Word Plus

The aim is to use every letter from A to Z exactly once in a set of real English words. You lay the words on your mat in rows, one under another, rather than crossing them as in Scrabble. Each word must be 2 to 10 letters long, and a blank can stand for any letter. Dictionary words count, but names of people, abbreviations, hyphenated words and words with an apostrophe don't.

Scoring: a word scores the total of its letter values. Words of five or six letters score double and words of seven or more score triple, so long words pay. In the Regular level, each extra vowel you use costs twice its value from that word's score. Bonuses add a word's score again for every anagram or other word you can find in its letters, 100 points if all your words have four letters, and 200 points for a game made without the blanks.

Write your words on the notepad and note what each blank stood for. Played alone, you try different combinations to beat your own record. In a contest, agree a time limit and the level first, play at least three games and add up the scores; the highest total wins, and players or teams may not help each other. With more than four people, play in teams.

A tip: each set has only five vowels, so the awkward letters J, Q, V, X and Z are the real puzzle. Place them first in short words, remember that Y can act as a vowel, and save the blanks for the end. The Easy Solutions booklet has ready-made answers; Funskool suggests parents keep it aside and use it only for hints.