Word Wipe Strategy

[BradK250887]

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?

[DebraH304374]

I found this. If you click on each tab (Rules, Scoring, Tips, etc.), it gives a pretty good outline. https://askinglot.com/open-detail/560813

[pu4639]

Today the top score was 300,000+ !   How can that be??

[joeysback]

I saw1million once, and I can't believe it.  I don't know how they post those untrue scores, but there is just no way!!  If you play on some sites (Washington Post is one, I believe) you can earn extra bonuses, but when I tried it, I still forgot to use them or ran out of time.

[joeysback]

I saw 1 MILLION once, and I can't believe that's even possible---No way, no how!!

[MargW372402]

may be by cheating?, they cheat on everything else, why not word wipe?

[ReneeB720366]

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," a 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.

Sorry the image is not rotated.   

[joeysback]

Somebody got over 250,000????   Wha???   How???  Help!!!   I got to 26,000 and thought I was doing great!

[BoiseEd]

I think my high is around 39K, but it's typically below 20K. I'm more concerned with levels than word scores. I hit 17th level once, when everything really clicked, but typically hitting 15th is an accomplishment for me.

[joeysback]

I don't think I've ever gotten past 13th or 14th.  Congrats!

[WWIII]

Thank you for the tips.  I can’t get to 25,000 but I doubled my score from 3,000 to 6,000 and will get better.  

[WWIII]

Also I have noticed and yes it took awhile that you can clear letters that you won’t use, like three www.  Anything three of that you won’t use.  I tend to keep vowels and letters like r, s,t, but if they’re in my way and there are three of them, they get deleted.

[Parmenion]

Okay...The MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is CLEAR THE BOARD!!! It's all well and good looking for big words but if that board is not cleared your score will not double up. I generally score between 25000 - 35000, and to reach these figures you MUST clear 90% of the boards you play. Beware of letters like Q,Z and J. Try to remove these as early as you can. Qat and Qis will save you time and time again. Use your bombs to clear the board if you have to. DON'T leave a board uncleared if you can clear it by using a bomb. Remember...speed is of the essence...the clock is your enemy. Hope these tips help...and if anyone has tips on how to score 40000+...I'm all ears!

[KristiW221704]

QIS is another 'saver', along with PST, HMM, GRR, BRR, and SHH.  I think AIA is the only all vowel word I've used.  You can also use strings of the same letter (e.g. EEEEE) for the levels that have lots of vowels.  I usually start with the hardest letters to make words with - C, J, X, Z, Q, etc. and try to clear them.  I'll try multiple combinations of letters (for words I've never heard of) before I use my bombs

[JeanG704440]

eau also works

[ReneeB720366]

EUOI, EAU and AUE are a few other all-vowel words.

[e480628s]

I spend too much time on this site and don't claim to be any kind of expert. I see many comments recommending that the troublesome consonants are "q, k, x. etc."
I find, however, that "h" is as much of a problem. So, if you see "huh" or "hie", "hue", etc., delete it.
You'll be happy you did.

[CamM174942]

I save up the "h"s to the end of the level by avoiding using them in words and then delete them all in a row when possible. I have been trying to reach the highest level I can, more than looking at my score, but I do manage to clear the boards sometimes.

[BoiseEd]

Whenever I see a "J" or "Z" or "Q", I focus on that for a few seconds. It's best to get them gone before going for the low-hanging fruit.

[dw42974553]

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I can't get above 4200.  Maybe I am just slow.

[ReneeB720366]

It takes practice.  If you use your bombs to clear a board, your score for that round doubles.  The bombs will clear a 3x3 square and the bomb has to be placed on a letter.  So, if you have a u-shape (with 3 squares on the bottom of the 'U'), you will not be able clear them with one bomb. 

[filedris]

Same here..  I would also like any strategy tips as I am getting discoouraged with it.

[e480628s]

I'm convinced the key is to consistently clear the board and double your score.   When I fail to do it, it's almost always because I'm stuck with all consonants.  You can usually dispose of vowels at the end with words such as "eau", "tau", "hie", "fie", "roe", "ahi" (don't ask me to define them; i just know they work!)

[BoiseEd]

"eau", "tau", "hie", "fie", "roe", "ahi" (don't ask me to define them; i just know they work!) -- "eau" is French for water; I have no idea why the puzzle accepts that. "tau" is a Greek letter. "hie" is an obsolete word for "hurry". "fie" is an expression of disgust. "roe" is fish eggs. "ahi" is a kind of tuna. There are some others, like "qat", which are odd but very useful here.

[SusanM351147]

I know a lot of obscure words from doing crosswords, but sometimes I pause Word Wipe to look up things up, which helps me remember them. Here's a brief list, some with derivations (I expect to keep adding):

fay: fairy; join tightly

foy (Scot.): farewell gift or entertainment

mim: prim, demure

holt (Old Eng.): copse; variant of hold

moa (N.Z.): 9 extinct species of flightless birds

ain (Arabic): precious

sook: female crab; crybaby (NOT past tense of "seek")

lept: fine; slender (NOT past tense of "leap")

ulu: utility knife used by Inuit women (NOT, apparently, men)

ich: fish disease, usually occuring in aquauriums (I thought it was "ick")

khi: variant of chi

fer: opposite of "agin"? (just guessing)

oca: South American wood sorrel (knew from xwords)

mun (Old Eng.): must; man

fey: pretentious (also xword-ese)

oes: ??? I could only find acronyms. My favorite is "Optically Excited Systems"

With all these strange and often foreign words (including "eau"!) why not "oui" or "moi"? I "objet."

[Dewb11]

Thank you for sharing these words @SusanM351147.  I have found that “moi” works.  I didn’t know 90% of the ones you listed and I most appreciate it.

[e480628s]

Before hitting "Begin" on the Level 1 screen, I look for common prefixes (sub, pro, re) and suffixes (tion, ing).  So, instead of the word "start", it may expand to "restarting" (460 points).  My highest single word score is 522 for "submitted".  "Production" was worth 480.  

I could never find these long words if the clock was running.

[e480628s]

If I can't find at least two 7-letter words on the "Level 1 Begin" screen, I don't start the game.  I get a new screen and keep looking.  If I don't score at least 2500 on Level 1, I quit and start over.  After Level 1, you have to keep going.  If I don't have at least 4500 after Level 2, I quit again.

My best score is 32320 but that was three months ago!

[e480628s]

Here's a tip that may help.  I don't start a game until i've studied the screen that says Level 1 but is grayed out, so it's a little hard to read and the Level 1 label covers many of the letters.  I find at least two 7-letter words BEFORE hitting Start.  So, is it cheating?  Maybe.  My high score is 32320.

Give it a try.

[SusanM351147]

I've never scored that high. I do look for Q's and X's sometimes, before starting. Of course they may be hiding! I try to line up a few quick words before diving in, in higher rounds. Anyhow I'm going to try your suggestion - but those leaderboard scores are ridiculous. I occasionally get as far as Round 17, maybe hit 18 a couple times, but I'm out of bombs by then. Which reminds me, there's a "try this" button now, supposed to get you 2 additional bonus bombs if you watch a video? I've clicked on a that a couple times but it just leaves the page and I get nothing. And have to start the game over. 

[ReneeB720366]

I figured out the letter values and scoring.  The values of the letters are different.   (See pic)   A word is scored by the value of each letter in the word multiplied by the number of letters in the word.

As far as the bonus bombs, I've never been able to get them on this site (AARP), but on another site (I think-- USA Today.) I was able to.  However, it makes the game super long.  A game on AARP, takes me about 30 minutes to play (I average 16 rounds per game).  So, the game on the other site, can take hours since you can get up to 3 bombs per round (one awarded bomb and 2 bonus bombs).  I actually prefer the AARP site when I play.