Do You Know Your German Grandmother?
The dictionary says that OMA is a term for a German grandmother. It is a common word to see on the scrabble board because it might be played when somebody hooks an O in from of MA or it might be played when OM gets an A put after it.
There is an alternative spelling for a German grandmother – OUMA – but that seems to be played less often. Anyway, this quiz is on how well you know your OMA and OUMA. In both cases the only letter to go after them is an S, but do you know what letters can go in front of those words?
The blog is about the letters you can hook next to 3 letter words with an A and an O such as OMA. Do the OMA/OUMA quiz now and you can see the answers at the end of the blog.
The first letter we will put between A & O is the letter B:
ABO is short for aborigine. No useful hooks except for an S to make ABOS
OBA is a West African ruler. It takes the usual plural of an S, but also:
B – OBA A contagious skin disease
S – OBA A Japanese noodle made from buckwheat
OCA is a tropical wood sorrel with edible tubers. It takes an S plural and:
C – OCA The dried leaf of a South American shrub
L – OCA The plural of the latin word LOCUS, a locality
S – OCA A variety of Caribbean calypso music
ADO is a bustle or fuss. It takes the normal plural with an S, and:
D – ADO An ornamental groove
F – ADO A Portuguese folk song
S – ADO A Japanese tea ceremony
ODA is a room in a harem. It takes a normal S plural, and:
C – ODA A passage at the end of a musical composition
S – ODA Any of a number of common sodium compounds
ODA – H Another way to express the plural form of the word
ODA – L A Scottish estate without a feudal superior
AGO means in the past, so CANNOT have an S after it, but can have:
D – AGO An offensive term for a man from Italy, Spain or Portugal
K – AGO Japanese basketwork
S – AGO A type of palm tree with a nutrients in the pith
AGO – G An adjective meaning in excited eagerness
AGO – N The dramatic conflict between literary chief characters
OKA is a Turkish unit of weight. It takes a normal S and:
H – OKA (Maori) The red cod
K – OKA A Judo throw worth 3 points. (Not very useful with two K’s)
OKA – Y To approve or pass
APO is short for apolipoprotein, a type of protein. It takes S plural and:
C – APO The head of a branch of the mafia
G – APO A forest that is periodically flooded
APO – D An animal that does not have feet or fins
OPA is a German grandfather. It takes an S plural and just one front hook:
D – OPA A drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease
OUPA is an alternative spelling like OUMA, but takes only the S plural
ORA is a plural of OS, (latin for bone). No S plural but LOTS of other hooks:
B – ORA A violent, cold North wind
F – ORA Plural of forum, a public meeting place. (Forums is also good)
G – ORA A white or fair skinned Indian male
H – ORA An Israeli dance
K – ORA An African musical instrument like a harp
M – ORA A unit of metrical time
S – ORA A North American bird of the rail family
T – ORA The body of Jewish law and learning
ORA – D Towards the mouth. (so does not take an S)
ORA – L Relating to the mouth or uttered by the mouth
AVO is a monetary unit of Macau. As well as the S plural there is just:
AVO – W To declare
OVA is the plural of OVUM so does not pluralise, but does have:
N – OVA An exploding star
OVA – L An egg-shaped object
AZO is an adjective describing compounds with nitrogen, so no plural:
L –AZO To catch with a long rope
AZO – N A radio-controlled aerial bomb
So finally we come to OUMA and OMA. The first has just one front hook:
D – OUMA The Russian parliament
OMA has a lot of front hooks:
B – OMA An African thorn enclosure
L – OMA In South-Western America this is a hill with a broad, flat top
N – OMA An ulceration of the cheek
C – OMA A spherical cloud of material surrounding the head of a comet
H – OMA A sacred plant of the ancient Persians
R – OMA A gypsy man
S – OMA The who axial portion of an animal: head, neck, trunk, tail
Those last answers are not in alphabetical order because I wanted to point out that a good mnemonic for remembering them would be BLaNCHeRS
Happy Scrabbling in 2019
Patrick