Scrabble Tips & Strategies

Before beginning play, it's a good idea to make sure you know which Scrabble dictionary you are using. Some words may be legal in one dictionary or online game site, but not another.

OSPD - Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, derived from the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and four other college dictionaries.

OSW - Official Scrabble Words which is derived from the Chambers Dictionary.

SOWPODS - Used in tournaments in all English-speaking countries except USA, Canada, Thailand and Israel. This word list was originally derived from the OSPD and the OSW.

TWL - The official tournament word list used in USA, Canada, Thailand and Isreal. This word list is based on the OSPD with some modifications and has fewer words than SOWPODS.

One of the most important things in winning at Scrabble in knowing your two letter words. They are the building blocks for making parallel words and taking advantage of bonus squares.

This two letter word list is from the TWL.

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY
BA BE BI BO BY
DE DO
ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX
FA
GO
HA HE HI HM HO
ID IF IN IT
JO
KA KI
LA LI LO
MA ME MM MO MU MY
NA NE NO NU
OD OE OF OH OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY
PA PE PI
QI
RE
SH SI SO
TA TO
UH UM UN UP US UT
WE WO
XI XU
YA YE YO
ZA

More Scrabble Word Lists

A hook is when you a form a new word by adding one letter to a word already on the board. When you do this, you gets points for BOTH words; the new word you placed AND the new word you created by adding on to the existing one.

For example, if "AX" is on the board and you have a "F" in your tray, try creating a new word and place it so "AX" becomes "FAX". In this example, you get points for the word "WAFER" and points for the word "FAX".

Always look for opportunities to score with one than one word per turn.

Placing a new word parallel to an existing word can also dramatically increase your score. This is where knowing your two and three letter words really comes in handy!

"WAY" would have only scored 9 points on its own, but placed parallel to "TEAR" and "TRIO", you would get 9 points for "WAY", 2 for "AT", and 6 for "YET" plus any bonus squares.

Keep building this way or place larger words, and the points really add up.

Be on the lookout for those colored squares. Placing high point letters on them can really boost your score! This may sound obvious, but if you look for them first, combine them with a hook or a parallel words, even two letter words can add up to more than a six letter word. Place a J, Q, X or Z on a bonus square and watch your score multipy!

An example: Look for a triple letter score to the left of an "I". Place the word "QI" parallel to it... and your "Q" just counted six times for a minumum score of 60!

Want to see some CRAZY points? Although rare, it can happen. Three spaces outside of the center, there are opportunities to make a seven letter word reach from one double word score to another double word score. This multiplies your word times FOUR and you get your 50 point bonus for a bingo.

Try to use these squares whenever possible and avoid lining your opponent up to use them.

Do you have any combination of these letters in your rack? AGE, EST, FUL, IEST, IER, URE, ABLE, S, ED, or ING? Put them at the far right of your letters. What about UN, IN, or RE? Put them at the far left of your letters.

Can you use these prefixes and suffixes to form a bingo with your other letters?

Look at the existing words on the board and see if adding to them will hit a bonus square.