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Top of the tile: wordsmiths of all ages vie for Australia s Scrabble honours
Emma Kemp
© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
The air in the grand ballroom of Bankstown Sports Club is still. The lights are bright and the decor opulent, but the atmosphere is one of hushed concentration.
Its inhabitants, safely ensconced in this sanctuary away from the sing-song of poker machines outside, do not speak except to count scores on Scrabble boards atop their white-tablecloth work benches. The only other sounds are the soft clink of tiles as bags are shaken and their contents withdrawn for the next, tension-fuelled move. ....

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