This page describes which '''[[Collins]]'''-only '''words''' are '''important''' for an [[OTCWL|OWL2OTCWL]] player to learn, and is part of our introduction to [[SOWPODS|Collins (SOWPODS) in North America]]. For brevity, we will refer to the North American and International lexica, OTCWL16 and CSW15, as TWL and CSW respectively.
== How many more words are there, and what would I need to learn? ==
Technically, of course, you don’t need to learn anything! (All OWL2 almost nothing, because there are just 59 2-8 letter words remain validin TWL that are not in CSW, and almost all of those are obscure. In practice, of course, there are some useful basic words to start with.)
In practiceBecause CSW contains essentially all the TWL words, you can continue to play the same game, and anything that was good in TWL remains good. Because the fundamentals of coursethe game have not changed, there the kinds of words that are some the most useful basic to study in TWL are also the best to study in CSW. Thus the player who has studied the 2s, 3s, JQXZ words , some 4s, high probability bingos, etc., can continue to start withuse the same methods for CSW.
Because CSW contains all the OWL2 So how many wordsare there? In total, you can continue to play the same gameTWL contains 188,738 words, and anything that was good in OWL2 remains goodCSW contains 276,663. And because the fundamentals About half of the game have not changedthese are 9–15 letters, and while some 9s can be useful, the kinds vast majority (about 98%) of words that are the most useful to study in OWL2 are also gain is with the best to study in CSW2–8s. Thus the player who has studied the 2sOWL contains 88, 3s099 of these, JQXZ wordswhile CSW has 118, some 4s999, high probability bingoswhich is 30, etc900 more.This is about 35%, can continue to use the same methods which means that for approximately every 3 TWL words there is an extra CSWword.
So how many words are there? In totalHowever, it is likely that you did not start out playing TWL with the OWL2 contains 178intention of learning all 188,691 738 words. Likewise, you can play a good CSWgame without needing more than a small fraction of the extra 30, meanwhile, contains 267,750. About half of these are 9900 2–15 letters8s. In fact, and while some 9s you can be useful, play a decent game with just the vast majority (about 98%) of the gain 2s and 3s. The main thing to keep in mind is that essentially every word you know from TWL is with the 2–8sstill valid. OWL contains 83So,667 as we have already seen that three quarters of thesethe words are TWL, while CSW has 30you are already three quarters of the way there. And in many cases,908 even more. This means thatthan this, for approximately every 3 OWL2 wordsbecause there will be a choice of moves, there is an extra CSW wordmany of which will be TWL.
However, it is likely that you didn’t start out playing OWL with the intention of learning 178,691 words. Likewise, you can play a good CSW game without needing anything like the extra 30,908 2–8s that are actually present. In fact, you can play a decent game with just the 2s and 3s. Sounds unlikely? Well, the thing to remember of course is that 'every word you know from OWL2 is still valid'! So, as we have already seen that three quarters of the words are OWL2, you are already three quarters of the way there. And in many cases, even more than this, because there will be a choice of moves, many of which will be OWL2. So, what should you actually study? Here are some In the following, we present various useful listsand suggestions. In some cases we’ve have presented just the most useful words from a list, but you can see the full list by following the link in the heading.
== Two-letter words ==
Start with As in TWL, by far the most useful words are the 2s. There are 23 19 more of thesein CSW:
CH DA DI EA EE FY GI GU IO JA KO KY NY OB OO OU PO ST TE UG UR YU ZO
<br>While that’s 19 is not too manya large number, you probably won’t will not remember them all straightaway (I’ve your author has played in the [[WSC|Worlds]]World Championships, and I certainly didn’t did not remember the 2s in one sitting!) . They’ll just will become a natural part of the game over time.
== [[Three-letter words]] ==
Following the 2s, there are 277 260 3s. The most useful 3s are:
QIN EXO IDE OYE JAI ENE ITA AIA IWI AYU JOR WEX URE WOX ZEX REZ BEZ WOF WAI OOF ZHODZO NYE AME AUA ZOL JAI ZEA JIZ TIX AUA RIZ HOX DZO ZEL GIO WAI TEX ONY OBO NEF NOX FAW IWI WEX YEX OYE NOX AUE UEY TEX LUZ AYUFAA ...
<br>Obviously, like in OWL2TWL, you don’t have do not need to be know 100% on all of the 3s before continuing! . While words such as ZIZ may come in handy some day, the chances are, it is likely that various 4s and bingos will come up first.
The next most useful words are the same as in OWL2TWL: short words with many vowels, high-scorers with J, Q, X and Z, some of the most useful 4s and 5s (words which are likely to be much better than other moves if you have those tiles, such as FAUVEVIFDA), high probability bingos, dump-words such as 4s with 2 Is, and, of course, words with Q but no U.
== [[Vowel dumps]] ==
2s: EA EE IO OO OU
3s: AIA AUA AUE
4s: EUOI HIOI EVOE HUIA VIAE HUIA EVOE EOAN IDEE OUPA UVAE ONIE UVAE EINE MOAI ALOO ... 5s: AIDOI AINEE AULOI BOOAI OUIJA ZOAEA ZOOEA
6s: EUOUAE ZOAEAE ZOOEAE
7s: ETAERIO EATERIE AERADIO AIERIES OLEARIA EATERIE EUGARIE EQUINIA DOULEIA AURELIA EUOUAES MOINEAU DIANOIA ... 8s: ERIONITE ETAERIOS AEROTONE ETAERIOS AEGIRINE NOTITIAE DOUANIER TAENIATE AEGIRITE AURELIAN INAURATE AERADIOS ETOURDIE OLEARIAS ...
== [[Short JQXZ words]] ==
J: JA
JAI JIZ JOR JOL JAP JUD JIZ ... JOBE BENJ JEDI JAGA JUVE BENJ JEAT JIRD ... OUIJA JEWIE JAXIE EEJIT JIRRE JIAOS JEUNE JOBED ... Q: QIN QINS WAQF FIQH QUOP QUEP QUOP QUAT QUIM... NIQAB TALAQ QORMA TALAQ QIBLA QUOAD QUOIF QUAIR ... X: EXO WEX WOX YEX ZEX TEX NOX ... WEXE GREX FAIX WEXE DIXI LANX SAXE ... VITEX VIBEX XOANA JAXIE XOANA VIBEX WUXIA WEXED ...
Z: ZO
DZO ZOL ZEX ZEA JIZ ZEX REZ BEZ ... LAZO TREZ ZITE ZOOT ZATI TREZ ZILA ZOOT ... ZOAEA ZOOEA GRENZ ZANTE AVIZE WAREZ EZINE ...
== [[High-playability probability bingos]] ==
7s: NOTAIRE OTARINE ETAERIO OTARINE EROTISE AIERIES ALERION OARIEST OTARIES ROASTIE ORIGANE OTARIES SEALINE OLEARIA RIOTISE OARIEST ENTRAIL RESIANT ... 8s: ERIONITE AEROTONE ANOESTRI ARSONITE NOTAIRES ROSINATE ETAERIOS AEGIRINE DENTARIA DONARIES DOUANIER TAENIATE LITERATO AEGIRITE AURELIAN ALERIONS SOTERIAL INORNATE ...
== I and U dumps ==
I: IWI DIVI DIXI FIFI FINI HIOI ISIT MIHI HIOI WILI PIPI SIMI PIPI SIRI ISITWILI U: PUDU WUDU UMU UTU HUHU KUKU PUKU KUTU KUZU PUKU PULU ZULU RURU SUSU UMUS UTUS YUZUWUDU ZULU
== Q-not-followed-by-U words ==
INQILAB FIQH -s QALAMDAN -s QWERTIES GUQIN -s QASIDA -s TALAQ -s MUQADDAM INQILAB -s QAWWAL -s TSADDIQ -s NIQAB MUQADDAM -s QAWWALI -s TSADDIQIM QABALISM -s QIBLA QIN -s TZADDIQ -s QABALIST -s QIGONG QINGHAOSU -s TZADDIQIM QABALISTIC QINGHAOSU -s QINTARKA WAQF -s
QAIMAQAM -s QORMA -s YAQONA -s
QALAMDAN -s QWERTIES
==Going Further==
The basics above are more than enough for a good CSW game. But you may decide you enjoy it, and wish to go further.
The major downside to going further is that it can be difficult to keep the two lexica separate. Although remembering which of the words you now know are “new” (think back to the last dictionary update, if you have been playing that long) is not too bad, remembering a word and remembering which lexicon it is in are not the same thing, especially over a period of time. Those CSW words may come back to haunt you a few months down the line!
But nevertheless, some people have high [[CSW ratings|ratings]] at both OWL2 and CSW, and one can get to quite a high standard quite quickly.
Chosen correctly, it can be shown that learning the top 1% of the words when ordered by playability is equivalent to learning 25% of all the words. So, for the 2-8s, learning the top 300 from CSW is effectively learning one quarter of all the words newly allowed by that lexicon. This top 25% (or any other fraction) can be accessed by playability in Zyzzyva.
==Collins Cheat Sheet==
I have incorporated the above into a [[Media:Collins cheat sheet.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]], that is designed to be used by new-to, or occasional player of, CSW. It resembles the original <a href="http://www.cross-tables.com/cs">Cheat Sheet</a> by Mike Baron, and the NSA’s “Important Words to Raise Your Score” sheet that was given to new members, except that it concentrates on CSW words.= Going Further ==
There is also The basics above are easily enough for a [[Media:Collins cheat sheet part 2good CSW game.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]], which contains a useful array of the hooks But you may decide that you wish to CSW 2s, and the full set of CSW 4sgo further.
The sheets have now been updated A significant downside to going further is that it can be difficult to [[CSW12|CSW12]]keep the two lexica separate. The rest Although remembering which of this section the words you now know are “new” (think back to the last dictionary update, if you have been playing that long) is not too bad, remembering a word and remembering which lexicon it is in are not the wiki will follow same thing, especially over a period of time. Those CSW words may come back to haunt you in due course.a TWL game a few months down the line!
The full set of extra But nevertheless, some people have high [[CSW words is available via <a href="http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/bobs-color-british-bible-2007-hardcover-%28sowpods%29/5345269">Bob’s British Bible</ratings|ratings]] at both TWL and CSW, and one can get to quite a>high standard quite quickly.
In 2015Chosen correctly, an expanded it can be shown that learning the top 1% of the words when ordered by playability is equivalent to learning 25% of all the words. So, for the 2-8s, learning the top 300 from CSW word list goes into effectis effectively learning one quarter of all the words newly allowed by that lexicon. This top 25% (or any other fraction) can be accessed by playability in the Collins edition of the [[WESPACollins links|Zyzzyva]] released an initiation kit that can be downloaded from [http://http://www.wespa.org/index.shtml their website]word study program.
==ZyzzyvaCollins Cheat Sheet ==
Finally, while We have incorporated the lists above are useful, is there any word study software for CSW? The current best answer is the same as for OWL2: into a [[ZyzzyvaMedia:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_1.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]]. This can easily , that is designed to be set up used by new-to supply the regular set , or occasional players of OWL2 words, and, in addition, CSW. It resembles the CSW wordsoriginal [http://www.cross-tables. The latter can be marked with a # sign to distinguish themcom/cs Cheat Sheet] by Mike Baron, and searches can be conducted so the NSA’s “Important Words to Raise Your Score” sheet that only the CSW words are returned, or, if you want was given to leave themnew members, the except that it concentrates on CSW words can be suppressed. One can also, for example, require the correct lexicon as part of a quiz answer.
To set Zyzzyva up with CSW, go to Zyzzyva→Preferences, select “General’ in the left navigation bar in the resulting pop-up window, check the box “Load Lexicons’ if it There is not checked, and click on Editalso a [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_2. In the “Select Lexicons’ windowpdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]], click the toggle button in which contains a useful array of the leftmost column (“Default”) that is next hooks to CSW. The button one to the right should then be checked2s, but grayed out. Then, check and the box in the second column (“Load”) next to “OWL2+LWL”. Do<i>not</i> check any full set of the other boxes, which should all be empty. Finally, click OK. The program may need to rebuild the database, which will take a few minutes. The settings as given are telling Zyzzyva to be CSW by default, but to remember which words are CSW-only, i.e., still good in OWL2. You can get at just OWL2 by requiring “In Lexicon’ OWL2 when searching, or ignoring the words with a # mark4s.
If the CSW words are not already marked by a #, go to Zyzzyva→Preferences, click on “Word Tables’ on the nav-bar, and edit accordingly.== More Resources ==
If this fails (I haven’t run through it myself, because my copy is already set to For further resources regarding the CSW)words, or you need more information, please check out the including word study software such as [[http://www.zyzzyva.net Zyzzyva site]],or see the Yahoo Groups [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zyzzyva-users zyzzyva-users[Collins links]] email listpage.
Comments concerning Please direct comments about this page may be directed to its author, [[Nick Ball]].