Get An L Plate for Front Hooks

Last week I scored 73 for playing FRIZ. While big scores with a Z are not uncommon, the reason it was such a good score was that it was a set up for the letter F. I had played LOOIE with the L just below one of the double letter scores at the top of the board. A bit of luck was involved in picking up the Z at the next turn, but the key to the big score was setting up the play of FLOOIE.

BLOOIE is also good and this combination is a good one to remember as it also holds true as front hook for LOOEY which extends to BLOOEY and FLOOEY

This week’s quiz is based on front hooks for words starting with the letter L. The following selection of words with 4 or 5 letters all start with that letter. They all take at least one prefix. A couple of them take as many as 3. Just write down which letters you think you could play in front of each of the following words:

LAER LADY LAIK LAMA LAUD LAVA

LAWN LAZAR LEME

LECH LEDE LEECH

LEER LENT LEUCH

LEUGH LIKE LOAM

You will know the meanings of most of those words, but there are a few you might not have known. LAER is to make a defensive ring of wagons. LAIK is a Scottish word meaning to sport or play. LAMA is a Buddhist monk. LAZAR is a leper or a person with a similar pestilential disease. LECH is to engage in lechery. LEDE is the introductory section of a news story. LEUCH and LEUGH are both Scottish words for laughing.

If you have taken your guesses at what prefixes you think are correct then you can move on to the answers

BLAER BLAE is Scottish for blackish-blue. That becomes BLAER or BLAEST

BLADY I hope you remembered BLADY grass from a blog 2 weeks ago

GLADY Describing an area with lots of glades

GLAIK A Scottish term for a flash or a dazzle

LLAMA A South American cud-chewing mammal

ULAMA The body of professional theologians in a Muslim court

BLAUD To strike or disfigure

FLAVA A special style flavour or feeling

BLAWN The past tense of the Scottish word BLAW meaning to blow

FLAWN An archaic word for custard

BLAZAR A type of active galaxy that provides more sources of radiation

BLECH An interjection expressing disgust

GLEDE Any of several birds or prey, especially a kite

FLEECH To flatter, coax or beg

SLEECH A mud flat

FLEER To deride by making a face

SLEER SLEE is Scottish for sly. That becomes SLEER or SLEEST

BLENT A past tense of BLEND, to mix together.

GLENT To glint

OLENT Having a smell

CLEUCH A ravine or gulch

PLEUCH To plough

CLEUGH A ravine or gulch

PLEUGH To plough

ALIKE Similar

GLIKE A sneer

YLIKE A Spenserian form of alike

CLOAM Earthenware or clay

GLOAM Twilight

If you find it too hard to remember all of the above then the one thing to hold onto that might teach you 6 words you didn’t know is that LEUCH and LEUGH mean the same thing and they make CLEUCH, CLEUGH, PLEUCH and PLEUGH

Happy Scrabbling

Patrick