A question about alternate spellings of accepted Scrabble words: For example, "aby" (to endure or abide) can also be spelled "abye." Supposing I place the tiles for "aby" on 1 turn and then add an "e" on a subsequent turn. Do I get full credit on both turns?
1 Answer
Presuming both spellings appear in the agreed authority (in case of a challenge), your example would be scored the same way as adding "s" to make a plural or present tense from a previously played word: you score full points including bonuses (doubles and triples) for all tiles played in the current turn, plus full tile value for previously played tiles you've reused (but without any doubles or triples, aside from "word" bonuses for the space the shared tile occupies, which apply to both horizontal and vertical words formed with that tile).
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Both words do appear in (United States and Canada) Hasbro's Is Your Word An Official Scrabble One? Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 19:00
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2@WeatherVane Okay, I was giving the full case -- obviously, if you do this and the alternate spelling you create doesn't appear in the agreed authority (say, Oxford English Dictionary, some specified edition -- or a particular edition of an official Scrabble dictionary, even), a challenge will result in loss of the turn. But I have no idea whether obscure words like those are in any particular authority. Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 19:04
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1@WeatherVane My Grandma, who taught me to play the game, always had a fairly thick Merriam-Webster on hand during her games with her best friend. Doesn't much matter what book you like to use, as long as you agree which before the game. Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 19:11
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1@ZeissIkon: One caveat - do not under any circumstances use the 1928 (or subsequent) O.E.D. Virtually everything pronounceable is in it, so nearly all challenges automatically fail. It's use makes for a silly game. Commented Dec 5, 2022 at 3:52
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1@ForgetIwaseverhere I'll try to keep that in mind... Not that I know many folks who'll willingly lift it... Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 12:02