Word Wipe Strategy

BradK250887 · ‎05-26-2019

I see every day that the leading scorers are in the 40,000 range. I am far from illiterate, but I rarely score above 11,000. Is there a strategy, a technique to get more time or more words? The enormous but consistent discrepancy is a great curiosity. Any advice?

SusanM351147 · ‎03-21-2020

I get in trouble when there's a Q - I become preoccupied with trying to line it up with a U, and then hopefully an A or IT. The letter X also gets me trouble at times... I've despaired of ever making the leaderboard and just try to play as long as I can.

ReneeB720366 · ‎09-22-2021

You don't always need a "U" to use the 'Q." QIN, QIS, QAT are some "Q" words that require no "U."

wp79107020 · ‎12-28-2019

Something else I just noticed - there's an exit game button. Click this and you get an Exit screen asking if you are sure you want to exit, and this screen is even smaller than the Pause screen. So hit the exit button and you pause the game with most of the board revealed, then just refuse the exit to resume play.

wp79107020 · ‎12-28-2019

A number of folks seem to think the game has been hacked, but I think the explanation for the seemingly impossible scores is much simpler: there's a pause button to the lower left. When you pause the game a Pause screen covers perhaps a third of the board - just like when the Start screen comes up - but this still leaves a large area of the board visible. This is a great advantage in a number of ways, if you want to cheat, since it takes away the time pressure and allows you to explore the visible board at your leisure. Yes, only part of the board is visible but it is still a huge advantage. You have all the time in the world to find the longest words, or find ways to use the really tough letters, map strategies about how you want letters to fall, etc. And this advantage, at least to some degree, makes irrelevant the decreasing game times at higher levels.

I think a pause button is essential, but the Pause screen really needs to cover the entire board to disable the cheaters.

MJmtn22 · ‎09-22-2021

It's just my opinion, but I don't think the pause button and screen tinkering can help that much when it comes to mega scores. I can clear the fast clock board (starts at 16 level) every time. But the odds are that the word board is eventually present a case where there are not enough vowels to clear the board - sometimes stranding about 10 rows of the board which would require 3? 4? bombs to clear.

I explained elsewhere about the 2 additional bombs after every cleared board if you are willing to watch an additional short add. This allows accumulation of MANY bombs to carry along into many additional rounds. I've mentioned that on a straightforward game, it is tough to get to 40,000 - 50,000. On a board with the additional bomb option, it becomes much easier. That's not to say that clearing the levels above 16 are ever easy. One must be able to find a work about every second to clear the levels about 16. But having a stash of 15 or 20 bombs is a big help when a tough board leaves you no option but to use them to clear enough levels to continue play.

If you want to see this, try Wordwipe on other internet sites because most of them have this option. The AARP game does not and after having played the games with tons of bombs, it is often fun and challenging to just play the game straight up with this option. It also improves ones skill in clearing the board without the bandaid of spare bombs and is more difficult. And games are shorter as those 300,000 point games can take hours - I know because I've done it. I hope that helps!

emdunn · ‎05-28-2020

Where is the pause button??

MargW372402 · ‎05-28-2020

the pause button is at the bottom on the left side at eh very bottom, it looks like this (=) next to the sound on or off.

cm9889168 · ‎06-10-2020

Hi, I'm sure this question has been asked but I'm new to this game and read through posts but couldn't find my answer.

I see where the 'bombs' are and I guess I use them when I have a square of letters - but what is the strategy for using them; and do I get more points if they're words? I checked the help button but didn't see it. I know there are more points for which letters I use but I think knowing about the 'bombs' would help.

Thank you for any help you can give me

MargW372402 · ‎06-10-2020

I use them when I have a group of all vowels or consonants and I cannot see where I can make a word.

bluemailman53 · ‎06-10-2020

I use the bombs when I get to the last letters on the screen and can't make any more words. Drag the bomb to the letter and release it. That letter and all letters touching it will blow up. They your points will double for clearing the board. Hope this helps.

SusanM351147 · ‎06-10-2020

I use the bombs when I don't have enough lines cleared to continue to the next level and there are no words left - or I'm running out of time. Since my aim is to play as long as possible (rather than get to the leaderboard) I like to hold onto them for the late rounds. I hope other people will answer this question with more strategies for using them.

bluemailman53 · ‎05-28-2020

Bottom left of screen under the bonus bombs.

bluemailman53 · ‎05-28-2020

Bottom left of board. Just under the Bonus bombs.

SusanM351147 · ‎01-22-2020

I've been "cheating" using the pause button. If you're strategic in how you attack the board there will be enough visible below and to the right of the pause screen to bail you out at the end. So I often now make it to 16, but my score still isn't close to the leaders - and time is so short that it seems you'd almost have to plan every move while on pause... There are people who claim to solve the NYT crossword faster than I can type - not saying they're lying, but I prefer not to compare my skills with theirs. Same thing here, but I still want to get to 16, or beyond! Maybe longevity isn't the answer, though, and the trick is to use a bonus bomb to clear the screen and double your points whenever possible? I should try that...

e480628s · ‎06-11-2020

Thanks for the pause button tip. I use it frequently. You asked about bonus bombs. I use them to clear a screen when I have only a few letters left and no possible word. A bomb will only eliminate 6-8 closely-bunched letters, so don't waste them if you have more letters than that. Take your lumps and move to the next round. The biggest frustration is when you have only 1 or 2 letters left in a round, but no bonus bomb to clear them.

ReneeB720366 · ‎09-23-2021

The bomb will clear a block of 9 tiles; but, the bomb must be touching the middle tile to clear to clear all 9 of them.

DonnaR904722 · ‎12-03-2019

I learned that you can clear 3 "like letters" to get them out of the way - near the end it helps clear the board.

LindaP439124 · ‎11-02-2019

Practice is the only way to work up the higher score. But they need to give complete rules and instruction, lame.....

GloriaAnn · ‎01-02-2021

Yes. I would definitely like to see some rules and instructions. I play it, but then I end up annoyed.

SusanM351147 · ‎10-23-2019

It looks like you've already had 10 replies - why can't I see them? I read on another site that you should use bonus bombs to clear the board and double your score in early rounds. Apparently the bombs are easier to earn in early rounds - but hold a couple back for later. I find that at round 13 and beyond the time seems to run out more quickly, have been trying to find out about that... I've never gotten past 15. I save my bombs for the late rounds, because I'm really just competing against myself to see how far I can get. When I have odd letters at the end of a round I try to connect them every which way, have come up with some pretty strange combinations that end up being words!

SusanM351147 · ‎10-25-2019

I finally bothered to look at the timer. Sheesh. You get 2 minutes through 12 rounds, then 90 seconds for round 13, 80 for 14... I need to calm myself with a crossword puzzle. The NYT has a timer but I ignore it.

bluemailman53 · ‎10-23-2019

Round 15 is the highest I've gotten also. My high game is 29,0400. Ive been trying for a few months now to beet that score. I would like to hit upon 30,000. As far as long words I have found that I can make 3 or 4 short words in the time I might find a long word. So I sort of think I'm better off with that strategy but I could be wrong. I'd really like to hear from people that are scoring 50,000 or 60,000 points and find out how they do it.

LindaLooky · ‎11-18-2020

I agree that it’d be great to hear from high scorers about how they do it. My high score is 33,538 but I have never gotten past level 15 successfully even when once using 3 bombs that were left. I don’t use pause once I select “begin” but I do look at words to make before hitting the “begin” button. I definitely don’t look at that as cheating since I am only playing for my self enjoyment and it’s fun having time to figure out words and/or strategy.

ReneeB720366 · ‎07-18-2020

I figured out the scoring. Certain letters are worth certain points. Each time you add a letter to a word, the points are multiplied. For example, for the word "GATE," G=10, A=2, T=8, E=2. So, 10+2+8+2=22 and since it's. 4 letter word you multiply the 22 by 4 getting 88 points for the word. If you used the word "TAG," you would get 60. (T=8, A=2, G=10, (8+2+10)X3=60.
Scoring

Parmenion · ‎08-03-2020

Well...just scored 462 for HIGHLANDERS. Didn't seem to make much difference as I only scored 1656 in clearing the board. Might as well just chase the little words!

BruceT162999 · ‎08-12-2019

The best strategy is to use a lot of long words. I don't know if uncommon words get you more points, but they ought to. That way, when you get to the end of the board and use up all the letters (or use the bomb to get rid of them) you double an even higher score. The most points I've had so far BEFORE the double is about 1900. I find that getting about 25,000 is pretty easy for me, but going much over 30,000 is more difficult. My biggest problem is using the mouse. I have a problem with tremors in my hands, and every once in a while I get a big one and the mouse jumps all over the screen. I can still type all right, though, so it would be nice if I could type in the words instead of mousing them.

LindaLooky · ‎11-18-2020

If you get a tablet or iPad you just drag your fingers on the screen to make the word and you don’t need to use a mouse. I’m at your playing level where I usually play between 23k-28k and have scored over 30k-33k about 8 times so far. I use an iPad.