Whichever Way The Wind Blows

There are a few winds from around the world that have been given their own name. Anyone who watched the America's Cup held in Perth would be familiar with the fremantle doctor. Many other winds around the world have been given their own name and can be used in scrabble. Here is a list of the ones that have less than 9 letters:

BAYAMO -- Violent wind on Cuba's Southern coast

BISE -- A cold wind in Switzerland

BORA -- Violent Italian wind towards the Adriatic sea

BURAN -- Siberia and Eastern Asia

CHINOOK -- Warm dry wind on Eastern side of Canadian Rockies

ETESIAN -- Annually recurring NE wind across Greece and Turkey

FOHN -- Hot dry wind blowing down alpine valleys. Also FOEHN

GREGALE - A northeasterly wind in the Mediterranean

KHAMSIN -- Hot Southerly between April and June in Egypt

LIBECCIO -- Strong Westerly that blows onto Corsica

MELTEMI -- Northerly wind in the North-East Mediterranean

MISTRAL -- Blows along the Mediterranean Coast of France

MONSOON -- Southern Asia

PAMPERO -- Violent SW wind from the Argentinian pampas

SIMOOM -- Hot dry desert wind. Also SIMOON

SIROCCO -- Blows from North Africa to Southern Europe

SOLANO -- Hot dust laden southeasterly in Spain

ZONDA -- A hot dry wind from the Andes

By far the most useful one for scrabble is ETESIAN. However, sometimes the wind blows the wrong way and you cannot play it as a 7 letter word. If that happens look for the following letters to make an 8 letter word instead:

B -- BETAINES

C -- CINEASTE

D -- ANDESITE

G -- SAGENITE

M -- ETAMINES, MATINEES, MISEATEN, SEMINATE

R -- ARENITES, ARSENITE, RESINATE, STEARINE, TRAINEES

S -- ETESIANS, TENIASES

T -- ANISETTE, TAENITES, TETANIES, TETANISE

V -- NAIVETES

Useful knowledge. Not only is ETESIAN an unusual word, but few of the 8 letter words it makes would be dropped into everyday conversation

Happy Scrabbling

Patrick