Author Topic: Scrabble "Tiles" (Read 11326 times)

Jeremy Nelson · « **on:** July 13, 2010, 08:30:24 PM »

When a contestant on Scrabble took tiles and dropped them into the slot on their podium, how did that work? Was the slot a drop to a "refuse pile" (like Lingo Balls)? Did the operator of the letter screens on the contestants' podium have a run sheet that said which numbered tile corresponded to each letter? I'm assuming this is the case, and I figure the tiles were just there for "show", another plot device to connect the name of the show to Scrabble.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2010, 08:36:39 PM »

[quote name=\'Jeremy Nelson\' post=\'244067\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 08:30 PM\']Did the operator of the letter screens on the contestants' podium have a run sheet that said which numbered tile corresponded to each letter? I'm assuming this is the case, and I figure the tiles were just there for "show", another plot device to connect the name of the show to Scrabble.[/quote]
Sounds about right. Could also explain why the contestants also called out the number of the tile.

Still, as a kid, it's pretty cool to think that the slot had some sort of magical scanner that "read" the number. ;-)

My question though, how did the row of letters on the Sprint board work? The one that went from the black/white diamonds, to the blue/white stars, then the letters. Was that rear-projection? Tiny monitors? Solaris? They moved so fast I couldn't really tell.

TLEberle · « **Reply #2 on:** July 13, 2010, 09:08:50 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'244068\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 05:36 PM\']Sounds about right. Could also explain why the contestants also called out the number of the tile.

Still, as a kid, it's pretty cool to think that the slot had some sort of magical scanner that "read" the number. ;-)[/quote]Y'know, I love the thought of that myself, but here's something. What's to say you can't just have a rudimentary bar code or magnetic reader on the tiles? Because what do you do if someone goes all Mumblican on you, and you don't hear what number is called? The tile's gone so you can't have him reach for it again and do that sequence over.

Jumpondees · « **Reply #3 on:** July 13, 2010, 10:01:34 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'244068\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 08:36 PM\']My question though, how did the row of letters on the Sprint board work? The one that went from the black/white diamonds, to the blue/white stars, then the letters. Was that rear-projection? Tiny monitors? Solaris? They moved so fast I couldn't really tell.[/quote]

From watching the series, and then watching the pilot on Youtube. The pilot appears to have used slide projectors where the word was displayed and then went to vertically mounted monitors and a chyron system when they went to series.

I am sure one of the experts will call me incorrect if I am wrong on my estimation.

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #4 on:** July 13, 2010, 10:15:22 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'244068\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 07:36 PM\']Still, as a kid, it's pretty cool to think that the slot had some sort of magical scanner that "read" the number. ;-)

My question though, how did the row of letters on the Sprint board work? The one that went from the black/white diamonds, to the blue/white stars, then the letters. Was that rear-projection? Tiny monitors? Solaris? They moved so fast I couldn't really tell.[/quote]
I used to think the same thing about the letter slot!

I always thought that the Sprint Board worked kinda like the Tic Tac Dough board did...a bunch of monitors working in tandem from a single computer program...but I could be wrong.

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'244069\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 08:08 PM\']...what do you do if someone goes all Mumblican on you, and you don't hear what number is called? The tile's gone so you can't have him reach for it again and do that sequence over.[/quote]
That's why I figured the tiles are in numeric order....if you can't hear the contestant's numbers, you know how many tiles are left, and where (s)he grabbed that one. A cross off sheet makes that fairly easy to combat, I think...not to mention that you can usually see part of the number as it drops down the slot.

TheLastResort · « **Reply #5 on:** July 13, 2010, 10:16:03 PM »

I would guess one big monitor with part of the screen masked off.

davemackey · « **Reply #6 on:** July 13, 2010, 10:37:38 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'244068\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 08:36 PM\']My question though, how did the row of letters on the Sprint board work? The one that went from the black/white diamonds, to the blue/white stars, then the letters. Was that rear-projection? Tiny monitors? Solaris? They moved so fast I couldn't really tell.[/quote]
I can confirm they were CRT's. When I went to the show, a technician was working on degaussing them using some kind of circular electromagnet at the end of a rod.

Neumms · « **Reply #7 on:** July 13, 2010, 10:41:46 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'244068\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 07:36 PM\'][quote name=\'Jeremy Nelson\' post=\'244067\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 08:30 PM\']Did the operator of the letter screens on the contestants' podium have a run sheet that said which numbered tile corresponded to each letter? I'm assuming this is the case, and I figure the tiles were just there for "show", another plot device to connect the name of the show to Scrabble.[/quote]
Sounds about right. Could also explain why the contestants also called out the number of the tile.
[/quote]

If I recall correctly, they didn't call out the number of the tile when the show first started. And I don't think the tiles had numbers printed on them. I just figured it was for show and they randomly picked a letter off camera.

Another question: Did both players get the same choices of letters in the Scrabble Sprint, at least until they went through them all once?

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #8 on:** July 13, 2010, 11:02:54 PM »

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244081\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 09:41 PM\']And I don't think the tiles had numbers printed on them. I just figured it was for show and they randomly picked a letter off camera.[/quote]
Umm....I figured each tile would need to have a corresponding letter. Otherwise, what's keeping a producer from screwing a contestant by making both tiles they choose stoppers?

Neumms · « **Reply #9 on:** July 13, 2010, 11:17:15 PM »

[quote name=\'Jeremy Nelson\' post=\'244083\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:02 PM\'][quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244081\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 09:41 PM\']And I don't think the tiles had numbers printed on them. I just figured it was for show and they randomly picked a letter off camera.[/quote]
Umm....I figured each tile would need to have a corresponding letter. Otherwise, what's keeping a producer from screwing a contestant by making both tiles they choose stoppers?
[/quote]

A good teaching of ethics?

snowpeck · « **Reply #10 on:** July 13, 2010, 11:44:20 PM »

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244084\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:17 PM\'][quote name=\'Jeremy Nelson\' post=\'244083\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:02 PM\'][quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244081\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 09:41 PM\']And I don't think the tiles had numbers printed on them. I just figured it was for show and they randomly picked a letter off camera.[/quote]
Umm....I figured each tile would need to have a corresponding letter. Otherwise, what's keeping a producer from screwing a contestant by making both tiles they choose stoppers?
[/quote]

A good teaching of ethics?
[/quote]

Or a representative from the S&P department breathing down their necks?

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #11 on:** July 14, 2010, 01:14:34 AM »

[quote name=\'snowpeck\' post=\'244085\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:44 PM\'][quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244084\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:17 PM\'][quote name=\'Jeremy Nelson\' post=\'244083\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 10:02 PM\'][quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'244081\' date=\'Jul 13 2010, 09:41 PM\']And I don't think the tiles had numbers printed on them. I just figured it was for show and they randomly picked a letter off camera.[/quote]
Umm....I figured each tile would need to have a corresponding letter. Otherwise, what's keeping a producer from screwing a contestant by making both tiles they choose stoppers?
[/quote]

A good teaching of ethics?
[/quote]

Or a representative from the S&P department breathing down their necks?
[/quote]
But if there's no specific letter predetermined to correspond with each tile, why isn't S&P already on their case? The only solution would be the whole "tile in slot goes through magnetic reader" thing.

NickintheATL · « **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2010, 01:45:57 AM »

How about they have a sheet with the letters (both good and stoppers) and tiles predetermined before the show, and S&P has to sign off on them?

Cheap, and fair.

Craig Karlberg · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2010, 03:27:12 AM »

[quote name=\'NicholasM79\' post=\'244094\' date=\'Jul 14 2010, 01:45 AM\']How about they have a sheet with the letters (both good and stoppers) and tiles predetermined before the show, and S&P has to sign off on them?

Cheap, and fair.[/quote]

That's all well & good. Say if there's more than one of the same letter involved with a given word. How do they determine which one(s) are good & which are the Stopper(s)? I figured there's some sort of priority system in that regard.

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2010, 10:09:38 AM »

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'244098\' date=\'Jul 14 2010, 02:27 AM\'][quote name=\'NicholasM79\' post=\'244094\' date=\'Jul 14 2010, 01:45 AM\']How about they have a sheet with the letters (both good and stoppers) and tiles predetermined before the show, and S&P has to sign off on them?

Cheap, and fair.[/quote]

That's all well & good. Say if there's more than one of the same letter involved with a given word. How do they determine which one(s) are good & which are the Stopper(s)? I figured there's some sort of priority system in that regard.
[/quote]
I thought that if they had duplicates, the first time the letter is chosen is always the good one, while the duplicate then became a stopper.