Is WYNN a valid word?

WYNN is a runic letter that was used in Old English to write the W sound, before the modern W took over; WYN is another spelling, and the plural is WYNNS. It has no A, E, I, O or U. If WYN is on the board, an N on the end makes WYNN. It is a fine way to play a W and a Y from an all-consonant rack. Scribes dropped the rune when Norman writing brought in the double U. Its double N makes it easy to remember once you have seen it. Picture a scribe in an English monastery drawing the rune with a quill.

Before any bonus squares: W 4 + Y 4 + N 1 + N 1 = 10. On a double-word square that's 20, on a triple-word 30, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.

Later in the game, put the W on a 3L square and WYNN is worth 18 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 WYNN and these are still words:

No other word in the list uses exactly the letters W, Y, N and N.

WYNN is an old English rune for the W sound, also spelled WYN.

• Words without vowels

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