Review: The Scrabble Word-Building Book

The subtitle for The Scrabble Word-Building Book (compiled by Saleem Ahmed) is "The Scrabble Player's Winning Edge!" (And note also that Scrabble should have a little trademark R symbol, but my blogging software doesn't seem to support that symbol).

This book is 705 pages long, and since it was revised and updated in 2007 (from its initial publishing date of 2001), it is a little bit out of date when you consider the 5,000 new words that were put into The Dictionary in August 2014.

But it is an excellent book for all that.

The book is divided into three sections - 2-letter words (missing the four new ones, PO (slang for toilet, TE (alternate spelling of TI, a musical note), DA (Welsh slang for father) and GI (a martial arts uniform), 3-letter words, and 4 letter words and onward.

For each letter (in the 2-letter section) and each 2-letters (in the three letter-word section), all the combinations of words are given.  (No definitions, mark you, just the words themselves.)

Starting with Section III: The Main List, the book starts once again with the letter A, and goes through and gives words that can be created by adding a letter to the beginning of a word or its end, if any.

For example, when you put a K in front of ABAKA (a Philipine plant,) you get KABAKA - a Ugandan ruler.

When you put a B in front of ABAS (two or more sleeveless garments worn by Arabs) you get BABAS, (two or more rum cakes).

A lot of the words simply add plurals, but at least half if not more have more than one word added on to them.

For example, RUB will yield DRUB, GRUB, RUBE, RUBS and RUBY.

SHOO will give SHOOK, SHOOL (to shovel), SHOON (a plural of shoe (presumably in Scotland!)), SHOOS and SHOOT.

It's a good book to browse through on a regular basis, therefore, to open up your thoughts to words that you can build off ones that are already on the board.