In Scrabble, a “bingo” is what happens when you play all seven tiles from your rack in a single turn. The reward? A 50-point bonus on top of whatever the word itself scores. In competitive Scrabble, bingos regularly decide games — a single well-placed seven- or eight-letter word can swing the score by 70 to … Read more
Wordle took the world by storm in early 2022, and its appeal hasn’t faded. That satisfying grid of green, yellow, and gray tiles turned millions of people into daily word puzzle solvers. But one puzzle a day leaves you wanting more. Good news: dozens of developers have created their own spins on the five-letter guessing … Read more
The Q Tile: Scrabble’s Most Feared Letter Drawing the Q tile in Scrabble triggers immediate anxiety for most players. At 10 points, it’s the joint-highest-value tile in the game — but it’s also the hardest to play. The overwhelming majority of Q words require a U, and there are only four U tiles in the … Read more
Scrabble Is a Board Game, Not Just a Word Game Most casual Scrabble players approach the game as a vocabulary contest: whoever knows more words wins. But at the competitive level, Scrabble is fundamentally a board game where spatial strategy, premium square control, and defensive positioning matter as much as — sometimes more than — … Read more
The Best Free Word Game Apps Worth Playing in 2026 The word game landscape has exploded since Wordle proved that millions of people will happily spend their commute guessing five-letter words. In 2026, there are more quality word games available than ever, ranging from quick daily puzzles to deep competitive experiences. Here are the apps … Read more
Word Games Are the Most Effective Vocabulary Builder Most People Ignore Research in educational psychology has consistently shown that active engagement with words — forming them, rearranging them, scoring with them — creates stronger neural pathways than passive reading or memorization. Word games put you in an active, problem-solving state where every new word you … Read more
The New York Times Word Game Empire What started with a single viral word puzzle has grown into the most dominant collection of word games on the internet. The New York Times now operates five distinct word games that collectively attract tens of millions of daily players. Whether you’re a casual puzzle solver or a … Read more
Why 6-Letter Words Are the Sweet Spot in Scrabble In Scrabble strategy, 7-letter words get all the glory because they earn the 50-point bingo bonus. But 6-letter words are arguably more important to your overall game. They’re easier to find, more frequently playable, and often score just as many total points when you factor in … Read more
Drowning in Consonants? These Words Will Rescue Your Rack You look down at your Scrabble rack and see B, C, G, K, N, R, T. Not a single vowel. Your opponent just played a 45-point word and you’re stuck staring at an unplayable mess. Sound familiar? Consonant-heavy racks are one of Scrabble’s most frustrating situations, … Read more
When Your Rack Is All Vowels: How to Turn Disaster Into Points Every Scrabble player knows the sinking feeling: you draw your tiles and find A, E, I, O, U staring back at you. Maybe there’s a lonely consonant in there somewhere, but your rack is overwhelmingly vowel-heavy. Your instinct is to exchange, but that … Read more