# Scrabble fans: highest scoring organism name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Created:** [June 28, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147 "2022-06-28T00:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![broacher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/broacher/32/52883_2.png) [@broacher](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/broacher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/1 "2022-06-28T00:49:06Z")
I’m a bit of a Scrabble junkie. It’s a great way for me to settle my little clump of grey matter and to deal with my low attention span in waitful situations. So as I was waiting for a very slow moving group of waterbirds to float down the other (wet) day I was playing a little phone Scrabble in my spot and this thought hit me: What is the highest possible scoring single (legally official) word value for any single genus, species or common name of a species? Anyone care to work that out? It has to be a single (no spaces) word and officially legal as defined by the [Scrabble dictionary].([https://scrabblewordfinder.org](https://scrabblewordfinder.org)). You should also be aware of the availability of the letters in the game. That is, you can’t use more of any letter than there are in ‘the bag’ ![scrabble1](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/b/e/bec75845aab43988cd0efb1a2f8e6b28ce683fcb.png) But don’t forget that 2 of the total 100 possible tiles are blanks, or wild cards. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:53am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/2 "2022-06-28T00:53:34Z")
Oh boy! Someone’s going to figure it out by running everthing _Genus_ and above through the dictionary, I think? ---
**Author:** ![fmiudo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/fmiudo/32/5584_2.png) [@fmiudo](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/fmiudo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/3 "2022-06-28T02:02:48Z")
My try: Zanthoxylum [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54837-Zanthoxylum](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54837-Zanthoxylum) for 35 points ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/4 "2022-06-28T02:02:51Z")
iNat does publish a list of of its taxa and common names. so i haven’t done it, but it should be relatively trivial to figure out the highest scoring word(s) from that set. but i wouldn’t want to check each candidate word against the Scrobble dictionary you referenced using that page. if there’s an electronic list of all the words in the dictionary that’s publicly available, that would make it the whole task you’re proposing here much less work. find the common set of words between taxon names and Scrabble dictionary first, and then in that smaller set, score them, and then figure out the highest scorer. i think one complexity in this kind of question is whether you are allowed to potentially build longer-than-7-letter words by assuming that words can be built on top of each other like “flies” first and then adding “dragon” to make “dragonflies”? or would you allow cases where, say, you started with “bear” and added “snake” by joining the leading “s” in “snake” to the end of “bear” to make “bears”? also, true Scrabble scoring is very position dependent, since there are the special boxes that could double or triple word or letter scores. So would you consider those, too? ---
**Author:** ![broacher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/broacher/32/52883_2.png) [@broacher](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/broacher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/5 "2022-06-28T02:14:53Z")
> [@pisum](#): > > find the common set of words between taxon names and Scrabble dictionary first, and then in that smaller set, score them, and then figure out the highest scorer. Ouch. I was hoping for just having some fun twiddling around with organic software. > [@pisum](#): > > whether you are allowed to potentially build longer-than-7-letter words by assuming that words can be built on top of each other like “flies” first and then adding “dragon” to make “dragonflies”? or would you allow cases where, say, you started with “bear” and added “snake” by joining the leading “s” in “snake” to the end of “bear” to make “bears”? I know, and the position dependent thing and double/triples, etc. All very important if this was a strategic tournament competition. But again, just hoping that others might have some fun musing on single words, scored only by the total letter values AND you can use any of the full 100 starting letters, but only as many as there are as shown by the chart (plus the two wild cards). It would also be great to see who has the best single rack (7 letter) word. And who has the longest! ---
**Author:** ![broacher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/broacher/32/52883_2.png) [@broacher](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/broacher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/6 "2022-06-28T02:16:13Z")
> Zanthoxylum Great start fmiudo! Thanks for starting us off. ---
**Author:** ![rynxs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/rynxs/32/22529_2.png) [@rynxs](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/rynxs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/7 "2022-06-28T02:23:20Z")
I had the thought of Zanthoxylum too. How about Oxyzygonectes, for 38? ---
**Author:** ![broacher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/broacher/32/52883_2.png) [@broacher](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/broacher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/8 "2022-06-28T02:25:35Z")
> [@rynxs](#): > > How about Oxyzygonectes, for 38? And… we’re off! Very nice. Thanks for playing! ---
**Author:** ![rynxs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/rynxs/32/22529_2.png) [@rynxs](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/rynxs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/9 "2022-06-28T02:30:56Z")
Found a better one: Rhizophyllidaceae, for 40. Not a genus or species, though. The order Rhizophydiomycetes is worth even more, at 46. ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 7:55am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/11 "2022-06-28T07:55:16Z")
but Scrabble rules don’t accept sciency words, not so? Dragonflies but not Odonata? ---
**Author:** ![thebeachcomber](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/thebeachcomber/32/12748_2.png) [@thebeachcomber](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/thebeachcomber)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 8:34am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/12 "2022-06-28T08:34:33Z")
to be a party pooper, Oxyzygonectes is not a valid scrabble word, and neither are Rhizophyllidaceae and Rhizophydiomycetes because they don’t fit on the board (15 x 15 tiles) ---
**Author:** ![fmiudo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/fmiudo/32/5584_2.png) [@fmiudo](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/fmiudo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 10:06am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/13 "2022-06-28T10:06:42Z")
Hu hu hu I’m back to the top Make sure you also use [https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary-checker](https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary-checker) to check if your word is valid too. ---
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/14 "2022-06-28T15:07:24Z")
Following @pisum’s rules: 1. [worm (_Lumbricus terrestris_)](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81545-Lumbricus-terrestris) - 9 points 2. [wormwood (_Artemisa absinthium_)](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/60350-Artemisia-absinthium) - 17 points Note: Sorry for the last post, tried to delete it but couldn’t figure out how because @pisum already covered the same topic, but better. @tiwane could you remove my previous reply? ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/15 "2022-06-28T17:19:19Z")
> [@broacher](#): > > having some fun twiddling around with organic software i guess just wracking brains is fine, but if you’re going to do hypotheticals like this, isn’t it nice to know the actual answers? > **click here if you want to know the answers** > > assuming taxa in iNat as of 2022-06-01 and disregarding double and triple scoring: > > | Highest-Scoring Category | Dictionary | Word(s) | Points | > | --- | --- | --- | --- | > | English common name | both | Quicksilvers (genus Hadromyia) | 30 (+7 tile bonus for “silvers”) | > | English common name (alternates) | CSW (SOWPODS) only | Leatherjackets (genus Oligoplites, family Monacanthidae, or family Tipulidae), Chickenpox (Human alphaherpesvirus 3) | 30 (+7 tile bonus for either “leather”, “jackets”, or “chicken”) | > | Up-to-7-letter English common name | both | Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) | 24 (+7 tile bonus) | > | 8-letter English common name | both | Jackfish (Esox lucius or Sander canadensis) | 27 (+7 tile bonus) | > | Taxon name, disregarding 7-tile rule and 15-letter max rule | neither | Chrysoparadoxophyceae | 49 | > | Taxon name, disregarding 7-tile rule | neither | Xochiquetzallia | 45 | > | Taxon name, disregarding 7-tile rule | NWL (TWL) | Myxomycetes, Archaeopteryx (extinct) | 30 | > | Taxon name | both | Chrysanthemum | 29 (+7 tile bonus for “Chrys”+“um” on top of "anthem’) | > | Taxon name | CSW (SOWPODS) only | Zanthoxylum | 35 (no 7 tile bonus for “Zantho”) | > | Up-to-7-letter Taxon | neither | Zygonyx, Zyxomma | 30 (+7 tile bonus) | > | Up-to-7-letter Taxon | both | Zelkova | 23 (+7 tile bonus) | > | 8-letter Taxon | neither | Myxozyma | 32 (+7 tile bonus) | > | 8-letter Taxon | both | Quillaja | 24 (+7 tile bonus) | > | 8-letter Taxon (alternate) | CSW (SOWPODS) only | Hydrozoa | 24 (+7 tile bonus) | … > [@fmiudo](#): > > Zanthoxylum [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54837-Zanthoxylum](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54837-Zanthoxylum) for 35 points if you don’t take into account a potential 7-tile bonus on other words (“zantho” is only 6 tiles), this is in fact the highest scorer if you use the CSW (SOWPODS) dictionary, as opposed to the NWL (TWL). ---
**Author:** ![bazwal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bazwal/32/109_2.png) [@bazwal](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bazwal)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/16 "2022-06-28T18:10:59Z")
Lowest scoring: 2 points - **ai** (_Bradypus tridactylus_) and **al** (_Morinda citrifolia_). ---
**Author:** ![yayemaster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yayemaster/32/12153_2.png) [@yayemaster](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yayemaster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/17 "2022-06-28T18:22:40Z")
@pisum For highest scoring 7 letter English common names, wouldn’t Mezquit(_Prosopis_) be higher with 27 points? ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/18 "2022-06-28T18:32:28Z")
yes, Mezquit would give you 27 points + 7 tile bonus, and Mezquite or Mezquits (8 letters) would give you 28 points + 7 tile bonus. both are valid in the Scrabble dictionary, it seems, but neither are defined as _English_ common names in iNaturalist. (Mesquite would be the common English name in iNat.) ---
**Author:** ![raymie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/raymie/32/12650_2.png) [@raymie](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/raymie)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/19 "2022-06-28T21:01:28Z")
I don’t think it’s officially legal, but Zyzzx must be up there! ---
**Author:** ![jnstuart](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jnstuart/32/1623_2.png) [@jnstuart](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jnstuart)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/20 "2022-06-28T21:25:28Z")
You mean Zyzzyx the wasp? ---
**Author:** ![raymie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/raymie/32/12650_2.png) [@raymie](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/raymie)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147/21 "2022-06-28T23:21:32Z")
Yes, I did. [Next page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147.md?page=2)