MALAM is valid in Collins, not in North America — 9 points

It depends on the list you play by. MALAM is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 9 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.

Which word lists accept MALAM?

Word power: 32 / 100

Our own measure of how useful MALAM is to know. It scores 9 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated

Hooks for MALAM

Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.

How MALAM scores

Face value of the 5 tiles in MALAM, before any board multiplier.

Tiles you need

Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 522,830.

What stands out about MALAM

• MALAM is a palindrome: it reads the same in both directions, so it plays the same way whichever end you build from.
• MALAM begins and ends with the same letter.

Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things

Words starting with MALAM

3 longer words begin with MALAM.

Shorter words from the letters in MALAM

Common questions about MALAM

Is MALAM valid in Words with Friends?

No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and MALAM is not in it.

How many points is MALAM worth?

MALAM is worth 9 points in Scrabble and 12 points in Words with Friends.

What letters can be added to MALAM?

MALAM takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.