It’s been several years since Scrabble South Africa has produced a magazine, so we are proud to present the first edition of Scrabbabble*.

In this edition, we have some encouraging words from the president of the Pan-African Scrabble Association (PANASA), the irrepressible Adekoyejo Adegbesan, who is doing wonderful things for the game all around our continent, including the staging of the first African Youth Scrabble Championships and President’s Cup in Lagos, Nigeria in August.

There’s a delightful piece by Keshi Naidoo who runs a social Scrabble club in Durban called Love Letters, and some reflections on the ups and downs of Scrabble Go by Debbie Dooley. Dr Ike Obidike, one of the country’s top players, tells us about his Scrabble journey, and former multiple South African champ Dylan Early reflects on words in New Zealand where he now lives. There’s a quiz about toponyms, words derived from the name of a place. And we asked Nigerian Master Segun Durojaiye to reflect on what separates a good from a great player. There are pieces on palindromes and Scrabblegrams* from top wordsmiths, and much more.

Issue 1 September 2023