How many E’s in Scrabble?

This is about one of my favorite practical jokes.

At one of the companies where I used to work, there was a big table where people tended to play games during lunch, including a group of dedicated scrabble players.

I felt that the game was getting a little too easy, so one evening I went out and purchased 3 additional sets that were identical to the one they used, and replaced a significant number of the consonants with Es from the other sets.

The following day, I watched the game unfold. About 20 minutes in, the game was still going, but one of the players waved me over to show me how terrible his luck was — he had an I and 6 Es! I commiserated, and wondered if he had done any counting, since there were at least 10 Es on the board already, and a full set should only have 12!

It took almost half an hour before they finally tumbled, at which point I had to make a run for it (our department was well armed with Nerf weaponry)!

The simple jokes are often the best! I think I just about ruptured something trying not to laugh while the game went on.

After that, they locked up the Scrabble game to keep it safe. Silly really, since I am very good at picking locks :-).