Only in Collins.
GU is valid in the international Collins list used for crossword tile games outside North America, but not in the North American list.
GU is valid in the international Collins list but not in the NASPA Word List 2023, the North American list. If your group plays with the Collins toggle on, it counts; otherwise it can be challenged off the board.
About GU
The gu was a bowed string instrument played in Shetland, an island group north of Scotland, and Collins also spells it gju. It is one of the few homes for a G next to a U.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
GU scores 3 points
Before any bonus squares: G 2 + U 1 = 3. On a double-word square that's 6, on a triple-word 9, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: GU as the first play
Later in the game, put the G on a 3L square and GU is worth 7 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
After GU (6):
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from GU
Words that start with GU:
- GUAC
- GUANany of several large turkey-like game birds of the family Cracidae
- GUARdrought-tolerant herb grown for forage and for its seed which yield a gum used as a thickening agent or sizing material
- GUCKany thick, viscous matter
- GUDE
- GUFFunacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)
- GUID
- GULFan arm of a sea or ocean partly enclosed by land
Change one tile
Same letters, other words
These use exactly the letters of GU:
- UGto dread or feel loathing (Scots)
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
GU + B
- BUGgeneral term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate
GU + D
- DUGform of DIG: turn up, loosen, or remove earth
GU + F
- FUG(British informal) an airless smoky smelly atmosphere
GU + J
- JUGto put into a large, deep container with a narrow mouth and a handle
GU + M
Memory tip
GU is a kind of violin once played in Shetland. It is valid only in the Collins list.
On these lists
Other two-letter words starting with G
Check words at the table, free
Tileside keeps score, checks words like this one during a challenge, tracks the tiles left in the bag and times turns. It runs in your phone's browser with no account and works offline.
Tileside checks words against the North American list, the NASPA Word List 2023. Your group's chosen dictionary always wins. Playing the international (Collins) list? Turn on its 20 extra two-letter words in Setup.
Word list: NASPA Word List 2023, used under license. NASPA Word List 2023 Edition © NASPA 2023. The copy included in this app is licensed for personal use. You may not use it for any commercial purposes.
Works with the Scrabble board game, played at the table. Tileside is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of Scrabble.