BALTIMORE — Contemplative murmurs gave way to a chorus of realization and shouts as spectators watched the action unfold. Several clapped. One announced: “I think we have a new champion, everybody.”
Orry Swift, the No. 2 rated Scrabble player in North America, had laid down the word “FER,” and in doing so — as the more than 100 spectators watching on a livestream in an adjacent room noticed — left room for opponent Michael Fagen to play “LEVIRATES.”
That final play left Swift with his hand on his forehead and Fagen as the 2022 Scrabble Players champion.
