Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Word Finder | Scrabble Cheat | Win Every Game

Let's face it — word games are always fun, but they're more fun when you're good at it. It's no fun being battered and sneered at time and again by a friend who's an expert at playing Scrabble, and if you're a non-native English speaker, you may not have the vocabulary skills to compete with those who have spoken the language all their lives.

In such a situation, it helps to have a cheat tool that can help even the odds. Something that will give you the resources to form words that you normally would not think of, or new words that you are not familiar with. That's where a Scrabble word finder tool comes in. We will show you how you can use Word Finder as a Scrabble solver, tell you all you need to know about Scrabble, and give you important tips and tricks that will enhance your Scrabble performance as well as your enjoyment of the game.

What Is a Word Finder?

A word finder is a tool that does exactly as advertised — helps you find words from within what is usually a bunch of random letters. Typically, word finders are configured to provide support for other similar word games. Therefore, whether you play Scrabble, Words With Friends, crossword puzzles, or any other fun word game that involves word jumbles, you should get good results from such a site. You can also use it as an anagram or word solver. For more details on how to get the best out of it, read our comprehensive guide (LINK TO USAGE PAGE).

What Is a Scrabble Word Finder?

A Scrabble word finder only finds Scrabble words — that is, words that are allowed in the classic word game. The Scrabble board game only allows words from the official Scrabble players dictionary, so this distinction is very important.

How Should I Use a Word Finder?

While some people give names like "Scrabble word finder cheat" to such tools, this doesn't necessarily have to be a Scrabble cheat. There's provision to use it as either a mere reference tool to check for the legitimacy of words or one to use after playing your turn to figure out what you could have done better, which can help you improve in the long run.

The History of Scrabble

Given its popularity, you might have been playing the classic board game since your childhood. But did you ever wonder where it all began? Who invented it and how it became the worldwide phenomenon it has been for decades? Here's what happened.

Inception

An idle mind may historically be regarded with a negative connotation, but for Alfred Mosher Butts, it spurred the start of something incredible. Living in New York in the early 1930s, he used his love for board games and crossword puzzles to come up with the idea for the game. It is said that he determined the number of letter tiles and their numerical values by considering The New York Times as a reference point. He would look at the frequency of each letter of the alphabet on the front page of the paper, and set values accordingly. Thus, a game — initially called "Lexiko" — was born.

Change of Hands and Renaming to Scrabble

Initially, Butts renamed Lexiko to "Criss-Cross Words," but after he handed the reins over to a man named James Brunot, the latter had the good sense to change the name to Scrabble. He also altered the color scheme of the board, copyrighted it in 1948, and began producing it en masse in 1949 despite the great personal financial loss.

A Lucky Break

The next year, departmental chain store Macy's began selling the game at their outlets after its president Jack Straus fell in love with the game. This gave the game a lot of clout in the market, and by 1952, Selchow & Righter had acquired the rights to produce the game.

Refinement of Rules and First Tournaments

In 1953, some rules regarding parallel words and bonus squares such as Double Letter or Triple Word Score were updated, and as Scrabble became a more popular game, people began contemplating the viability of tournaments. At long last, the first major tournaments — initially unofficial — began to take place starting in 1973. This also called for further fine-tuning of the rules, with parameters regarding who goes first, passing turns, and final tallies were solidified in 1976. Two years later, the USA hosted the first ever national Scrabble tournament.

Hasbro Acquisition and Television Show

By the mid-80s, fans of the game could be found all around the US, and that's when Scrabble was presented as a game show by NBC. Between 1986 and 1989, ownership of the game changed hands twice, with the game first being bought by COLECO, and later by Hasbro Inc. The latter retains the rights to the game to this day.

World and School Championships, Entry into Hall of Fame, and Online Scrabble

In 1991, the first World Scrabble Championship took place. This changed the complexion of the competitive scene, and after some rule changes in 1999, school championships were established in 2003. Five years later, Mattel published the first online Scrabble game, with competitor title Words With Friends appearing a year later. Today, Scrabble is enjoyed by millions of people every month — which is probably a lot more than what Alfred Butts ever dreamed of.

How to Scrabble

A game is only as good as its rules and parameters, and a timeless board game like Scrabble has a set that requires very good understanding for anyone to improve. While you may encounter (or even make up) a wide variety of house rules when you play with friends or relatives, the official rules are what's followed in tournaments, and that ruleset is the one I will explain below.

The Basics

As you probably know if you're looking up this article, Scrabble is played with 100 tiles on a board containing 225 squares. The objective is to get a higher score than the others by making the best words possible under the circumstances. But how many of each letter are there, what bonuses can be found on the board, and how do you win? Let's find out.

The Tiles

Among the 100 tiles, the letter distribution is as follows, categorized in terms of the points they are worth —

• 0 points - 2 Blanks
• 1 point - A (9 tiles), E (12 tiles), I (9 tiles), L (4 tiles), N (6 tiles), O (8 tiles), R (6 tiles), S (4 tiles), T (6 tiles), U (4 tiles)
• 2 points - D (4 tiles), G (3 tiles)
• 3 points - B (2 tiles), C (2 tiles), M (2 tiles), P (2 tiles)
• 4 points - F (2 tiles), H (2 tiles), V (2 tiles), W (2 tiles), Y (2 tiles)
• 5 points - K (1 tile)
• 8 points - J (1 tile), X (1 tile)
• 10 points - Q (1 tile), Z (1 tile)

The Board

Of the 225 squares, 61 give some form of bonus. That is to say, putting any letter (except blanks) on these squares will avail you of the corresponding bonus. Among these, there are 24 Double Letter Scores, 17 Double Word Scores, 12 Triple Letter Scores, and 8 Triple Word Scores. Of all these squares, the starting square is the only one that doesn't (on most sets) state its bonus explicitly. Once a bonus square is used, it will not count for any further connections through it. For instance, if someone makes the word "CAT" at the start of the game with the letter A on the Double Word Score in the center, the next player making "BAR" using the same A will not give them the aforementioned bonus.

Parameters of Making Words

Much like a common crossword puzzle, Scrabble tiles are to be placed in two directions — across and down. However, there are a few intricacies involved. You can only place words in one direction each turn, with any adjacent letters simultaneously forming words adding to your score. This is called "hooking," and the words formed are known as "parallel words." For instance, if someone makes "MOW" at the start, the next person can make "EWE" right under it, forming not just the word they made, but also "ME," "OW," and "WE".

Allowed Words

Any words that are included in the official Scrabble Dictionary are legitimate, though depending on the region you're playing in, that may change. Thus, it is important to decide on a game dictionary before starting a match. Foreign words (with a few exceptions), suffixes, prefixes, abbreviations, contractions, and hyphenated words are generally not allowed.

Deciding Who Goes First

Being a 2-4 player game, Scrabble needs an order in which players will pick tiles and play their turn. This is done by having all players pick one letter out of the bag before the start of the game. The player who draws the alphabetically earliest letter goes first, with the rest of the order going clockwise irrespective of what the others have picked. If two players get the same earliest letter, those two will have to redraw.

Game Start and End

Before the game can begin, every player must draw 7 letter tiles from the bag. The person going first must make sure their word touches the star square in the center, with all those coming afterwards having to stay connected to the ever-expanding web of words. Each time a player uses their letter tiles, they must withdraw an equal number of tiles from the bag to maintain a total of 7 on their tray at all times. The game only ends when either every player has used up all their tiles, or players agree that no more words can be legitimately made with the letters available to them and on the board, with a swap made impossible due to a lack of tiles in the bag.

What to Do If You're Stuck

It's not uncommon for players — especially newer players or children — to get stuck, unable to construct any words at all with the letters they have. In such situations, a player can either swap some or all of their tiles (when available), or pass on their turn entirely. In such cases, a Scrabble word finder might come in handy — showing you any possible words you may have missed. Alternatively, the pass option can also be used tactically. If you have a Bingo or possibility for high-scoring words on your hands and they don't fit anywhere on the board, in some cases you might want to wait until there's room.

Following the Right Rules

While following Scrabble rules might provide the most competitive way to play, the most important aspect of any game is the fun it brings. If you think altering some part of the game would make it more fun for all parties involved — such as allowing cheat tools for the weaker players — it's fine to establish some house rules for informal games. That being said, it is extremely important to make sure you decide on a specific dictionary to abide by. Word Finder comes in handy in both these instances.

Special rules you should know

Probably the most common special rule you need to know (I spent half my life playing Scrabble without this) is the fact that using all 7 tiles you have in one go will give you 50 bonus points (called a "Bingo"). Plus, if you place a letter on a bonus square and it makes a word in multiple directions, the bonus will work for both words. Similarly, if a word spans two Double Word Score or Triple Word Score multipliers, your score from that word will be multiplied four or nine times respectively.

Scrabble Tips, Tricks, and More

Now that you know the rules, it's time to delve a little deeper and hand you the tools you need to excel against even the most seasoned Scrabble players. If you consider yourself one, you might just find the odd tip that could give your game skills a boost.

Learn the Art of Hooking

Hooking, or creating parallel words as we have already explained, is usually the next best thing to getting a Bingo, and sometimes even better. For instance, in the example given, you have the tiles to make the word "SQUATTER" courtesy of a free R on the board. Making it will give you 69 points. However, there's a "KING" on the board as well, with a Triple Letter Score right above the "I." You can instead choose to make QUATS — an existing word in the Scrabble dictionary — for 70 points (with the hook producing "QI", "UN", and "AG"). In such cases, it's better to exploit the scoring system at the cost of word length, plus you'll have tiles left over to score even more with. Sometimes, even two letter words can get you more than a Bingo would. Scrabble is all about making the most out of the letters you have.

Make the Best of the Highest Point Letters

Under certain circumstances — especially early on in the game — you might want to hold on to certain letters for a bit. This can help you make the best of their high point value if a good way to earn big points isn't available immediately. These letters are also very rare, so using them right is essential. At the same time, unplayed letters will count against your score tally when the game ends, so you might want to

Always Be on the Lookout for a Bingo

An extra 50 points could easily be a game winner in Scrabble. Make sure to learn some new words ranging from 7 to 9 letters, and try to keep versatile letters at hand (most commonly D, E, N, R, S, and T). Keeping blank tiles is also a great way to achieve a Bingo. Blank tiles can be any letter you want, but they don't have any point value. Therefore, try to use them only when the resulting word or words will earn you big points.

Know Offense and Defense

You might associate the terms offense and defense with sports, but they exist in Scrabble, too. Offensive play involves going for Bingos and other high-scoring words, and can be a bit of a privilege you earn when you get high-scoring letters or potential Bingo situations. On the other hand, defensive play involves blocking off opportunities for your opponent to form words that would give them the edge by, say, docking with an existing word for low points. This is especially useful if you don't have a good hand.

Add Small Words to Your Vocabulary

Never underestimate the power of small words in Scrabble. Knowing certain two or three letter words can often come up clutch in a tight situation. These words are also easy to remember, and can quickly become a part of your repertoire as you play more games.

Count Letter Tiles

If you play card games like Bridge, you will know that counting can be essential. If you know the number of each letter tiles that are in the bag (you can even write them down beforehand and count down if you wish to), you can figure out what your opponents may or may not have, and create a game plan around it. For instance, since there's just one Q in the game, if you don't see it on the board near the endgame, it may be a good idea not to let an I stand free, as your opponent will lose ten points if they are unable to use the Q.

Keep an Eye on the Board

When you watch every move that's being made, you get to plan for your turn ahead of the fact. This will allow you to plan words and their backups well ahead, and give you a better shot at making hooks and Bingos, and using multipliers like premium word squares.

FAQs

If you have any other questions regarding Scrabble, here are a few common queries people have, along with their answers.

Who Decides What Words Go into a Scrabble Dictionary?

The Official Tournament and Club Word List, which go by the acronyms OWL or TWL, is the one you want to use if you're playing anywhere in the USA or Canada. These word lists are based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary. If you reside outside these regions, you would be better served by Collins Scrabble Words, otherwise known as CSW or SOWPODS. The latter acronym comes from anagrams of two different abbreviations — OSW (Official Scrabble Words) and OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary). This list is based on the Collins Dictionary.

How Often Are Scrabble Dictionaries Updated?

The dictionaries are updated every four to eight years. The most recent update caused controversy when a number of words — mostly slurs were deemed offensive and removed from the lists for the sake of political correctness. Many professional players protested against this, but the decision was upheld.

What Was the Highest Scoring Scrabble Word of All Time?

In 1982, Karl Khoshnaw made "CAZIQUES" to get the highest number of points — 392 — from a single word in the history of professional Scrabble. In second place comes Michael Cresta's "QUIXOTRY" with 365, while Jeff Widergren got 332 with his "DEFUZING."

What Was the Longest Scrabble Word Ever Made?

Four words are tied as kings of length in pro Scrabble: "DISCONTENTMENTS" by Ed Liebfried, "RECONSIDERATION" by Ken Clark, "RECAPITULATIONS" by Mark Nyman, and "INFORMATIVENESS" by Eric Chaikin.

Who Is the Current Scrabble World Champion?

The current Scrabble world champion is Nigel Richards from New Zealand. The last World Scrabble Championship was held in Torquay, England, in 2019, and it was Richards' 5th title.

Can I Play Scrabble Online?

Absolutely, courtesy of Scopely. Just type Scrabble GO in the search box of the Apple App Store or Google Play Store depending on what phone you use, download it, install, and play. Alternatively, you can also download Zynga's Words With Friends for a lighter, more slightly different version of the classic game. Just make sure you tell your opponent in advance if you're using a word finder tool or Scrabble solver!