David Holmes

David Holmes I was going to try to arrange to play my games at the same time as J but saw that had already played both.

I am not sure if I understood and correctly played the word stealing round but hopefully I understood the task? It didn't help that I somehow got myself out of sync with the rounds in J's word making game so was trying to steal the wrong word! I managed to spot and correct midway through.
It felt like some of the words were impossible to steal just by adding a letter or two, so good knowledge of odd 10+ 12+ words would seem most valuable in this game. Also making the longest word you can with the most awkward letters in the word making round.

J Bartram

J Bartram ok i was sent another rd so not sure If I understood the rules myself

Dave Kempshall

Dave Kempshall I think Martin sent you another round because you completed the first one before David had even played his 'Making' round, which meant there were no words for you to steal.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas I have created a spreadsheet and put in some results for the matches to be completed so far

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11LL4HQCMOV6QWFaJTtSGVmudSPHwm-_M3SJhbrfkAAg/edit?usp=sharing

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas I forgot to put a reminder on this page about the rule that the stealing word may not contain the target word. I have had to disallow some thefts for that reason.

Dan Spinks

Dan Spinks have you got a target end date for the practice games Martin?

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas By Monday 6th if possible.

Trevor MacEoin

Trevor MacEoin Seems cheaty but I assume its ok to have your opponents word making game open in another window for reference?

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Yes that's fine Trevor.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Another two results have been added to the spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11LL4HQCMOV6QWFaJTtSGVmudSPHwm-_M3SJhbrfkAAg/edit?usp=sharing

Richard Decker

Richard Decker Apologies if I've missed this answered already, but if my opponenet declares an invalid word in their making game, can I still try to steal it and get points if I do so successfully?

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas If your opponent declares an invalid word then you shouldn't try to use the letters from it. You can make any word from your own letters and you will score for it.

Richard Decker

Richard Decker Ah whoops ok, good to know! Thank you ☺️

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas The deadline for these games will be 29th October.

Andres S.

Andres S. Oh my god I now just realize I used the wrong game to go off of my stealing.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas The deadline for these games will be 9th November.

Dave Kempshall

Dave Kempshall Martin - can I suggest we clarify a rule if it hasn't been already. Unless I've missed it there seems to be a loophole. Can we confirm that declaring one letter words in your making game is illegal. Otherwise, I could simply declare all 1 letter words in all 20 rounds and my opponent would never be able to steal any of them because my one letter word would, naturally, appear as I declared it in every attempt to steal.

Wesley Barton

Wesley Barton I don't think 20 points is enough for that to be a viable strategy

Dave Kempshall

Dave Kempshall I may have misunderstood the scoring, but surely it would just give you a 20-0 head-start going into your opponents making / your stealing game.

Wesley Barton

Wesley Barton Ok, I see where you're coming from now

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Thanks for raising this point Dave.

I didn't intend to make it impossible to steal a one-letter word so I will clarify the rule to say that a one-letter word may be stolen by a word that contains it.

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns I guess there’s probably a scenario where the word Q can only be stolen by also declaring the word Q :D

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas The deadline for these games will be 20th November.

Andres S.

Andres S. Hey I think there might be a scoring error unless I'm missing something, wouldn't I get 9 points for stealing COMPUTERS from Wes in my game against him?

Wesley Barton

Wesley Barton Andres would be on account of my word being compute

Andres S.

Andres S. Same with JOLTIER too, given Wes' JOLT

Andres S.

Andres S. Alright I looked back and I very much missed a rule, apologies.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas The deadline for these games will be 1st December.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas The deadline for the quarter-final games will be 12th December.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Quarter-Final Result:
David Holmes 179, Trevor MacEoin 122

Congratulations David and thanks for playing Trevor.

Trevor MacEoin

Trevor MacEoin Thanks for hosting Martin. Your time and effort is much appreciated.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Quarter-Final Result:
Tom Cappleman 190, Wesley Barton 118

Congratulations Tom and thanks for playing Wesley.

Wesley Barton

Wesley Barton Thanks Martin, this tournament was a lot of fun

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Quarter-Final Results:
Result: Richard Decker 105, Dave Kempshall 176
Result: Dave Robjohns 182, Florence C-L 99

Congratulations to both Daves and thanks for playing Richard and Florence.

Richard Decker

Richard Decker Dave you completely outplayed me there - very nice! Thank you for a really fun and interesting tournament, Martin, it's been fab!

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Semi-Final Result:
Dave Kempshall 176, Tom Cappleman 133

Congratulations Dave and thanks for playing Tom.

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns Turns out this is THE format for people called David

Tom Cappleman

Tom Cappleman Good job Dave K - set a brutal set of words for me to steal

Dave Kempshall

Dave Kempshall Cheers Tom - you did too. I find it too complicated too keep track of scores, but thought a few missed opportunities on the home straight might have cost me.

Show all comments
Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Semi-Final Result:
Dave Robjohns 146, David Holmes 145

I've double-checked it but the result really does seem to be this close.

Congratulations Dave and very unlucky David but thanks for playing.

David Holmes

David Holmes Wow, well done Dave.

I'm backing Dave to win in the final.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas Final Result:
Dave Robjohns 126, Dave Kempshall 168

Congratulations to Master Thief Dave K. Also well played throughout Dave R.

Thanks to both of you and to everyone else who played.

The details of the final are at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11LL4HQCMOV6QWFaJTtSGVmudSPHwm-_M3SJhbrfkAAg/edit?gid=0#gid=0&range=A1273:L1295

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns Well played Dave & cheers for hosting Martin, very fun format :)

Dave Kempshall

Dave Kempshall Thanks Martin / Dave - really enjoyed it and my first ever tournament win (aside from some golds in Dave's Olympic tourney). WP Dave. Thanks for hosting Martin, really fun format and fun spending time trying to compile steals.

Tourney round: Word Thief: Word Stealing

<< Word Making

Notes from the organizer: In this game you are trying to steal your opponent's words. It should only be played after your opponent has played their Word Making game.

Remember that:
You can only steal the word from the corresponding round of your opponent's game.

You must use all of the letters in your opponent's word.

You can also use some of your letters.

Ran from: 29 September – 25 December 2025. Format: Letters Attack. Matches: One-off. Approved.

Organizers: Martin Thomas.

Fixtures: 109. Completed: 109.

Results and fixtures

NotesPlayer 1Player 2Status
Practice v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 3
Practice v Ravi ChoudharyApterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 2
Practice v Trevor MacEoinApterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 1
Practice v Dan SpinksApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 18
Practice v Richard DeckerApterous PruneAdrian Fletcher0 – 0
Practice v Adrian FletcherApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 0
Practice v Jason TurnerApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 0
Practice v Andres S.Apterous PruneJason Turner0 – 0
Practice v J BartramApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 21
Practice v David HolmesApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 104
Practice v Wesley BartonApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 19
Practice v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 19
Practice v Florence C-LApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 8
Practice v Anthony EndsorApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 1
Practice v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneSarah Binns0 – 98
Practice v Sarah BinnsApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 14
Practice v Dave KempshallApterous PruneMark Jeary-Fairbairn0 – 7
Practice v Mark Jeary-FairbairnApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 6
Practice v David HolmesApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 81
Group 1 v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 3
Group 1 v Dan SpinksApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 15
Group 1 v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 6
Group 1 v Andres S.Apterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 9
Group 1 v Wesley BartonApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 119
Group 1 v J BartramApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 19
Group 2 v Richard DeckerApterous PruneAdrian Fletcher0 – 0
Group 2 v Adrian FletcherApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 0
Group 2 v Trevor MacEoinApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 8
Group 2 v Ravi ChoudharyApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 31
Group 2 v Sarah BinnsApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 14
Group 2 v Florence C-LApterous PruneSarah Binns0 – 77
Group 3 v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 6
Group 3 v Dave KempshallApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 7
Group 3 v Jason TurnerApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 20
Group 3 v Anthony EndsorApterous PruneJason Turner0 – 0
Group 3 v Mark Jeary-FairbairnApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 13
Group 3 v David HolmesApterous PruneMark Jeary-Fairbairn0 – 0
Group 1 v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 9
Group 1 v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 16
Group 1 v Wesley BartonApterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 0
Group 1 v Dan SpinksApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 6
Group 1 v Andres S.Apterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 126
Group 1 v J BartramApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 0
Group 2 v Trevor MacEoinApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 18
Group 2 v Richard DeckerApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 10
Group 2 v Adrian FletcherApterous PruneSarah Binns0 – 113
Group 2 v Ravi ChoudharyApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 32
Group 2 v Florence C-LApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 1
Group 3 v Jason TurnerApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 7
Group 3 v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneJason Turner0 – 0
Group 3 v David HolmesApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 13
Group 3 v Dave KempshallApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 20
Group 3 v Mark Jeary-FairbairnApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 0
Group 1 v Wesley BartonApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 19
Group 1 v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 0
Group 1 v J BartramApterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 13
Group 1 v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 103
Group 1 v Andres S.Apterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 5
Group 1 v Dan SpinksApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 0
Group 2 v Sarah BinnsApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 18
Group 2 v Richard DeckerApterous PruneSarah Binns0 – 0
Group 2 v Florence C-LApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 0
Group 2 v Trevor MacEoinApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 0
Group 2 v Adrian FletcherApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 134
Group 3 v David HolmesApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 14
Group 3 v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 13
Group 3 v Anthony EndsorApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 0
Group 3 v Dave KempshallApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 7
Group 1 v J BartramApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 16
Group 1 v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 123
Group 1 v Andres S.Apterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 15
Group 1 v Wesley BartonApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 0
Group 1 v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 12
Group 1 v Dan SpinksApterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 11
Group 2 v Florence C-LApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 0
Group 2 v Richard DeckerApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 0
Group 2 v Ravi ChoudharyApterous PruneSarah Binns0 – 0
Group 2 v Sarah BinnsApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 6
Group 3 v Anthony EndsorApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 0
Group 3 v David HolmesApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 7
Group 3 v Jason TurnerApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 0
Group 3 v Dave KempshallApterous PruneJason Turner0 – 0
Group 1 v Andres S.Apterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 150
Group 1 v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneAndres S.0 – 0
Group 1 v J BartramApterous PruneDan Spinks0 – 19
Group 1 v Dan SpinksApterous PruneJ Bartram0 – 104
Group 1 v Wesley BartonApterous PruneColin Thompson0 – 1
Group 1 v Colin ThompsonApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 0
Group 2 v Ravi ChoudharyApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 12
Group 2 v Richard DeckerApterous PruneRavi Choudhary0 – 7
Group 2 v Sarah BinnsApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 12
Group 3 v Anthony EndsorApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 11
Group 3 v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneAnthony Endsor0 – 0
Group 3 v David HolmesApterous PruneJason Turner0 – 15
Group 3 v Jason TurnerApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 7
QF v Florence C-LApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 22
QF v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneFlorence C-L0 – 7
QF v Wesley BartonApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 11
QF v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneWesley Barton0 – 7
QF v Trevor MacEoinApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 0
QF v David HolmesApterous PruneTrevor MacEoin0 – 13
QF v Dave KempshallApterous PruneRichard Decker0 – 15
QF v Richard DeckerApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 0
SF v David HolmesApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 13
SF v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneDavid Holmes0 – 0
SF v Tom CapplemanApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 0
SF v Dave KempshallApterous PruneTom Cappleman0 – 2
Final v Dave KempshallApterous PruneDave Robjohns0 – 0
Final v Dave RobjohnsApterous PruneDave Kempshall0 – 5

Key. Green: winner. Red: loser. Grey: tie. (Stripes: provisional, match in progress.)

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