Of All Things Scrabble

I like the game of Scrabble. I enjoy the alternative version, Lexulous, that one can play on Facebook. (Come, challenge me to a game! - and I am sure that it's Mrs. BA's turn in the game I'm playing with her). I have accumulated a few articles and posts that popped up in my Google Reader regarding the great game of Scrabble - enjoy!

• Skewing the Scrabble Playoffs (from WSJ.com) - with the addition of "za", "qi", and "zzz" to the Scrabble lexicon, some players are calling for the rules to be amended, something that has not happened since the birth of the game in 1948. Mandatory Archival Content Alert! - the post linked above contains an image of Alfred Butts' (the inventor of Scrabble) tabulation sheet wherein he evaluated the commonality of the letters in words and determined how the point values would be assigned to the letters in the game.
• On Buzzfeed - there is a new ad campaign afoot to promote the game.
• From McSweeney's - an "interview" with the letters "Q", "X", "K", "F", "M", "G", "E", and a blank tile on how they are coping with the economic downturn.
  

In a somewhat-related story, here is an interesting story about the changing face of crossword puzzles (seen on Language Hat). Does anyone really know what an "etui" is - or just that it's a common four letter word in most crossword puzzles?