A Mixed Bag of Scrabblegrams from the Chairman of the Board

The gauntlet is thrown down, a new bar is set.

We recently published a survey of Scrabblegrams — sentences, stories, or verses that use precisely the 100 tiles of the SCRABBLE® set. (The full collection can be found on this page.) After due consideration, we anointed a GOAT *— a limerick we felt best met the constraints of elegance, topicality, and difficulty to transcend all others, up to that point.

Our goal in starting this forum has been to connect people to the truly interesting, elevated, and artistic examples of wordplay in its various forms, past and present. So we were pleasantly surprised to hear from the creator of our GOAT entry, David Cohen — a 46-year-old Atlanta physician and “nocturnist,” whose demanding schedule has not been conducive to such pursuits as Scrabblegrams over the years.

David Cohen — “Chairman of the Board”

But, reconnecting to inspiration and creative passion with the support of his wife and daughter, David proceeded to tweet us his latest creations — each one upping the bar for elegance and impressiveness.

We won’t attempt to identify a new GOAT out of these — from a Zen koan, to the “I Have a Dream” speech, to the Ten Commandments, to a seamless haiku, there is something for all. We will note: we were inspired to keep up our end, offering our shiniest constructions in response. The results are assembled below (giving the title, followed by the 100-tile Scrabblegram with blanks in bold).

First, a Zen koan (or “Zen Cohen,” if we must… and we must):

A Quiet, Conscious, Empty Mind

The average fool arrives here blind
An ego waking up to find
A quiet, conscious, empty mind

Now today I realize
Relax
Just be

Many are IMDb-worthy summaries of movies or TV shows…

The Wizard of Oz

Kansas girl with a dog,
aided by brave companions,
journeyed up to Oz —
in time recalling the exquisite value
of red footwear.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

A poor boy, a golden ticket.
Four rivals want a major prize.
The guests are excused one by one,
disqualified, leaving him to win.

This inspired our own attempt…

Quirky magnate extends invite
to a weird factory where
Charlie, Augustus, & Violet
find bronze Oompa Loompas
being jailed.

The Godfather

A mafia son wants to avoid family job exposures.
Duty (or revenge) will require he change
to be a reluctant idolized kingpin.

Star Wars

A pilot nobody knows is using the Force to…
— become a Jedi
— fight Vader
— save the galaxy
— win a prize medal
— return in a hit sequel

The Princess Bride

A unique film with a farm boy,
a giant, a Zorro-like sword expert,
true love, hope, justice,
and a good ending?
Yes, it’s conceivable.

Breaking Bad

See a chemist and a delinquent junkie
unforgivably prioritize wealth, ego, power,
and sale of exotic drugs
above morality.

Game of Thrones

Families of every kingdom (and a big dragon) square up,
jockey to seize the valuable Iron Throne.
Wait…up next is a cold winter.

Some are tributes to great works of oratory and art:

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

I have a dream
A world based not on color, but equality
Invoking a mix of hope, justice…
Rising up, energized, we say:
Free at last!

Hamlet’s Soliloquy

To be or not?
Valid question.
Life drags on, an agonizing dream,
Rarely a joy — but suicide?
What comes next if I never wake up?
Help!

Ode to the Mona Lisa

You, a revered work of wonder,
An object of unrivaled popularity,
Exhibit a god’s enigmatic gaze,
A quintessential shy smile.

In the challenge of describing the Decalogue, David needed to find a way to capture each of 10 commandments, with an average of only 10 tiles each:

The Ten Commandments

1. I am God, obey me
2. Never idolize
3. Quit cursing
4. Sunday we just relax
5. Honor a parent
Don’t…
6. Take a life
7. Shag
8. Rob
9. Lie
10. Covet (a pig, wife…)

One took on the game of Scrabble itself:

A few objectives:
— Interlock words on a grid
— Maximize points
— Edge out ahead (hopefully)
— Acquire an interesting vocabulary

Lastly, a double-haiku in 100-tiles (the title “Haiku” is part of the Scrabblegram):

HAIKU

Utilizing fixed
syllable count and order
seven between fives

Homage to antique
poetry across Japan,
“word origami”

David’s creativity in turn inspired our own, so we were compelled to commemorate two real-world events which occurred in recent days:

The Jewish observance of Rosh Hashanah, in 100 tiles:

L’Shana Tova!
Jews finding Zoom services
to celebrate New Year
are blowing digital audio shofar.
Due next: quiet Yom Kippur.

And, sadly, our remembrance of a legal legend:

RIP Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
A model of extensive
zeal, integrity,
womanhood, and IQ.
Awoke, alive,
You court a final sleep.

As David reports and we can confirm, the magic here is both in the conception and the completion:

“When attempting a Scrabblegram, almost anyone can write almost anything using the first 70 letters or so. The next 20 can be tricky, but usually there are options that aren’t too contrived. The limitations at this point force the use of unexpected words and ideas. But the last 10 letters or so are brutally unforgiving — each individual letter becomes exponentially more difficult to use without compromising the integrity of the rest. It’s kind of like a Rubik’s cube that’s “almost” solved — there’s a pretty good chance you’ll have to undo the entire thing to try again.”

As with all great feats of magic — at their best, the process is hidden. And as with great works of art, the best reveal no brushstrokes, no seams.

David continues:

“For me, the measure of a Scrabblegram is in the ‘naturalness’ of its weakest words. The most impressive creations I’ve seen other people make are the ones where I didn’t even notice it was wordplay at first. I’m always striving for this when making a Scrabblegram. The hardest part is trying to make it look easy, and then, if you succeed, to most people it looks easy.

We can attest — “pretty good” is “pretty easy,” but great is a transcendent achievement indeed.

For the full list of David’s Scrabblegrams, check out our master list. And should you be inspired to try your hand, tweet them to us at @BeyondWordplay.

(*GOAT = Greatest of All Time)