Mathematics Teacher Crowned UK Scrabble Champion: Discover the Keywords

A maths teacher was recently crowned the UK’s female Scrabble champion, beating her opponents by more than 1,000 points.

Natalie Zolty bested Scrabble grandmaster Gary Oliver by playing the word ‘zendiks’, which translates to heretics or unbelievers.

At 61 years old, Natalie won the main division during the UK Open competition held on January 9 in Reading, England, after triumphing in 12 of the 15 games played.

Despite admitting that she doesn’t know the meaning of many of the words she wins, Natalie spends hours a day learning thousands of words from the dictionary and practicing 500 anagrams while watching television.

Now, he’s shared his top tips for novice players looking to advance to the master level, and it all starts with simple two-letter words.

In the sixth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 107 acceptable two-letter words are listed. (See the top 10 below…)

“It’s not very difficult to learn them all,” said the teacher from Solihull, West Midlands.

“Some sound strange and wonderful. Things like Xi and Za, so learn those two-letter words and you’ll be surprised how many points you can rack up.”

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Natalie started this hobby on Facebook about 17 years ago and now hopes to get more women competing after noticing a clear male dominance in recent competitions.

“I was really passionate about it. There is a lot of word learning and studying,” said the mother of one when speaking to news agency SWNS. “You basically learn the entire dictionary, but you learn it in the way that has the most value in a game: which words generate the most points.

Read Natalie’s tips and top 2-letter words below:

“Always keep some one-point letters because you can opt for a bonus, where you use all seven tiles which gives you 50 extra points.

“Scrabble players who play at a high level try to do that two or three times a game. I average about two and a half bonuses a game.

“There is also an option each turn where you can swap letters and give up a turn. This scares a lot of players and they will try to move on, but don’t be afraid to swap some tiles if you’re really having trouble with your letters.

“Sometimes, even if you play a word, you’ll end up with terrible letters on your music stand and won’t win anything. There’s no point in continuing with horrible letters, it’ll only get worse.”

“Also, keep single-point letters on your lectern. People think they are not worth much, but they combine to form valuable words. We call them roots.

“Another thing to keep in mind are what we call hooks. A hook is a letter that can be added to the beginning or end of a word to form another word.

“Like a s at the end to make a plural, that’s pretty simple. You could add a s at the end of princes to make princess or one h at the beginning of airline to make hair. But sometimes they can be a little less obvious to spot.

“When someone plays a word, think about what they could add to the beginning or end of it and you might surprise them.

TOP 2 LETTER WORDS IN SCRABBLE

FOR (11)

QI (11)

AX (9)

XU (9)

XI (9)

JO (9)

EX (9)

OX (9)

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“Only men have won the world championships. I think women are a little less competitive than men. Maybe they have a lot less free time.

“But I really wish more women would try it, even if it’s just to play. It’s great for your brain and to keep you thinking.”