Connecticut’s inaugural SANTA (Stamford Après-Noël Tiles & Anagrams) was a jolly success. This Friday one-day drew 34 players, owing to its proximity to the holidays and to Albany! Our downtown conference room drew praise for its spaciousness and lighting. We brought in our own festive decorations from home to spruce up the venue. For a warm start, co-organizer Mina Le provided coffee, bagels, and donut holes.

Director César Del Solar ran the tournament using Woogles software, which meant that we could use the QR code on our scorecards to access the pairings and standings online as well as to submit our scores electronically. The tournament raised $170 for Woogles, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides synchronous online gameplay, bot opponents, and position puzzles for free.

Co-director Joshua Sokol-Rubenstein streamed the event on Twitch and helped it all run smoothly.

Edible fun prizes are a hallmark of the Le del Solar tournaments. James Donnelly won a chocolate prize for Flashiest Bingo with LONELILY. Jack Lechner won a chocolate prize for Best Winter Holiday Word with JOLLY.

In Division D, Ben Muschol won $80 for second place (5-2 +368), and Alexander Dering won $130 and a trophy for first place (5.5-1.5 +562).

In Division C, Marla Riff won $80 for second place (4-3 +124), and Judy Cole (Gibsonized!) won $130 and a trophy for first place (6-1 +475).

In Division B, Terry Kang won $80 for second place (5-2 +341), and David Benjamin Firstman won $130 and a trophy for first place (6-1 +245).

In Division A, Bobby DeSimone won $50 for third place (4-3 +153), James Donnelly won $100 for second place (6-1 +273), and Joel Sherman won $150 and a trophy for first place (6-1 +673).

Nine players (and a few family members) celebrated afterward with drinks and dinner at Barcelona Wine Bar.

We were delighted to welcome a brand-new tournament player, Ariel Vogel, to the fold.

SANTA is the new incarnation of MERRY (Montclair Escapade of Rearranging and Rack-balancing at Yuletide), which ran in Montclair, NJ, in January 2020 and December 2023 and online in 2021. When we moved from Montclair to Stamford, we had to change the acronym. Going forward, we hope to run a wintertime SANTA and a summertime SUNNY (S___ U___ Northeast of New York?).

What is the SANTA?

The SANTA is a 7-game Scrabble tournament held at 9 W Broad St Community Center in Stamford, CT, on Friday, December 27, 2024.

See the flyer for details

Google Maps link

The top of the building has a large sign that says TRADITION ENERGY.

Live link

The following link will have the pairings and standings while the tournament is ongoing:

https://woogles.io/tournament/santa2024

Fundraiser

$5 of every entry fee will be donated to Woogles Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Stamford. Woogles software will be used for pairing the tournament, and standings/scores will be displayed for each round. If you haven’t played on Woogles yet, give it a try! We have multiple clubs, tournaments, a puzzle mode, and the strongest AI bots in the world.

Parking/logistics/etc

You can park at the 9 W Broad St parking lot. The visitor parking area says it’s 2 hours only, but you can park there for the day. Turn right when you enter the lot to see the visitor area.

From the visitor area, you can head up the metal stairs on the outside of the building to the ground floor. You can enter the main lobby through the double doors on the ground floor, and turn right into the community center.

The parking lot entrance is on the west side of the building, on the left of the picture above. There is another entrance to the building on the east side, labeled 9W. However, this is a round-about and does not lead to parking.

There are bathrooms inside the fitness center next to the community center, as well as a coed bathroom immediately outside the community center.

Schedule

We will attempt to adhere to this schedule. First three rounds will be pre-paired, then we will have Swiss/KOTH. If a division has 8 players we’ll just do a round robin throughout.

9:30-12:00 PM 3 rounds
12:00-1:30 PM lunch break
1:30-4:55 PM 4 rounds

The tournament will be run with 25-minute clocks, NWL23 lexicon, double challenge.

Please bring your Scrabble equipment (boards, clocks, tiles).

Food

There is a café in the ground floor of the building with coffee and tasty lunch options made to order.

Some of my favorite restaurants in the area, in case you feel like wandering afield:

• Acuario Stamford, a Peruvian place located at 78 W Park Place, about a 7-minute walk away. Has lunch specials.
• Bedford Thai, a Thai restaurant at 77 Bedford St, a 9-minute walk away, has lunch specials.
• Mecha Noodle Bar, a ramen/pho/etc place just a couple doors down from Bedford Thai (151 Bedford St). Good for a cold day!
• Shah’s Halal Food, a restaurant with the same options you might find at a halal food truck. It’s at 245 Main St, about a 9 minute walk away. Big portions.
• Caribbean Bakery & Mini Mart, a delicious, no-frills Jamaican place about a 7-minute walk away. This one involves a walk through the beautiful Mill River park.

Post-tournament victuals and libations

Join us and our kids for dinner if you wish, immediately after the tournament. We will be going to Barcelona Wine Bar (222 Summer St) at 6 PM. If you’re interested, let us know so we can add you to the reservation.