Sowpods Scrabble Tips

Scrabble has been implemented on the iphone - and it works really well. You can play against the computer (and choose the level of your opponent) or against a real opponent using Pass 'n Play. If they have an iphone, you can also play peer-to-peer using wi-fi. To play, simply drag your chosen tiles onto the board, which automatically zooms in, pinch and drag to zoom in and out. Useful options include "Best Word" which will suggest the highest scoring word with the current rack. You can shake the iphone to shuffle the letters on your rack - or just tap the appropriate button.

Yesterday I was playing real scrabble, with actual tiles. After playing in the virtual world for so long, the tiles and the board seem BIG. Anyway I was faced with an 'X' tantalisingly hovering above the triple. Could I think of a five-letter or longer word starting with 'X'? No. So here are the five letter ones: XEBEC, XENIA, XENIC, XENON, XERIC, XEROX, XERUS, XOANA, XYLAN, XYLEM, XYLIC and XYLOL. Easy when you look them up. There are quite a few six-letter ones too. By the way, Xenia is the way that pollen influences the formation of fruit as well as being the name of a harp player I know in Norwich. And Xoana are images of gods which have fallen from heaven (see above).

AIRIEST and STONIER are two of my most played bingos, just thought I'd say that. Ones I have only played once (so far) include JONQUILS, UNSTATE and KATYDIDS. Jonquil is another name for the daffodil or narcissus. Below is a katydid.