Congratulations to 2015 French-language Scrabble champion Nigel Richards, whose qualifications include: five U.S. national titles, three world championships, ability to memorize a large chunk of a French dictionary, and beard. His qualifications do not include: being French, speaking French.

Nigel Richards, you see, is from New Zealand, and it only took him eight weeks of dictionary study to dominate the French in their own language, a language he does not functionally speak. Parlez-him le Francais? Mais non, my dude. He only parle les Scrabble-tiles.

“He does have a reputation for being the best Scrabble player ever and they know about him already, but they probably didn’t necessarily expect him to go in for the first time and beat them at their own game,” a friend of Richards told the New Zealand Herald.

Richards took down the tournament in Belgium Monday, defeating a native French speaker from Gabon in the finals, to the astonishment of those assembled.

At one point, one of the other competitors supposedly asked Richards, “Are you extraterrestrial or something?” no doubt taking a long drag on a baguette to emphasize his point.

Not that Richards could have understood that question.

Because he does not speak French.

[Photo: AP Images]