Can you add a letter to both the beginning and the end of a word?

by MJ
(Pennsylvania)

I say you cannot put a K to the start of NOW and then put an S at the end of NOW in one move.

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Hi MJ - I'm afraid you would definitely be wrong about that. You can extend a word by adding letters to the front, back, or both ends of the word simultaneously.

The rules on this one are clear. So long as the letters you play all belong to the same row (or column) and form a valid word in that row (or column) the word is allowed. This means that you can't have spaces between the letters you play, of course, but you can certainly use letters already on the board.

In fact, in one of my very first Scrabble tournaments, I remember adding RE and ED to the front and back of PLAY, which was already on the board, to form REPLAYED in a single move. The reason I remember it so well was that it spanned two triple word squares (called a 'triple-triple') and scored over 100 points!

It's not the answer you were looking for, perhaps, but the correct answer nonetheless ;-)