Test your knowledge 1: Answers

Here are the answers and tips of test 1:

1.  COI - False - KOI is the type of carp and is allowed, but remember only pairs of vowels with C.
2.  BOS - True 
3.  BYS - True
4.  CAS - False - CA isn't a permissible 2-letter word, so always be skeptical of plurals where the singular isn't a word.
5.  COZ - True 
6.  CYM - False - the Welsh word allow under the C's is CWM, not CYM, but it's an easy mistake
7.  BAW - False - No W in Chalms.
8.  BUZ - False - No, BU only goes with B and R on the unusual words.  BUZZ however, is fine.
9.  COO - True 
10.  BRR - True 
11.  CAH - False - Be careful with front hooks that sound vaguely plausible.
12.  BEE - True 
13.  CLY - True 
14.  BAX - False - No, wrong on so many levels.
15.  CAZ - True

How did you do?  If you need to brush up, why not re-read lesson 3 and lesson 4. 

Test your knowledge 1: 3-letter words beginning with B and C

Which of the following words are permissible in the SOWPODS dictionary?

1.  COI
2.  BOS
3.  BYS
4.  CAS
5.  COZ
6.  CYM
7.  BAW
8.  BUZ
9.  COO
10.  BRR
11.  CAH
12.  BEE
13.  CLY
14.  BAX
15.  CAZ

See the answers here

Lesson 4: The 3-letter words beginning with C

Let's now turn our attention to the C's.  It's a shorter list than the B's, with only 49 members, but there are probably fewer that you instinctively know:

CAA CAB CAD CAG CAM CAN CAP CAR CAT CAW CAY CAZ CEE CEL CEP CHA CHE CHI CID CIG CIS CIT CLY COB COD COG COL CON COO COP COR COS COT COW COX COY COZ CRU CRY CUB CUD CUE CUM CUP CUR CUT CUZ CWM

I think you can safely play some of these without worry as they are such well-known words, namely:

CAB CAN CAP CAR CAT COB COD COG COP COT COW COX CRY CUB CUE CUP CUT

That leaves 32 less common words to learn.  Since C only forms one 2-letter word, CH, it is unlikely that you'll play many of these as hooks - but they are very useful for getting pesky C's off your rack through links.  If nothing else, make sure to know the CH words really well.

CAA CAD CAG CAM CAW CAY CAZ

CEE CEL CEP 

CHA CHE CHI 

CID CIG CIS CIT 

CLY 

COL COO COR COS COT COY COZ 

CRU 

CUD CUM CUR CUZ 

CWM

Some of these just need remembering, particularly the ones without a vowel as the middle letter, but CLY, CRU and CWM all have unique middle letters which makes it easier, and CH takes the first three vowels - CHA, CHE and CHI, so that's easy too.

A handy tip for remembering the C words with a vowel as the middle letter is that there are no mis-matching pairs of vowels (such as COU, or CAE) but CAA, CEE and COO are all accepted.  You have to remember that CII and CUU are not permissible either, but double I and double U are sufficiently rare for this to be easy. 

Then you can use vowels with abandon in your remembrance techniques for the C words with vowels as middle letters.  Here are some phrases that might help you to remember the unusual words.

CA: my wide gaze

CE: LP (imagine the Church of England releasing an LP)

CI: Digits (C and I are both digits in Roman numerals)

CO: Salty Zero (C homophone for sea which is salty, and O looks like zero)

CU: Drumz 

There's a lot to remember/familiarise yourself with here, so let's summarise:

1. Non middle-vowel six: CLY, CRU, CWM, then CHA, CHE and CHI

2.  Only vowel pairs allowed, so CAA, CEE and COO

3. Then the others from: My Wide Gaze, LP, Digits, Salty Zero, and Drumz where vowels are ignored.

Good luck!  

Why not try the first test:  Test your B and C 3-letter words here
Or move on to the next lesson:  Lesson 5: The 3-letter D words

Lesson 3: The 3-letter words beginning with B

There are 61 permissible 3-letter words beginning with B in SOWPODS, namely:

BAA BAC BAD BAG BAH BAL BAM BAN BAP BAR BAS BAT BAY BED BEE BEG BEL BEN BES BET BEY BEZ BIB BID BIG BIN BIO BIS BIT BIZ BOA BOB BOD BOG BOH BOI BOK BON BOO BOP BOR BOS BOT BOW BOX BOY BRA BRO BRR BRU BUB BUD BUG BUM BUN BUR BUS BUT BUY BYE BYS

However, I am assuming that most native speakers of English are very comfortable with the following words, and will not need to add them to their vocabulary:

BAD BAG BAN BAP BAR BAT BAY BED BEE BEG BET BIB BID BIG BIN BIT BOB BOG BOO BOP BOW BOX BOY BRA BUD BUG BUM BUN BUS BUT BUY BYE

Which reduces the list of words to learn to just 29:

BAA BAC BAH BAL BAM BAS
BEL BEN BES BEY BEZ
BIO BIS BIZ
BOA BOD BOH BOI BOK BON BOR BOS BOT
BRO BRR BRU
BUB BUR
BYS

Ultimately you are just going to have to learn this list.  If we try to introduce too many aide memoires at this stage the 3-letter words are just going to become jumbled.  However, I like to try to remember them in the format above, splitting the list by the second letter.

If you want to use a rather convoluted method of remembering them, then I use the following words/phrases, each of the letters of which can follow the first two letters given below:

BA:  Chalms
BE:  Ellen's YZ (since BEE is acceptable you can use all of these letters)
BI:  Soz
BO:  Dank Shirt (i.e. if you have BO you probably have a dirty shirt)
BR:  Our (imagine saying 'our' in a posh English accent; it sounds like R)

And then just remembering BU goes with B and R, and that BYS is on it's own at the end of the list.

Give it a go yourself.   After 5-6 runs through you should be able to recite all of the unusual 3-letter words beginning with B.  Congratulations!

Before you move onto lesson 4 - the 3-letter words beginning with C - try running through all of the first three lessons to cement them in your memory.

Next:  Lesson 4: The 3-letter words beginning with C

The 3-letter words in SOWPODS

Before we start the lessons to remember the all of the 3-letter words, let's first have a look at the whole list of 1,292 possible three letter words.

AAH AAL AAS ABA ABB ABO ABS ABY ACE ACH ACT ADD ADO ADS ADZ AFF AFT AGA AGE AGO AGS AHA AHI AHS AIA AID AIL AIM AIN AIR AIS AIT AKA AKE ALA ALB ALE ALF ALL ALP ALS ALT AMA AMI AMP AMU ANA AND ANE ANI ANN ANT ANY APE APO APP APT ARB ARC ARD ARE ARF ARK ARM ARS ART ARY ASH ASK ASP ASS ATE ATT AUA AUE AUF AUK AVA AVE AVO AWA AWE AWL AWN AXE AYE AYS AYU AZO

BAA BAC BAD BAG BAH BAL BAM BAN BAP BAR BAS BAT BAY BED BEE BEG BEL BEN BES BET BEY BEZ BIB BID BIG BIN BIO BIS BIT BIZ BOA BOB BOD BOG BOH BOI BOK BON BOO BOP BOR BOS BOT BOW BOX BOY BRA BRO BRR BRU BUB BUD BUG BUM BUN BUR BUS BUT BUY BYE BYS

CAA CAB CAD CAG CAM CAN CAP CAR CAT CAW CAY CAZ CEE CEL CEP CHA CHE CHI CID CIG CIS CIT CLY COB COD COG COL CON COO COP COR COS COT COW COX COY COZ CRU CRY CUB CUD CUE CUM CUP CUR CUT CUZ CWM

DAB DAD DAE DAG DAH DAK DAL DAM DAN DAP DAS DAW DAY DEB DEE DEF DEG DEI DEL DEN DEV DEW DEX DEY DIB DID DIE DIF DIG DIM DIN DIP DIS DIT DIV DOB DOC DOD DOE DOF DOG DOH DOL DOM DON DOO DOP DOR DOS DOT DOW DOY DRY DSO DUB DUD DUE DUG DUH DUI DUN DUO DUP DUX DYE DZO

EAN EAR EAS EAT EAU EBB ECH ECO ECU EDH EDS EEK EEL EEN EFF EFS EFT EGG EGO EHS EIK EKE ELD ELF ELK ELL ELM ELS ELT EME EMO EMS EMU END ENE ENG ENS EON ERA ERE ERF ERG ERK ERN ERR ERS ESS EST ETA ETH EUK EVE EVO EWE EWK EWT EXO EYE

FAA FAB FAD FAE FAG FAH FAN FAP FAR FAS FAT FAW FAX FAY FED FEE FEG FEH FEM FEN FER FES FET FEU FEW FEY FEZ FIB FID FIE FIG FIL FIN FIR FIT FIX FIZ FLU FLY FOB FOE FOG FOH FON FOP FOR FOU FOX FOY FRA FRO FRY FUB FUD FUG FUM FUN FUR

GAB GAD GAE GAG GAL GAM GAN GAP GAR GAS GAT GAU GAY GED GEE GEL GEM GEN GEO GET GEY GHI GIB GID GIE GIF GIG GIN GIO GIP GIS GIT GJU GNU GOA GOB GOD GOE GON GOO GOR GOS GOT GOV GOX GOY GUB GUE GUL GUM GUN GUP GUR GUS GUT GUV GUY GYM GYP

HAD HAE HAG HAH HAJ HAM HAN HAO HAP HAS HAT HAW HAY HEH HEM HEN HEP HER HES HET HEW HEX HEY HIC HID HIE HIM HIN HIP HIS HIT HMM HOA HOB HOC HOD HOE HOG HOH HOI HOM HON HOO HOP HOS HOT HOW HOX HOY HUB HUE HUG HUH HUI HUM HUN HUP HUT HYE HYP

ICE ICH ICK ICY IDE IDS IFF IFS IGG ILK ILL IMP INK INN INS ION IOS IRE IRK ISH ISM ISO ITA ITS IVY IWI

JAB JAG JAI JAK JAM JAP JAR JAW JAY JEE JET JEU JEW JIB JIG JIN JIZ JOB JOE JOG JOL JOR JOT JOW JOY JUD JUG JUN JUS JUT

KAB KAE KAF KAI KAK KAM KAS KAT KAW KAY KEA KEB KED KEF KEG KEN KEP KET KEX KEY KHI KID KIF KIN KIP KIR KIS KIT KOA KOB KOI KON KOP KOR KOS KOW KUE KYE KYU

LAB LAC LAD LAG LAH LAM LAP LAR LAS LAT LAV LAW LAX LAY LEA LED LEE LEG LEI LEK LEP LES LET LEU LEV LEW LEX LEY LEZ LIB LID LIE LIG LIN LIP LIS LIT LOB LOD LOG LOO LOP LOR LOS LOT LOU LOW LOX LOY LUD LUG LUM LUR LUV LUX LUZ LYE LYM

MAA MAC MAD MAE MAG MAK MAL MAM MAN MAP MAR MAS MAT MAW MAX MAY MED MEE MEG MEL MEM MEN MES MET MEU MEW MHO MIB MIC MID MIG MIL MIM MIR MIS MIX MIZ MNA MOA MOB MOC MOD MOE MOG MOI MOL MOM MON MOO MOP MOR MOS MOT MOU MOW MOY MOZ MUD MUG MUM MUN MUS MUT MUX MYC

NAB NAE NAG NAH NAM NAN NAP NAS NAT NAW NAY NEB NED NEE NEF NEG NEK NEP NET NEW NIB NID NIE NIL NIM NIP NIS NIT NIX NOB NOD NOG NOH NOM NON NOO NOR NOS NOT NOW NOX NOY NTH NUB NUN NUR NUS NUT NYE NYS

OAF OAK OAR OAT OBA OBE OBI OBO OBS OCA OCH ODA ODD ODE ODS OES OFF OFT OHM OHO OHS OIK OIL OKA OKE OLD OLE OLM OMS ONE ONO ONS ONY OOF OOH OOM OON OOP OOR OOS OOT OPE OPS OPT ORA ORB ORC ORD ORE ORF ORS ORT OSE OUD OUK OUP OUR OUS OUT OVA OWE OWL OWN OWT OXO OXY OYE OYS

PAC PAD PAH PAL PAM PAN PAP PAR PAS PAT PAV PAW PAX PAY PEA PEC PED PEE PEG PEH PEN PEP PER PES PET PEW PHI PHO PHT PIA PIC PIE PIG PIN PIP PIR PIS PIT PIU PIX PLU PLY POA POD POH POI POL POM POO POP POS POT POW POX POZ PRE PRO PRY PSI PST PUB PUD PUG PUH PUL PUN PUP PUR PUS PUT PUY PYA PYE PYX

QAT QIS QUA

RAD RAG RAH RAI RAJ RAM RAN RAP RAS RAT RAW RAX RAY REB REC RED REE REF REG REH REI REM REN REO REP RES RET REV REW REX REZ RHO RHY RIA RIB RID RIF RIG RIM RIN RIP RIT RIZ ROB ROC ROD ROE ROK ROM ROO ROT ROW RUB RUC RUD RUE RUG RUM RUN RUT RYA RYE

SAB SAC SAD SAE SAG SAI SAL SAM SAN SAP SAR SAT SAU SAV SAW SAX SAY SAZ SEA SEC SED SEE SEG SEI SEL SEN SER SET SEW SEX SEY SEZ SHA SHE SHH SHY SIB SIC SIF SIK SIM SIN SIP SIR SIS SIT SIX SKA SKI SKY SLY SMA SNY SOB SOC SOD SOG SOH SOL SOM SON SOP SOS SOT SOU SOV SOW SOX SOY SPA SPY SRI STY SUB SUD SUE SUI SUK SUM SUN SUP SUQ SUR SUS SWY SYE SYN

TAB TAD TAE TAG TAI TAJ TAK TAM TAN TAO TAP TAR TAS TAT TAU TAV TAW TAX TAY TEA TEC TED TEE TEF TEG TEL TEN TES TET TEW TEX THE THO THY TIC TID TIE TIG TIL TIN TIP TIS TIT TIX TOC TOD TOE TOG TOM TON TOO TOP TOR TOT TOW TOY TRY TSK TUB TUG TUI TUM TUN TUP TUT TUX TWA TWO TWP TYE TYG

UDO UDS UEY UFO UGH UGS UKE ULE ULU UMM UMP UMU UNI UNS UPO UPS URB URD URE URN URP USE UTA UTE UTS UTU UVA

VAC VAE VAG VAN VAR VAS VAT VAU VAV VAW VEE VEG VET VEX VIA VID VIE VIG VIM VIN VIS VLY VOE VOL VOR VOW VOX VUG VUM

WAB WAD WAE WAG WAI WAN WAP WAR WAS WAT WAW WAX WAY WEB WED WEE WEM WEN WET WEX WEY WHA WHO WHY WIG WIN WIS WIT WIZ WOE WOF WOG WOK WON WOO WOP WOS WOT WOW WOX WRY WUD WUS WYE WYN

XIS

YAD YAE YAG YAH YAK YAM YAP YAR YAW YAY YEA YEH YEN YEP YES YET YEW YEX YGO YID YIN YIP YOB YOD YOK YOM YON YOS YOU YOW YUG YUK YUM YUP YUS

ZAG ZAP ZAS ZAX ZEA ZED ZEE ZEK ZEL ZEP ZEX ZHO ZIG ZIN ZIP ZIT ZIZ ZOA ZOL ZOO ZOS ZUZ ZZZ

This is going to be a much bigger job than learning the two letter words, but do not fear.  You probably already know between a third and half of the words above with enough confidence to play them anyway.  Which means that we need to learn a new 600-800 words - a big task, but by no means impossible.

Also, there's nothing that says we have to start by learning the 3-letter words beginning with A.  I found this was one of the harder letters to learn, so lesson 3 will focus on learning those beginning with B. 

Lesson 2: Learning the 2-letter words - the vowels

In the last lesson we learned all of the two letter words that begin with a consonant.  In this lesson we cover off the remaining two letter words, namely:

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY
EA ED EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX
ID IF IN IO IS IT
OB OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OO OP OR OS OU OW OX OY
UG UH UM UN UP UR US UT

We will tackle these through the use of mnemonics, which means that you only need to remember five sentences rather than all of the two letter words.  Each letter can be paired with any of the letters in the sentence after it below:

A:  A Shrewd Lynx Might Bite
E:  Fresh Dental Exam
I:  Not Foods
O:  Wind up my fresh box
U:  A Posh Person Might (be described as U - but this bit doesn't count!)*

*In English social commentary, the upper classes are referred to as U, as explained at this link. 

Crucially, you have to remember that for the U you ignore the vowels.

You can make up your own mnenomics if that is easier - I find that after using these for a few games they became quite natural and not as weird as they are on first reading.

With lessons 1 and 2 you should now know all of the 124 2-letter words in the SOWPODS dictionary.  Practice running through all of the eligible words whenever you get a spare few minutes, and before you know it these words will be second nature.

Next up - 3-letter words, a whole new challenge!

Full list of 3-letter words
Lesson 3: 3-letter words beginning with B

Lesson 1: Learning the 2-letter words - the consonants

Learning all of the two letter words is the most important and therefore first lesson anyone should undertake to improve their scrabble.  Many more plays can be made by attaching a play to an existing word using a two letter link, which gives more scope for play and (particularly when the two letter play contains a high value letter such as J, Q, X or Z) considerably more points per turn.

There are 124 two letter words that are permissible in the SOWPODS dictionary.   They are:

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

You could, of course, just learn this list by rote.  It takes some time, but this is how most scrabble players approach the 2-letter words.

However, I prefer to break the problem into two parts.  Notice that there are many words beginning with A, E, I, O, and U.  Each of the consonants starts a relatively small set of letters, but there are of course more consonants than vowels.  We will therefore split learning the 2-letter words into two lessons:

- Learning the consonants
- Learning the vowels

Lesson 1:  Learning the consonants

If we remove the words beginning with a vowel we are left with 66 words, almost exactly half of the original list:

BA BE BI BO BY CH DA DE DI DO FA FE FY GI GO GU HA HE HI HM HO JA JO KA KI KO KY LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU NY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO ST TA TE TI TO WE WO XI XU YA YE YO YU ZA ZO

The key to learning this list is to notice patterns between certain letters - and that these patterns are split into 'vowel pairs' and 'non-vowel special words'. 

Pattern 1:  B, D, H, P, T

B, D, H, P and T are five letters that take A, E, I, and O, but do not take U.   We also have to remember that BY and HM are non-vowel special words in this set.  (note that no other consonant takes A, E, I, and O but not U - this is true of all patterns)

Pattern 2:  The New York Pattern (N, Y)

N and Y take A, E, O and U, but not I.  We also have to remember the non-vowel special word NY - but this is easy as it is the two letters in the pattern!

Pattern 3:  The Kilo pattern (K, L)

K and L take A, I, and O, but not E or U.  Also remember the non-vowel special word KY.  I like to remember 'a kilo of jelly'...

Pattern 4:  The choir one-offs (CH, QI, RE)

There is only one word beginning with C, Q and R, which are CH, QI and RE.  I remember this as the choir rule, as CHQIRE looks (and I imagine sounds) a bit like choir.

Pattern 5:  Mummy takes all

M goes with all the vowels, and also takes MM and MY as non-vowel special words.  Note that all the pairs in the word MUMMY (MU, UM, MM, MY) are allowed.

Pattern 6:  The power pairs (plus W)

Power tiles J, X and Z, and the letter W all give two options and only two.   You will have to learn them, but once you know there are only two, you can work it out more easily.  The words in this set are JA, JO, XI, XU, ZA, ZO, WE and WO.

Pattern 7:  F and G complements

F and G share the vowels in order;  F takes A and E;  G then takes I, O and U.  We also need to remember FY.

Pattern 8:  The awkward S

S doesn't fit any of the obvious patterns above, so one has to just learn SH, SI, SO, and ST

Once you've learned these patterns, practice running through the alphabet, skipping the vowels, to state which pattern each letter sits in, and then reel off the permissible words.  I found that within a couple of hours I had mastered this list. Good luck!

Next up - Lesson 2: the 2-letter vowels