Can a new word only contain new letters?

by Laurin
(Falmouth, Cornwall, England)

Hello, I was wondering if it is possible to lay a word on the board completely made up with tiles from yourself (SUMO) and not using any tiles from the board for that word, but creating a new word (DO) with one of the new tiles together with an already played word.

If it works do both words count?

Hi there Laurin - Thanks very much for going to so much effort to explain your question!

The short answer is yes. Such a word is called a 'parallel play' because it overlaps one or more letters in an existing parallel word. And you do indeed get points for all the words you form during the move (i.e. your main word plus any perpendicular words)

Parallel plays like yours are crucial to garnering extra points in a Scrabble game, so you should always be on the lookout for these possibilities.

Also, make sure you learn all the valid two letter Scrabble words, as this will really increase the number of parallel plays available to you.

Thanks for your question - I hope I've answered it.

All the best,