WORD UP: a scrabble blog.

FOUND WORD OTD: ACEHOOT

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Thu, 9 Oct 2025 08:57:00 -0700

OOTHECA: an egg case of certain insects [n]

Seen on a local farmer’s Instagram page, apparently this is the egg sac of a mantis? Wild. As for hooks, plural form is OOTHECAE and adjective form is OOTHECAL.

Found Word OTD: ELOTUV

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 10:47:00 -0700

Ok, confession, I play some of those dumb merging games to pass the time, but hey in this case, it taught me a new word!

VOLUTE

Takes a front hook of E! Back hooks: D and S.

Found phony OTD: AAHKNSU

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 11:54:00 -0700

I’ve been reading some Stephen King lately and I really expected this to be an acceptable scrabble word: USHANKA* however, isn’t in the latest OSPD. Perhaps it’s a trademarked word?

To those who don’t know, an asterisk after a word in scrabble lingo indicates that it’s not acceptable to be played, often called a ‘phony’.

For bonus points, can you find the actual playable word that’s an anagram of USHANKA*? Drop it in the comments, and prove to me that anyone is actually reading this.

Found words OTD: ABEGL

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 07:26:00 -0700

When you’ve got words on the brain, you find all sorts of opportunities to learn new ones. For example, you buy a bagel and think ‘I wonder how many valid anagrams there are?’ The answer is four.

BAGEL

BELGA: a former Belgian monetary unit

GABLE: to form a triangular section of a wall

GLEBA: a spore-bearing mass of some fungi

Alternate Spelling OTD: AADEFFRY

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 10:16:00 -0700

Not sure where I spotted this but hadn’t seen it before! Add it to the list:

AFRAID

AFFRAYED

AFEARED

AFEARD

Words that are surprisingly playable

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Wed, 9 Jul 2025 09:26:00 -0700

I saw a recent Reddit post where someone had played FEDEX on a board and another user mistakenly assumed that the word wasn’t acceptable, because, well it’s a reasonable assumption to make: most often a trademarked company name is not included in the OSPD.

Certain words, however, have become so ubiquitous that they supersede (ugh I thought I knew how to spell that and I don’t!) the usual rules. Think ‘googled’ as a verb.

FEDEX is another example, where the word can be a verb (FEDEXED, FEDEXING). This also brought to mind KLEENEX because of the similar EX ending, and in this case it earned its way into the OSPD simply because so many people used the word to mean ‘facial tissue’. The power of good branding, I suppose!

I’d love to hear any other examples you have – drop some in the comments if you’d like.

The License Plate Game

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 8 Jul 2025 08:14:00 -0700

Perhaps you’ve played this game, I find that different words games can be a fun way to exercise the brain: usually when you’re traveling about, you’ll see plenty of license plates that have a series of three letters in a row on them. The challenge is to find a word that contains those three letters, in the same sequence.

For example, I just walked by a plate with the letters DMH and came up with ADMONISH. This game can be played off the road as well, and I actually was thinking about it based on a series of three letters I saw yesterday ‘in the wild’. I noticed a Pez™️ container and started thinking about what words would work: I came up with PREZ. Can you find any others? I’ll list a handful below.

ALPHABETIZE

COMPUTERIZE

DEEPFREEZE

HYPERCIVILIZED

PALEOZOIC

PETAHERTZ

TRAPEZE

UNSPECIALIZED

It’s been a while…

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Mon, 7 Jul 2025 09:47:00 -0700

A lot has changed since our last post: new dictionary updates, new words, some new rules! We are hoping to get back to posting new content. For now, enjoy this link to a Merriam Webster post that includes some random newly added words. Who knew that DEMPRSTU previously had no playable anagram?

Found Word OTD: AAKMRUZ

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sun, 3 Nov 2019 12:30:00 -0800

MAZURKA: a lively Polish dance in triple time.

I actually found this one while playing HQ trivia. Anyone else into that?

Found Word OTD: AAEHHLPST

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:35:00 -0700

PHTHALATES: handy, because, if you have ALTHEAS and can't play it, perhaps someone has played PHT on the board already and you can extend it?

Missed Bingo OTD: ADEGNOY?

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 07:34:00 -0700

I knew ENDGAME, but not this one.

Quackle!

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 17:20:00 -0700

I was happy to discover that the best scrabble simulation software, Quackle, was still available for download. Have you tried it? You can find it here.

Best way to study words on the go?

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 08:09:00 -0700

Since I began considering getting back into serious scrabble play, the next step was obviously to figure out how to study words again. Previously, my go-to method was using the Zyzzyva app for the iPhone, but woe is me! It only exists for the desktop computer now. Will I have to go back to the old-school flashcards on index cards method?

I’m still in the process of trying to find an app that will quiz me, using the card box method, as well as showing me words in alphagram form... let me know if you have any leads.

New Scrabble Words?

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 16:39:00 -0700

Hello! It's been a while since I've posted on here, but then I read a recent article talking about new words being added to the Scrabble dictionary: 'ok' is ok to play!? Sounded crazy. So basically, the OSPD (Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) has been updated. However, the official tournament dictionary has not been updated; mainly because they like to allow players time to study the new words before releasing it. It's likely that it won't be official until sometime next year. But stay tuned, I plan to list some of the new words that will almost definitely be introduced to tournament play- in addition to already being in effect for casual players.

AAAHIPTY: finally

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 20:32:00 -0800

I learned this word 5 years ago, when my wife and I vacationed in Cancun and got to eat it. Finally got to play it.

Front hook quiz: BEOOS

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Mon, 9 Nov 2015 17:24:00 -0800

OBOES has two front hooks. Know them? Alternatively, OBOE has none.

Nope, try again, WWF

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 17:42:00 -0700

Since acronyms don't count, the reason SAE is accepted as a word is because it is 'so' in Scottish.

File under 'words you may only get to play once'

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Wed, 9 Sep 2015 21:37:00 -0700

Found (new) word OTD: DENOZ

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 08:18:00 -0700

EILLNRS thru ES

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 06:19:00 -0700

NILLERS* isn't a word...

Found word OTD: HILORSUU

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 13:55:00 -0700

URUSHIOL: a toxic irritant

New Word OTW: ACDGNOT

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Sat, 8 Aug 2015 15:44:00 -0700

CANTDOG: a stout lever with a spike (used for logging)

Unfortunately CANTCAT* isn't good.

7 letter word with two Xs: AEIMSXX

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 10:43:00 -0700

MAXIXES

my local club director tipped me off to this one. There's two other 7s and four 8s.

New TWL14 word/ hook/ AEMSY

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 07:01:00 -0700

SAMEY

lacking variety

Also: SAMIER SAMIEST

Fill-in-the-blank Quiz: EIOTTU?

noreply@blogger.com (scrabblepodcast) — Fri, 3 Jul 2015 10:37:00 -0700

TIMEOUT