Yes. QATS is a valid word.
QATS is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
QATS is in the NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023), the North American list that Tileside uses for challenges and the one used in club and tournament play.
About QATS
QATS is the plural of QAT, a shrub from East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula whose leaves are chewed as a mild stimulant. The plant is also spelled KAT and KHAT, and all three spellings and their plurals are valid. For a player, QATS matters because it takes an S hook: when an opponent plays QAT, an S at the end turns it into QATS, and the 10-point Q counts toward your score as well. It is also a tidy four-tile play from your own rack when you hold Q, A, T and S but no U.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
QATS scores 13 points
Before any bonus squares: Q 10 + A 1 + T 1 + S 1 = 13. On a double-word square that's 26, on a triple-word 39, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: QATS as the first play
Later in the game, put the Q on a 3L square and QATS is worth 33 before any word bonus.
Change one tile
Swap any one letter of QATS and these are still words:
- BATSform of BAT: strike with, or as if with a baseball bat
- CATSform of CAT: feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar
- EATSform of EAT: take in solid food
- FATSform of FAT: having an (over)abundance of flesh
- GATSform of GAT: a gangster's pistol
- HATSform of HAT: headdress that protects the head from bad weather
- KATSform of KAT: the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea
- LATSform of LAT: a broad flat muscle on either side of the back
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Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters Q, A, T and S.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
QATS + U
- SQUATsit on one's heels
Memory tip
QATS is just the plural of QAT, the shrub. If QAT is already on the board, one S makes QATS and scores the Q again.
On these lists
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.
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.