Using the letter G

The G is generally best got rid of as soon as possible (you will notice ‘guest’ begins with G – is this just coincidence?). Less experienced players often get very excited when they get -ING on their rack, thinking they will make a seven-letter word with it. It’s not as likely as you might think, and if you hold on to ING until you get a bonus with it, you are playing with only four letters, which is a real handicap. So don’t get fixated on ING.

The two-letter words with G will help you send it on its way:

AG agriculture

UG to hate

GI loose-fitting suit worn in martial arts

GO

GU type of violin used in the Shetlands

GU can also be spelt GJU, which has the simple anagram JUG. Another GJ- word is GJETOST, a type of Norwegian cheese.

Apart from -ING, the G is not great for affixes, the best perhaps being the suffix -AGE. But, like ING, it’s certainly not worth holding on to – just check to see whether it helps you make a bonus word if you happen to get it on your rack.

If you’re keeping those key one-point tiles, LNRST and the vowels, there are some bonus words you might get with six of them and a G. Here are a few to help you get gangsta bonus scores:

GRANITE, INGRATE, TANGIER, TEARING and the less well-known GRATINE (cooked in breadcrumbs), all anagrams of each other.

RINGLET, TINGLER, TRINGLE (a thin rod)

TANGLER, TRANGLE (a heraldic symbol)

RESTING, STINGER

ARGENTS, GARNETS, STRANGE

ARGENT is an old word for silver and you can have a plural, ARGENTS.

By Barry Grossman

Barry is a leading UK Scrabble player and winner of several tournaments. He is the author of Scrabble for Beginners (Chambers), Need to Know Scrabble, Scrabble – Play to Win and The Little Book of Scrabble Trickster. He has also contributed to numerous other books on the subject of words and word-games, has been a series champion of Channel 4’s Countdown, and has written four comedy series for BBC Radio 4. He lives in Hertford.

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.

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