Despite modern technology changing the way we write, act, and play games, word games remain extremely popular. Word games like Scrabble and Boggle are still consistently selling well, despite the digital gaming era. Not only are these word games fun, but they also help to train the mind and improve language skills or you can go to kasyno online na prawdziwe pieniadze.
One of the key components of word games is the anagram. These brain-teasers confuse and engage the brain, helping us develop pattern recognition and vocabulary skills. If you like playing with anagrams but struggle to finish them, you may need some tips. In this article, you will learn all about anagrams and how to easily solve them, as well as some of the great benefits of wordplay for the human brain.
What are Anagrams?
Anagrams are words or phrases made up entirely of another word or phrase but reordered. For example, “shot” is an anagram of “hots.” Equally, “Statue of Liberty” is an anagram of “built to stay free.” As you can see, each word or phrase is made up of the same selection of letters, but they are reordered and sometimes split into multiple other words.
Anagrams don’t always have to make perfect sense, it’s sometimes more fun when they don’t! But, they do always have to have the same letters and make real words. You couldn’t, for example, just use “gbni” as an anagram of “bing.”
Anagram Games
There are quite a few games based around anagrams themselves. Bananagrams and Boggle are two of the main anagram-based board games on the market. These do not provide you with anagrams as such, but instead, they ask you to make them out of a selection of letters.
Online, there are plenty of anagram-based games. In these games, you will actually be given a ready-made anagram to solve. Often, online anagram games and apps will put you against a friend or random opponent, with the aim of the game being to solve the anagram faster than your opposition.
Use a Tool to Solve Anagrams
When playing these online games, there are some great tools available to help you win. The team behind Unscramblex.com shows how easy it is for a simple computer algorithm to help you find anagrams. They explain that “By entering your current letter tiles, the Word Unscrambler search engine will suggest all words possible from the selection given.” This clever little bot is far quicker than the human brain at sorting letters into their appropriate patterns to make full words.
If you’re really stuck, these tools can help you quickly solve an anagram. Conversely, they can also help you create an anagram! Put in a word you would like to find anagrams for, and the computer will give you all the possible anagrams that can be created with the letters you supplied.
Other tools like Unscrambled Words allow you to specify whether a word needs to start with, end with, or contain letters in a certain order when solving your anagram. In addition, if you’re playing Wordle, there is an option that works for that too. Just enter the letters to include, letters to exclude, and letters correctly placed. There are tons of options out there and you’re learning every time you generate a list of words with these tools!
Anagrams in Other Games
One of the most common needs for understanding anagrams – or rather, understanding patterns in words – is when playing games like Scrabble. In Scrabble, you will have a selection of letters to make a word from. The letters are completely random, and you need to be able to make a proper English word out of them. This requires the ability to spot these anagram patterns and make long, high-scoring words.
Other Ways to Solve Anagrams
Of course, when you’re playing a game of Scrabble, it’s highly unlikely that your friends will be happy with you using an online tool to find the best words! Some would definitely view it as cheating. So, you’ll need to use your brainpower.
● Look for Combinations of Consonants
In the English language, there are 5 vowels, a, e, i, o, and u. These do not form the bulk of most words. Consonants do most of the heavy work, linked by vowels. There are some common consonant combinations and some much more rare ones. When looking at your letters, try and think about which consonants regularly link together in words and which don’t. For example, you’ll rarely get p and k, or t and q next to each other. This helps eliminate ideas from your thinking.
● Think About Suffixes
Many English words are built with suffixes. For example, “ing” is at the end of almost all verbs. If you can see those three letters in your list, you may be able to set them aside and look for a verb. The same goes for other combinations aside from verbs, things like “tion” or “ness” are common suffixes, too.
● Then, Look for Prefixes
There are also plenty of prefixes in the English language, one of which you’ve just read. “Pre” is a very common prefix, meaning before. There are 30 or more common English prefixes, including others you will easily recognize, such as “dis” and “anti.” Once again, spotting these early can help you build a word from there onwards.
● Using Paper Methods
If you aren’t ready to tackle anagrams completely in your brain just yet, there are some classic pen and paper methods used to help the brain spot patterns in the words. Often, people find it easier to write all the letters in a circle. This helps you see letters aside from one another in multiple orders at once, meaning you can find potential prefixes, suffixes, and patterns quicker. Alternatively, you can simply write all the letters down again in a new, random order. You may spot a new link you hadn’t spotted before.
Benefits of Word Games
Firstly, word games are fun. They are a great way of challenging friends and loved ones, whilst having a bit of fun along the way. Word games also help sharpen the brain. Studies have shown that those who engage in wordplay have better short-term memory than those who do not. On top of that, they help to improve attentiveness and attention span, especially in those who have struggled in that area. They are recommended for both children and aging adults to help improve and sharpen the brain.
Now you have the ability and the tools to start playing word games and solving anagrams easily. Play with friends in person or find anagram-based games online. Before you know it, you’ll be an anagram master!
