Editor’s letter: On the tiles

For all its real tragedy and social inconven­iences, the coronavirus has offered most of us a chance to slow down.

Scrabble can while away the isolation hours. Picture: Jerad Williams

Some fiasco, this coronavirus situation. But for all its real tragedy and social inconven­iences, it has offered most of us a chance, on the home front at least, to slow down — to think; to play. People all over the world are breaking out the board games, particularly Scrabble. The Mattel favourite, as one reader has reminded me, is the only legal way to spend a night on the tiles these days. Boom tish. A piece we ran in Review a few weeks ago by two-time national Scrabble champion Andrew Fisher resulted in tonnes of correspondence from readers eager to share their favourite winning words. Oxyphenbutazone, a medication used to treat arthritis, was one suggestion — of course you’ll have to work with tiles on the board because only seven tiles are allowed on your rack at one time. That mouthful, if the stars align and if built across the correct squares, will net you a cool 1458 points. We also had fans of zax, a small hatchet-like implement, worth 19 points. Incidentally, I still like chutzpah — a 77-point winner with onomatopoeic resonance to burn. To say it is to display it. While Scrabble engagement is at an all-time high — sales of board games have soared 240 per cent in Britain, according to research published last week — it’s also a prosperous time for the humble anagram. (You’ll find some crackers in Mind Games, pages 24-25.) I’ve always been a fan of wordplay and I take pleasure in introducing to my children — especially while they’re in quarantine and can’t escape — the old schoolyard favourites: dormitory (dirty room); schoolmaster (the classroom); conversation (voices rant); astronomer (moon starer); and listen (silent; useful when working from home). But the health crisis has brought its own jumble jargon. Animal rights groups and conspiracy theorists jumped on the bandwagon early, inverting coronavirus with carnivorous and bemoaning the Wuhan wet market where the offending bat was bitten and the palaver began. Then there’s pandemic (pace mind); self-isolate (lefties also); isolation (lain tools). Spooky, huh? Well, not really. But the way we interpret and manipulate language to suit our needs during a crisis is intriguing. Words, especially when the letters are arranged in the correct way, have never been more important. The world is looking for big ideas and new voices, and so it is with great pleasure Review introduces the four shortlisted authors for The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript for Australian writers under 35. The Vogel has long been seen as a yardstick of future greatness, with previous winners including Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Gillian Mears, Mandy Sayer and Andrew McGahan. The $20,000 prize also includes a publishing deal with Allen & Unwin. You can find extracts from the shortlisted authors on pages 14-15; we wish them all the best ahead of the announcement of the winner on Monday evening. Singer-author Clare Bowditch will host the awards event on Allen & Unwin’s Facebook page. Pour yourself a wine and tune in from 6pm. There’ll be time for Scrabble afterwards.

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