Scrabble enthusiasts create new Scottish record

Oct 5 2011 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

A PAIR of high-scoring Scrabble enthusiasts  – who played a marathon game which lasted 24 hours – have set a new Scottish record.

Raymond Tate and Siobhan O’Tierney, who are both from Paisley, played their endurance-sapping Scrabble game to raise money for Rotary International’s Polio Plus Appeal.

Sadly, they fell short of breaking the world record but, with a mammoth score of 150,201 over 208 games during their 24-hour stint, the two friends have set a Scottish record.

Foxbar man Raymond said: “It took us a while to get the final score verified and we were 12,000 off the world record of 162,171.

“Although we failed to break the current world record, we broke the previous record.”

Maths teacher Siobhan, 51, and Raymond, 54, are both members of the Glasgow Scrabble Club and the challenge was Siobhan’s idea as they set out to raise money for charity.

It was held in the conference suite at ACCORD Hospice in Paisley, with the first Scrabble tile placed on the board at 10am on the Sunday.

The two wordsmiths then kept going till 10am the following morning.

Invigilators from the Scottish Scrabble Association, including the current president Amy Byrne, and the Rotary Club of Paisley took photos of every board at the end of each game so that a permanent record was kept.

Raymond counted the total and the photographs were also sent to the Guiness World Records to verify the final score.

The total amount of money raised for the Polio Plus appeal is still being counted but Raymond is hopeful of a good amount.

And he is also aiming for a second attempt at the world record.

“With no disrespect to Siobhan, the reason we didn’t reach the record was because she doesn’t play it seriously at this level,” Raymond said.

“I know another English player from national competitions we both take part in who I’d like to go against to have another go at the world record, so I’m trying to get that organised.

“Siobhan has said she’s happy for me to get another player to try it again. If we have a go at it, I’m sure we can beat it.”