Desk job wins man Scrabble world title

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, who works in real estate in London, claimed victory at the Old Museum, Nottingham Conference Centre, yesterday, beating players from more than 26 countries in the MSI World Championships.

As well as the title, Mr Eldar, who has been playing the game for 14 years, took home £7,000 in prize money.

Some of the words the pair managed to produce during the final included Obvs, slang for obvious, scoring 10 and Asinicos, meaning stupid fellows, scoring 64.