A Scrabble word judge for clubs and tournaments
Tournament mode turns Scrabble Word Checker into a word judge, the way a director's laptop or Zyzzyva adjudicates a challenge at a Scrabble club. Type every word formed by the play, up to eight at once, press Judge, and the whole screen shows one verdict for the whole play: Acceptable or Unacceptable under NWL2023 (United States and Canada) or CSW24 (Collins, United Kingdom and more than 50 other countries).
It shows nothing else. No definition, no part of speech, no point values, and no sign of which word was the phony, so a challenge in the middle of a game gives nothing away to either player. For definitions, points and hooks, use the checker.
Open tournament mode Free, no account, works on any phone or tablet.
How to adjudicate a challenge
- Open tournament mode, pick the word list on the welcome screen, NWL2023 or CSW24, and press Start judging. The device then locks to the judge; the question mark next to the title is the way out.
- Enter every word the play formed, separated by spaces, up to eight words.
- Press Judge. The screen turns green for Acceptable or red for Unacceptable, large enough to read across the table.
- Press Enter, Space or Esc, or tap the screen, for the next challenge.
Who it is for
Scrabble clubs, tournament directors, school and library clubs, and anyone playing with challenges at home. It works on a phone, tablet or laptop, needs no install or account, and is free. Club directors are welcome to link to scrabble-checker.com/tournament from their club site or leave it open as the table judge on club night.
Locked down by default
At a tournament, the word judge laptop is rarely watched every minute, so tournament mode locks down by default. It opens with a short welcome screen that explains how judging works and takes the word list. From Start judging on, the device shows the word judge and nothing else: the word list cannot be switched, every link, menu and setting is removed, and each challenge first shows a confirm screen with the number of words entered, so a stray press of Enter cannot adjudicate a one-word challenge when the play formed more than one word.
There is no password. To leave, tap the question mark next to the title and confirm: the device unlocks and this guide opens. The lock lives on the device itself, so it survives a page refresh.
Running it full screen
A judge station looks best with nothing on screen but the judge. How to go full screen on each kind of device:
- Windows or Chromebook laptop: press F11 in Chrome or Edge (Fn+F11 on some keyboards). Press it again to leave.
- Mac: press Ctrl+Cmd+F in Safari or Chrome, or click the green button at the top left of the window.
- Any laptop, or an iPad or Android tablet: the setup screen that appears when you open tournament mode has a Go full screen button.
- iPhone or iPad: in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Opened from that icon, the judge runs full screen like an app, with no address bar or tabs.
- Android phone or tablet: in Chrome, open the menu and tap Add to Home screen (or Install), then open it from the icon.
Full screen is the presentation and lockdown is the guard: a player can always press Esc to leave full screen, but with lockdown on there is still nothing to change and nowhere to go.
Common questions
- Which word lists does the word judge use?
- NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023, 196,601 words), the official list for club and tournament play in the United States and Canada, and Collins Scrabble Words 2024 (CSW24, 280,887 words), used in the United Kingdom and more than 50 other countries. Switch lists at the bottom of the page; the verdict names the list it used.
- Why does it not show definitions or which word is wrong?
- Because that is how a tournament challenge works. The judge rules on the play as a whole. Revealing which word failed, what a word means, or how many points it scores would hand information to a player mid-game. For study sessions, use the checker instead: it shows definitions, points and each word's validity.
- How many words can I judge at once?
- Up to eight words per play, separated by spaces. A single Scrabble play can form at most eight words, so one check covers any challenge. Each word can be up to 15 letters.
- Is this an official NASPA or WESPA word judge?
- No. It is an independent, free tool built on the published NWL2023 and CSW24 lists. For sanctioned tournaments use the adjudication software your organisation specifies (NASPA Zyzzyva, for example). This page is meant for club nights, practice and friendly games.
- Can I use it on a phone at the club?
- Yes. It is a web page, so it needs a connection, but it loads in about a second on any phone, tablet or laptop, with no install or account. Add it to your home screen for one-tap access; opened from that icon it runs full screen like an app, with no browser bars. Leave it open as the table judge.
- Can a director lock the judge so players cannot change anything?
- Yes, it is locked by default. Tournament mode opens with a short welcome screen that explains how judging works and takes the word list. From Start judging on, the device shows the judge and nothing else: the word list is frozen, every link and menu disappears, and each challenge shows a confirm screen with the number of words before the verdict, so an early Enter cannot adjudicate a one-word challenge by accident. There is no password: to leave, tap the question mark next to the title and confirm, which unlocks the device.
- Is there an API?
- Yes. GET https://scrabble-checker.com/api/judge?w=qi+za&list=nwl (or list=csw) returns JSON with acceptable: true or false for the whole play. Free, CORS-enabled and cached; please be gentle with it.
Related
Tournament modeWord checker with definitionsResources and cheat sheetsNWL2023 vs CSW24Two-letter wordsAll word lists
Word lists current as of 2026-08-18. SCRABBLE® is a trademark of Hasbro (US/Canada) and Mattel (elsewhere); this site is independent and is not official NASPA or WESPA software.