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At the end of recent Scrabble club evening there was a discussion about how to learn new words. Over the next few postings, we will share some of the tools and techniques anyone can use to learn new words. Everyone learns in different ways so pick the one that works best for you.
But first…there are over 118,000 words up to 8 letters long, which should I learn ?
Here are a few pointers :
i) All the 2 letter words. There are 124 of them
ii) As many 3 letter words as you can. There are 1341 of these, so there are a lot.
iii) Have a good working knowledge of the 5625 4 letter words.
iv) Learn how to form high probability bonuses.
For instance the six letter word RETAIN can be made into 70 7 letter words with the addition of 1 letter. Similarly, SATINE +1 other letter makes 95 words. TORIES +1 other letter makes another 70.
v) Learn a reasonable selection of 2/3/4/5 letter words that contain the J, Q, X or Z
vi) Learn words with lots of vowels in!
Etc..
Decide where your weakness lies and build up your learning in one particular area.
There are many published books that contain useful lists, the most recent is “Scrabble Trainer” by Allan Simmons published by Collins. The ABSP website www.absp.org.uk has some useful lists too.
There are also various computer software programs – probably the most well-known is zyzzyva. If you use zyzzyva, make sure you set the dictionary to CSW15.
In our next posting we will start giving you pointers to help you learn lists.
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Here is the last part of the hooks to the 3 letters words that begin and end with A.
What are the front and back hooks of AVA and AWA ?
?AVA
AVA?
?AWA
AWA?
Answers below :
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CAVA, FAVA, JAVA, KAVA, LAVA, TAVA
AVAL, AVAS
KAWA, PAWA, TAWA, WAWA
AWAY
So if you look back at all 11 A?A words, they can be used hooked to make over 60 4 letter words. Well worth learning!
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Continuing the mini-series for hooks to the 3 letters words that begin and end with A.
What are the front and back hooks of ALA, AMA ?
?ALA
ALA?
?AMA
AMA?
Answers below :
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CAMA, GAMA, KAMA, LAMA, MAMA, SAMA
AMAH, AMAS
GALA, MALA, NALA, TALA
ALAE, ALAN, ALAP, ALAR, ALAS, ALAY
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Continuing the mini-series for hooks to the 3 letters words that begin and end with A.
What are the front and back hooks of AHA, AIA, and AKA ie
?AHA
AHA?
?AIA
AIA?
?AKA
AKA?
Answers below :
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HAHA, MAHA TAHA ... there are NO back hooks to AHA i.e AHAS is not allowed.
RAIA AIAS
HAKA, KAKA, TAKA, WAKA and AKAS.
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The previous quiz asked for all the 3 letter words beginning and ending with A. The next few quizzes will focus on one or two of those three letter words to see what four letter words we can make.
What are the front and back hooks of ABA and AGA. i.e
?ABA
ABA?
?AGA
AGA?
Answers below :
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BABA, CABA, YABA
ABAC, ABAS
GAGA, JAGA, NAGA, RAGA, SAGA
AGAR, AGAS
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