Is QANAT a valid word?

QANAT is a gently sloping underground tunnel that brings water from hills or aquifers to towns and fields, a technique that began in ancient Persia and spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Its plural is QANATS. For play, QANAT is useful because its letters, besides the Q, are two A tiles, an N and a T, all common, and it helps you unload a second A. Picture water flowing from the Q at the top of the hill down through the A, N, A and T to the fields.

Before any bonus squares: Q 10 + A 1 + N 1 + A 1 + T 1 = 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 QANAT 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 QANAT and these are still words:

No other word in the list uses exactly the letters Q, A, N, A and T.

QANAT is an underground channel that carries water to fields, an ancient Persian invention.

• Q without U

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