Try it - Revision history

CM000457: Update to point to CSW24 cheat sheet from CSW21

2026-03-02T20:07:26Z

Update to point to CSW24 cheat sheet from CSW21

CM000457: Update links

2025-08-22T18:11:18Z

Update links

CM000457: Update for CSW21, including cheat sheet links

2022-02-03T22:42:55Z

Update for CSW21, including cheat sheet links

Judycole: 202110-04 - Collins Zyzzyva

2021-10-04T19:58:39Z

202110-04 - Collins Zyzzyva

Judycole: 2021-10-04 - TWL to NWL

2021-10-04T19:55:24Z

2021-10-04 - TWL to NWL

Nball: Update of whole SOWPODS wiki to CSW15

2017-04-16T21:28:45Z

Update of whole SOWPODS wiki to CSW15

Nball at 23:27, 23 December 2010

2010-12-23T23:27:28Z

Nball: Correct first paragraph

2010-12-23T11:07:52Z

Correct first paragraph

Nball: Created page

2010-12-22T22:26:44Z

Created page

New page

This page describes '''how [[Collins]] differs''' from [[OTCWL]] as a playing lexicon, and is part of our introduction to [[SOWPODS|Collins (SOWPODS) in North America]].

== Try It! ==

While these pages have attempted to provide information about the CSW game, like many things, the only way to find out if you like it is to try it. There are several possibilities:

==Quackle==

<a href="http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle">Quackle</a> will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (0.96), go to the 'Settings' tab and change the lexicon from '''twl06''' to '''cswapr07'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to '''Preferences''' under the '''quacker''' menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # sign. Quackle calls CSW the 'British' words. NOTE: use the cswapr07 lexicon and *not* the '''sowpods''' lexicon. This is an older version which is no longer used.

==Online==

The <a href="http://www.isc.ro">Internet Scrabble Club</a> has a large number of players who play the 'SOWPODS' rather than the 'TWL' lexicon. The former is CSW.

==At a club==

This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, and a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points, or even no penalty, works well. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW.

==At a tournament==

Current CSW tournaments are listed on the [[CSW Tournaments]] tournaments page. Currently, there is a concentration on the west coast of the US, and Toronto, but the number of events has rapidly increased this year. It is also straightforward to add a CSW division to an existing tournament, since software such as tsh and Director will incorporate the NASPA SOWPODS ratings. A CSW division can be rated with 4 or more people, with 2 or more NASPA rated.

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 == At a club ==
-This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, the [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]] and [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Part 2]] from this wiki, or other cheat sheets, works well. You could also use a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points, no penalty for challenging, or even void challenge. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW, and others have regular CSW players. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive listing of which clubs have CSW players.
+This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, the [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW24_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]] and [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW24_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Part 2]] from this wiki, or other cheat sheets, works well. You could also use a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points, no penalty for challenging, or even void challenge. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW, and others have regular CSW players. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive listing of which clubs have CSW players.
 == At a tournament ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 This page describes ways to try out Collins Scrabble, 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 as NWL and CSW respectively.
 There are several possibilities:
@@ Line 15: / Line 13: @@
 Two versions are widely used:
-* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] allows lists to be constructed in either NWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
+* [[Zyzzyva|NASPA Zyzzyva]] allows lists to be constructed in either NWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
-* [https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools/ Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [https://www.absp.org.uk word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
+* [https://scrabble.collinsdictionary.com/tools/ Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [https://www.absp.org.uk word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
 == Online ==
-[http://www.woogles.io Woogles] has a large number of players who play the CSW lexicon, as well as NWL players. The CSW dictionary is available for [https://www.facebook.com/ScrabbleGO Scrabble GO], e.g., on the phone. The popular [https://www.zynga.com/games/words-friends Words with Friends] does not use CSW or NWL.
+* [http://www.woogles.io Woogles] has a large number of players who play the CSW lexicon, as well as NWL players.
 == At a club ==

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 == Quackle ==
 [http://www.quackle.org Quackle] is computer software that will play the CSW lexicon. Go to the '''Settings''' tab and set it to use the latest CSW lexicon. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to the preferences settings under the main menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # (octothorp) sign. Quackle calls CSW the British words.
 == Zyzzyva ==
@@ Line 14: / Line 15: @@
 Two versions are widely used:
-* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] allows lists to be constructed in either TWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
+* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] allows lists to be constructed in either NWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
-* [https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools/ Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
+* [https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools/ Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [https://www.absp.org.uk word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
 == Online ==
@@ Line 24: / Line 25: @@
 == At a club ==
-This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, the [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_1.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]] and [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_2.pdf|Part 2]] from this wiki (or other cheat sheets), and a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points (or even no penalty) works well. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW, and others have regular CSW players. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive listing of which clubs have CSW players.
+This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, the [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet]] and [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Part 2]] from this wiki, or other cheat sheets, works well. You could also use a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points, no penalty for challenging, or even void challenge. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW, and others have regular CSW players. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive listing of which clubs have CSW players.
 == At a tournament ==

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] allows lists to be constructed in either TWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
-* [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
+* [https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools/ Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
 == Online ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This page describes ways to try out Collins Scrabble, 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.
+This page describes ways to try out Collins Scrabble, 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 as NWL and CSW respectively.
 While these pages have attempted to provide information about the CSW game, like many things, the only way to really find out if you like it is to try it.
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 == Quackle ==
-[http://www.quackle.org Quackle] is computer software that will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (1.0.3), go to the '''Settings''' tab and set it to use the lexicon '''csw15'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to the preferences settings under the main menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # (octothorp) sign. Quackle calls CSW the British words. NOTE: other 'csw' lexica listed and the 'sowpods' lexicon are older editions that are no longer used.
+[http://www.quackle.org Quackle] is computer software that will play the CSW lexicon. Go to the '''Settings''' tab and set it to use the latest CSW lexicon. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to the preferences settings under the main menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # (octothorp) sign. Quackle calls CSW the British words.
 == Zyzzyva ==
@@ Line 15: / Line 14: @@
 Two versions are widely used:
-* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] is available to NASPA members and requires a license. It allows lists to be constructed in either TWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the TWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
+* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] allows lists to be constructed in either TWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the NWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
-* [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the TWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a TWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
+* [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the NWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a NWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
 == Online ==
-The [http://www.isc.ro Internet Scrabble Club] has a large number of players who play the CSW lexicon, as well as TWL players. The CSW dictionary is available for the [http://www2.ea.com/scrabble Electronic Arts Scrabble game], e.g., on the iPhone. The popular [https://www.zynga.com/games/words-friends Words with Friends] does not use CSW or TWL.
+[http://www.woogles.io Woogles] has a large number of players who play the CSW lexicon, as well as NWL players. The CSW dictionary is available for [https://www.facebook.com/ScrabbleGO Scrabble GO], e.g., on the phone. The popular [https://www.zynga.com/games/words-friends Words with Friends] does not use CSW or NWL.
 == At a club ==
@@ Line 29: / Line 28: @@
 == At a tournament ==
-North American tournaments that offer a CSW division are listed on the [http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/calendar.html NASPA tournament calendar], and at [http://www.cross-tables.com cross-tables]. CSW divisions tend to be smaller than TWL ones and often have highly rated players, but the easier challenge rule mitigates the difference somewhat. A CSW division can be rated when it has 4 or more people, and 2 or more are NASPA rated.
+North American tournaments that offer a CSW division are listed on the [http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/calendar.html NASPA tournament calendar], and at [http://www.cross-tables.com cross-tables]. CSW divisions tend to be smaller than NWL ones and often have highly rated players, but the easier challenge rule mitigates the difference somewhat. A CSW division can be rated when it has 4 or more people, and 2 or more are NASPA rated.
 If you are a director, it is possible to add a CSW division to an existing tournament, since tournament directing software can incorporate the NASPA CSW ratings.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This page describes ways to try out [[Collins]] Scrabble, and is part of our introduction to [[SOWPODS|Collins (SOWPODS) in North America]].
+This page describes ways to try out Collins Scrabble, 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.
-== Try It! ==
+While these pages have attempted to provide information about the CSW game, like many things, the only way to really find out if you like it is to try it.
-While these pages have attempted to provide information about the CSW game, like many things, the only way to find out if you like it is to try it. There are several possibilities:
+There are several possibilities:
-==Quackle==
+== Quackle ==
-<a href="http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle">Quackle</a> will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (0.96), go to the 'Settings' tab and change the lexicon from '''twl06''' to '''cswapr07'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to '''Preferences''' under the '''quacker''' menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # sign. Quackle calls CSW the 'British' words. NOTE: use the cswapr07 lexicon and *not* the '''sowpods''' lexicon. This is an older version which is no longer used.
+[http://www.quackle.org Quackle] is computer software that will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (1.0.3), go to the '''Settings''' tab and set it to use the lexicon '''csw15'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to the preferences settings under the main menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # (octothorp) sign. Quackle calls CSW the British words. NOTE: other 'csw' lexica listed and the 'sowpods' lexicon are older editions that are no longer used.
-==Zyzzyva==
+== Zyzzyva ==
-Zyzzyva, the well-known study tool, allows CSW study, as described on the [[Important Collins words]] page.
+Zyzzyva is a word study tool that allows many forms of CSW study. These include searching words by many criteria, setting up quizzes such as anagrams, and the card box study system to aid memory.
-==Online==
+Two versions are widely used:
-The <a href="http://www.isc.ro">Internet Scrabble Club</a> has a large number of players who play the 'SOWPODS' rather than the 'TWL' lexicon. The former is CSW.
+* [http://zyzzyva.net NASPA Zyzzyva] is available to NASPA members and requires a license. It allows lists to be constructed in either TWL or CSW, and one can select words that are CSW-only. This is how several of the lists in this wiki and the Collins Cheat sheet (see below) were, in part, constructed. Currently it does not have definitions for CSW words, only the TWL ones, and the playability values are not useful.
-==At a club==
+* [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools Collins Zyzzyva] is available worldwide for download. It includes the CSW lexicon but not the TWL lexicon, so it is less useful for a TWL player moving to CSW. However, it has a comprehensive and authoritative set of definitions for all words from 2-15 letters, coming largely from the same work that provided the [http://www.absp.org.uk/words word lists] at the Association of British Scrabble Players website mentioned earlier in this wiki.
-This could be as simple as two club members agreeing to play a game to CSW. However, many people before have found that allowing a 'cheat sheet' of, for example, the 2s and 3s, and a more relaxed challenge rule, such as 5-10 points, or even no penalty, works well. Some clubs have held evenings where people play CSW.
+== Online ==
-==At a tournament==
+The [http://www.isc.ro Internet Scrabble Club] has a large number of players who play the CSW lexicon, as well as TWL players. The CSW dictionary is available for the [http://www2.ea.com/scrabble Electronic Arts Scrabble game], e.g., on the iPhone. The popular [https://www.zynga.com/games/words-friends Words with Friends] does not use CSW or TWL.
-Current CSW tournaments are listed on the [[CSW Tournaments]] tournaments page. Currently, there is a concentration on the west coast of the US, and Toronto, but the number of events has rapidly increased this year. It is also straightforward to add a CSW division to an existing tournament, since software such as tsh and Director will incorporate the NASPA SOWPODS ratings. A CSW division can be rated with 4 or more people, with 2 or more NASPA rated.
+== At a club ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:27, 23 December 2010
Line 8:		Line 8:

	<a href="http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle">Quackle</a> will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (0.96), go to the 'Settings' tab and change the lexicon from '''twl06''' to '''cswapr07'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to '''Preferences''' under the '''quacker''' menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # sign. Quackle calls CSW the 'British' words. NOTE: use the cswapr07 lexicon and not the '''sowpods''' lexicon. This is an older version which is no longer used.		<a href="http://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle">Quackle</a> will play the CSW lexicon. In the latest version (0.96), go to the 'Settings' tab and change the lexicon from '''twl06''' to '''cswapr07'''. You can also highlight the CSW words as they are played and in the history/choices by going to '''Preferences''' under the '''quacker''' menu. The words when played will be colored, and when written on screen will be appended by the # sign. Quackle calls CSW the 'British' words. NOTE: use the cswapr07 lexicon and not the '''sowpods''' lexicon. This is an older version which is no longer used.
		+
		+	==Zyzzyva==
		+
		+	Zyzzyva, the well-known study tool, allows CSW study, as described on the [[Important Collins words]] page.

	==Online==		==Online==

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:07, 23 December 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	This page describes ~~'''how~~ [[Collins]] ~~differs''' from [[OTCWL]] as a playing lexicon~~, and is part of our introduction to [[SOWPODS\|Collins (SOWPODS) in North America]].	+	This page describes ways to try out [[Collins]] Scrabble, and is part of our introduction to [[SOWPODS\|Collins (SOWPODS) in North America]].

	== Try It! ==		== Try It! ==