Scrabble Showdown Flash". In this round, the team is given five over-sized "Scrabble Flash" cubes, each with a different letter. The first team has thirty seconds to make as many words as possible; each word must contain at least three letters, and each valid word is worth one point for each letter used; there is at least one valid five-letter word. Both teams play the same set of letters; the team that is to go second is isolated while the first team plays. The team with the higher score wins a prize and two "Bonus Scrabble Tiles." Before the round begins, a
Scrabble variants are formed. This variation is also used on "Scrabble Showdown". This game has the same size board and nearly the same scoring system as Scrabble. The major differences are the inclusion of twelve wild tiles marked with an asterisk that may represent one letter or any series of letters and special board squares that convert a regular letter tile into a wild tile (the tile in question is placed upside down on such a square). The nature of these changes shifts the emphasis of the game from playing short words to playing words of any length. For example, QUA*IST, could