Some Effing Words

See how you go with these 7 and 8 letter combinations that all contain the letter F:

A – D – E – F – I – L – S

A – D – E – E – F – L – N

A – E – F – F – L – L – Y

A – A – E – F – K – L – O

A – E – F – I – L – V – Y

A – E – F – G – L – L – N – O

A – E – E – F – L – O – R – V

A – E – F – H – I – L – N - S

At first sight you might think this is a tough bunch of words. Actually I would agree with that. However this is one of those problems which gets easier once you get started. It is certainly possible that someone who initially thinks this is too tough might eventually solve all eight anagrams.

As usual the answers are at the bottom of the page

You might have guessed that F is the theme this week’s theme. So what do you do with too many vowels and one of the only two consonants on your rack is an F?

One of the words covered in other blogs is FILII, but if you have different vowels you might need to learn some of the following unusual words:

AFARA A type of African tree with straight-grained wood

FACIA An architectural band – FACIAE, FACIAL and FACIAS

FAENA A series of passes made by a matador in a bullfight

AFEAR To frighten – also AFFEAR

TAFIA A liquor resembling rum distilled from a lower grade of molasses

NEAFE A fist – also NEAFFE

FEARE A companion

FEAZE/FEEZE Both mean to unsettle

FAKIE A skateboard/snowboard move of riding backwards. Also FAKEY

FAINE To pretend or give a false impression

AFORE Before

FOVEA A shallow anatomical depression – FOVEAE, FOVEAL and FOVEAS

FEUAR The owner of a property (Scottish)

FOLIA The plural of FOLIUM meaning a thin layer – FOLIAR

AFOUL Entangled

AFOOT On foot

FOUAT/FOUET Both are alternative words for a leek

BOEUF As in BOEUF BOURGUIGNON. Beef cooked in red wine.

FEUED The past tense of FEU which is to grant land under Scottish law

FUZEE A match with a long oval head for outdoor use

OFFIE An off licence

FOGIE An old fashioned person – also FOGY, FOGEY and FOGRAM

FUGIE A fighting cock that runs away instead of fighting

FIRIE Australian slang for a fireman

WIFIE An endearing term for a wife – also WIFEY

FOLIE Madness

FOXIE A fox terrier

FIQUE A tough fibre similar to hemp

QUOIF A covering for the head

FOULE A light, woollen, smooth-surfaced dress material

FOGOU A manmade underground passage or chamber found in Cornwall

FUGIO A former one cent coin of the United States

Who would have guessed that FOGOU and FUGIO would be words of English and American origin? The FUGIO one cent coin was designed by Benjamin Franklin.

So, are you still having trouble with the quiz at the top of the page?

Have you considered that all the words contain the letters L-E-A-F?

Go back and have another try.

The answers are:

DISLEAF, ENDLEAF, FLYLEAF, IVYLEAF, OAKLEAF, LONGLEAF, OVERLEAF, SHINLEAF

The last one is unusual, but by that stage you might have had a good guess at it.

Those are the only 7 and 8 letter words that end in LEAF.

One last dream play to finish with:

LEATHER is quite a common word. Just imagine if it was on the board and you extended it to LEATHERLEAF, or even LEATHERLEAVES. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Happy Scrabbling

Patrick