Parallel play increases your score through the points you earn by spelling more than one word in a single turn. In the first play of the hypothetical game pictured above, the first player or team would score sixteen points by spelling enact with the t on the center double-word square. With the second turn, the other player or team could take advantage of the opportunity for parallel play. If the team knew that aa is a type of lava, they could earn twenty-four points with four words: whoa, he, on, and aa.
Aa is one of sixteen playable two-letter words beginning with a. Learning these two-letter words, as well as the others that follow in the alphabet, will enable you to see more options for play and increase the number of points you earn in a single turn.
- aa: a type of stony, rough lava
- ab: an abdominal muscle
- ad: an advertisement
- ae: one
- ag: agriculture
- ah: an exclamation
- ai: a three-toed sloth
- al: a type of East Indian tree
- am: the first-person singular present form of to be
- an: an indefinite article
- ar: the letter r
- as: similar to
- at: in the position of
- aw: an expression of sadness or protest
- ax: a type of cutting tool (also axe)
- ay: a vote in the affirmative (also aye)
Important Note about Challenges
If you think that the opposing team has played a word that isn’t permissable, such as a misspelled word or a proper noun, tell me that you have a challenge. I will consult the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary to determine whether the word in question is playable. If the challenged word isn’t permissble, the team that set it down loses a turn. Conversely, if the challenged word is playable, the team that called the challenge loses a turn.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, look to the Dictionary and World Builder pages on the Scrabble website, and review this post devoted to Scrabble tips.
Jane Lucas 