Tile and Error: Cheating Scandal Rocks the World Scrabble Championship

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Kacper Pempel / Reuters

It was an allegation of letter-ary proportions.

Proving that no one can escape a cheating scandal, a contestant in the World Scrabble Championship was accused of hiding a tile after it went missing.

A Thai player claimed that Ed Martin of England hid a letter “G” during their match.  The opponent wanted Martin to be taken to a restroom to be strip searched, but authorities refused to honor the request.

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Martin ended up winning the match, and no evidence was presented to support the Thai player’s allegation.

That win was not enough to secure him the top prize, though. Nigel Richards, a New Zealander, took the overall title and £12,700 ($20,051.44) in winnings at the Warsaw championship after scoring 95 points with the word “omnified.”

Richards also claimed the title in 2007. This year, he beat 116 competitors from 44 countries to be named champion.

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