Tips from the Champions – Allan Simmons

Allan Simmons, four-time British Champion and winner of other national titles, tells us his top tips.

1. Make yourself look for seven-letter words (or eight-letter words using a letter on the board) no matter how unlikely your rack is. Even very unlikely-looking racks may be hiding a common word that you know.

2. Be aware that the vowel/consonant distribution is roughly 3/4 which will give you an idea of whether the unseen pool of letters is vowel-heavy or consonant-heavy or about right at any stage of the game

3. Learn some vowel-heavy words that you are unfamiliar with (three-vowel fours and four-vowel fives). They will pay dividends in sorting out vowel heavy racks in one move.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.

Other Articles

Words Can Begin and End with Anything

Don’t forget to examine all possibilities when looking for words, especially those seven- and eight-letter words that get you the fifty-point bonus. We don’t tend to think of words so easily if they begin with a vowel, or if they end with a vowel other than E. If I ask… Read More

Match an Opening with an Opening

Sometimes your opponent will play a word that opens the board right up, either for tactical reasons, or because it just happens. What do you do if you don’t have the letters to make use of it? For instance, the left-hand column has been opened up, giving a chance for… Read More

The letter R

The R is one of the one-point tiles, meaning it is a common letter and may be useful for making bonus words. The most obvious prefix and suffix using R are RE- and -ER. This does rather point to the main weakness of the R – it tends to need… Read More