A 28-year-old stock options trader won the U.S. Scrabble
championship and $25,000 in prize money Thursday, beating out 125 other
top-rated contestants by spelling out words such as "juba" and
"anoretic." Brian Cappelletto, a frequent second-place
finisher in Scrabble tournaments, which he began entering as a
15-year-old prodigy, used all seven letters in his rack several times to
form words – earning 50-point bonuses each time. He spelled out
"juba," a word describing a Southern plantation black dance of
the 19th century, and "anoretic," or lacking an appetite for
food, in the final game.