Scrabble at the Firefly

continued

A table away, Amy plays a Z on a triple letter square to make "za" for thirty-one points.

"What's that?"

"Short for pizza. It's one of the new two-letter words."

"You're kidding."

"Look at the list," Amy says, and hands over a photocopied two-letter word list: aa, fe, mm, xu, all 125 of them.

Nearby, LaRon is telling a sad story: "I've had three bingos but no place to put them."

His opponent, Steve, plays "doosies." With Steve, it's not always clear whether he has misspelled or he's just hoping it looks right.

"Would you challenge that?" LaRon asks the room. Susan, bustling over with a drink, winks at Steve. "Don't trust that guy," she advises LaRon.