A New Zealand Scrabble whizz has won his fourth world championship - playing the word "groutier" to win the title.
Nigel Richards competes in a category of the Francophone Scrabble World Championships in 2015. Photo: AFP
New Zealander Nigel Richards, 51, beat Californian Jesse Day in the final at the Westfield centre in west London on Sunday.
Groutier - which means cross, sulky or sullen - scored 68 points.
Crowds have gathered to watch Jesse Day and Nigel Richards in the final of the Scrabble World Championships at Westfield, London. pic.twitter.com/UNYDDDxNkQ
— Caitlin Doherty (@_CaitlinDoherty) October 28, 2018
"It was a closely-fought championship and Jesse was a very impressive opponent," Mr Richards said.
Althought he does not speak a word of French, he also managed to win the French-language Scrabble world championship in 2015.
Mr Richards' other high-scoring words in the final included zonular, which means like a zone and earned 100 points, and phenolic, a synthetic resin, which earned 84 points.
His opponent scored 95 points with maledict, which means to utter a curse against, but Mr Richards won by 575 points to 452.
The prize pool for the tournament was £15,500 ($NZ30,343).
Mr Richards began playing Scrabble in 1995 and also won the world championship in 2007, 2011 and 2013.
He also claimed victory in the French Scrabble championship in 2015.
-BBC
