QUIRKY WORLD ... Teacher’s war of words with Scrabble body ends in draw

AUSTRALIA: A long-running war of words between an Australian and the official Scrabble body has finally been declared a draw by a state court.

The Victoria state magistrates’ court ruled the local chapter of the Australian Scrabble Players’ Association must overturn a years-old ruling that retired teacher Mohammed Hegazi had behaved in a manner “unbecoming” to the popular boardgame.

But Hegazi failed to persuade the court to declare he had never cheated while playing the 77-year-old game that’s played in 121 countries in 29 languages, Hegazi’s lawyer Robert Frajsman said.