World Scrabble title is sting in the tail

The new world Scrabble champion is buzzing after his word for a type of wasp secured victory.

Brett Smitheram, 37, from east London, was crowned winning wordsmith after beating Mark Nyman, 49, from Cheshire, in the World Scrabble Championship final in Lille.

After his win – thanks to the word braconid, worth 176 points – recruitment consultant Mr Smitheram said his opponent, a former producer on Channel 4’s Countdown, was his “Scrabble idol” when he was growing up and had got him on the show when he was 17.

He said: “At the time when he interviewed me for Countdown he said ‘What’s your biggest aspiration?’ and I said ‘I want to win the Scrabble World Championship’. And today I beat him to do it.”