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This document last revised: Mon Oct 20 10:36:05 EDT 1997

TWL98 Changes

On March 2nd, 1998, the National Scrabble® Association will adopt a new word list for use at its sanctioned clubs and tournaments. This list will replace the Official Scrabble® Players Dictionary (second edition, now out of print) as extensively amended, and will for the first time include base words of nine letters. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (tenth edition) will continue to be the reference for words outside of the scope of the new Tournament Word List, i.e. uninflected words of ten or more letters and inflected forms of ten or more letters whose base forms also have at least ten letters.

A number of changes will be made to the word list with the adoption of TWL98; these are described below.

"Foreign" Words Deled

According to the specifications to which the OSPD was originally compiled, words which are marked as foreign in the sources in which they appear are not acceptable. It has recently been discovered that a few such words were incorrectly included in the OSPD, and they are now being deled.

Capitalized Word Deled

According to the specifications to which the OSPD was originally compiled, words which are always capitalised in the sources in which they appear are not acceptable. It has recently been discovered that one such word was incorrectly included in the OSPD, and it is now being deled.

Changed Inflections

With the advice of Merriam-Webster lexicographers, the following inflections will be changed:

backdrop
add new past tense BACKDROPT
footwear knitwear menswear neckwear playwear rainwear skiwear swimwear townwear
dele plurals FOOTWEARS KNITWEARS MENSWEARS NECKWEARS PLAYWEARS RAINWEARS SKIWEARS SWIMWEARS TOWNWEARS
hangul
dele plural HANGULS
ill
add comparative ILLER and superlative ILLEST
lez
change plural from LEZES to LEZZES
licente
is a plural of SENTE, dele its plural LICENTI
maglev
is now a noun, add plural MAGLEVS
pineal
see below
premix
add new past tense PREMIXT
rhyton
add new plural RHYTONS
smooth
add alternate third person singular SMOOTHES
spaetzle
add new plural SPAETZLES
stride
dele past tense STRID
teniasis
change plural from TENIASISES to TENIASES
trapezii
see below
whinge
add new present participle WHINGING

New MWCD10 Words Added

A number of words have been added to MWCD10 since the last revision to the OSPD, and selection criteria have been expanded to allow words that appear as italicised non-cross-referenced synonyms (e.g. STARFRUIT, listed at CARAMBOLA). Note that words in the latter category of ten or more letters will continue to be unacceptable, because of the practical impossibility of finding them in MWCD10.

These new words appear in TWL98:

Orphaned Nine-Letter Base Forms Added

Since the OSPD was compiled from several collegiate dictionaries, it includes some eight-letter plurals of nine-letter words which are not in MWCD10. These orphaned singular forms have been added to TWL98, and ten-letter singular forms of nine-letter plurals will also appear, to avoid similar problems in future. Where longer singular forms have longer alternate plurals, these too have been added.

These words appear in TWL98:

Clarifications of Implicit Inflections

MWCD10 is occasionally unclear concerning allowable inflections of words. The word list used online on DOoM servers will be emended as follows:
anopheles
dele plural ANOPHELESES
alkalosis chlorosis fluorosis halitosis heterosis nephrosis proptosis sclerosis silicosis
dele alternate plurals ALKALOSISES CHLOROSISES FLUOROSISES HALITOSISES HETEROSISES NEPHROSISES PROPTOSISES SCLEROSISES SILICOSISES
antiradar antishock antismoke antisolar antitumor antiwoman
are adjectives, dele ANTIRADARS ANTISHOCKS ANTISMOKES ANTISOLARS ANTITUMORS ANTIWOMEN
arteritis gastritis phlebitis
dele alternate plurals ARTERITES ARTERITISES GASTRITES GASTRITISES PHLEBITES PHLEBITISES
beachwear outerwear sleepwear underwear
dele plurals BEACHWEARS OUTERWEARS SLEEPWEARS UNDERWEARS (no compound words in -WEAR will take -S)
cacoethes
dele plural CACOETHESES
cafetorium
dele plural CAFETORIA
cocaptain cocounsel coculture cofeature cohostess copartner copresent
are verbs, add COCAPTAINED COCAPTAINING COCOUNSELED COCOUNSELING COCOUNSELLED COCOUNSELLING COCULTURED COCULTURING COFEATURED COFEATURING COHOSTESSED COHOSTESSING COPARTNERED COPARTNERING COPRESENTED COPRESENTING COPRESENTS
cocksfoot
plural is COCKSFOOTS, not COCKSFEET
coeternal
is an adjective, dele COETERNALS
enteritis
dele plural ENTERITES
franglais
dele plural FRANGLAISES
glossitis laminitis parotitis sinusitis synovitis vaginitis
dele alternate plurals GLOSSITES GLOSSITIDES LAMINITES LAMINITIDES PAROTITES PAROTITIDES SINUSITES SINUSITIDES SYNOVITES SYNOVITIDES VAGINITES VAGINITIDES
hybridoma
dele plural HYBRIDOMATA
impatiens
dele plural IMPATIENSES
interflow interfold interzone
are adjectives, dele INTERFLOWED INTERFLOWING INTERFLOWS INTERFOLDED INTERFOLDING INTERFOLDS INTERZONES
literatus
dele plural LITERATUSES
lycopodium
change plural LYCOPODIA to LYCOPODIUMS
misstrike
is a verb, add MISSTRICKEN MISSTRIKING MISSTRUCK
mongoloid
is a noun, add MONGOLOIDS
multilane multipath multipole multiwall
are adjectives, dele MULTILANES MULTIPATHS MULTIPOLES MULTIWALLS
nightlife
plural is NIGHTLIFES, not NIGHTLIVES
nonanimal nonbuying noncaking noncareer nonchurch noncounty nondesert nonedible nonenergy nonexempt nonfinite nonfossil nonghetto nongrowth nonimmune nonimpact noninjury nonkosher nonleague nonliving nonmarket nonpolice nonrubber nonruling nonsexual nonspeech nontariff
are adjectives, dele NONANIMALS NONBUYINGS NONCAKINGS NONCAREERS NONCHURCHES NONCOUNTIES NONDESERTS NONEDIBLES NONENERGIES NONEXEMPTS NONFINITES NONFOSSILS NONGHETTOS NONGROWTHS NONIMMUNES NONIMPACTS NONINJURIES NONKOSHERS NONLEAGUES NONLIVINGS NONMARKETS NONPOLICES NONRUBBERS NONRULINGS NONSEXUALS NONSPEECHES NONTARIFFS
nonmutant
is a noun, add NONMUTANTS
overclean overdry
are verbs, add OVERCLEANED OVERCLEANING OVERCLEANS OVERDRIED OVERDRIES OVERDRYING
overdrive
is a verb, add OVERDRIVEN OVERDRIVING OVERDROVE
overlight
add alternate past tense OVERLIGHTED
overweary
is an adjective, dele OVERWEARIED OVERWEARIES OVERWEARYING
photostat
add alternate inflections PHOTOSTATTED PHOTOSTATTING
postfault
is an adjective, dele POSTFAULTS
pocketful
add alternate plural POCKETSFUL
predinner preflight premarket prereturn prereview preseason prestrike presummit pretravel
are adjectives, dele PREDINNERS PREFLIGHTS PREMARKETED PREMARKETING PREMARKETS PRERETURNED PRERETURNING PRERETURNS PREREVIEWED PREREVIEWING PREREVIEWS PRESEASONS PRESTRICKEN PRESTRIKES PRESTRIKING PRESTRUCK PRESUMMITS PRETRAVELED PRETRAVELING PRETRAVELLED PRETRAVELLING PRETRAVELS
preshrink
add alternate past participle PRESHRUNKEN
reticulum
dele plural RETICULUMS
retinitis
dele plural RETINITISES
sauternes
dele plural SAUTERNESES
scintilla
add alternate plural SCINTILLAE
straphang
dele alternate past tense STRAPHANGED
suboptimum
is an adjective, dele SUBOPTIMA SUBOPTIMUMS
subvisual
is an adjective, dele SUBVISUALS
superfirm supermini
are nouns, add SUPERFIRMS SUPERMINIS
superhype
is a verb, add SUPERHYPED SUPERHYPING
superrich supersize
are adjectives, dele SUPERRICHES SUPERSIZES
testatrix
dele alternate plural TESTATRIXES
trapezium
dele alternate plural TRAPEZIUMS
trapezius
add plural TRAPEZII
ultracold ultraleft ultrarich
are adjectives, dele ULTRACOLDS ULTRALEFTS ULTRARICHES
utriculus
dele alternate plural UTRICULUSES
slaphappy
add inflections SLAPHAPPIER SLAPHAPPIEST
unhealthy
add inflections UNHEALTHIER UNHEALTHIEST
unsightly
add inflections UNSIGHTLIER UNSIGHTLIEST
womenkind
dele plural WOMENKINDS
zamindari
only plural is ZAMINDARIS, not ZAMINDARIES
zemindary
only plural is ZEMINDARIES, not ZEMINDARIS