On Saturday, October 23rd at 826 Boston our 14 Swindling Scrabble teams competed for the Cheaters Cup in hours of frighteningly close scrabble matches and capped off the day by raising nearly $7,000 in support of 826 Boston’s free youth writing programs. Help our teams hit $10,000!

Dressed in only fur and leather, the Stammering Wunderkinds (left) came out on top and won the Cheaters Cup in a hairy 50 minute game against lead fundraiser and the unflappable Scrabblers Erin & Ace of ZRBTT. How did they do it? Some say that Daniel held practices at 5 AM, or that Jeannie and Alijah ate alphabet soup for weeks, but most would agree that they were simply very, very good at cheating.

Check out photos from the event here.

Did you miss the Cheaters Cup? Don’t despair. Join in the celebration and donate to one of our 14 Scrabble Teams today and help us reach our goal of $10,000.

Team ZRBTT (right) raised an incredible $1,380 in support of 826 Boston’s youth writing programs.

Contest Total: $6,867

Goal: $10,000

The ZRBTT   Total: $1,360 Our Goal: $500 On an early date, Ace trumped Erin’s 59-point “STALLIONS” with an infuriating 63-point “JAMS.” Let’s see if he can use those evil powers for good.

Stammering Wunderkinds   Total: $870 Our Goal: $1,000 Alijah once nearly bowled a 300 game. Daniel spelled porpoise wrong in the 4th grade district spelling bee. And rogue third teammate Jeannie is poised to crush all foes

Tile Death Do Us Part Total: $748 Our Goal: $500 We’re crossword-filling, speed-Scrabble playing, word-loving maniacs on a wholesome mission.

The Bowels of Vowels Total: $588 Our Goal: $500 Here’s to the Lesley MFA program (plus a high school chemistry teacher). We’ve got skills in wordplay like no other: poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, AND science. Watch out.

Pür Skilz Total: $444.32 Our Goal: $500 We fully recognize we can’t play either of the words in our name in tournament scrabble- so what?

Squirelly Girlies Total: $255 Our Goal: $1,000 Mother/daughter dynamic duo.

Word Up Total: $205 Our Goal: $500 The two smartest and best-looking staff members with names starting with “J” join forces. Now you’re all in big, big trouble.

Insurance Fraud! Total: $605 Our Goal: $500 Insurance Fraud! is just like cheating at scrabble. Insurance Fraud will eat you for breakfast.

The ILL Literates Total: $61 Our Goal: $500 Peter once *did* bowl a 300 game. Eileen has never spelled porpoise wrong. And Catie? they say she’s never taken public transportation-ever.

Don Gagnes   Total: $59 Our Goal: $500 A world renowned breeder of leopard cats, founder of the traveling American Gladiator re-enactment troupe, and Hanes underwear model, Don Gagne believes the tower of Babel was constructed of Scrabble chips and is currently snow-shoeing his way to Boston.

Winston Scrivener   Total: $0 Our Goal: $2,000 Challenge me to Bananagrams at 826 Boston’s tent at the Boston Book Festival if you dare! 10/16/2010.

Dead Horse Total: $55 Our Goal: $500 You can’t beat A Dead Horse!

Beat the Cheats! Total: $60 Our Goal: $500 We love scrabble but hate cheaters. We’re hoping to win the whole thing without using a single cheat!

Team Demetrious Total: $250 Our Goal: $500 Team Demetrious will stop at nothing to make this man proud.

The first to respond with the highest score will win $100 in cheats. Leave your answer along with its point value as a comment below.

The first to respond with the highest score will win $100 in cheats. Leave your answer (with its point value) to Today’s Challenge as a comment below.

The Bowels of Vowels

Here’s to the Lesley MFA program (plus a high school chemistry teacher). We’ve got skills in wordplay like no other: poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, AND science. Watch out.

Sign up your team at 826boston.org!

• Kickoff Event – Friday, September 17 at 7:00PM at Trident Café (338 Newbury St., Boston, MA) Sign up your team, meet the competition, and play speed Scrabble for prizes and cheats!
  

• Cheaters Cup Scrabble Tournament – Saturday, October 23 at High Noon at 826 Boston (3035 Washington St., Roxbury, MA) Enjoy food and live music as you con your way to the cup!

All proceeds will benefit 826 Boston’s free youth writing and tutoring programs for students ages 6-18. Through this contest, 826 Boston aims to raise $10,000 to kick off the school year. This means that if 20 teams compete, each team will need to raise $500 to meet that goal!

The city’s preeminent swindlers will compete in a single elimination scrabble tournament; a true test of vocabulary, strategy, and deception!

SIGN UP!

Still have questions? Send us an e-mail at scrabbleforcheaters@gmail.com

Neither 826 Boston nor this fundraiser is sponsored by or affiliated with Hasbro, the makers of the SCRABBLE®-brand, tile-based word game.