the buzz log

Philologists, rejoice. Wordsmiths worked themselves up in a lexical lather after Merriam-Webster recently added more than 100 new words. Now their wordly obsessions can reach a new level with Scrabble's new online game.

Or will they? Hold your Qs and Js... isn't there already a fabulous, albeit contentious, version made popular by Facebook? After all, Scrabulous probably spurred the leap in "scrabble dictionary" searches, about double what they were compared to this same time last year.

Some observers thinks the official Scrabble version is too North American-centric and comes too late. Will words fail them, or could this version drag high-stakes, tile-loving spellers into social networking? Either way, wordiness wins.

Filed under: Words, Wordplay, Games, Spelling, Dictionaries

Monday usually means rip-the-bandage-off-fast bad news. Luckily, today wasn't too bad. Once Buzz readers became numb again to gas sticker-shock and Midwest aftershocks, they moved on to diplomats and games with Mother Nature.

Pumping Gas, Bleeding Cash
Yes, the Europeans have long paid more. Yes, fossil-fuel consumption should be cut back. But man, current gas prices do suck the cash out of a wallet! Buzz readers glommed onto yet another record-breaking price in the United States—an average $3.50 a gallon. The cost of crude also bubbled to new heights, but not for the usual reasons: A pirate rocket hit an empty Japanese oil tanker off the Yemen coast. Although no pirates yelled "avast" and boarded, the maritime aggression pushed landlubbing traders into a whirlpool of panic. Search Engine Journal shows sites that help find cheap gas ... but no tips on pirate defenses.

The Renegade Diplomat
Jimmy Carter went to Syria as a "private citizen," but not many private citizens can list Oval Office on their resumé. Following his meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, the former president delivered the message that Hamas would accept Israel as a "neighbor," but Israel and the U.S. must negotiate directly with what both governments deem a terrorist group. Still, the hopeful development earned the AP story high votes, as well as a Passover thank-you from a Huffington Post writer. Carter gives his own account in an NPR interview—including disputing reports that his visit had been discouraged.

Big Blessings, Little Trifles
Pope Benedict XVI left a trail of jubilance, munificence, questions, and trivia. For instance, GearLog poised the question, "Who knew that Sprint is a holy wireless carrier?" The New York Daily News reported the religious leader's headgear is called a "miter," in a story about a local artist who presented a handmade straw hat to Benedict to "wear in the country." And, readers purred over a New York Times' piece on the "pope's fondness for felines."

Also spiking in the Buzz ...

—An aftershock registered 4.5 on the Richter scale in the Midwest and on the wire stories. Now people really think Californians are crazy.

Filed under: Gas Prices, Earthquakes, Games, Pope Benedict XVI, Presidents, Daily Recap

What a nice relief from winter weather it is to stay indoors and play board games by the fire. Though we hardly get the warm fuzzies from getting whupped at Candy Land by a 3-year-old. We know there are others who share our love for games; the query "board games" ranks in our top 10,000 searches.

On our trip around the board in Search, we stumbled on a few don't-pass-go moments. Notably, TV shows tie-ins and all you spendthrifts that search for free board games online skewed our data a bit. But, let's roll the dice anyway and check the top board games in Search...

Filed under: Games