Only in Collins.
NY is valid in the international Collins list used for crossword tile games outside North America, but not in the North American list.
NY 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 NY
Collins players know it from old poems where to ny meant to draw near. In North American play, MY works for the Y instead. It is a small word with a long history in English poetry. In old English poems, to ny was to draw near. Collins players use it to place a Y, which has few two-letter homes.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
NY scores 5 points
Before any bonus squares: N 1 + Y 4 = 5. On a double-word square that's 10, on a triple-word 15, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: NY as the first play
Later in the game, put the Y on a 3L square and NY is worth 13 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
In front of NY (1):
- ANYone or some or every or all without specification
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from NY
Words that start with NY:
- NYAH
- NYALAspiral-horned South African antelope with a fringe of white hairs along back and neck
- NYLONa thermoplastic polyamide
- NYMPH(classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden
- NYALASform of NYALA: spiral-horned South African antelope with a fringe of white hairs along back and neck
- NYLONSform of NYLON: a thermoplastic polyamide
- NYMPHA
- NYMPHOa woman with abnormal sexual desires
Change one tile
Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters N and Y.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
NY + E
- YENa yearning for something or to do something
NY + I
- YINthe dark negative feminine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology
NY + O
- YONdistant but within sight (`yon' is dialectal)
NY + S
- SYNsame as SYNE: same as SINCE
NY + W
- WYNsame as WYNN: the rune for W
Memory tip
NY is an old spelling of “nigh”, meaning near. It is valid only in the Collins list.
On these lists
Other two-letter words starting with N
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.