Scrabble Bingo of the Day: MACHZOR

MACHZOR  73 points (23 points without the bingo)

Definition: mahzor; a Jewish prayer book [n]

If you ever get stuck with a rack like ZORCHAM, you might be prompted to lay something down like CHAM or CHROMA, which could both get you some pretty big points, but knowing this much used Jewish word will garner you at least 73 points.

A machzor (or mahzor) is a Jewish prayer book that's a specialized version of the siddur, another prayer book that contains a set order of daily prayers that Judaists recite during Jewish services. These prayers are the ones that religious Jews must recite on weekdays and during the Sabbath. But on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as well as the three Pilgrim Festivals (Shalosh Regalim) of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, some prayers in the siddur require special melodies just for these holidays, along with the addition of piyutim (Hebrew poems)... a word not playable in Scrabble.

Thus, the machzor was born, containing many liturgical variations and additions to the recited prayers in the siddur.

In the Hebrew language, the word machzor literally means "cycle," which refers to the festivals that recur annually.

Inflections: MACHZORS [pl.]  MACHZORIM [pl.]
Also: MAHZOR [n]  MAHZORS [pl.]  MAHZORIM [pl.]
Similar Words: SIDDUR(S), SIDDURIM

 Traditional machzor prayer book.
 Photo by byte2702

 Exhibit depicting "Praying in a Synagogue" at the Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv.
 Photo by Wikipedia

 Siddur prayer book.
 Photo by Chajm

So, just what is a Scrabble Bingo?

A bingo is when a player empties his or her rack in one turn, placing all seven of their letters on the board to create a word that's at least seven letters long. The term "bingo" is used primarily in the U.S., but elsewhere it's simply known as a "bonus" because you get a bonus of 50 points added to your turn's score. "Scrabble Bingo of the Day" will focus on these high scoring plays, teaching you some interesting and possibly unusual seven-letter or longer words accepted in a game of Scrabble.

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