# Highest Possible One-Word Score in Scrabble **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535 "2003-09-29T19:34:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/41 "2003-10-01T14:24:35Z")
Thank you, but the link takes me to “page not found”. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/42 "2003-10-01T18:20:26Z")
In addition to being a very useful Scrabble word, “qat” is a weed that grows in the horn of Africa and the Arabian penninsua that is chewed like tobacco to produce a mild stimulant / narcotic effect. It’s very popular in Yemen, for example. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/43 "2003-10-01T23:59:35Z")
Thanks **vibrotronica**. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/44 "2003-10-02T01:14:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robbbbb \* > \*\*Actually, I think it’s spelled “Kwyjibo” and it was Bart that spelled it. And its definition is “a big, dumb, balding North American ape. With no chin. And a short temper.” \*\* When my friends and I play Scrabble, if anyone can actually use “Kwyjibo” they automatically win the game. (Also, there’s a SDMB member by that name - I always chuckle when I see his name and wonder how many other Dopers know what it means). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/45 "2003-10-02T03:08:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > **IIRC, “oe” is a whirlpool in the Faero Islands.** Close – it’s “a whirl_wind_ off the Faeroe[s]”, according to my 1978 edition of the Official Scrabble[sup]®[/sup] Players Dictionary, which contains brief definitions, but does not list _qat_ as an acceptable play. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/46 "2003-10-02T04:38:42Z")
Jeez Sternvogel–an OSPD from 1978? That thing’s an antique. See if you can sell it on ebay to some Scrabbleholic like me. It’s been updated thrice since then, and qat was one of the additions made in the 1980’s. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/47 "2003-10-02T05:33:05Z")
Does anybody remember how Homer bewails his inability to make a word in the Scrabble game while holding tiles that spell : O - X - I - D - I - Z - E - R Zenster (who commits ritual suicide if he scores less than 200 points in a game) ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/48 "2003-10-02T06:00:30Z")
I actually work on fos/jun, which are nuclear effectors (proteins in the nucleus which binds DNA and activate or suppresses genes) of many signal transduction pathway (in which an extracellular signal received on the cell membrane is transmitted down a series of proteins to the nucleus). If jun, is legal, you would hate to play Scrabble with me. This makes things like src, ras, rab, gef, map, mapk, mapk, mapkkk and hundreds of other gene names fair game. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/49 "2003-10-02T06:45:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Does anybody remember how Homer bewails his inability to make a word in the Scrabble game while holding tiles that spell : > > O - X - I - D - I - Z - E - R > > \*\* “How, oh how did I end up with 8 tiles in my rack?” ? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/50 "2003-10-02T07:57:35Z")
Edwino, are those gene names in the dictionary? They’re not? Then they’re not legal, are they? Thank you for playing. Bye now! B’bye. Bye! B’bye. You really can’t play scrabble unless you know the two letter combinations…using those you can make almost any word. You should see the scrabble n00bz freak when you play aa or ai. Or greek alphabet names–yes xi, mu, nu and pi are valid scrabble words. I also love the word “zo”, and its variant “dzo”. The real point getters are when you drop the letter X or Z on a double word score or double/triple letter score and make two words, effectively getting a quadruple or sextuple score. Oddly enough, I first read the OP as “highest possible one LETTER word score in Scrabble”. That would be 2 points, for putting A or I on the double word score on the first play. Of course, a one letter word is only possible for the first player on the first play of the game. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/51 "2003-10-02T15:55:06Z")
I dunno their dictionary, but if jun is in their dictionary, defined as in the link of **dylan\_73** , then a whole hellofalot of others are bound to be there. ras (Rous avian sarcoma virus protein) should definitely be in there – it is far more famous than jun. So should fos, the partner of jun. I don’t own a Scrabble dictionary so I can’t check. ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/52 "2003-10-02T16:59:19Z")
**AbbySthrnAccent** : Sorry about that link. I somehow snipped the “L” off the end. Should be [http://ag.arizona.edu/~lmilich/yemen.html](http://ag.arizona.edu/~lmilich/yemen.html) ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535/53 "2003-10-02T17:35:33Z")
Jun is the Korean coin, not the protein or gene or whatever. Ras is a word, but again, as an Ethiopian prince, not a biology word. You can get definitions to all the playable words in Scrabble at [http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/pl/page.tools/dn/home.cfm](http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/pl/page.tools/dn/home.cfm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-possible-one-word-score-in-scrabble/204535.md?page=2)