How did Butts decide letter values?

By counting letter frequencies in newspapers

Scrabble Scoring Quiz: Premium Squares and Big Words

An out-of-work architect named Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game in 1938 and set letter values by counting letters in newspapers, and this Scrabble scoring quiz explains how points add up. Play 10 interactive questions on double and triple squares, the center star, Q and Z, blank tiles, bingos, the 100-tile bag and record-breaking words.

Start Scrabble Scoring Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Inventor
Who invented the game that became Scrabble?
Values
How did Butts decide letter values?
Bingo
What bonus do you get for using all seven tiles in one turn?
Red
What do the red squares do?
Pink
What do the pink squares do?
Dark blue
What do dark blue squares do?
Q
How many points is the Q tile worth?
Blank
How many points is a blank tile worth?
Tiles
How many tiles come in an English Scrabble set?
Record
Which word scored a record 392 points in a 1982 club game?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who invented the game that became Scrabble?
Answer: Alfred Mosher Butts
He called it Criss-Crosswords.
Q2: How did Butts decide letter values?
Answer: By counting letter frequencies in newspapers
Common letters got low scores.
Q3: What bonus do you get for using all seven tiles in one turn?
Answer: 50 points
It is often called a bingo.
Q4: What do the red squares do?
Answer: Triple the word score
They sit on the board's edges and corners.
Q5: What do the pink squares do?
Answer: Double the word score
The center star is also a double word square.
Q6: What do dark blue squares do?
Answer: Triple the letter score
Light blue squares double the letter.
Q7: How many points is the Q tile worth?
Answer: 10
Z is also worth 10.
Q8: How many points is a blank tile worth?
Answer: 0
It can stand for any letter.
Q9: How many tiles come in an English Scrabble set?
Answer: 100
Players draw seven at a time.
Q10: Which word scored a record 392 points in a 1982 club game?
Answer: Caziques
It used two triple word squares.

Scrabble Scoring Quiz – Squares, Tiles and Big Scores

Scrabble began as Criss-Crosswords, invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938. He set letter values by counting how often letters appeared in newspapers, so rare letters such as Q and Z score 10 points.

The 15 by 15 board has premium squares: light blue for double letter, dark blue for triple letter, pink for double word and red for triple word. The center star counts as a double word square. Blank tiles score zero but can be any letter.

Using all seven tiles earns a 50-point bingo bonus. In a 1982 club game, Karl Khoshnaw scored 392 points with caziques, while oxyphenbutazone is the highest theoretical single play.

What This Quiz Teaches

Word game fans will enjoy these questions.

Who invented Scrabble
How letters are valued
What the squares do
What a bingo is
Which records exist

Did You Know?

Scrabble was named by James Brunot in 1948.
Tournament players use official word lists.
Two-letter words are key to strategy.
There are 100 tiles, including two blanks.
Scrabble is sold in many languages with different tile values.