[B]Turns out the alalagmoi1 of hardcore Scrabblists everywhere need not have been uncorked at all.[/B]

A fury worthy of Sparta erupted earlier this week when the world's word obsessives caught wind that Mattel was ending a 75-year ban on the use of proper nouns in the game. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Mattel told [URL=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8604625.stm]BBC[/URL] that the use of proper nouns would "add a new dimension" to Scrabble and "introduce an element of popular culture into the game."

They might as well have legalized aimbots in first-person shooters.

Reports of the complete nerfing of Scrabble, however, are premature. Cnet's [URL=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20001840-52.html]Daniel Terdiman[/URL], properly incensed at the notion he could play "Clooney" for a 50-point bonus, got in touch with John Williams, executive director of the American Scrabble Association. According to Williams, the rules are [B]not[/B] changing. Instead, Mattel will introduce an easy-mode version of the game called Scrabble Trickster, which sanctions proper nouns, backwards spellings, letter stealing and more.

Williams says the whole thing is nothing more than a PR ploy by Mattel.

Stefan Fatsis, author of "Word Freak," the bestselling book about competitive Scrabble had this 99-character Tweet to say about the not-quite-April-Fools stunt:

"No, Scrabble rules are not changing to allow proper nouns. Bad reporting plus corporate flackery=chaos."

1Alalagmos, n., pl. alalagmoi: Nine-letter word for a Greek war cry.

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