Will the Creative Disruption that will be taking place in Scrabble this late Spring be gaga-allowed or Lady Gaga – now allowed too. This all comes about as as Mattel, “Makers of Scrabble” [Hasbro is so far saying “no thank you” for its North American edition of the game], changes the rules of the game to allow Proper Nouns into the game. I mean Samoa and Brontosaurus are now to be admitted to the Scrabble board. This is simply Mind Boggling! What happens with proper nouns like “Isthmus of Panama” or “Dark Matter”? Will blanks be allowed? And whats this about stealing other’s letters. Oh Joe, say it aint so!
How will legitimate proper nouns be decided – if you can Wikipedia or Google or Yahoo it – its a proper noun ? And what this about drawing a card to decide whether one can use proper nouns, spell a word backwards or steal an opponents tile. Me-thinks this Trickster Disruptive Innovation, this Expedient Expanding of the Franchise, this Mattelish Scrabbling of the Rules will become the British Edsel of the Game.