* I'm rating this game at "4 Stars" (per Amazon's parlance) instead of 5 because of its flimsy plastic tile holders and excessive footprint --which is no problem if played on a good sized coffee table (24x30 inches or larger). You can rescue the nice wooden tile holders from an old Scrabble set --plus use its tiles for spares. (YES: your old set's beautiful wooden tiles are the same size.)

* Until you apply Fix #2, you'll need a large enough flat table --for the wheels/rotation to be viable and the board halves to not separate. That said: you might simply park the board equally sidewise to 2^ players when using a small and/or uneven surface and forget the wheels feature --focusing instead on how much we all like laying tiles down on the nicely tile-captive plastic grid (Yay!).

^ I think Scrabble is at its best between 2 well matched players --who are close and caring friends.


** Fix #1: Here's how to round up all the played tiles when the game is over:

   > Place the box's (came with) cardboard liner upside down --into the bottom of the game's box.

   > Separate the board halves (or fold down each half --per "Fix #2) and pour each halve's tiles onto the liner.

   > Lift out the liner (with tiles) and set it aside.

   > Now place a beer mug in the middle of the box's floor of the box.

   > Use your hand and the liner (tipping and tapping it) to funnel and pour the tiles into the mug.

   > Using the box to catch any strays, stretch the bag's mouth over the beer mug's and pour the tiles back into the bag.

* I hadn't played Scrabble in years --when along came a lady friend for whom Scrabble is her hands-down favorite --which, when played on our 60 year-old board, was driving me crazy --since I'm OCD about tile neatness and she absolutely is not. Now with this "Deluxe" version's grid locked tiles, I can focus on the game. (She beats me most every time anyway  :-)

* Amazingly: our first 2 games on the new board (one after minusing 3 points for remaining tiles) were a tie (in the 290s).

* Scrabble is a good way to hone one's spelling, thinking and word grasp, but it's best played among loving and/or family partners, lest someone ends up with hurt feelings. (Let's be careful when engaging in any competitive game or "sport".)


** Fix #2: To avoid the irritation (and maybe a game-ending dump) when the game board halves separate, do this:

   > Push the two plastic link lips back in and flush --out of the way.

   > Be very sure to keep the two halves in contact and aligned.

   > Keeping the halves in contact, apply 2 inches of duct tape across the middle --then:

   > Carefully turn he halves over, look, and make sure they're aligned.

   > Turn the halves upside down again, lay the board flat and apply duct tape across the whole length.

   > To store your board (in the original box/case), fold the halves back-to-back, using the came-with sleeve. The board still turns, but it won't come apart anymore.


** Fix #3: If you take my advice to not time limit your opponent (which turns play into *work*), nor to display impatience, a game of Scrabble can easily stretch to 3 hours! So: what to do?

* Set a timer to run for (say) an hour. Whoever's ahead when the bell rings --wins.

* Play (say) with 55 tiles (which works well for us --a one hour game).

* Limit the number of back-and-forth rounds/turns. (3 of our games averaged 24 rounds with an average score of 316 and liberal use of the dictionary, so maybe do 12?)


** Fix #4: This game needs a pad of score keeping cards --so make one --especially if you're opting for turn limits (and you need to know when to stop).

This score card has stopping points A, B, C, D, E, F,
with circled sub-totals for each plus grand totals.

** Fix #5: I can't think of an agreeable replacement for the bag --but how about replacing its string with a bright piece of white yarn? One would then be less likely to pick up the bag by its bottom, spilling the tiles. (Again: get an old Scrabble game at a garage sale for a set of spare tiles.)

** Fix #6 (or 3b): A Faster Game of Scrabble

* We enjoy all the back-and-forth (challenges, insinuations, resorts to "higher" authority) that a good game of Scrabble entails, while trying to fit good words onto a crowded board --not so much. More-over, a well contested game might take 3 hours to its conclusion, which will surely cut into one's other obligations of the day or evening --perhaps just your need of sleep.

* So: let's try another approach to a faster game: simply start with fewer tiles. Here's what we tried: roughly cutting the official distribution of tiles in half, but always rounding up to at least one tile --as follows (using the old official format, which you might want to print out and paste onto the game board:
 

A-5     J-1     S-2

B-1     K-1     T-3

C-1     L-2     U-2

D-2     M-1     V-1

E-6     N-3     W-1

F-1     O-4     X-1

G-2     P-1     Y-1

H-1     Q-1     Z-1

I-5     R-3     Blnk-2

* 55 tiles and yes: we kept the original 2 blank tiles. (Let us not stray too far from the original game of Scrabble, right?)

* This worked out fine for us, the first game taking just over an hour. Combined score: 301.

Rebuild: How 'bout not leaving it to chance who gets the "Z", the "Q" and such --which (IMHO) distorts the game's outcome? Also: if a player's smart enough to plunk down a 7 letter word, that should be reward enough in itself. Why give him/her a 50 point bonus?

* I propose two sets of tiles, but in a common bag --the 2nd set distinctly marked or colored --as follows:

A-3     J-1     S-1

B-1     K-1     T-2

C-1     L-1     U-1

D-1     M-1     V-1

E-3     N-2     W-1

F-1     O-2     X-1

G-1     P-1     Y-1

H-1     Q-1     Z-1

I-3     R-3     Blnk-1

--for a total of 39 tiles for each of two players, and each in her/his own bag. (Yes: one would have to sort them back into the right bags after the game --no biggy.)

* To accomplish this on a DIY basis, buy 2 Scrabble sets and mark the 2nd set's tiles with a permanent felt tip marker --thus: "K". Make a mark on the tile backs as well so that sorting them from a pile is a breeze.

* Later in the game this will settle debates about "who laid down that stupid word?"

* An unresolved issue: Say: a player lays down an invalid word like "QUIZED" (which needs another Z/blank) --but it goes un-noticed --until: one of the players tests the other's patience by extending it to become "REQUIZED". They whip out the old dictionary and lo: the missing Z gets revealed. Our best guess is that the invalid "QUIZED" then stays as played and counted, but that it can't be modified or (be it a noun) pluralized. Only cross-wise words can be added.