EVER heard of a bartsia, been totally snafued or seen some oroides?

Well, three men from Oxford have, and they were crowned national Scrabble champions at the weekend.

The players from the Oxford Scrabble Club snatched the National Club Tournament title at a competition in Bradford on Saturday.

They beat off competition from nearly 100 other clubs around the country with words like ‘plumbago’ and ‘godetia’.

Stewart Houten, 36, a systems administrator from Cowley Road, was a member of the winning team.

He said: “We were very proud to win, and had to beat Nottingham and Cambridge in the end to take the title.

“Every game is played one-on-one to eliminate luck, so it’s a very tense atmosphere.”

Mr Houten was joined by team mates Steve Perry, a retired statistician from Faringdon, and Nick Ascroft, a publisher from Botley.

At the final, sponsored by game manufacturers Mattel, they faced tough competition from eight other towns.

Mr Houten said: “Each of us is nationally ranked, so we all played other players of similar ranking.

“It was tough, but we deserved to win in the end.”

The three men meet weekly with other Scrabble enthusiasts at the Jam Factory in Park End Street.

Mr Houten said: “I’ve been playing Scrabble since I was at school, but I started playing seriously at university.

“I’ve been competing in tournaments for about five or six years.”

And just like any other athletes, he said Scrabble players have to put in the work if they want to succeed.

Mr Houten said: “To be good, you have to practice and learn new words for at least an hour a day.

“You can study using a dictionary or there are special computer programs to help improve your skills.

“Many people think you have to be wordy to be good at Scrabble, but many people who play are actually from mathematical backgrounds.

“My wife Dawn is very supportive, she enjoys a game too but not as competitively as I do.”

And the Oxford team members will also have a new fan to support them in the near future.

Mr Houten said: “Dawn is a few months pregnant and so I’m a father-to-be.

“Hopefully he might be good at Scrabble too, but I certainly won’t be inflicting it on him.”

  • Definitions:

    GODETIA – a type of flower, usually red, white or pink

    SNAFUED – thrown into a state of confusion or chaos

    BARTSIA – a type of plant

    PLUMBAGO – a type of shrub OROIDES – an alloy of copper, zinc and tin.