In my sample final essay, I noted that “[d]etermining how to move forward with only consonants or only vowels—or nearly all consonants and vowels—serves as some of Scrabble’s best opportunities for creative problem solving.” Here I offer a list of possible solutions: twenty-five four-letter words with three vowels:
- aeon: a long period of time (also eon)
- agee: to one side (also ajee)
- agio: a surcharge applied when exchanging currency
- ague: a sickness associated with malaria
- ajee: to one side (also agee)
- akee: a tropical tree
- alae: wings (pl. of ala)
- alee: on the side shielded from wind
- amia: a freshwater fish
- amoa: a kind of small buffalo
- awee: a little while
- eaux: waters (pl. of eau)
- eide: distinctive appearances of things (pl. of eidos)
- emeu: an emu
- etui: an ornamental case
- euro: an Australian marsupial, also known as wallaroo, for being like the kangaroo and the wallaby; also a unified currency of much of Europe
- ilea: the terminal portions of small intestines (pl. of ileum)
- ilia: pelvic bones (pl. of ilium)
- jiao: a Chinese currency (also chiao)
- luau: a large Hawaiian feast
- meou: to meow
- moue: a pouting expression
Jane Lucas 