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Thursday, August 21, 2014

DNA Lexicon of Scrabble is Morphing

As an old dog playing Scrabble in tournament play since the mid '90's, I am very sorry to see that the new OWL (Official Word Listing) list in effect since 2006 will be changing at the end of the year.  Over 5,000 new words will be added.  Sigh...this old dog is rolling over.  Even more information to try to pack in between brain neurons and synapses.

According to a well written post here, the new acceptable two letter words are not just baby talk.  The four two letter words that will be allowed in tournament play effective December 1, 2014, DA GI PO TE, are going to change tournament play.

Just for your information, here is the existing list of acceptable two letter words, with thanks to The Phrontistery.  (He has an extensive listing of Scrabble words for cloth and fabric that is fascinating.)

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY 
BA BE BI BO BY 
DE DO 
ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX 
FA FE 
GO 
HA HE HI HM HO 
ID IF IN IS IT 
JO 
KA KI 
LA LI LO 
MA ME MI MM MO MU MY 
NA NE NO NU 
OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY 
PA PE PI 
QI 
RE 
SH SI SO 
TA TI TO 
UH UM UN UP US UT 
WE WO 
XI XU 
YA YE YO 
ZA 

To give you the full flavor experience in a small shot, these are the new three-letter words that are are back hooks for those new two-letter words: DAS DEP DOH EMO EST FAH GIF GIS HOM HOO LAH LOR MAM MEH MES MMM MOI MUX NAV NUG OIK OMA OPA ORG OWT PAK POS REZ SHO SIG SOC SOH TEC TES TIX TIZ UMS UNI YAS YER YEZ.

Wordologists are cleverly at work creating a new listing of all the new words.  Seattle and its Scrabble club are well on the way to creating their own list, but it will be a while before all of us catch up on a complete listing.  A new OWL dictionary is not yet  available, although you can buy an updated Scrabble Players Dictionary for non-tournament play.
(Remembering my 149 point play of "m-u-t-i-l-a-t-e" in 2009 in a Calgary tournament: post here.)

“It's not about the cards you're dealt, but how you play the hand.”

― Randy Pausch 

Leaving you with this mushroom under one of the trees in back, and wishing you good luck in whatever game you play!

5 comments:

  1. Gosh so many words I have never known or used! I am not a scrabble player, although I think I could be if anyone here would play! I hope the addition of the new words will keep the game fresh and challenging for you Nancy. Betty

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  2. OMGOSH. I've stopped playing Words with Friends. When I talk, I'm a regular old Sally. When I write, it's funny how I can pull out smart, intellectual words out.

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  3. OH NO! I have used a few two letter words before but that is TOO many to remember:) Enjoy your weekend dear friend! Go study your words:) HUGS!

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  4. Dearest Nancy, thanks so much for popping over to mine and leaving your sweet comment. The Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow but I was at the other side of the country in Edinburgh, where the International Festival was being held. Both worthy of a visit but I didn't have time to see anything of the Games in Glasgow this time around. Some of those two-letter words are very odd indeed. Good Luck with it all. Always lovely to 'hear' from you. x

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  5. Wow! So complicated!
    Who is that darling dog? What a cutie pie!

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