Even though Scrabble is played regularly by people of all ages across the globe, there are still some specific methods and protocols that even the most seasoned of players do not know about. In this article, WordsRated breaks down some of the game’s lesser known facets so you can understand Scrabble on a whole new level!
What words are allowed in Scrabble?
Scrabble is known for having a large total number of playable words. Even players who have played the game multiple times may not know exactly the types of words that can be used in the game.
- According to the official rules of Scrabble, players are permitted to use any word included in one of the given Scrabble dictionaries (OSPD, NWL or CSW).
- These dictionaries include archaic words, colloquial words, obsolete words and slang, amongst other word types.
- Despite this, players are not permitted to use words that are always capitalized, abbreviations, prefixes, suffixes or words that contain an apostrophe or hyphen.
- However, if a word of one of these types has multiple meanings, it may still be included in a Scrabble dictionary.
It is important to remember that words that are not part of the word list can still be scored, however other players have the right to challenge their validity. If a player is challenged and found to have played a word that is not in the dictionary, they will lose their turn.
Scrabble etiquette and best practices
Although rules in casual games of Scrabble can be more flexible, games that are played in a tournament will have a strict code of conduct. Professional players are expected to maintain decorum at all times and will typically be well-versed in the game’s more advanced strategies.
Rule changes
Before the start of a casual game of Scrabble, players can agree to modify the rules to their liking. Playing games with custom rules can be a great way to keep players interested in the game and grow their vocabulary.
There are no definite rules that must be followed in a casual game, so you have the opportunity to make the game as true to the original rules or as creative as possible. To give you some ideas, check out existing Scrabble variants such as double bag, no double scoring and recycle the blanks.
No talking
If playing in a competitive match such as a tournament or Scrabble club, players should refrain from making noises, such as through small talk, humming or eating. Fidgeting can also be a huge distraction, so it is essential to be mindful and respectful of your opponent at all times.
In Scrabble circles, intentionally or unintentionally making noises like this is referred to as “coffee-housing” and it is forbidden. The only time players should consider speaking during a competitive match is to question the score or challenge a play.
Correctly draw tiles
To maintain the integrity of the game, it is important to make sure players do not gain an unfair advantage over other players. One of the ways with which this is possible in casual games is if players know which letters they are pulling out of the bag before they do so by peering into the bag.
To remedy this in tournament play, players are required to draw from the bag by lifting the bag above eye level. By drawing new tiles in this way, all players are prevented from seeing the tiles they select as they should not be able to see inside the opening of the bag.
Tile type
Many players are unaware that the tiles used in Scrabble competitions are glossy and unembossed, unlike the tiles used in casual games. This is done to ensure that players will not be able to feel the difference between any of the letters when drawing from the bag.
Drawing a blank tile can be particularly notable when using the regular tile set as it doesn’t have any embossing that can be felt to the touch. However, expert players may even be able to tell the difference between each of the letter tiles, so alternate tilesets are needed for official tournaments.
Game timers
In competitive games of Scrabble, each player is allowed 25 minutes in total to make all of their moves. To keep track of this, chess clocks are used so that each player can stay aware of their speed of play.
Professional players will typically take around two minutes to consider and place each word on the board. When totaled, the best players will usually make between 11 – 13 moves in a match, which is also a good target to aim for if you are an intermediate player.
Challenges
If a player knows or is unsure if the word played by their opponent is not an accepted word, they can choose to challenge it. This will result in the following scenarios:
- Successful challenge: The challenged player will lose their turn.
- Unsuccessful challenge (casual play): The challenger will lose their turn or alternatively, under the Dingle rule, challengers will not be punished for their first unsuccessful challenge but will lose a turn for each unsuccessful challenge that follows.
- Unsuccessful challenge (tournament play): The challenger does not lose their turn but the challenged player gains 5 additional points. As the punishment is greatly reduced for the challenger in tournament play, players are more likely to challenge often.
Challenges can be a great way to swing the game in the challenger’s favor, although an unsuccessful challenge can have the opposite effect. Practice makes perfect when it comes to this skill, so studying word lists and playing regularly will help you know when to attempt it.
Bluffing
If you find yourself trying to get rid of difficult letters, out of ideas or playing against a player unlikely to challenge you, you can give bluffing a go. Unlike other popular word games, bluffing is seen as a skill in Scrabble and can be used to great effect.
Making up words can be particularly useful towards the end of a game when you need to collect some extra points from limited rack letters. However, getting caught bluffing will result in you losing your turn.
When to pass
At certain points in the game you may have a high-scoring word lined up but still lack one common letter in order to play it. In these situations, it may be worth passing one turn in order to see what your opponent decides to play, as they could put down the missing letter you are waiting for.
This strategy can be more effective in games of 3-4 players, as more words will typically be played to combine with letters before the player’s turn comes back around. Players may also want to use this strategy to help score a Bingo, giving a significant point boost.
Bingo
Did you know, if you manage to play all of the 7 letters on your rack in one turn it is known as a Bingo? What’s more, playing a Bingo will result in a 50 point bonus for the turn.
It is important to note that only the first turn can be a bingo of 7 letters, which will use only rack tiles. In subsequent turns, players will have to use tiles from the board in combination with their rack tiles to form words of 8 letters or more.
Non-vowel words
There are a number of words in Scrabble without vowels that may not be immediately apparent when looking at the letters on your rack and those on the board. Due to the way these words are constructed, they typically have shorter word lengths.
Many times, words without vowels will contain the letter “Y” as an acting vowel, although this doesn’t happen in all cases. Onomatopoeic words and interjections often act as the exception through playable terms such as “brr”, “hmm”, “shh”, “tsk” and “zzz”.
Foreign words
In English language Scrabble, a wide range or foreign words are accepted in the Scrabble dictionary and can be played on each turn. If a word from another language is played but is not included within this dictionary, other players will have the opportunity to challenge it and cause the challenged player to lose a turn.
Scrabble accepts loan words from many different languages including French, German, Greek, Latin, Italian and Spanish. Non-European loan words are also present but these are less common.
2-letter words
Scrabble players of all levels can boost their total scores by learning some of the game’s 127 useful 2-letter words. Even though many of these words can be difficult to remember, they can be of great use when trying to dump tricky letters or play a word without a lot of space on the board.
The tried and tested way of memorizing these words is to split these words into groupings of your choice. Once you have established some groups, such as common words, words that sound like letters or words with repeating letters, try to learn one group at a time.
Most important word
Of the most useful words in Scrabble, one word is considered by many professionals of the game to be more beneficial than others, “Qi”. This term is used in traditional Chinese medicine to signify a person’s vital energy.
The word is worth 11 points and allows players to get rid of the letter “Q” without needing the letter “U” or passing. The word’s other letter “I” is extremely common and as such, it is easy to pair it with other words on the board.
Nine times word score
When the board is very open, sometimes it is possible to place a word upon two triple word scores. As this is usually very difficult to achieve, players will be able to multiply a word score by 9 when this happens.
Point scores from achieving a 9 times bonus can push you far clear of the opposition. Players should also remember that each premium square can only be used once, so adding to an existing word that has already landed on a triple word score will not work for this method.