How Calvin got 957

“What's your score for ZQFMGB?” “957.”

A 33-move game on a standard board that starts as honest Scrabble and slides, one move at a time, into Calvinball. It ends with Hobbes's 12-letter word full of Xs and Js, then Calvin's ZQFMGB on a double-word square for exactly 957.

The cheat-o-meter

Each bar is one move: height is its score, colour is how far it bends the dictionary. The colour only ever gets worse. Select a bar to jump to that move.

Replay the game

Drag the slider or use the arrow keys. Gold rings mark the tiles placed on that move; the stripe under each tile shows the cheat level of the move that placed it.

The whole script

Select any move to see it on the board.

Calvin's 957

ZQFMGB fills the gap between MOEISAJERK on the top row and a solid wall of Zs below, so each of his six tiles completes a 14- or 15-letter cross-word. Select a row to light it up on the board.

Fine print

• Every word formed on every move is checked against two real Scrabble word lists: the US tournament list (TWL06) and the British list (SOWPODS/Collins). “US” means the US list allows it, “UK” means only the British list does, ✗ means neither.
• Every move obeys the placement rules: the first word covers the centre star, at most seven tiles per turn, all in one line with no gaps, always touching what's already there. Words don't have to be real after Act III, and premium squares count only under new tiles.
• The bag is bottomless, as agreed. The game uses 57 Zs; a real set has one.
• Hobbes's JINXJINXJINX is built on Calvin's own JINX plus the last X of Hobbes's kiss row, so it needs only seven new tiles. It lands on a triple-word square and scores 851, the second-biggest move of the game.