Is QABALA a valid word?

QABALA is one of several spellings of the mystical tradition of interpreting Hebrew scripture, more often written kabbalah. The word list accepts many versions, including CABALA, KABALA, KABBALA, KABBALAH, QABALA and QABALAH, with their plurals. QABALA is a good way to unload three A tiles at once along with the Q and a B. Picture it as qa-ba-la: three little syllables, each ending in A.

Before any bonus squares: Q 10 + A 1 + B 3 + A 1 + L 1 + A 1 = 17. On a double-word square that's 34, on a triple-word 51, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.

Later in the game, put the Q on a 3L square and QABALA is worth 37 before any word bonus.

Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.

Swap any one letter of QABALA and these are still words:

No other word in the list uses exactly the letters Q, A, B, A, L and A.

QABALA is a Jewish mystical tradition, also spelled CABALA, KABALA and QABALAH.

• Q without U

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Tileside checks words against the North American list, the NASPA Word List 2023. Your group's chosen dictionary always wins.

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