I play scrabble addictively online at www.isc.ro as well as on Scrabulous (in Facebook). Since I've been playing online, my ability to anagram in my head has increased enormously. This is probably due in no small part to the fact that I have played 6,400 games as UncleArly and 3,800 games as DJScratch (just to mention two of the handles I use on ISC) and I've just reincarnated as Banoffee (allowable word). Despite this, I still get accused of cheating from time to time - usually by people who have just lost a game. I don't cheat, I just spend some time learning the words that other players use against me, often looking them up afterwards. I also mostly play "Void" games which means you can try out words that you think might be right. The software refuses them if they are not acceptable in SOWPODS (or whichever dictionary you choose to use). Occasionally I play Single or Double Challenge games, where you cannot check the words as you play them. It keeps you on your toes!
According to Scrabulous ETAERIO is the most likely seven-letter word to get in Scrabble. It refers to an aggregate fruit, like a raspberry - which is actually lots of little fruits joined at their bases. Another likely word is TAENIAE - the plural of TAENIA which was an ancient Greek hairband. Some other high-probability bingos containing five vowels, in order of likelihood, include: AEOLIAN - relating to the wind (the image is of an aeolian harp - a harp played by the wind) OLEARIA - daisy bush AIERIES - eyries or eagles' nests DOULEIA - veneration of saints in RC Church AEONIAN - everlasting AENEOUS - brass coloured or greenish-gold AREOLAE - coloured rings around human nipples AUREOLE - halo ALIENEE - person to whom a transfer of property is made EUGENIA - plant of the clove family AEROBIA - organisms that require oxygen
Comments