SILLY SCRABBLE RULES LEAD ON TO SILLY SITUATIONS

One of the most defective aspects of the current rules is the need to count scores during play time. Counting scores should be done outside play time. It should be done in a manner similar to this suggestion:

1. After putting your tiles on the board, neutralise the clock, thus indicating the end of your turn. You cannot change your mind after hitting the stop button.
2. Calculate your score and declare it. Your opponent is free either to challenge or to check the score before writing it down.Once both sides agree on the correct score and both write it down, hit the clock to start your opponent's turn.
3. Challenges, if any, should be resolved before play resumes.
   

Why is this logical change to the rules desirable? It would result in a more accurate calculation of the scores. At present, the desire to save time would cause errors through hasty counting. Opponents are often reluctant to re-count, in order to save time. An innocent, or not so innocent, miscalculation could pass undetected. The present 50 minutes per game could be reduced to 40 minutes, if score counting is done outside play time.

In order to circumvent the present defective rule, when I want to save time, I use a logical loophole in it. Without actually counting, I would declare an inflated score that would send a message to my opponent that the score should be recounted. Thus, my understanding opponent would neutralise the clock and we both spend adequate time for accurate counting. However, this pragmatic method might confuse a simple person who might not understand legal intricacies. I have recently had a player 'spit the dummy' when I declared the unrealistic score of 200. The TD was called. Since this particular opponent had been in the habit of creating problems if there were none, I quickly defused the situation by offering to recount the score, in slow motion, in my own time. The incident later attracted a silly comment from a third party, which did not warrant a response from me. You have to make allowances for different levels of intellectual finesse.