Word Cup of Scrabble Under Way : Tournament: Three hundred players compete in Universal City for top prize of $15,000 and national title.

Call it wordstock .

Three hundred avid Scrabble players--lawyers, dancers, psychologists, cabdrivers--from as far away as Thailand arrived here to play in the 1994 National Scrabble championship, the 10th biennial event that kicked off Sunday at the Universal Hilton Hotel.

And if they share one thing, it’s that they take their words to heart. They memorize word lists in their spare time, practice against computerized Scrabble programs and study flash cards for hours.

“Tournament Scrabble players take this event as seriously as football players take the Rose Bowl,” said John Williams, National Scrabble Assn. executive director.

Contestants will compete in 27 rounds through Thursday for a first-place prize of $15,000.

About 33 million recreational Scrabble players live in the United States and Canada. Among them are more than 10,000 members of nearly 200 clubs, which meet weekly. There are 22 clubs in California.

This year’s event has attracted participants from clubs in Israel, England, Canada and Thailand. Some arrived as early as Wednesday to prepare for the competition, playing six hours a day and brushing up on their dictionary skills.

The game was born in 1931, during the Depression, when an out-of-work New York architect combined anagrams and crossword puzzles in a board game. He called it “Criss Cross Words.” After World War II, it was marketed as Scrabble.

Tournament play is divided into beginner, intermediate and expert categories. The most points scored in a single tournament game, 770, was chalked up last year by Mark Landsberg of Los Angeles.

Two-time national Scrabble champion Joe Edley, who traveled from Long Island for this year’s event, has been an avid Scrabbler since 1978. He now works for the association as director of clubs, and plays the game against a computer in his spare time.

“I enjoy the challenge of taking a whole bunch of letters all jumbled up and making them into words,” said Edley, the only player to win the national championship twice.

Many players say the best part of Scrabble is “bluffing,” when an opponent uses a bogus word. Sometimes players get away with it. But if there’s a doubt, a challenge is called and a word expert searches in an official “Scrabble Players Dictionary.”

“I play for the enjoyment of matching knowledge with wits,” said Gwen Bishop, a 73-year-old player from Eagle Rock who began playing Scrabble as a youngster.

“The best thing about Scrabble is that anyone, any age can play,” said Beth Fleischer of Hacienda Heights.

For such players, Williams said, “This event is our World Cup soccer and Woodstock all rolled into one.”