The Y is the exotic one. Worth 10 points with a single tile in the 102-tile German set, it shares the top value with the Q — but where Q words are deeply German (QU everywhere), Y words are mostly…

The Q tile is the loneliest tile in German Scrabble. There is exactly one of them in the entire 102-tile set, it is worth a full 10 points, and in German it never travels alone: every German word with Q…

Draw the J in German Scrabble and most players smile. It is worth 6 points, one of the highest values of any consonant in the German tile set, and there is exactly one J tile in the entire 102-tile bag.…

The C tile sits in an odd spot in German Scrabble. At 4 points it is not a headline tile like Q or X, and with only two copies in the 102-tile bag it shows up far less often than…

In English Scrabble the V is a forgettable 4-point tile. In German Scrabble it is a different animal entirely: V is worth 6 points, and there is exactly one of it in the 102-tile bag. That combination — high value…

German Scrabble comes with three tiles English players have never touched: Ä, Ö and Ü. They are worth 6, 8 and 6 points respectively, there is exactly one of each in the 102-tile bag, and each one is its own…

If you have only ever played Scrabble in English, the German tile set will surprise you. Letters you think of as rare and precious — looking at you, Z — are cheap workhorses in the German game, while an innocent-looking…

Every English Scrabble player knows the trick: when you’re stuck with the Q and no U, you reach for QAT, QIN, QOPH, or one of the other U-less Q words the English word list allows. So it’s a natural question…