TAKE TWO: put all the tiles upside down in the middle of the table. Pick up 7 letters, make words intersecting crossword-style on the table in front of you. When all tiles are used, yell out “Take Two!” and everyone takes two more tiles and must fit them into the grid. Gets exciting when you are behind and have to break it up and start again to fit the new letters. (Damn you, Q, damn you!) The words don’t have to be complicated, so it’s suitable for all ages. Also good for when you have too many players. Score by adding tiles horizontally and vertically.

DOUBLES: use 14 tiles in two racks instead of 7 (two players only). This makes it much easier for new spellers (more letters to choose from, less congestion on the board), but is also harder against more advanced wordsmiths! Games are generally faster than ordinary games.

Thought I would share these as a trade for Fairy Chess. Hope they’re not just common knowledge games, my family played these a lot but friends didn’t seem to know of them. (I’m keen to try out FC, and await the “official” rules for War in Heaven with bated breath!)
Thanks!