WEIRD WORLD

A new world Scrabble champion has been crowned thanks to his knowledge of classroom furniture. David Eldar, 27, beat his opponent Harshan Lamabadusurilya 3-0 in a best of five final - placing the word “carrels”, a cubicle desk, to score 74 points. The Australian born wordsmith, who now lives in London, claimed victory and £7,000 in prize money at the Old Museum, Nottingham Conference Centre, on Sunday, after competing against players from more than 26 countries and across three rounds of the MSI World Championships.

SHADY LADIES: The colour of a car is more important to women than men, a survey found. More than a quarter (28%) of female drivers said colour was important compared to just one in 50 men (2%). But the poll for Close Brothers Motor Finance found women really wanted cars which are economical to run (43%) whereas more than half of men questioned (56%) said it was engine size which mattered most. NABBED BY ECLIPSE: A car theft suspect who wanted to watch the moon eclipse the sun ended up with a blot on his record instead, police said. Orange County Sheriff ’s Office in Florida said Jocsan Rosado was arrested after he parked what officers said was a stolen car to watch this week’s solar eclipse. Deputies said Rosado had stolen the vehicle but was unaware he was being followed by detectives with the car theft unit. Officers said he stopped at a hardware store to buy a welding mask to watch the eclipse safely, and was arrested next to the stolen car, wearing the welding mask and looking up at the sky.