is a dictionary developed for use in the game Scrabble, by speakers of American and Canadian English.-Creation:...
(OSPD) with modifications to make it more suitable for tournament play. Its British counterpart is Chambers
Chambers Dictionary
The Chambers Dictionary was first published by W. and R. Chambers as Chambers's English Dictionary in 1872. It was an expanded version of Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of 1867, compiled by James Donald...
Official Scrabble Words, and the combination of the two word lists is known as SOWPODS
SOWPODS
SOWPODS is the word list used in tournament Scrabble in most countries except the USA, Thailand and Canada. The term SOWPODS is derived from the anagram of the two acronyms OSPD and OSW, these being the original two official dictionaries used in various parts of the world at the time...
.
Current edition
North American tournament Scrabble currently uses the second edition of OWL (variously referred to as OWL2, OTCWL2, TWL2, and TWL06). This version was created by the National Scrabble AssociationNational Scrabble Association
The National Scrabble Association was created in 1978 by Selchow & Righter, then the makers of Scrabble, to promote their game. It coordinated local clubs and Scrabble tournaments in North America, including the National Scrabble Championship, until 2009. The current director is John D...
Dictionary Committee in late 2005 and took effect on March 1, 2006. OWL2 corresponds to the fourth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or OSPD is a dictionary developed for use in the game Scrabble, by speakers of American and Canadian English.-Creation:...
, but includes words that are not considered suitable for inclusion in that work.
The print version contains several errors which have been corrected on the National Scrabble Association's web site.
Past editions
The decision to bowdlerize the OSPD in its third edition by removing a large number of possibly offensive words necessitated a separate, unabridged word list for tournament use.The first edition of OWL was created by the National Scrabble Association
National Scrabble Association
The National Scrabble Association was created in 1978 by Selchow & Righter, then the makers of Scrabble, to promote their game. It coordinated local clubs and Scrabble tournaments in North America, including the National Scrabble Championship, until 2009. The current director is John D...
Dictionary Committee,
chaired by John Chew, and took effect on March 2nd, 1998.
To avoid controversy, it was only available for sale to NSA members, and unlike the OSPD, did not include definitions for its words.
To provide additional value for tournament players, the OWL includes words whose base or inflected forms have up to nine letters, rather than the OSPD's eight.
OSPD3 was created from OSPD2 by adding all appropriate words that had been added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (MWCD) in the interim; OWL was then formed by restoring possibly offensive words removed from OSPD3, and adding nine-letter words from MWCD.
Word count
The list for 2006 (a.k.a. TWL06, plus the Long Word List) contains 178,691 words, comprising:| Number of letters | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of words | 101 | 1,015 | 4,030 | 8,938 | 15,788 | 24,029 | 29,766 | 29,150 | 22,326 | 16,165 | 11,417 | 7,750 | 5,059 | 3,157 |
Other word authorities
Unlike the Official Scrabble Players DictionaryOfficial Scrabble Players Dictionary
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or OSPD is a dictionary developed for use in the game Scrabble, by speakers of American and Canadian English.-Creation:...
, OWL is a list and does not include definitions. OWL also contains words not included in OSPD because they are considered offensive, and a number of other additional words (mostly registered trademarks). Print versions of OWL can be purchased only through the NSA.
OWL is supplemented by the NSA Dictionary Committee's Official Long Words List, which includes all acceptable 10 to 15 letter words not already included in the OWL. The word list was compiled using Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.