Recently there have been quite a few changes to the dictionaries used in Scrabble and Words With Friends:
- Words With Friends have merged their US English and UK English dictionaries into a single dictionary
- For US Scrabble tournaments, the 2018 NASPA Word List (NWL) is now in use
- For US Scrabble home play, the 2018 Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD or “Merriam-Webster”) is now in use
- For US Scrabble school play, the 2018 School Scrabble Word List (SSWL) is now in use
I’ve now updated my Word Helper tool to allow you to choose from the above dictionaries (along with a couple of 2016 dictionaries which had slipped past me!)
[Edit: it seems the Words With Friends change has caused some confusion, so I’d better explain.
On about 13 March 2019, WWF released a new version of their app (both iOS and Android). In the new version, the US English and UK English dictionaries have been merged into one large combined English dictionary.
I presume this is to make it easier to play against opponents in different countries. You no longer need to choose the dictionary, and each opponent can use both US and UK spellings.
If you haven’t yet updated your app, you won’t have seen the change yet, so my update may have been confusing! But you really should update your WWF app, as your opponents will be using the new bigger dictionary, and until you update you’ll be stuck with the older smaller dictionaries and at a disadvantage.
I hope that explains it a little better. If you still have queries, please contact me!
There will also be a new version of the International Scrabble dictionary (Collins Scrabble Words) due out in a few weeks time. I’ll try to get an update out for that when it arrives.
If you have my iOS Word Finder app I’ll be updating that soon. I have to stick to Apple’s rules for app updates so it takes quite a bit longer to update!
I’ve also updated my Free Cheat Sheets, and will be sending an email to newsletter subscribers with the new versions. If you’d like to sign up for the newsletter click here. I only send about one email a year on average so you won’t be overwhelmed!
While you’re here, I’d like to remind you about my Scrabble Strategy book. It’s both entertaining and informative 🙂
Click here for the paperback version on Amazon
or click here for the Kindle version
or click here for the Apple iBooks version
I think that’s it for now. Let me know if you have any questions!
Richard
merging the two words with friends dictionaries is an absolutely awful idea. why have you done that? being able to chose between the two is the whole reason this is the cheat site i use. there is a much easier to view site that has the words split into how many letters each word is and it is much easier to navigate than this one, however being able to chose between uk and us english is why i chose this one. Please considering changing it back.
this was a terrible idea.
It was not my idea – it’s Words With Friends that have done this! I’m just updating my site to match them. They changed to a combined English dictionary about three weeks ago. If you’re still seeing two separate dictionaries in your WWF app it may be because you haven’t yet updated the app.
Thanks much, more points with the longer spelling of favourite, colour etc. Thanks
merging the English and American dictionaries for words with friends is terrible, as I play people in both countries, and you know what, they use entirely different spellings, please change it backs so we can select the best dictionary to use.
Words With Friends have already made this change to their app (if you’re not yet seeing a single English dictionary in WWF then you might need to download the latest version of the WWF app). I think it’s because people are playing across both countries, so the current version of Words With Friends now accepts both US and UK spellings.
I’m just changing Word Helper to match what WWF are using so you can get the best scores!
Awesome. Can’t wait for the iOS update.