6 letter word: N F I A G D

3 letter words
Aid
And
Ani
Dag
Dig
Din
Fad
Fan
Fig
Fin
Gad
Gin
Nag

4 letter words
Dang
Ding
Fain
Fang
Find
Gain
Naif

6 letter word
Fading

6 letter word: S N I I G T

3 LETTER WORDS
Gin
Git
Ins
Its
Nit
Sin
Sit
Tin

4 letter words
Gins
Gist
Gits
Nits
Sign
Snit
Ting
Tins

5 letter words
Sting
Tings

6 letter word
Siting

6 letter word: T N G O I U

3 letter words
Gin
Git
Gnu
Got
Gun
Ion
Nit
Not
Nut
Out
Tin
Tog
Ton
Tug
Tun

4 letter words
Gout
Into
Ting
Tong
Unit
Unto
Ingot

6 letter word
Outing

6 letter word: P E S S T U

3 letter words
Pet
Pus
Put
Set
Sue
Sup
Ups
Use

4 letter words
Pest
Pets
Psst
Puss
Puts
Sets
Step
Sues
Suet
Sups
Uses

5 letter words
Pests
Setup
Steps
Upset

6 letter words
Setups
Upsets

6 letter word: I D Z E P R

3 letter word
Die
Dip
Ire
Per
Pie
Red
Rep
Rid
Rip
Zed
Zip

4 letter words
Dire
Drip
Pied
Pier
Ride
Ripe

5 letter words
Pride
Pried
Prize

6 letter word
Prized

7 letter word: A R B E R E K

3 letter words:
Are
Ark
Bar
Bee
Bra
Ear
Eek
Eke
Era
Ere
Err

4 letter words
Bake
Bare
Bark
Beak
Bear
Beer
Brae
Kerb
Rake
Rare
Rear
Reek

5 letter words
Baker
Barer
Barre
Brake
Break

6 letter words
Barker
Beaker
Bearer

7 letter word
Breaker

6 letter word: O D I U S T

3 letter words
Dis
Dos
Dot
Duo
Ids
Its
Out
Sit
Sod
Sot
SOu

4 letter words
Dost
Dots
Duos
Dust
Oust
Outs
Stud
Suit

6 letter words
Studio

6 letter word: S H O D E J

3 letter words
Doe
Dos
Hes
Hod
Hoe
Hos
Ode
Ohs
She
Sod

4 letter words
Does
Dose
Hods
Hoed
Hoes
Hose
Josh
Odes
Shed
Shod
Shoe

5 letter word
Hosed
Shoed

6 Letter word
Joshed

Scrabble players read differently, researchers say

From CBC News: Scrabble players read differently, researchers say
Competitive Scrabble players process words differently than the rest of us, say researchers at the University of Calgary.

“Scrabble players have honed their ability to recognize words such that they have actually changed the process of reading words,” Ian Hargreaves, the lead researcher on the study, told the university's student news paper.

The goal of the study, the researchers said, was to determine whether the intense training techniques employed by players altered the way they read words.

“The average literate adult relies on three components to process and read a word: sound, spelling and meaning,” psychology Prof. Penny Pexman told the news paper. “When we studied the Scrabble players, we found that there is significant flexibility in the tools they use to read words and that it can include the orientation [vertical or horizontal] of the word as well.”

According to the study, Scrabble players were able to identify actual words over nonsensical words 20 per cent faster, an ability the researchers assigned to the hours the players spent studying studying the 180,000 words listed in The Official Tournament and Club Word List.

Betty Bergeron, who has been playing Scrabble for 11 years and took part in the study, agreed the game can sharpen word skills, but didn't think it made her smarter.
Strategy important

However, she added, her game has improved over time.

"I wouldn't say I'm smarter, it's just because the way we use the [letter] tiles," she said, describing the strategic way players add words to the board to maximize their score and minimize scoring opportunities for their opponents.

"When I first started I lost and lost all my games but I hung in there and hung in there and now I'm doing better."

Siri Tillekeratne, the head of the Calgary Scrabble Club, believes the competitive way the game combines word meanings and mathematics makes it special.

Tillekeratne, who also took part in the research study, is looking forward to October, when his club will host the 16th Western Canadian Championships .

6 letter word: C O E L D O

3 letter words
Cod
Col
Coo
Doc
Doe
Led
Loo
Ode
Old
Ole

4 letter words
Clod
Code
Coed
Cold
Cool
Dole
Loco
Lode
Oleo

5 letter word
Cooed

6 letter word
cooled

6 letter word: P I L Y C O

3 letter words
Col
Cop
Coy
Icy
Lip
Lop
Oil
Pic
Ply
Poi
Pol
Yip

4 letter words
Clip
Clop
Cloy
Coil
Copy
Loci
Oily
Ploy
Poly

6 letter word
Policy

6 letter word


5 letter words


4 letter words


3 letter words

6 letter word


5 letter words


4 letter words


3 letter words

6 letter word: U D A P S E

6 letter word
Paused

5 letter words
Spade
Pseud - a person of fatuously earnest intellectual, artistic, or social pretensions.
(A word invented in 1960!)
Pause
Dupes

4 letter words
Used
Sued
Spud
Sped
Peas
Pads
Dupe
Dues
Apse - part of a church
Apes
Aped

3 letter words
Use
Ups
Sup
Sue
Spa
Sea
Sap
Sad
Pus
Pea
Pas - plural of pa, more than one dad
Pad
Due
Asp
Ape
Ads

6 letter word: S T N O I J

6 letter word
Joints

5 letter words
Joist
Joint
Joins

4 letter words
Tons
Tins
Snot
Snit
Nits
Lots
Loin
Ions
Into

3 letter words
Ton
Tin
Sot
Son
Sit
Sin
Not
Nos
Nit
Jot
Its
Ion
Ins

6 letter word: E V S W E A

6 letter word
Weaves

5 letter words
Weave
Waves
Faves

4 letter words
Wees
Wave
Vase
Save
Ewes
Eves
Fave
Ease
Awes

3 letter words
Wee
Was
Sew
See
Sea
Saw
Ewe
Eve
Awe

6 letter word: R N N B E A

6 letter word
Banner

4 letter words
Near
Earn
Bran
Brae
Bear
Bean
Barn
Bare
Bane

3 letter words
Ran
Nan
Nae
Nab
Ear
Era
Bra
Bar
Ban
Are

6 letter words: R F S O T C

6 letter word
Crofts

5 letter words
Frost
Forts
Croft - a small farm, especially one worked by a tenant

4 letter words
Tors
Sort
Soft
Rots
Orcs - any of several cetaceans, as a grampus. (Also of ocurse, a monster created by JRR Tolkien)
Fort
Cots
Cost

3 letter words
Tor - a rocky pinnacle; a peak of a bare or rocky mountain or hill.
Sot
Rot
Orc
Oft
Fro
For
Cot
Cos - cos is a type of lettuce
Cor

'Harry Potter's Tom Felton, Daniel Radcliffe 'got heated over Scrabble'

From Digital Spy: 'Harry Potter's Tom Felton, Daniel Radcliffe 'got heated over Scrabble'
Harry Potter's Tom Felton has revealed that the cast marked the end of the franchise by playing a game of Scrabble.

The actor, who plays Draco Malfoy in the saga, told Lopez Tonight that he and co-star Daniel Radcliffe got "heated" over the board game after the wrap party.

Felton said: "They threw a massive party at the studios where we shoot. They built a carnival with theme park rides and things like that, so it was a good way to see it through.

"There was an after, after party, if you will, and we had a few of the cast members there. Everyone was expecting us to be popping Cristal [Cristal is a type of champagne] and all the rest of it but we actually played Scrabble until about two in the morning; Daniel [Radcliffe] and I got very heated at a game of Scrabble!"

George Lopez then joked: "So you and Daniel played Scrabble into the wee hours of the night?... You see, nerds?! Celebrate!"

Felton agreed: "Absolutely, it's one of the best games invented. I loved it."

During the interview, Felton also admitted that he hasn't seen his new movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes yet, joking that he was "very jealous" when Lopez revealed that he had.

"It's scary and your character is the best character in the movie... and there is no accent!" said Lopez, in reference to Felton adopting an American accent for the film.

"I went Californian for a few weeks which was fun," said Felton. "It was great."

Harry Potter is in cinemas now. Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5 in the US and August 12 in the UK.

Utica, New York: Local Scrabble star has top-class skill

UTIcaOD.com: Local Scrabble star has top-class skill

ROME — Chris Lipe’s first foray into competitive Scrabble wasn’t exactly what you’d call a success.

“I showed up, and I did awful,” said the 30-year-old Rome resident about that day at the Mohawk Valley Scrabble Club.

That was six years ago. Now, Lipe is unquestionably one of the best in the nation.

Earlier this month, Lipe participated in the World Scrabble Championship Qualifier in Akron, Ohio.

There, he placed second, securing one of three remaining places on the National Scrabble Team. (Prior to the tournament, 12 of the 15 spots were filled solely based upon the players’ national ratings.)

As a member of the team, Lipe will participate in the World Scrabble Championships in Warsaw, Poland, in October.

Recently, Lipe sat in a booth in the Denny’s on South James St. in Rome – where he practices each week with a local club.

And as he thoughtfully discussed his participation in tournament Scrabble, he folded his long limbs into impossible shapes.

It was easy to imagine what he’d look like behind a rack filled with Scrabble tiles, intensely planning his next move.

“I’m really stereotypical for a kind of person who gets involved in tournament Scrabble,” he said.

Lipe is a computer programmer and Scrabble is popular among his peers and mathematicians, he said.

But his first degree was in music (he plays the saxophone) and a good number of musicians play the game as well, he said.

Lipe said Scrabble appeals to him because of the game’s puzzling element.

“It’s about putting the right words in the right places,” he said.

Sounds deceptively simple, right?

Fortunately, “like any kind of puzzle, there’s tricks to solving them,” he said.

For example, tournament Scrabble players study word lists: two-letter words, words containing high-point tiles (J, Q, X, Z), words ending in Y, etc.

As Lipe described Scrabble strategy, he set up a custom-built wooden Scrabble board on the table. He drew his finger across the empty board as if envisioning tiles and explained simple techniques for greatly increasing scores.

Lipe said it is difficult to describe his overall strategy, as so much depends upon the factors from each game – the tiles drawn, the available areas on the game board, what words are played by the opponent.

But, he said, he considers a number of factors before playing a word – the primary concern being the number of points a move will score.

He also considers what tiles he’d like to keep, what tiles he’d like to play and what areas on the board he’d like to open up. But, he said, all things being equal, he will make a longer play and see what new tiles he’ll pull from the bag.

Lipe said he still remembers attending his first tournament in New Hartford. He performed poorly, but already had decided to participate in a tournament in Saratoga Springs the next month.

He recalled another early tournament where he studied his word lists during the downtime.

Lipe was self-deprecatingly funny – “You know, I’m not stupid,” he said – as he talked about those early days, and turned serious when he talked about the long hours of study that contributed to his success.

But, he said, he had “a certain level of strategic ability and being able to see patterns unfold.”

Across the board

It was Lipe’s hard work and determination that helped him succeed at Scrabble despite his rocky start.

And it was those qualities that led Jeremy Cahnmann, a 36-year-old player from Chicago and one of Lipe’s opponents, to call him “one of my favorite people to play against.”

Lipe and Cahnmann began playing seriously at about the same time and rose through the ranks together.

During this time, Lipe and Cahnmann were topping the list of the top 10 ratings-gainers – meaning they were two of the players advancing the quickest.

“Chris said, ‘I’m better than this. I’m smarter than this,’” Cahnmann said. And then, Cahnmann said, Lipe set out to prove it.

And in the two years after he started playing tournament Scrabble, Lipe rose from having one of the lowest possible rankings to being ranked “expert.”

Now, Cahnmann said, “he’s probably one of the 20 to 50 best players in America at any given time.”

While Cahnmann won’t be going to the National Scrabble Championships or the World Scrabble Championships – he described himself as semi-retired – he’ll be following Lipe online at both.

Cahnmann said while Lipe’s rating proves his ability – he’s currently rated at 1859, a level Cahnmann described as “rare air” – his attitude makes him a fun competitor.

Whether he wins or loses, Cahnmann said, Lipe is the player who you want to have lunch with or hang out with after the tournament.

‘Really excited’

For the Akron tournament in July, 14 participants played in 20 games over three days using the Harper-Collins dictionary, the official guide for international play.

“It has all of the words in our dictionary (The Official Scrabble Players’ Dictionary), plus about 25 percent more,” Lipe said.

The additional words come from English-speaking nations outside the United States. Examples might include South African slang or a bird native to New Zealand.

So to prepare for the qualifier, Lipe focused his energy on studying lists from the so-called Collins dictionary, “especially learning the short words because those are the most useful.”

The field included a former national champion and many former members of the national team.

Lipe lost his first two matches of the tournament and “threw a mini tantrum,” throwing his scorecard in the trash. But he was able to rebound and finish the first day with 2 wins and 2 losses.

The next day, things turned around – a combination of better play and better tiles, he said.

Lipe finished the second day with 10 wins and 2 losses. Fourth place – and the threat of not attending the international championships – was three games behind him.

At this point, Lipe said, “I’m joking around, like, ‘Why does the tournament have to be so long.”

And while he had shaky moments on the final day – even losing his first two matches – he eventually found solid ground.

With two games to go, both Lipe and participant Mark Kenas clinched their spots on the National Team, and their tickets to Poland.

“At this point, I’m just really excited,” Lipe said. “I’m thrilled to have qualified.”

He said he’s sure he’ll be nervous once he sits down to play – there are some great players coming from around the world – but “once I start playing and it’s the same game that I’m used to, I’ll be fine,” he said.

Boston Scrabble Tournament: August 4

From Woburn Patch: http://woburn.patch.com/articles/the-week-ahead-whole-foods-the-red-sox-and-scrabble
On Thursday at 22 Sears St, Burlington, from 12:00pm–4:30pm try your wits at a Scrabble Tournament. A three-round Scrabble Tournament will be held at the Burlington Public Library. Be sure you have pre-registered, eat lunch beforehand, and come enjoy some friendly competition with players from Burlington, Lexington, and Norwood.