10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
How Good Is Scrabble's GOAT? He Wins in Languages He Can't Speak.
Nigel Richards is the reigning world champion of Scrabble in Spanish. Just don't ask him to order a coffee in Madrid. The 57-year-old New Zealander doesn't speak a lick of Spanish.
During the deciding match in November's Spanish World Scrabble Championship in Granada, Spain, Richards racked up triple-word scores with ENRUGASE ('to wrinkle up') and ENHOTOS (an archaic word for 'familiarity'), before clinching victory with TRINIDAD and SABURROSA (an obscure word that describes the coated residue of the tongue).