AXLER.Upenn-1100%Rand-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (11/18/83)
From: AXLER.Upenn-1100@Rand-Relay (David M. Axler - MSCF Applications Mgr.) 1) How much could one score in scrabble(tm) with the word "exquisite", given that it was placed on a triple-word-score block.? It's highly variable, for several reasons. Since a player has, at most, seven letters in his/her hand, two of the letters of the word must have already been on the board. While it's true that the new word would acquire the values of these letters, it would not get credit for any "bonus" squares that they lay on. A nine-letter word touching a triple-word bonus square would also cover other bonuses -- either one double-letter and a second triple-word, or two double-letter squares, depending on where the previously-placed letters were on the board. Finally, if the player had used up all the letters on the rack, there would be the additional fifty-point bonus (known as a "bingo" in Scrabble jargon) for doing so. The basic score for 'exquisite' would be 25, which would then be tripled to 75, but the maximum score possible is very much higher. 2) The M. A. Foster question came up not too long ago, and I submitted a summary of his (yes, it's "he" -- Michael Anthony, to be precise) listing in the SF Encyclopedia to the digest. It appeared somewhere around issue 95 of the current volume, and interested folks ought to check the archives. [Perhaps our noble editor would insert the precise reference info for their benefit...] 3) The titles of the Elric volumes have varied somewhat, depending on when and where (US vs. UK) they were published. The contents have also undergone some modifications over time. Full details on this stuff, and on Moorcock's work in general, is found in the excellent annotated bibliography "The Tanelorn Archives", available from a small press out in North Dakota, or from your favorite sf mail-order shop. 4) The intro's to the various Alastor books specifically state that the books are situated on different planets within the "Alastor Cluster"; the planets are numbered for easy reference by the Cluster's administrators. They do not refer to the same planet over a period of time. Dave Axler (Axler@Upenn)