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 you to find the anagram of EOPRSY, chances are you’ll think of all sorts of non-words like prosey, sporey, poyser and posery before possibly coming up with the right answer: OSPREY. That’s because you’re not used to thinking of words beginning with O.

So try turning your letters around into less likely-looking combinations. You might just come up with that game-winning move you would otherwise have missed.

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.

Other Articles

Edge the Endgame

At the very end of the game, give some careful thought not just to what you want to do but also to what your opponent might do. It’s useful if you have been tile-tracking – crossing every letter off a prepared list as it is played so that you know… Read More

Play to the Board

Some players start every turn by looking at their rack, working out a word on it they would like to play, then looking for somewhere to play it. You do certainly need to look at your rack, but at the same time, look at the board. See what letters are… Read More

The letter T

The T is in that select club with N and R of being one of the best consonants for making bonus words. Not quite in the class of the S but probably the next best. The T is more versatile than the N or R, not so dependent on an… Read More