Is QAID a valid word?

QAID comes from Arabic and names a local chief, leader or official, especially in North Africa. The same word is also spelled CAID, and both spellings are valid, along with the plurals QAIDS and CAIDS. QAID is one of the best Q words to know because its other letters are so common: an A, an I and a D turn up on most racks. Played on a double-word square, it is worth real points, and it gets the Q off your rack long before the bag runs out.

Before any bonus squares: Q 10 + A 1 + I 1 + D 2 = 14. On a double-word square that's 28, on a triple-word 42, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.

Later in the game, put the Q on a 3L square and QAID is worth 34 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 QAID and these are still words:

These use exactly the letters of QAID:

QAID is a chief or local leader in North Africa, also spelled CAID. Swap the Q for a C and it still works.

• Q without U

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.

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.