Is MBAQANGAS a valid word?

MBAQANGAS is the plural of MBAQANGA, a style of South African township music with a bouncing bass line and Zulu vocal harmonies. At nine letters, it needs two tiles already on the board to fit, so it is more a word to admire than to plan for. The likelier play is the S hook: if MBAQANGA is already down, an S on the end makes MBAQANGAS and scores the Q again. Bands like the Mahotella Queens made the sound famous, with close harmony singing and a guitar line that keeps bouncing. Few players will ever lay it down, but it is a joy to recognize. The bands often played at weddings, parties and dance halls across Soweto.

Before any bonus squares: M 3 + B 3 + A 1 + Q 10 + A 1 + N 1 + G 2 + A 1 + S 1 = 23. On a double-word square that's 46, on a triple-word 69, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.

No other word in the list uses exactly the letters M, B, A, Q, A, N, G, A and S.

MBAQANGAS is the plural of MBAQANGA, South African township music. Nine letters with three A tiles.

• Q without U

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