Aye Aye Aye

When Carmen Miranda sang “Aye Aye Aye I like you very much” it is safe to say she wasn’t singing about scrabble or having multiple numbers of that particular letter.

However sometimes you can even find a bingo with three I’s. Just to show you how generous I am I will even give you two blanks and an S

See how you go with the rack: ? ? I I I M S

There are actually 6 different bingos you can play, but anyone except A graders should be very happy if they can just find one. As usual the answers are at the bottom of the blog.

Playing a bingo with 3 I’s is possible, but the most usual thing to do when you get that unfortunate triple is to play a 4 or 5 letter word that includes two of them. Hopefully that will give you a more balanced rack at your next turn.

The following is my selection of some words you might not have known and are a good way to dispose of a couple of I’s.

BIDI A hand rolled cigarette

IXIA A flowering plant of South Africa

DIXI Latin for “I have spoken” Extends to DIXIE or DIXIT, but does not take S

HILI Plural of HILUM, a scar on a seed from where it was joined to the stalk

MIHI A ceremonial Maori greeting

HIOI A New Zealand plant of the mint family

PIKI Thin blue cornmeal bread

INTI The monetary unit of Peru

MIRI Russian peasant commune. Extends to MIRID or MIRIN but does not take S

TIPI Native American tent. Also spelled TEPEE and TEEPEE.

TITI A small South American monkey

AALII A tropical tree

AMICI Plural of AMICUS, which is an expert witness

ACINI Plural of ACINUS, a small saclike division of a gland

ATIGI A kind of coat worn in Canada. Can also be spelled ARTIGI

ARIKI The firstborn of a notable Maori family

MILIA A small whitish skin lump caused by the blockage of a sebaceous gland

IMARI Japanese porcelain, usually richly decorated in red, green and blue

BIFID Divided into two parts. Can only be extended to BIFIDA

GIBLI A hot desert wind. Can also be spelled GHIBLI

BINIT A unit of computer information

CEILI An informal gathering with music and dancing

RIDIC Slang for ridiculous. Takes a front hook to make IRIDIC

TEIID A tropical American lizard

DINIC A remedy for dizziness

REIKI A Japanese form of massage therapy

TIYIN The monetary unit of Uzbekistan

YITIE A bird, also called a yellowhammer

NITID Bright or shining

INDRI A short-tailed lemur of Madagascar

VINIC Derived from wine

FICIN A protein dissolving enzyme which is isolated from the latex of figs

FIRIE Australian slang for a firefighter

DILLI An Australian aboriginal bag made of woven grass fibre

VILLI Plural of VILLUS which is soft velvety hair or fur

ZIMBI A cowrie shell that is used as money

That was by no means an exhaustive list. There are plenty more words to be learned another day, but hopefully you found something in today’s offering which will prove useful to you.

So how did you go with the quiz at the top of the page? If you found even one word I think you have done well.

MINISKI A short ski.

SAIMIRI A squirrel monkey

BIMINIS A BIMINI is an awning for a yacht

MIRITIS A MIRITI is a particular sort of palm tree

SIMIOID Being like an ape

DIVISIM A Latin term meaning separated

I will grant you that was not easy, but hopefully you have added a few more words to your scrabble playing arsenal. It seems to me that I have seen the word BIKINI played quite a few times by players of a variety of standards. There is only one K in the bag and twice as many M’s. I am sure there must have been a few chances to play BIMINI as well yet I can’t recall anyone playing it nor have I played it myself. Drop me a line and let me know if you manage to play it.

Happy Scrabbling Patrick