Unraveling Q...

Q without U

One of the first strategy tips that any championship Scrabble player will tell you is to learn your "Q without U" words. The letter "Q" in Scrabble is the highest-scoring letter, along with "Z", scoring 10 points straight-up. Unfortunately, the vast majority of words that contain the letter "Q" also require the letter "U". To make things tricky, there are only 4 "U" tiles in the Scrabble letter bag, so one often ends up with the "Q" long after all the "U" tiles have been used. It's also important, say most Scrabble strategists, to release your high-scoring letters as soon as possible without wasting them. Holding a "Q" in your rack makes it highly unlikely that you will catch a "Bingo" (a score using your entire rack).

So what does one do when one draws the "Q" and there is no "U" to be had? A smart player will play one of the "Q without U" words. With one notable exception, all of these words are based in languages from the Middle East and the Asian Subcontinent. That's because in Germanic and Latin languages (English is a little bit of both), "Q" is always followed by "U". Only words that we've borrowed from Semitic and Indo-Iranian languages have free-floating "Q"s. This should be no surprise, think about the Arabic place-names we see in the news so often (Iraq, Qatar, Tiqrit, and so on). With a couple of notable examples of modern English slang, all of the other words on this list are originally from that region. Memorize them and use them well!

Q without U :

QINDARKA

QINDARS

QINTARS

QWERTYS

FAQIRS

QANATS

QINDAR

QINTAR

QWERTY

SHEQEL

TRANQS

FAQIR

QAIDS

QANAT

QOPHS

TRANQ

QAID

QATS

QOPH

QAT

Other Useful Q Words

There are also a few Q-U words that do not require a U directly behind the Q. You might think to yourself that these really don't help you, because you still need a "U" in the word. But consider that this gives you the opportunity to play off of a "U" that is already on the board, in situations where the Q-U wouldn't necessarily work.

BUQSHA

BUQSHAS

QIVIUT

QIVIUTS

SHEQELUM

SUQ

SUQS

UMIAQ

UMIAQS

Umiaq is especially useful in this way, but those with the "U" as the second-to-first or second-to-last letter also prove useful, because it is often easier to fit an "S" or "T" or even a "B" into a tight spot than it is a "U".

The Complete List of Q-Words Here is a complete list of Q-words in Scrabble. It's hard to add an entirely comprehensive list, since different players use different SCRABBLE dictionaries. This should be a pretty good start, if you are looking to memorize the Q words allowed in Classic Scrabble. Starting with A ACEQUIA ACQUEST ACQUIRE ACQUIT ACQUITS ALFAQUI ALIQUOT ANTIQUE AQUA AQUAE AQUARIA AQUAS AQUATIC AQUAVIT AQUEOUS AQUIFER AQUIVER ASQUINT Starting with B BANQUET BAROQUE BARQUE BARQUES BASQUE BASQUES BEQUEST BISQUE BISQUES BOSQUE BOSQUES BOSQUET BOUQUET BRIQUET BRUSQUE BUQSHA BUQSHAS Starting with C CACIQUE CAIQUE CAIQUES CALQUED CALQUE CALQUES CASQUED CASQUE CASQUES CHARQUI CHEQUER CHEQUE CHEQUES CINQUE CINQUES CIRQUE CIRQUES CLAQUER CLAQUE CLAQUES CLIQUED CLIQUE CLIQUES CLIQUEY CLIQUY CLOQUE CLOQUES COEQUAL CONQUER COQUET COQUETS COQUINA COQUITO CROQUET CROQUIS CUMQUAT Starting with D DIQUAT DIQUATS Starting with E ENQUIRE ENQUIRY EQUABLE EQUABLY EQUAL EQUALED EQUALLY EQUALS EQUATE EQUATED EQUATES EQUATOR EQUERRY EQUID EQUIDS EQUINE EQUINES EQUINOX EQUIP EQUIPS EQUITES EQUITY ESQUIRE EXEQUY Starting with F FAQIR FAQIRS FAQUIR FIQUE FIQUES FAQUIRS Starting with I INQUEST INQUIET INQUIRE INQUIRY Starting with J JONQUIL Starting with K KUMQUAT Starting With L LACQUER LACQUEY LIQUATE LIQUEFY LIQUEUR LIQUID LIQUIDS LIQUIFY LIQUOR LIQUORS LOQUAT LOQUATS Starting with M MAQUI MACAQUE MANQUE MAQUIS MARQUE MARQUEE MARQUES MARQUIS MASQUE MASQUER MASQUES MESQUIT MOSQUE MOSQUES Starting with O OBLIQUE OBLOQUY OBSEQUY OPAQUED OPAQUER OPAQUE OPAQUES OQUASSA Starting with P PARQUET PASQUIL PERIQUE PICQUET PIQUANT PIQUE PIQUED PIQUES PIQUET PIQUETS PIQUING PIROQUE PLAQUE PLAQUES PREQUEL PULQUE PULQUES Scrabble Words Starting With a Q There are so many Q-words in Scrabble which start with a Q, I decided to break them up into the letters which immediately follow the Q. This should make it easier for the interested Scrabble player to study these lists of Scrabble words starting with a Q. Starting with QA QAID QAIDS QANAT QANATS QAT QATS Starting With QI QINDARS QINDAR QINTAR QINTARS QIVIUT QIVIUTS QUACKED Starting with QUA QUA QUACK QUACKS QUAD QUADDED QUADRAT QUADRIC QUADS QUAERE QUAERES QUAFF QUAFFED QUAFFER QUAFFS QUAG QUAGGA QUAGGAS QUAGGY QUAGS QUAHAUG QUAHOG QUAHOGS QUAICH QUAICHS QUAIGH QUAIGHS QUAILED QUAIL QUAILS QUAINT QUAI QUAIS QUAKE QUAKED QUAKER QUAKERS QUAKES QUAKIER QUAKILY QUAKING QUAKY QUALE QUALIA QUALIFY QUALITY QUALMS QUALM QUALMY QUAMASH QUANGO QUANGOS QUANT QUANTA QUANTAL QUANTED QUANTIC QUANTS QUANTUM QUARK QUARKS QUARREL QUARRY QUARE QUART QUARTAN QUARTE QUARTER QUARTES QUARTET QUARTIC QUARTO QUARTOS QUARTS QUASAR QUASARS QUASH QUASHED QUASHER QUASHES QUASI QUASS QUASSES QUASSIA QUASSIN QUATE QUATRE QUATRES QUAVER QUAVERS QUAVERY QUAY QUAYAGE QUAYS Starting with QUE QUEAN QUEANS QUEASY QUEEN QUEENED QUEENLY QUEENS QUEER QUEERED QUEERER QUEERLY QUEERS QUELL QUELLED QUELLER QUELLS QUENCH QUERIDA QUERIED QUERIER QUERIES QUERIST QUERN QUERNS QUERY QUEST QUESTED QUESTER QUESTOR QUESTS QUEUE QUEUED QUEUER QUEUERS QUEUES QUEUING QUEY QUEYS Starting with QUI QUIBBLE QUICHE QUICHES QUICK QUICKEN QUICKER QUICKIE QUICKLY QUICKS QUID QUIDS QUIET QUIETED QUIETEN QUIETER QUIETLY QUIETS QUIETUS QUIFF QUIFFS QUILL QUILLAI QUILLED QUILLET QUILLS QUILT QUILTED QUILTER QUILTS QUIN QUINARY QUINATE QUINCE QUINCES QUINELA QUINIC QUININ QUININA QUININE QUININS QUINNAT QUINOA QUINOAS QUINOID QUINOL QUINOLS QUINONE QUINS QUINSY QUIP QUIPS QUIPU QUINT QUINTA QUINTAL QUINTAN QUINTAR QUINTAS QUINTE QUINTES QUINTET QUINTIC QUINTIN QUINTS QUIPPED QUIPPER QUIPPU QUIPPUS QUIPUS QUIRE QUIRED QUIRES QUIRING QUIRK QUIRKED QUIRKS QUIRKY QUIRT QUIRTED QUIRTS QUIT QUITCH QUITE QUITS QUITTED QUITTER QUITTOR QUIVER QUIVERS QUIVERY QUIXOTE Starting with QUO QUOD QUODS QUOHOG QUOHOGS QUOIN QUOINED QUOINS QUOIT QUOITED QUOITS QUOKKA QUOKKAS QUOMODO QUONDAM QOPH QOPHS QUORUM QUORUMS QUOTA QUOTAS QUOTE QUOTED QUOTER QUOTERS QUOTES QUOTH QUOTHA QUOTING Assorted Other Q Words QURSH QURSHES QWERTYS QURUSH QWERTY Starting With R RACQUET REEQUIP RELIQUE REQUEST REQUIEM REQUIN REQUINS REQUIRE REQUITE RISQUE ROQUE ROQUES ROQUET ROQUETS RORQUAL Starting with S SACQUE SACQUES SEQUEL SEQUELA SEQUELS SEQUENT SEQUIN SEQUINS SEQUOIA SHEQEL SILIQUA SILIQUE SQUAB SQUABS SQUABBY SQUAD SQUADS SQUALID SQUALL SQUALLS SQUALLY SQUALOR SQUAMA SQUAMAE SQUARE SQUARED SQUARER SQUARES SQUASH SQUASHY SQUAT SQUATS SQUATLY SQUATTY SQUAW SQUAWK SQUAWKS SQUAWS SQUEAK SQUEAKS SQUEAKY SQUEAL SQUEALS SQUEG SQUEGS SQUELCH SQUIB SQUIBS SQUID SQUIDS SQUIFFY SQUILL SQUILLA SQUILLS SQUINCH SQUINNY SQUINT SQUINTS SQUINTY SQUIRE SQUIRED SQUIRES SQUIRM SQUIRMS SQUIRMY SQUIRT SQUIRTS SQUISH SQUISHY SQUOOSH SQUUSH SUQ SUQS Starting with T TEQUILA TOQUE TOQUES TOQUET TOQUETS TORQUE TORQUED TORQUER TORQUES TRANQ TRANQS TUQUE TUQUES Starting With U UBIQUE UMIAQS UNEQUAL UNIQUE UNIQUER UNIQUES UNQUIET UNQUOTE UMIAQ USQUE USQUES Starting with V VAQUERO YANQUI YANQUIS