A Benjamin is a three-letter extension to the front of a five-letter word. Quite why it’s called a Benjamin is somewhat lost in the mists of time – possibly after a French player of that name who specialised in playing them.
They are particularly useful when the opening move of the game is a five-letter word with the last letter on the board’s centre square. That will normally happen when the word’s first letter is a high-scorer, as this letter will then end up on the double-letter square.
Adding three letters to the beginning of the word will then enable you to reach a triple-word square, earning you mega points. You might be able to use a three- letter prefix:
Or surprise your opponent with a less obvious extension:
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.
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