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.

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.

building

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.