[[Image:CSW countries.png|400px|center|alt Map of the CSW world]]
This map [image to be updated] shows countries according to the lexicon(s) they use. Currently, 45 countries use CSW (green), and 4 use predominantly OTCWLOWL2, with some CSW play (blue: Canada, Israel, Thailand, and the United States).
The name “SOWPODS” was coined as an anagram of OSW+OSPD, the names of the two lexicons (the British Official Scrabble Words and the American Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) that were originally merged to form SOWPODS. The SOWPODS word list is currently edited by the [[WESPA]] Dictionary Committee; comments concerning the list should be directed to the NASPA [[International Committee]]. The SOWPODS word list contains all words found in [[OTCWL|OWL2]], as well as a large number of other English words from around the world.
The purpose of these webpages is to provide informative and, hopefully, interesting information to those North American tournament and club players who are curious about trying out the CSW game. They do not, therefore, aim to introduce Scrabble play as a whole, but those parts of it that change if one plays CSW. Thus, we start with how the game differs from OTCWLOWL2, introduce the most useful extra words to know, address some commonly asked questions and concerns, then describe the current CSW scene as it is evolving in North America.
The sections below follow on from each other in order, but each can be read on its own.