[ WP ] You 're playing Scrabble with the devil for your soul .

`` Scrabble?'' he asked. 
 
 `` Yes. You see, being as old as I am, I know a lot of words. All of them, in fact,'' the immaculately dressed man sitting across the table swirled the scotch in his glass, then uncrossed his legs. `` It tends to stack the odds in my favor.'' 
 
 `` I've never played.'' 
 
 `` It's simple, really. You build words using tiles. If you must, read the rules,'' the Devil said patiently. He snapped his fingers, and a Scrabble box appeared with a small puff of smoke and the faint smell of sulfur. 
 
 `` Ca n't we play another game?'' 
 
 `` It's Scrabble, or you concede,'' the Devil smiled. `` I make the rules. I do own your soul, after all.'' 
 
 `` Fine,'' the imperiled man resigned. 
 
 He opened the box and read the rules. 
 
 `` All right. Will my dictionary work then?'' 
 
 `` Certainly,'' the Devil took a sip from his glass. 
 
 The man got up, and returned a moment later with a standard Merriam-Webster dictionary, and placed it on the table. 
 
 `` Shall we begin?'' the Devil placed his scotch glass on the table. 
 
 `` If I win, you give me back my soul?'' 
 
 `` And you get to go play harps in the clouds,'' he nodded. `` Those are the terms.'' 
 
 The man and the Devil began the game. Tile after tile, and word after word were placed, until both the Prince of Darkness and the mortal were down to their last tiles. 
 
 `` For never having played, you're quite good. Almost a challenge, in fact,'' the Devil taunted. He was ahead by 20 points. `` I would n't mind making our game a weekly affair in Hell.'' 
 
 The man had the letters Z, X, J, K, and Q. They were no opportunities on the board. The Devil smirked. 
 
 The man formed the word KXZJQ. 
 
 `` A valiant effort, to be sure. Sadly, however, that is not a word,'' the Devil said coolly. 
 
 The man opened his dictionary to the `` K'' section. Toward the end, surely enough, was the following entry: 
 
 `` *Kxzjq* ( verb ): A foolish person. Used especially in reference to the Devil. *I made a kxzjq of the Devil. *'' 
 
 The Devil realized that this brought the man's point total above his, and he stood up in rage, then quickly composed himself. `` How did you do this?'' 
 
 `` I've had a lifetime to work it out. I've summoned countless lowly demons. The ones you would n't have missed had they never returned to Hell. Eventually, I pieced it together,'' the old man explained. `` You're arrogant. You always stack the game, and you always leave an impossible board at the end, with nothing but Z, X, J, K, and Q for the damned.'' 
 
 The Devil's teeth were set on edge. 
 
 `` So, knowing my time was near, I had a special dictionary made. And you agreed to use it.'' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

