How many words with q and no u are there?

21 in ENABLE, the word list Scrabble and Words With Friends programs validate against. This page lists them all where the list is short enough, and the most common of them where it is not.

Which one scores highest?

qindarka, at 22 points in Scrabble and 23 in Words With Friends. That is raw tile value: a bonus square can multiply it, and a seven-tile play adds fifty on top.

qindarka, at 8 letters. The list spans 3 to 8 letters.

Which are worth learning first?

The ones you will actually get a chance to play: faqir, faqirs, qaid, qaids, qanat, qanats, qat, qats. The list is ordered that way, most common first.

Words With Q and No U

21 of them, all valid in ENABLE. What to do with a Q when the U never arrives.

A Q is ten points and, most of the time, a liability: there are only four U tiles in the bag and one Q. These are the words that let you play it anyway—every one of them contains a Q and no U at all.

Qat and qaid do most of the work in practice, with tranq and qoph worth a glance so you recognise them when a board opens up.

ENABLE predates the 2006 dictionary update, so qi—the two-letter Q word that solved this problem for good, and now the most-played word on this list in the modern game—is not in it and so is not here.

The words

All 21 of them, everyday words first.

Word-game words 21

faqir17
faqirs18
qaid14
qaids15
qanat14
qanats15
qat12
qats13
qindar16
qindarka22
qindars17
qintar15
qintars16
qoph18
qophs19
qwerty21
qwertys22
sheqalim22
sheqel18
tranq14
tranqs15

What is in this list

Every entry here appears in ENABLE, so a word game will accept it. Scores are raw tile totals in Scrabble, with the Words With Friends score on hover—the two games value tiles differently, and the gap is largest exactly where it matters, on the high-value letters.

Words in total: 21
Highest Scrabble score: qindarka at 22
Average Scrabble score: 16.8
Longest: qindarka at 8 letters
Letters that turn up most: Q 100%, A 76%, R 52%, S 52%, I 48%, T 48%

Questions

How many words with q and no u are there?: 21 in ENABLE, the word list Scrabble and Words With Friends programs validate against. This page lists them all where the list is short enough, and the most common of them where it is not.
Which one scores highest?: qindarka, at 22 points in Scrabble and 23 in Words With Friends. That is raw tile value: a bonus square can multiply it, and a seven-tile play adds fifty on top.
What is the longest?: qindarka, at 8 letters. The list spans 3 to 8 letters.
Which are worth learning first?: The ones you will actually get a chance to play: faqir, faqirs, qaid, qaids, qanat, qanats, qat, qats. The list is ordered that way, most common first.

Search your own rack

Type the tiles you are holding, ? included for blanks, and the finder returns every word you can make from them—scored, everyday words first. It searches all 315,007 words in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere.