A rack tells the finder which letters are available. A pattern tells it where those letters must go. You need both to describe a position accurately.
Seven letters, several anagrams
Enter RETAINS and set both length fields to 7. Accepted examples include NASTIER, RETAINS, RETINAS and STAINER. Each uses the same seven letters and has a base tile value of 7.
These are letter totals. A board placement may score more through premiums or cross-words. The 50-point rack bonus applies only when you actually place all seven rack tiles in a Scrabble (our version) turn.
A blank fits more than one vowel
Enter C?T, set the length to 3 and use C.T as the pattern. CAT, COT and CUT fit. Their base value is 4: C scores 3, T scores 1 and the blank scores 0. The substituted letter is underlined in the result.
| Letters | Pattern | Example | Base points |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAT | C.T | CAT | 5 |
| C?T | C.T | CAT | 4 |
| CATS | .... | CAST | 6 |
The pattern does not supply a board letter
Suppose you hold CT and want to play around an A already on the board. Enter CAT as the available letters and C.T as the pattern. Entering only CT will not return CAT, because the finder requires every letter in the answer to be supplied.
After finding a candidate, check which letters come from your rack. The finder does not know the board's neighbouring words or occupied squares.
Count repeated letters
LETTER needs two E tiles and two T tiles. LETR cannot supply it. Enter LETTER, or provide enough blanks to replace the missing tiles. A letter can be reused only when the input includes another copy or an available blank.
Require a particular letter
With CATS, lengths 3 to 4 and required letter S, SAT and CATS qualify; CAT does not. The required-letter field filters results. It does not add an S to your letters.
Try the rack before reading the answers
Choose Practise this rack to hide the result list. With CATS and lengths 3 to 4, try CAT, ACT and SAT. Each accepted word counts once. The target is three words, or the result count if fewer than three match your filters.
Open Word Finder. Clear filters when a familiar word seems to be missing, then check the game's accepted list.