At first glance, the subhead might have suggested some kind of competitive activity among lumber traders.  Sadly, the further headline describes scandal that reportedly has the Scrabble world abuzz.  Reportedly the cheating competitor had finished a previous game and tried to keep the blank tiles, hoping to use them in his next round.  There’s some evidence that the Scrabble world is seeking to clean up its act after cheating allegations at the world championships in Warsaw, where “one player demanded a strip search of his opponent after a G went missing.”

What’s this got to do with us, you ask?  By association, some might consider that a young Scrabble player found cheating in the U.S. National Scrabble Championships has inadvertently brought the integrity of wood itself into question.  After all, aren’t Scrabble letters, integral to the game, manufactured from wood?  It could be that somewhere, pretend squares – possibly even PLASTIC – have replaced authentic scrabble tiles in some jurisdictions.  For real men, however, it’s scrabble tiles with wood only, thank you very much.