How to unscramble words and play anagrams

What is an anagram?

An anagram is a word made by rearranging all the letters of another word: LISTEN becomes SILENT, ENLIST or TINSEL. Unscrambling is the wider task of finding any word, long or short, hidden in a set of mixed-up letters.

Anagram puzzles turn up in newspapers, classrooms and party games, and the same skill helps in tile games such as Scrabble and Words With Friends.

How do you play an anagram game?

There are many versions and no single standard. A common party version works like this:

1. Pick a set of letters: deal letter cards, draw tiles from a bag, or let one player choose seven to nine letters.
2. Write the letters where everyone can see them and start a timer, often two or three minutes.
3. Everyone writes down as many words as they can make from those letters.
4. When time is up, read the lists aloud and score them.

All you need is paper, pens and a timer. Two players are enough, and larger groups can play in teams.

How do you score an anagram game?

Longer words are worth more, because they are harder to find. A simple house rule is one point per letter, or a fixed score for each length, for example:

A word that uses every letter can earn an extra bonus. Agree before you start whether a word found by two players still counts; some groups cross out shared words.

Which words are allowed?

Agree on the rules before the timer starts, because groups differ:

• Plurals such as CATS are usually allowed, though some groups count a plural and its singular as one word.
• Names, abbreviations and words with hyphens are usually not allowed.
• A blank or joker, if you use one, can stand for any letter. In the KitPie Words tools a blank is typed as ?.
• Use one dictionary or word list to settle disputes, and choose it in advance.

What are the quickest ways to unscramble letters?

• Find short words first. Two- and three-letter words show which letters fit together, and they often grow into longer words.
• Look for common endings. Try -ED, -ER, -ES, -ING and -LY at the end, and -S for a quick plural.
• Try prefixes. RE-, UN-, IN- and DE- at the start can turn a short word into a long one.
• Place the rare letters first. Q usually needs U, and J, X and Z fit in fewer places, so start with them.
• Write the letters in a circle. A ring of letters breaks the order you first saw and lets new words appear.
• Split vowels and consonants. Put the vowels in one row and the consonants in another, then try consonant, vowel, consonant patterns.
• Say the letters aloud. Hearing pairs such as TH, CH and SH can bring a word to mind faster than reading them.