How WWF scoring differs from Scrabble
Words With Friends prices its tiles differently from Scrabble, and that changes which play is best. The big differences: J is 10 instead of 8. B, C and F are 4. G is 3 instead of 2. H drops to 3 from 4. U is worth 2. In practice WWF is kinder to vowel-heavy racks and pays more for hard consonants. So the best WWF play from a rack is often a different word than the best Scrabble play, which is the whole reason this page exists next to the Scrabble finder. Same search, different order.
Worked example
Take the letters C H U N T E Y. CHUTNEY scores 15 face points in Scrabble and 17 in Words With Friends, because C is worth one more and Y keeps its value. Rack by rack the gaps add up. Words that lean on J, C or B climb the WWF rankings; words heavy on H slide down. If you play both games, run your rack through both finders. The answer differs more often than you'd guess.
WWF-specific strategy
The board is different too. WWF puts its bonus squares in other spots, and you can reach a triple-letter square from the first move. That makes short, heavy words like JO, QI and ZA worth a lot early. WWF's dictionary is a bit looser than tournament Scrabble lists, and the game lets you test a word before you commit with no penalty. So use this finder to come up with candidates and let the game be the referee. One habit worth keeping: don't dump all your vowels for a so-so score. It usually costs you the next two turns.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the ranking different from the Scrabble page?
Only the point values differ — the same words are found, then sorted by WWF's tile values instead of Scrabble's. A word can be 3rd here and 1st there.
Does this use the official WWF dictionary?
No — it uses the public-domain ENABLE list, which overlaps heavily but not perfectly. WWF accepts some words ENABLE lacks (and vice versa); the in-game test-play feature is the final referee.
How do I handle blanks?
Enter ? for each blank tile. Blanks score zero in WWF just as in Scrabble, but they routinely unlock the highest-scoring play on the board.