Two weeks of English UniWords games, one question: which words scored the most? Between 8 and 21 September our players finished or fought through 2,336 English games, made 33,361 moves and laid 689 bingos. Here are the ten highest-scoring single words from that stretch, taken straight from the game data. Bot moves are excluded, and we don’t name the players.
The top 10
Table version of the top 10
| # | Word | Word score | Turn total | Board | Premium squares used | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SYNCED | 216 | 216 | Random | 2× triple word, double word | 10 September |
| 2 | LOOSE | 180 | 180 | Random | 2× double word, 2× triple word | 19 September |
| 3 | DOXES | 156 | 156 | Random | double letter, 2× double word, triple word | 21 September |
| 4 | COOING | 144 | 144 | Random | triple letter, 2× triple word | 15 September |
| 5 | SLEEPY | 132 | 132 | Random | triple word, 2× double word | 9 September |
| 6 | ETESIAN | 126 | 176 (bingo) | Random | double word, 2× triple word | 18 September |
| 7 | SHELTER | 120 | 170 (bingo) | Random | triple word, 2× double word | 14 September |
| 8 | FLEW | 120 | 138 | Random | 4× double word, triple word | 15 September |
| 9 | PAINT | 120 | 120 | Random | double letter, triple word, 2× double word | 12 September |
| 10 | TAKERS | 120 | 120 | Random | triple word, 2× double word | 14 September |
PEAK also scored 120 on 15 September and only missed the list on the tie-break. Word score is what the word itself was worth; turn total adds the 50-point bingo bonus and any cross-words formed in the same move.
Why random boards produce monster opening moves
All ten words were played on a random board, and seven of them were the very first move of the game. In UniWords’ random-board mode the premium squares are shuffled before the game starts, so now and then two triple-word squares end up within reach of the centre. Land a six-letter word across both of them and a double-word square at the same time and the multiplier is 18×. That is how SYNCED, a word worth 12 points on plain squares, turned into 216, and how LOOSE, worth 5, became 180.
On a standard board the multipliers sit where you expect them, so the best standard-board word of the fortnight scored “only” 117 and missed the top ten. It is still the most impressive play of the two weeks.
Best of the rest
- Best word without touching a single premium square: SQUAWKY for 26 points on 12 September.
- Longest word of the fortnight: PLANTINGS (9 letters, 45 points).
- Most played words: QI (446), JO (143), XI (116), AX (92), OX (86). QI remains the workhorse of English UniWords.
- Bingos: 689 seven- and eight-tile plays in two weeks, or roughly 49 a day.
Want your word on this list?
UniWords is free, has no ads and runs on iOS, Android and in the browser at play.uniwords.io. Every English word is checked against our dictionary, powered by data from Oxford Languages, and every board in this post is rendered from the actual game. Try the random-board mode if you fancy a shot at a 200-point opener.
Keep reading
Next: UniWords is now played in more than 60 countries, and LAIRAGE was last week’s top word.
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