There has been a tentative return to face-to-face Scrabble tourneys. The NASPA event calendar is slowly filling as we dip our toes into the water and see how we might be able to play in-person tournaments safely.
Lake George, in October, proved to us that a larger tournament could be safely held while protecting the health of our players. Vaccinations, distancing, hand sanitizer, and masks effectively prevented the spread of viruses among the 98 players plus staff. Our congratulations to the players as well as the organizers!
The 2022 Crescent City Cup will be held January 15-17 at the Drury Inn in New Orleans. The Martin Luther King holiday weekend allows three days of play with time to travel. We will institute preventive measures to promote a safe event for our players. We require proof of vaccination with each player’s event registration, and we may limit attendance at the event to allow social distancing at player tables. We will promote the use of hand sanitizer during the event. And if warranted, we will ask all players to wear masks. In the State of Louisiana, the indoor mask mandate has been removed due to reducing Covid cases in the state. Our organizing team will keep a close watch on the current state of Covid in the area so we may ensure that we adhere to changing local and CDC guidelines.
Register Now> https://scrb.ly/CrescentCityCupReg
CCC 2022 will be our 10th Annual tournament with a brief respite in 2021, during which we held a Virtual Crescent City Cup. As always, the organizing team strives to improve from year to year in hopes of surprising and delighting our attendees with our special touches. Upgraded branding, new and different giveaways for all players, and more elaborate tile bags.
With sponsorship from Scopely to increase our monetary prize pool, we hope this will attract players worldwide and the North American continent to provide high levels of competition. We once again plan to stream live games to entertain a worldwide audience. Expert commentary will help viewers understand a player’s thought process as they plan their next play.
The tournament comprises 20 games: 8 on Saturday, eight on Sunday, and four on Monday. We offer to play in the NWL20 as well as CSW21 dictionaries. We will offer Lite and Open Divisions in each lexicon with enough players. A player of any rating can compete in the Open Divisions. In the NWL Lite Division, anyone with a rating of 1300 or below may play. In the CSW Lite Division, anyone with a rating of 1600 or below may play. Monetary prizes, tile bags, and racks will be awarded in every division.
Additionally, in 2022, the CCC was designated a Scrabble Players Championship Satellite Event. We qualify as a multi-player event hosting at least 50 players. For every 50 players registered, we are granted a complimentary registration to the Scrabble Players Championship, which will take place July 23-27, 2022, in Baltimore. Based on our past registrations, we hope to award two complimentary registrations. The organizing committee will determine the criteria for awarding this special prize.
While the CCC enjoys welcoming our local Scrabble players, most of our participants come far and wide. In 2020, our players came from 31 different US states and 3 Canadian provinces. We typically host one or two visitors from overseas as well. We hope to increase this last number and welcome more international players.
We look forward to once again greeting old friends and new ones with warm smiles and big bear hugs after almost two years of isolation and distancing. Sharing the game we love, the challenging racks, the amazing finds, tension, and excitement of head-to-head competition – these are the things we have missed during the pandemic. These human aspects of in-person playing add a dimension that has been missing in all of our virtual games.
New Orleans, a historic city, nestled in the crescent of the Mississippi River, offers a host of evening entertainment options. In the morning hours, a lunch break, and during dinnertime, you have time to explore our cuisine, architecture, history, and music to learn what inspires the spirit of New Orleans. So, enjoy the city, enjoy old friends and new, and enjoy the camaraderie and competition. Come and play!
Register Now> https://scrb.ly/CrescentCityCupReg