SCRABBLE

a popular board game in which players try to build words on a board marked with squares, using letters printed on small square blocks. The words must be arranged to fit together like a crossword puzzle . Scrabble was invented in the US in the 1930s by Alfred Butts, who first called it ‘Criss Cross’. It became very popular in the 1960s, and there are now many Scrabble clubs and national competitions in both Britain and the US.