New Zealand Scrabble Masters comes down to final game

The title of New Zealand’s 41^st Masters Scrabble champion was taken by Dylan Early over Easter weekend by the narrowest of margins.

The Wellington-based player won the title in his final game, which was against the 2024 Master’s winner Howard Warner, after three years of coming runner-up.

Despite Early and Warner both winning 17 of their 23 games, Early earned his triumph by accumulating the highest overall spread throughout the competition.

Early says he is thrilled with the win, which means he has “bragging rights for a year”.

“[The win] means I go up in the national rankings a little bit and the goal is obviously to get to the top of the rankings.”

Higher rankings mean opportunities for entering World Championships and invitational events.

The annual national Masters Scrabble Competition is one of three major competitions on the New Zealand Scrabble calendar and is between the country's top 24 Scrabble players.

The vice President of the NZ Association of Scrabble Players, Chris Tallman, says the Masters competition is a “special thing to get invited to”.

“It’s one of the few times a year that most of the best players gather and face off,” Tallman says.

“And I think this event this year was the most competitive field in a while.”

Scrabble was originally called Criss Crosswords and was renamed in 1948. Photo: Aisha Campbell. 

Early began playing competitive Scrabble in 1993 at university and has since had many successes. These included the 2018 NZ National title, and being in the winning team at the 2024 Trans-Tasman Challenge.

He hopes to defend his title at next year's Masters, which he describes as “one of his favourite competitions".

This year was the first time the Masters competition was live-streamed, which may help attract a younger demographic to the game, says Tallman.

Scrabble was invented in the 1930s and a competitive scene in New Zealand began in the 1970s. There are 16 official Scrabble clubs around the country.

Tallman says Scrabble is “great for the community aspect” and praises its ability to support brain health.

“It brings together many elements. If you like etymology, that’s one aspect of it. There is also probability and math, there’s psychology, there’s weighing up different risks.

“It’s one of those games that is simple to understand but hard to master. Those are the best type of games.”