Why do people learn words?

One good reason is that it provides educational benefits, as learning the definitions of obscure words not only expands vocabulary but often encourages further reading, and the study of diverse subjects, especially in children. New words can be useful for study, writing and conversation or just for their tactical uses in word games. An example is words ending with two II's that can still be extended with an S. Most words are common to a variety of popular word games available to play on the internet, including Scrabble™. You can use them in Hotspots and transfer that word power elsewhere to win in all types of games and become an excellent player. Scrabble™ has become more of a sport than a game and systematically learning important words is a regular activity for advanced players in preparation for tournaments including the World Championships.

Why are two letter words so important?

It is essential to prioritise the learning of these words due to their significance in word game strategy. How can you make parallel plays without two letter words? They are essential building blocks for fitting words onto the board and employing any sort of strategy requires familiarity with all of these words. Learning three letter words is optional but will enhance a player's competitiveness immensely and make them an extremely powerful player. Knowing all three letter words reduces the chances of a player not being able to fit other excellent high scoring plays on the board. It can be frustrating when there are no apparent opportunities to place a great word on the board but knowing all two and three letter words gives players a massive advantage.

Some people take it further and learn the fours, fives and so on until they know the entire dictionary. These are exceptional people and usually play tournament Scrabble™ at the higher levels.

How do I create word lists?

A free program called Lexpert™ is available for download. Any manner of word lists can be generated by using wildcard characters to generate pattern matches and anagrams. To use the software with Hotspots remember to configure Lexpert by going to the 'Options' menu and select 'Dictionary...'. Set the dictionary options to 'Britain and North America' in both cases and click OK. The dictionary will then be compatible with the dictionary installed with Hotspots by default.

Definitions of words can be searched for using dictionary.com or another of the numerous online dictionaries, including those for specialist areas.