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Short words, big scores

Strong players do not know more long words than you. They know every two-letter word, and it changes what the board lets them do.

Why two-letter words matter so much

Every two-letter word you know is a place where a long word can land next to existing tiles instead of far from them. Parallel plays, where your word touches three or four others and scores them all, are built entirely out of two-letter connections. There are only96 of them; it is the highest-value memorization in word games.

The ten highest-value two-letter words

  • ax (9 points)
  • ex (9 points)
  • jo (9 points)
  • ox (9 points)
  • xi (9 points)
  • xu (9 points)
  • by (7 points)
  • hm (7 points)
  • my (7 points)
  • ka (6 points)

Browse the complete list, with links to meanings, on thetwo-letter words page.

Three-letter hooks

A hook is a letter that extends an existing word: AX becomes LAX, ON becomes CON, IT becomes BIT. When you place the hook letter, you score the new three-letter word and your own main word in the same turn. Scan the 972-strongthree-letter list with hooks in mind: which of these are a two-letter word plus one letter?

Rack hygiene

Short words are also how you escape a bad rack without passing. Two vowels too many? Dump them through AA, AE or OE and keep drawing. A turn that scores eight points and fixes your rack usually beats one that scores twelve and leaves it broken.