The word qis is acceptable. The word Dux is not. The word grimmiest is allowable. The word Fineal is not. Now my Oxford dictionary does not have either of the acceptable words in it. Why?
Responses (4)
When I played Scrabble as a child many years ago, it was all quite simple: NO proper nouns, NO slang, NO foreign words. If it wasn't in the Pocket Oxford then you could not use it. How things have changed! I don't know the "rules" for Puzzly Words, but:
* Qi (the life energy in all things according to Chinese philosophy) is a transliteration which, by its very nature, really shouldn't be used in the plural (qis) anyway! It can also be transliterated as Chi and Ki. At the end of the day, it isn't English!
* Dux refers to a title of rank or peerage and, whilst not spelled with a capital in Latin, would be so when used in modern English vernacular - not allowed!
* Grimmiest I have absolutely no idea - I've taught University English for 50 years and have never encountered the word.
* Fineal is not a word, though "finial" is, it is the carved ornamentation found on roof canopies.
Hope this helps!
GRIMMIEST is not allowable - Puzzly Words words have a maximum allowable length of 8.
Competitive SCRABBLE is played with one of two allowable word lists - SOWPODS (an anagram of the two acronyms OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) and OSW (Official Scrabble Words)) - or TWL (Tournament Word List). SOWPODS is used across the world, except for the United States where TWL is used.
Puzzly Words has chosen to offer players the choice of using either of these lists - plus a few others for those who use the "unacceptable" argument.