https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2404%3A4400%3A4144%3A6B01%3A6311%3A72D0%3ADA17%3A27CBexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-29T03:32:40ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=492:_Scrabble&diff=411186492: Scrabble2026-04-27T02:55:36Z<p>2404:4400:4144:6B01:6311:72D0:DA17:27CB: /* Explanation */ Chi is also probably a scrabble-valid word; it's certainly more common than 'hic' as anything but onomatopoeia.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 492<br />
| date = October 22, 2008<br />
| title = Scrabble<br />
| image = scrabble.png<br />
| titletext = A veteran Scrabble player will spot the "OSTRICH" option.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic depicts a game of {{w|Scrabble}}, a popular board game where the goal is to form words with the letters in your hand. The joke here is that the obvious option here is the word "{{w|clitoris}}," which is an inappropriate word for a family Scrabble game, but gives a 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles. The title text points out that the letters in the hand can also form the word "OSTRICH," which is family friendly, but much lower scoring and not as obvious.<br />
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As the H appears to be on the center star square, the narrator will score 63 points if he plays "CLITORIS" (however he uses the two Is, as three of the tiles will fall on double letter scores), and 13 points if he plays "OSTRICH." The highest-scoring play is to hook the C and play either "HIC" or "CHI" and "LICTORS," scoring 71 points.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[A first-person view of a family Scrabble game at a table. The other players are a juvenile Cueball to the left, Hairbun across from you, and Ponytail to the right. The two letters on the board are 'HI', with the 'H' on the center star, and the letters in your hand are 'CLTORIS.']<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:This always happens to me in family Scrabble games.<br />
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==Trivia==<br />
* A player has an approximately 1-in-200000 chance of drawing "CLTORIS" as the starting hand, or a 1 in a billion chance for drawing it in that exact order. <br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Board games]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]</div>2404:4400:4144:6B01:6311:72D0:DA17:27CB