Scrabble

I enjoy Scrabble.

On my recent trip to Cincinnati I spent some time playing a game of Scrabble with Kate from Ohio and tried to teach her some standard useful tricks. I thought I’d spread some of the joy to you guys and provide some great tips for a beginner scrabble player

Often times we find ouselves with a surplus of vowels… try these to escape.
A surplus:
Aah, Aal (shrub), Aas (cindery lavas), Aba (garment), Aha

E surplus
:
Etwee (a small case), Emeer, Eerie

I surplus:
Aalii (tropical tree), ilia (bone), Impi (body of warriors)

O surplus – these are almost too easy to get rid of so I’ll skip this category

U surplus:
Unau (3 toed sloth), Luau, Ulu (Eskimo knife)

a few great three letter ‘Z’ words:
Azo – containing Nitrogen
Zoa – whole product of a fertilized egg
Zek – soviet camp
Zax – a tool for cutting roof slates

A few of the easy Q words that are spelled without U’s:
Qat – a shrub
Qoph – Hebrew letter
Qindar & Qintar: monetary units
Qaid – Muslim leader

The powerful two letter words:
Jo, Ha, He, Ho, Hm

Note: An X and any vowel can make a word
Ax, Ex, Xi, Ox, Xu

And some general fun words to know:
Taj – it’s a hat and a great way to use a J.
Miaoued – A bingo with every vowel

7 thoughts on “Scrabble

  • 2/10/2007 at 12:38 pm
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    Gee, Mike, what about Atlatl?

    Reply
  • 2/11/2007 at 11:05 am
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    I left out hundreds of words from the list above, not just atlatl. I’m sure a few google searches or a flip through of a scrabble dictionary will reveal many more.

    Reply
  • 2/11/2007 at 11:22 am
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    I consider the use of Scrabble dictionaries to be cheating. I like a game based on words people actually use.

    Reply
  • 2/12/2007 at 2:30 pm
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    We use the scrabble dictionary for look-ups and challenges only. Each player/team is allowed 2 look-ups per game, and unlimited challenges (standard challenge rules apply).

    Reply
  • 2/13/2007 at 10:01 pm
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    You know, it’s occured to me that the three-letter on up words would also work great for Bookworm.

    Reply

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