An Airbus for the Holidays

Having finished work for the year I was playing a game on the internet and a couple of turns into the game I had this promising rack:

A I R B U S ?

Although AIRBUS is a word the addition of a blank doesn’t make bingos easy to see. I did spot a 7 letter word after a few moments thought, but although it would go on the board it wasn’t in a very good spot.

The first turn had been AORTA with the last A in the centre of the board. On this turn the only places to play were putting the S on the end of AORTA or going through the A to make an 8 letter word with 2 A’s. the trouble with a 7 letter word down the 9th column is that your opponent will have comeback opportunities on the triple word score at either the top or the bottom of the board. Playing through the A would score almost as much and your opponent would get a much smaller score in return. Ideally an 8 letter word starting or finishing with A would mean that you could use the triple word score yourself. That would be the best option of all

There are 7 bingos of 7 letters with: A I R B U S ?

There are 3 bingos of 8 letters with: A I R B U S ? A

Most of them are tricky, so unless you are a very experienced player you should be very happy if you can find 3 of those 10 words.

Yes, you knew there was a quiz coming didn’t you?

Get your scrabble tiles out and play around with the letters if you have trouble just seeing them on the screen.

The natural world features strongly in this quiz. The 8 letter words are two animals and a tree and one of the 7 letter words is the plural of a bird.

OK. If you are finished here are the answers. 7 letter words first:

RIBAUDS Menials of the lowest grade. Loose, low characters. Also RIBALDS

SUBARID Somewhat dry

JABIRUS Large wading birds of the stork family

BURIALS Acts of burying

RAILBUS A passenger bus on rails

BARIUMS Metallic elements

ABITURS Final year school examinations in Germany

And the three tricky 8 letter words are:

BALISAUR An Indian animal resembling a long tailed badger

SIMARUBA A tropical American tree

BABIRUSA A large hoglike animal of the East Indies

If you got all three of those 8 letter words I think it is time for you to take on Nigel for the world Championship.

Just in case you were wondering…. HOGLIKE and PIGLIKE are both good.

Happy Scrabbling Patrick