The three-letter words

There are 972 of them, which is too many to sit down and memorise as a list. It is also the wrong way to learn them, because most of them are not new.

Already within reach

76%

A two-letter word plus one tile

736

Have to be learned outright

236

736 of the 972 are one of the 96 two-letter words with a single letter hooked on the front or the back. Learn the short list properly and three quarters of this one comes with it — which is the real argument for learning the short list first, and it is a countable argument rather than advice.

The 236 that are left are the ones worth actual effort. They share no two-letter word with anything you already know, so no amount of hook practice will turn them up.

ACE ACT AFF AFT APT AUK AVA AVE AVO AZO

BRA BRO BRR BUB BUD BUG BUR BUY

CAP CEE CEP COB COG COL COO COT COZ CRY CUB CUD CUE CUR CWM

DAK DAP DIB DIE DIG DIM DIP DRY DUB DUD DUE DUG DUI DUO

EAU EBB ECU EGG EKE EVE

FEE FEU FEW FEY FEZ FIB FIE FIG FIL FIR FIX FIZ FLU FLY FOB FOG FOU FRO FRY FUB FUD FUG FUR

GAP GEE GEY GIB GIE GIG GIP GUL GUV GUY GYM GYP

HUB HUE HUG HYP

ICE ICH ICK ICY ILK ILL IMP IRK IVY

JEE JEU JEW JIB JIG JUG

KEA KEG KEP KEY KIP KIR KOA KOB KOI KUE

LEA LEE LEG LEI LEK LEU LEV LEY LEZ LUG LUV LUX

NIB NIL NIM NIP NIX NTH

OAF OAK OCA OIL OKE OLD OLE OOT OUD OUR OVA

PHT PLY POI POL POT PRO PRY PUB PUD PUG PUL PUR PYX

QUA

RAJ RAP RIA RIB RIG RIM RIP ROB ROC ROT RUB RUE RUG

SAC SAP SAU SEA SEC SEE SEG SEI SEW SKI SKY SLY SPY SRI STY SUB SUE SUQ SYN

TEA TEE TEG TEW THY TRY TSK TUB TUG TUI TUX TWA

UGH UKE ULU URB URD URN

VAC VAU VAV VEE VEG VIA VIE VIG VIM VUG

WAP WHY WIG WIZ WRY WUD WYN

YIP YUK

ZAP ZEE ZEK ZIG ZIP ZOA ZOO

The 236 three-letter words that are not a two-letter word plus a hook.

Which list this is. ENABLE, which is public domain and therefore publishable here. Both official lists carry more three-letter words than these 972. How many more is not stated here, because no count for either official list has been checked against a source good enough to print — and the gap between the two official lists is itself large, so a single word like “slightly” would be wrong about at least one of them. Treat this list as complete for ENABLE and as a lower bound for a tournament one. For the two-letter list the difference is quantified exactly: eleven words, named.

Try next

The 96 two-letter words

With every hook each one takes, and the odds you can play it.

What your opening rack will look like

Face value, vowel splits, and the bingo rate.