Match Master Cheat Codes

[Filomeno Robles]

SCRABBLETo some it's just a game, but to me it's life or death. Well, not really, but it feels that way anyway. On a normal weekend, a game becomes much like Jon Thomas' "friendly game of death Scrabble."

Soon after the shutdown, Hasbro put up their own Facebook application called SCRABBLE Beta, and what was once Scrabulous is now Lexulous. Due to the lawsuit, Lexulous has changed somewhat from normal SCRABBLE; there's eight letters instead of seven and the board is arranged slightly different. If you're not into Facebook, Lexulous has their own website for playing.

Disclaimer: I can be pretty arrogant when it comes to SCRABBLE, so I'm not really a "master" - I just wish I were. I'd probably lose in the first round of the World SCRABBLE Championship, but that doesn't mean I can't help you improve your game. If you're looking to be the best player ever, I suggest you contact somebody like Nigel Richards.

XYSTER. AA. EXEQUY. HORDEOLA. Try using these in a normal conversation without attracting strange looks. There are thousands of peculiar words out there, each with its own peculiar definition, and there's nothing better than playing one on the board and confusing your friends (or enemies).

Now, these are all words listed in the OWL, which stands for the Official Tournament and Club Word List or Tournament Word List, which is the only thing I am familiar with. So, if you're an international player using SOWPODS, acceptable words may be different. Keep that in mind when looking at these tips, because I can't help you win something I'm not familiar with.

To play SCRABBLE by the book, you need to abide by a strict set of guidelines and abide by them forever, because you'll never improve if the rules become mutable. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. If you already know the proper rules of SCRABBLE, then by all means, skip ahead to the more interesting stuff. But for those of you who aren't familiar, these rules are just the first step to becoming a master. Knowing who goes first or who keeps score isn't important (at least to me), but the following five rules are the key to winning the game.

You cannot use proper nouns, acronyms, abbreviations, prefixes or suffixes during gameplay. Also, no words that require apostrophes or hyphens can be used. Foreign words can be used as long as they are in the SCRABBLE Dictionary and are common words used in English. This is a great tactic to trick your trigger-happy challengers.

If you use all of your letters from your tile rack at the same time, you get a fifty-point bonus, called a Bingo, but this only pertains to when you actually have seven tiles on your rack (three or four letters on your rack near the endgame does not count). This is one of the main keys to winning SCRABBLE, because it's mega-points and brings the most enjoyment.

If you deem a word illegitimate, you have the right to challenge that word, with a little risk involved. If you're right, the challenged player removes his tiles from the board and loses that turn. If you're wrong, they get all of their glorious points while you're stuck missing your upcoming turn. This works best with the SCRABBLE Dictionary in arms reach.

On Lexulous, you can choose to turn this option on or off when starting a game. On SCRABBLE Beta, this is not yet an option, which means you can play anything you want, just to see if it's a word or not. You won't get penalized and you can keep trying until you find one.

There are plenty of bonus points available on the board, like double letter, triple letter, double word, and triple word scores. Using them is the fastest way to achieving high scores, but once they are used, they cannot be used again. A simple way to remember it is if you can't see it, you can't use it.

The game ends once one player uses all of his remaining tiles on his/her rack. This is the one game where not everybody gets to finish, because only the winner gets the rights to that, not to mention the scoring incentive. The player who wins tallies up all of the points from his/her opponents' racks and adds them to his/her score. To add even more embarrassment to the losers, they get to subtract the remaining tiles they have from their score, leaving them even worse off. This is a great strategy to think about when nearing the end of the game, especially if it's a close one.

These five rules are the most important to consider, because each one is crucial to winning the game. If you're a master, you'll learn how to legally twist these rules with cheats and tricks to your advantage. Some might call it petty, but it could be the only way you'll win.

Most think it's all about how big your word is, but that's not always the case, although I do love my Bingos. There is more than just getting rid of your letters, and you don't have to memorize the dictionary either (at least not all of it, only some of it). Just like chess, there is a certain degree of strategy involved, and that's where the win lies. If you really want to be a SCRABBLE master, you need to learn patience, defense, and tactics, and all of the following tips and tricks will get you there. If not, well, I never actually said I was a master, did I? You just assumed that.

Without knowing these two-letter words, you'll most definitely lose the game. These two-letters can get you out of a jam, help you get rid of excess vowels, and give you building blocks for your next turn. If you're going to memorize anything, these are the 101 words to learn.

Learning the three-letter words can help you out just as much as the two-letter ones can, but there are ten times as many, so memorizing them is out of the question (unless you can actually do that). Just knowing a few key ones will improve your game. The following are the most helpful and unbelievable three-letter words, some look like acronyms and some merely look like hogwash.

When you're stuck with a Q on your rack, waiting, waiting, and waiting for that U on your next turn that never comes, it's a good idea to learn the alternatives. There are a total of 33 words that have a Q but no U. These words are a must-know, because the last thing you want to have left on your rack at the end of the game is a ten-point Q.

The best way to get that fifty-point bonus is to know how to manage your rack. There are an endless amount of words that end in -S, -ED, -ER, and -ING. When you look at your rack, this is what you're looking for. When you see them, push them to the right side of your rack and look at the remaining letters. Unless you have all vowels or consonants remaining, chances are you can hit a Bingo. Also, try and look for less common suffixes, like -LY, -ENT, -IEST, -FUL, -ITY, -NESS, -CY, -AL, -TION, and -ITE.

Aside from suffixes, look for the common prefixes and push them to the left side of your rack. Prefixes like IN-, RE-, and UN- make it on your rack more than anything, so use it to your advantage. Make sure you don't limit yourself to just these three, look for all prefixes you can use, like NON-, EX-, TRI-, PRE-, and MIS-.

Besides the J, Q, X, and Z, the blank tiles are the most sought out. These wildcards cannot be wasted on a simple CAT an MOUSE. They need to be considered as the steppingstone for your Bingo. Do not waste these! The only excuse you have for using the blanks for Bingo-less words are for high scoring possibilities on the red TWS or when you have a Q and no U.

Also, you can use the consonants on the board to get rid of those vowels. It's the easiest way to dump them. Let's say you have a rack that contains an A, E, E, I, A, E, and U, look for an open R on the board to spell ARIA, AREA, AERIE, EERIE, AUREI, or UREA. It's basically like exchanging letters, only you get points, too!

Some SCRABBLE players can simply look at a rack and rearrange the tiles in their head (that's me), but some of us need a little visual help. The best way to finding a word is to rearrange the letters on your rack. Eventually, words will form and pop out at you. Like I said, I do it in my head, because I don't want the others to see me think.

Exchanging is an absolute last resort in SCRABBLE. I think I've done it once. Only exchange letters if you absolutely cannot spell a word, or if you really, really just hate your rack. You give up your turn for this, so make sure it's a wise decision. If you're winning by an enormous amount, then sure, do it. If you're losing by an extreme amount, it might be the only thing that changes your luck. If you have all vowels, in could really benefit you to exchange. The same goes for if you have all high value letters that don't mesh well. Just keep in mind, the best solution is finding something on the board. Only use this option for emergencies.

You're so close to getting that fifty-point bonus, but only one letter on your rack is screwing you up. Well, give it a chance and be patient, don't force yourself to abandon it. Play that one crappy letter on the board, and hope that your future holds the tile you need. Always leave your Bingo possibility on your rack, unless you know it will never come to you, as in tracking (more on tracking later).

The best combination to get on your rack is RETAINS. The word itself is telling you to hold on and prepare for a Bingo. You can easily make a seven-letter word in any combination with these letters, and it's easy to even build an eight-letter word with the boards help.

This is the most common way to get more points out of your playable words. A hook is when you add a letter to a word already on the board, like turning RAVE into GRAVE or RAVEL. An S is the easiest possibility, like changing HOOT to SHOOT or HOOTS. That one letter gives you a chance to a build a whole other word in the opposite direction as the already played word. You then get all of the points for your word, plus all of the points for the already played word (minus the bonus squares that can't be used again).

Using the parallels strategy comes in handy when you have a bunch of low point tiles, like vowels. You simply look for a word that you can play parallel to another word already on the SCRABBLE board. This is a great way to get points out of nothing, because you score for each new word formed. To use this tactic, sometimes it's easier to try and build the word on the board and not on your rack first. Look at the words on the board and find a sweet spot, one with a high value letter or one next a bonus square that you can effectively use twice. Then, build your word from there.

3a8082e126