KNOW YOUR 2 LETTER WORDS

There are a 109 2 letter words. If you are willing to learn anything specifically for playing Scrabble then these are the most important words to learn. They are useful to create parallel plays or for squeezing in a good play on a blocked board.

In fact you won't need to learn all of them, as 27 are everyday words like IT, IN etc., which leaves 82. Then there are interjections, contracted forms, tonic sol-fa and letter sounds which you will know but might not think are acceptable plays in Scrabble. These include:

AD, AH, AR, AW, BI, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, EX, FA, HA, HO, LA, LO, MA, MI, MO, OH, OO, OW, PA, PO, RE, SH, ST, TA, TI, UG, UM, UN, UR, YO.

That's another 36, only 46 to go now! You might even know some of these, for example OM (an intoned Hindu sacred symbol) or PI (mathematical symbol) but you'll probably just have to learn the rest. When you play with them regularly they will soon become second nature. They are:

AA, AE, AI, AX, AY, BA, BO, CH, DA, DI, EA, EE, FY, GI, GU, ID, IO, JO, KA, KO, KY, LI, MU, NA, NE, NU, NY, OB, OD, OE, OI, OM, OS, OU, OY, PH, PI, QI, SI, TE, UT, WO, XI, XU, YU, ZO.

All these words can be found in The Chambers Dictionary (1998 Edition) and in Chambers Official Scrabble Words both published by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 7 Hopetoun Crescent, Edinburgh, EH7 4AY. Telephone: +44 131 556 5929. E-mail: scrabble@chambers.co.uk Website: www.chambers.co.uk