Donna Courtney Wins Best COWABUNGA Word with ABALONE for 72 Points

A good tournament side prize needs the right mix of skill, surprise, and wordplay. The Best COWABUNGA Word award had all three.

The prize went to Donna Courtney, whose play of ABALONE scored 72 points and contained five letters from `COWABUNGA`. That was enough to take the award under the event’s rules, which rewarded the valid play, with no phonies, that used the most letters from the word `COWABUNGA`, excluding any blanks. Courtney took home $30 for the victory.

It is the kind of result that makes a tournament recap fun. The winning word was clean, high-scoring, and thematically perfect without feeling forced.

How the Best COWABUNGA Word award worked

The award had a clear set of conditions. It was not just about playing a long word, and it was not only about scoring well. To qualify, a play had to meet several standards at once.

The winning play needed to be:

• Valid

  No phonies counted. The word had to be acceptable in play.

  
  

• Connected to COWABUNGA

  The word had to contain letters found in `COWABUNGA`.

  
  

• Counted without blanks

  Blank tiles did not add to the COWABUNGA letter total.

  
  

• Played by someone outside the place prize money

  The award was reserved for a player who finished out of the place prize money across all divisions.

  
  

• Strong enough to win a tiebreaker if needed

  If multiple plays used the same number of COWABUNGA letters, the higher-scoring play would win.

  
  

That structure made the prize more interesting than a simple “best word” award. It gave players more than one way to stand out. A player needed the right word, the right tiles, the right board, and enough points to hold off any tie.