F*** Words With Friends Brings Out Jacksonville Wordsmiths

Thursday evenings at the BREW Five Points coffee shop are usually pretty mellow. But a few weeks ago, SPJ Florida packed in a crew made up of wordsmiths, journalists, students and friends to do two things: play Scrabble and drink.

On Aug. 23, the chapter hosted its first standalone event in Jacksonville in years, F*** Words With Friends — a team speed Scrabble tournament with no phones allowed.

Board members Emily Bloch and Cassidy Alexander traveled to the hipster coffee shop and beer bar and within minutes had two brackets duking it out. The game has participants play their words in 30 seconds or less. Contested words get refereed via a Webster’s dictionary and risk a lost turn.

In total, the event drew a crowd of about 25 people in its quest to bring grammar into people’s lives.

SPJ Florida bought the first round of coffee or beer for those brave enough to play, and BREW Five Points managing partner Calli Marie was kind enough to let the group use the space for free. But the cost of watching grown adults get riled up, jump out of their seat, and start yelling about if a word is real or not?

Priceless.

Want to host your own F*** Words With Friends? Email spjflorida@gmail.com