Scrabble Bingo Weekly Roundup: Shlemiels, Cynosures and Yanquis

Bingo! No, this isn't the game where balls fly around in machines and players dab their cards with daubers. In a game of Scrabble, bingo refers to the bonus a player receives when emptying their rack in one turn, which gets them an extra 50 points on top of whatever their play was. Even if you had two blanks on your rack and didn't utilize any premium squares on the board, you'd still have an impressive 56-point turn (at least) by using all 7 of your letters.

Or you could be like the pros and have a turn worth 365 points by playing QUIXOTRY as a triple-triple like Michael Cresta or CAZIQUES for 392 like Karl Khoshnaw. Theoretically, the highest scoring single play is OXYPHENBUTAZONE, which would achieve at least 1,778 points, but no one in a tournament has ever done this because it requires the right combination of everything.

But if you want to get those 50 bonus points added to your score, you have to start learning some words that are 7 letters or longer. Hence, I started a Scrabble Bingo of the Day in the Scrabble World to educate people on some interesting and possibly unusual seven-letter or longer words that are acceptable in a game of Scrabble.

To add a new long bingo play to your Scrabble arsenal, check back daily in the Scrabble World, or get your fix on Facebook or Twitter. Here's a roundup of the words featured this past week.

• SHLEMIEL [n]

Shlemiel is a Yiddish word that describes a clumsy, inept person by Jewish persons. In other words, an unlucky bungler. Also—SHLEMIELS, SHLEMIEHL(S).

 Book cover for "When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories".
 Photo by Jewish Used Books

• FEAZING [present participle of feaze]

Feazing is the present participle of feaze, which is a verb that means "to faze," which itself means "to disturb the composure of." In other words, to frighten or cause hesitation in someone. Also—FEAZE(S), FEAZED, FAZE(S), FAZED, FAZING, FEEZE(S), FEEZED, FEEZING, FEASE(S), FEASED, FEASING.

 Bill Buckner, who had the infamous fielding error in the 1986 World Series that cost the Boston
 Red Sox the championship, appeared in a recent Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, unfazed by the
 hatred and ridicule of grudging Red Sox fans.
 Photos by sportsgrindent, SportsGrid

• YANQUIS [n]

Meaning virtually the same things as "Yankee" (which is not a Scrabble word), yanqui is used in a colloquial manner by some Spanish speaking Latin Americans to describe a U.S. citizen in general, sometimes in an anti-American way, but mostly in a playful manner, as do most Spaniards and Europeans. Also—YANQUI.

 Painting of a Yankee soldier by Keith Rocco.
 Image by Myles Keogh

• POSTICHE [n]

Postiche simply means an imitation—a counterfeit of something. It could be anything, but most commonly it's referred to as false hair on the face or head, which include hairpieces, toupees, switches, wigs, and false beards and mustaches. Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt would wear leather, felt, metal, or gold ones on their chins as a sign of sovereignty. Also—POTICHES, POSTIQUE(S).

 Postiche on a Pharaoh.
 Photo by loveenki2-cb

• CYNOSURE [n]

A cynosure is something or someone that strongly attracts attention and admiration from others by its allure, brilliance, and interest, and usually is associated with lustrousness and attractiveness, or it could simply mean a focal point or the center of attraction. Comes from Polaris, the North Star in the constellation Ursa Minor, which is called Cynosure. Also—CYNOSURES, CYNOSURAL.

 Cate Blanchett playing Queen Elizabeth I (definitely a cynosure) in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
 Photo by UGO

• JUMBUCK [n]

There are many different words for separating sheep by ages, sex, and by the use of the animal itself. Some of these words include buck, dam, ewe, ram, hogg, hogget, wether, bellwether, lamb, mule, teg, tup, downs, slink, bell, and shearling—all legitimate Scrabble words. But jumbuck is an Australian term for sheep that generally denotes a difficult to shear one, either large or untamed. Also—JUMBUCKS.

 A jumbuck who finally gave up the fight.
 Photo by Mainely Ewes Farm

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