Collins links - Revision history

CM000457: Update Collins cheat sheet from CSW21 to CSW24

2026-03-02T20:11:19Z

Update Collins cheat sheet from CSW21 to CSW24

CM000457: Update to CSW24, update links

2025-08-22T18:15:20Z

Update to CSW24, update links

Show changes

Judycole: /* Word Lists */ removed discount

2024-10-16T02:34:00Z

‎Word Lists: removed discount

CM000457: Add CSW21 discount link

2022-02-06T06:32:45Z

Add CSW21 discount link

CM000457: Update to CSW21, and various links

2022-02-03T23:56:41Z

Update to CSW21, and various links

Judycole: 2021-10-04 - TWL to NWL

2021-10-04T20:03:54Z

2021-10-04 - TWL to NWL

Nball: Added link to https://learningscrabblewords.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-switch-hitting.html

2017-05-22T01:51:44Z

Added link to https://learningscrabblewords.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-switch-hitting.html

Nball: Update of whole SOWPODS wiki to CSW15

2017-04-16T21:29:26Z

Update of whole SOWPODS wiki to CSW15

New page

This page provides links related Collins, 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.

Since once can obviously find much material online by web-searching "Scrabble", "Collins", etc., we limit the selection to the most useful links for the player new to CSW.

These links are all up-to-date for CSW15 unless otherwise noted.

== General ==

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.scrabble.com">Scrabble</a></td>
<td> General worldwide site for Scrabble </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org">NASPA</a></td>
<td> North American Scrabble Players Association </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.wespa.org">WESPA</a></td>
<td> World English-Language Scrabble Players Association </td>
</tr>
</table>

== Playing Guides & Books ==

Some of these are not up-to-date for CSW15, but the effect is minor

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.breakingthegame.net">Breaking the Game</a></td>
<td> Cutting-edge Scrabble strategy, puzzles, etc. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.breakingthegame.net/word">Word</a></td>
<td> Basic Scrabble strategy </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.breakingthegame.net/scrabblesolved">Scrabble Solved</a></td>
<td> Advanced strategy </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ways-Scrabble-Collins-Little-Books/dp/0007514565">101 Ways to Win at Scrabble</a></td>
<td> Recent British book </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Scrabble-Play-like-champion/dp/0007342276">Collins Scrabble: Play Like a Champion</a></td>
<td> A few years older </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/How-Win-At-Scrabble-Andrew-Fisher/0713488204">How to Win at Scrabble</a></td>
<td> From 2004, but comprehensive guide to high level play </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayershandbook.com">The Scrabble Player's Handbook</a></td>
<td> Free online PDF </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Word-Addict-secrets-SCRABBLE-champion/dp/0008146470">Word Addict: Secrets of a World SCRABBLE Champion</a></td>
<td> Recent world champion's story, with game insight </td>
</tr>
</table>

== Software ==

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.quackle.org">Quackle</a></td>
<td> Widely used software that can be configured for Scrabble </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://zyzzyva.net">NASPA Zyzzyva</a></td>
<td> Widely used word study software; requires NASPA membership and license </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools">Collins Zyzzyva</a></td>
<td> Free version that does not contain TWL, but has more comprehensive definitions for CSW, spanning 2-15 letters </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.aerolith.org">Aerolith</a></td>
<td> Online game to practice anagramming, in TWL or CSW </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.poslarchive.com/math/software/tsh">Tournament Shell</a></td>
<td> Tournament directing software that can do TWL or CSW </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://director.victoriascrabble.org">Director</a></td>
<td> Another tournament directing software, more graphically based </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.codehappy.net/elise">Elise</a></td>
<td> Another word game playing software </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.wolfberg.net/what">WHAT</a></td>
<td> Another word finding software </td>
</tr>
</table>

== Word Lists ==

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_1.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 1]]</td>
<td> Useful CSW-only words for handy reference: 2s, 3s, high probability bingos, the 59 2-8 letter words only in TWL, etc. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]]</td>
<td> More useful words: hooks of 2s, 4s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Official-Scrabble-Words-Dictionaries/dp/0007589085">Collins Official Scrabble Words</a></td>
<td> Official CSW15 book </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Scrabble-Dictionary-official-playable/dp/0007589131">Collins Scrabble Dictionary</a></td>
<td> 2-9 letter words, with short definitions </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Ultimate-Scrabble-Dictionary-Wordlist-x/dp/0007589093">Collins Ultimate Scrabble Dictionary and Wordlist</a></td>
<td> Similar, but with 10-15s also listed </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.absp.org.uk/words">ABSP words by category</a></td>
<td> Extensive sets of lists by many definition-based categories (languages, food, etc.) </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/winningwords">Winning Words</a></td>
<td> Set of books with useful categories by part of speech, etc. </td>
</tr>
</table>

== Tournaments & Ratings ==

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/calendar.html">NASPA tournament calendar</a></td>
<td> Official calendar of rated NASPA tournaments, both TWL and CSW </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.cross-tables.com">Cross-Tables</a></td>
<td> Tournaments, ratings, results, etc. Front page has good visual list with obvious icons showing that a tournament is TWL or CSW </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/SOWPODS_rating_system">NASPA SOWPODS ratings</a></td>
<td> Description of the CSW ratings, with results </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.wespa.org/aardvark/cgi-bin/rating.cgi">WESPA ratings</a></td>
<td> World ratings </td>
</tr>
</table>

== Etc. ==

<table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/217094718419713">Collins Scrabble Players</a></td>
<td> Online pro-CSW in North America community </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TWLtoCollins">Transition from TWL to Collins</a></td>
<td> Second online community </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/zapateo99">Dweebovision</a></td>
<td> Videos of CSW games with clear and insightful commentary </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> <a href="http://www.word-buff.com">Word Buff</a></td>
<td> Lots of word-related material </td>
</tr>
</table>

Please direct comments about this page to its author, [[Nick Ball]].

@@ Line 112: / Line 112: @@
 == Word Lists ==
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
      <tr>
-       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 1]]</td>
+       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW24_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 1]]</td>
-       <td> Useful CSW-only words for handy reference: 2s, 3s, high probability bingos, the 52 2-8 letter words only in NWL, etc. </td>
+       <td> Useful CSW-only words for handy reference: 2s, 3s, high probability bingos, etc. </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]]</td>
+       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW24_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]]</td>
        <td> More useful words: hooks of 2s, all the 4s </td>
      </tr>
@@ Line 169: / Line 167: @@
 == Etc. ==
-This list is far from complete, for example, there is a lot of other online video content like twitch.tv.
+This list is not complete, for example, there is a lot of other online video content like twitch.tv.
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

@@ Line 115: / Line 115: @@
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-SCRABBLETM-Words-official-comprehensive-dp-0008523886/dp/0008523886/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Collins Official Scrabble Words</a></td>
-       <td> Official CSW21 book. Also available <a href="https://collins.co.uk/products/9780008523886">here</a> for a 50% discount, using code SCRABBLEWORDS50 until Dec 31st 2022 </td>
+       <td> Official CSW21 book.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>

@@ Line 115: / Line 115: @@
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-SCRABBLETM-Words-official-comprehensive-dp-0008523886/dp/0008523886/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Collins Official Scrabble Words</a></td>
-       <td> Official CSW21 book </td>
+       <td> Official CSW21 book. Also available <a href="https://collins.co.uk/products/9780008523886">here</a> for a 50% discount, using code SCRABBLEWORDS50 until Dec 31st 2022 </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Since once can obviously find much material online by web-searching "Scrabble", "Collins", etc., we limit the selection to the most useful links for the player new to CSW.
-These links are all up-to-date for CSW15 unless otherwise noted.
+These links are all up-to-date for CSW21 unless otherwise noted.
 == General ==
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="http://www.breakingthegame.net">Breaking the Game</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="http://www.breakingthegame.net/csw">Breaking the Game</a></td>
        <td> Cutting-edge Scrabble strategy, puzzles, etc. </td>
      </tr>
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ways-Scrabble-Collins-Little-Books/dp/0007514565">101 Ways to Win at Scrabble</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/101-Ways-Win-Scrabble-success/dp/000758914X/ref=pd_sbs_1/259-2710718-7958737">101 Ways to Win at Scrabble</a></td>
        <td> Recent British book </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Scrabble-Play-like-champion/dp/0007342276">Collins Scrabble: Play Like a Champion</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scrabble-Secrets-board-Collins-Little/dp/0008395837/ref=pd_sbs_1/259-2710718-7958737">Scrabble Secrets</a></td>
-       <td> A few years older </td>
+       <td> Another one, by 1993 world champion Mark Nyman </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
        <td> <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools">Collins Zyzzyva</a></td>
        <td> Version that does not contain NWL, but has more comprehensive definitions for CSW, spanning 2-15 letters </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="https://www.aerolith.org">Aerolith</a></td>
-       <td> Online game to practice anagramming, in TWL or CSW </td>
+       <td> Online game to practice anagramming, in NWL or CSW </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
@@ Line 85: / Line 89: @@
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="http://director.victoriascrabble.org">Director</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="http://director.victoriascrabble.org">Director!</a></td>
        <td> Another tournament directing software, more graphically based </td>
      </tr>
@@ Line 102: / Line 106: @@
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
      <tr>
-       <td> [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_1.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 1]]</td>
+       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_1_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 1]]</td>
-       <td> Useful CSW-only words for handy reference: 2s, 3s, high probability bingos, the 59 2-8 letter words only in TWL, etc. </td>
+       <td> Useful CSW-only words for handy reference: 2s, 3s, high probability bingos, the 52 2-8 letter words only in NWL, etc. </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> [[Media:Collins_cheat_sheet_part_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]]</td>
+       <td> [[Media:Collins_Cheat_Sheet_CSW21_Part_2_of_2.pdf|Collins Cheat Sheet Part 2]]</td>
-       <td> More useful words: hooks of 2s, 4s </td>
+       <td> More useful words: hooks of 2s, all the 4s </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Official-Scrabble-Words-Dictionaries/dp/0007589085">Collins Official Scrabble Words</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-SCRABBLETM-Words-official-comprehensive-dp-0008523886/dp/0008523886/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Collins Official Scrabble Words</a></td>
-       <td> Official CSW15 book </td>
+       <td> Official CSW21 book </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Scrabble-Dictionary-official-playable/dp/0007589131">Collins Scrabble Dictionary</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/SCRABBLETM-Dictionary-official-playable-letters-dp-0008523916/dp/0008523916/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Collins Scrabble Dictionary</a></td>
-       <td> 2-9 letter words, with short definitions </td>
+       <td> 2-9 letter CSW21 words, with short definitions </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Ultimate-Scrabble-Dictionary-Wordlist-x/dp/0007589093">Collins Ultimate Scrabble Dictionary and Wordlist</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Ultimate-Scrabble-Dictionary-Word-dp-0008320284/dp/0008320284/ref=dp_ob_title_bk">Collins Ultimate Scrabble Dictionary and Wordlist</a></td>
-       <td> Similar, but with 10-15s also listed </td>
+       <td> Still CSW19 rather than CSW21, but includes 10-15 letter words in addition to the 2s-9s </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="http://www.absp.org.uk/words">ABSP words by category</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.absp.org.uk">ABSP words by category</a></td>
-       <td> Extensive sets of lists by many definition-based categories (languages, food, etc.) </td>
+       <td> Extensive sets of lists by many definition-based categories (languages, food, etc.) Select the "Words" dropdown menu from the website's top menu bar. </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/winningwords">Winning Words</a></td>
        <td> Set of books with useful categories by part of speech, etc. </td>
      </tr>
 </table>
@@ Line 147: / Line 155: @@
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="http://www.wespa.org/aardvark/cgi-bin/rating.cgi">WESPA ratings</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.wespa.org/ratings.shtml">WESPA ratings</a></td>
        <td> World ratings </td>
      </tr>
@@ Line 153: / Line 161: @@
 == Etc. ==
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This page provides links related Collins, 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 provides links related Collins, 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.
 Since once can obviously find much material online by web-searching "Scrabble", "Collins", etc., we limit the selection to the most useful links for the player new to CSW.
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 == Playing Guides & Books ==
-Some of these are not up-to-date for CSW15, but the effect is minor
+Some of these are not up-to-date for the current CSW, but the effect is minor
 <table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="http://zyzzyva.net">NASPA Zyzzyva</a></td>
-       <td> Widely used word study software; requires NASPA membership and license </td>
+       <td> Widely used word study software</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/scrabble-tools">Collins Zyzzyva</a></td>
-       <td> Free version that does not contain TWL, but has more comprehensive definitions for CSW, spanning 2-15 letters </td>
+       <td> Version that does not contain NWL, but has more comprehensive definitions for CSW, spanning 2-15 letters </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="http://www.poslarchive.com/math/software/tsh">Tournament Shell</a></td>
-       <td> Tournament directing software that can do TWL or CSW </td>
+       <td> Tournament directing software that can do NWL or CSW </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
@@ Line 136: / Line 136: @@
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/calendar.html">NASPA tournament calendar</a></td>
-       <td> Official calendar of rated NASPA tournaments, both TWL and CSW </td>
+       <td> Official calendar of rated NASPA tournaments, both NWL and CSW </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> <a href="http://www.cross-tables.com">Cross-Tables</a></td>
-       <td> Tournaments, ratings, results, etc. Front page has good visual list with obvious icons showing that a tournament is TWL or CSW </td>
+       <td> Tournaments, ratings, results, etc. Front page has good visual list with obvious icons showing that a tournament is NWL or CSW </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
@@ Line 160: / Line 160: @@
      </tr>
      <tr>
-       <td> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TWLtoCollins">Transition from TWL to Collins</a></td>
+       <td> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TWLtoCollins">Transition from NWL to Collins</a></td>
        <td> Second online community </td>
      </tr>

@@ Line 170: / Line 170: @@
        <td> <a href="http://www.word-buff.com">Word Buff</a></td>
        <td> Lots of word-related material </td>
      </tr>
 </table>
 Please direct comments about this page to its author, [[Nick Ball]].