Hooking with -YL words
Endings like -YL let you tack a word onto a tile already on the board, often turning a small play into a big one. Look for the high-value entries above to maximise points.
A quick statistical tour
Inside this list: 88 words spanning 4–13 letters. The biggest cluster sits at 8 letters (28 words), 12 entries are Wordle-sized at five letters, and 12 run to seven — bingo length if you can empty the rack. For points, the ceiling is ZYGODACTYL, worth 29.
Chasing points? The best five entries here are ZYGODACTYL (29), PHOSPHATIDYL (26), HYDROXYL (25), CHRYSOBERYL (24), METHOXYL (23). At 13 letters, PERISSODACTYL is the longest word on the list; a typical entry scores around 15. Letter-wise, Y is the workhorse — it appears in 88 of these words, ahead of L (88) and O (41).
Start with these three
- Playing ALANYL across a double-word square turns its base 9 points into 18 — solid value for 6 tiles.
- When the rack looks hopeless, TETRYL (6 letters, 9 points) is the kind of quiet play that keeps a game moving.
- TOLUYL earns 9 points from just 6 tiles — and it is a word few opponents will bother to challenge.
Five more everyday options from the same list: TROTYL (9), URANYL (9), ALLYL (8), NONYL (8), TOLYL (8).
Why -YL endings win turns
Endings are Scrabble's cheapest points. A word finishing in -YL can often be built backwards from a tile already on the board, so you pay for fewer letters than you score. Scan the high scorers above, then look for a spot where the final -YL lands on a premium square — the multiplier applies to your whole word, not just the hook.
More endings
Narrow it down
Pair an ending with a length or starting letter in the Word Finder.