Letter-count traps: why LOCAL isn’t in CHOCOLATE

The letter-inventory rule

Think of the base word as a small inventory of tiles. To make an answer, you can spend each tile once. If the base word contains two Es, an answer may use up to two Es. If it contains one L, every answer is limited to one L. You cannot reuse a tile just because its letter is present.

For CHOCOLATE, the inventory is two Cs, two Os, and one each of H, L, A, T and E. COACH is legal because it uses each of its letters no more often than that. LOCAL is not: it asks for two Ls, but only one L is available. The word is rejected even though L, O, C and A all occur in CHOCOLATE.

Passing the inventory check is not enough by itself. A submitted word must also be at least three letters long, not be the base word itself, and appear in Spliinter’s dictionary. The server applies these checks for every player.

Use the dimmed tiles as a warning

While you type, the letter tiles dim as their available copies are used. Watch for a letter whose copies are all dimmed before you type it again. The tiles help you check the inventory visually; they do not decide whether a word is in the dictionary or whether the round has ended. The server remains the final checker when you submit.

A quick mental check is to compare repeated letters first. If your answer needs two Ls, locate both L tiles in the base word before spending time checking the rest of the spelling.

Common repeat-letter traps

These are real dictionary words that fail the letter-count rule for the base word shown. In each case, the named letters are present, but the answer needs more copies than the base word supplies.

• CHOCOLATE → LOCAL: two Ls needed; one available.
• CHOCOLATE → ALCOHOL: two Ls needed; one available.
• CHOCOLATE → CACAO: two As needed; one available.
• PLAYGROUND → ADD: two Ds needed; one available.
• PLAYGROUND → GRANNY: two Ns needed; one available.
• GENERATIONS → GENERATE: three Es needed; two available.
• GENERATIONS → SENATORS: two Ss needed; one available.
• EXPLANATION → EXPIATION: two Is needed; one available.
• WATERMELON → MELLOW: two Ls needed; one available.
• WATERMELON → MANNER: two Ns needed; one available.

The dictionary may know these words perfectly well. That does not make them playable from a base word that lacks enough copies of the required letters.

A ten-second check before Enter

1. Read the candidate from left to right and tally any repeated letters.
2. Compare those counts with the base word, paying particular attention to doubled consonants and vowels.
3. Check that every letter is present and the answer is shorter than the base word.
4. Submit it and use the server’s response as the final validity check.

This does not need to become a slow count for every word. Start with letters you have already used in another candidate; repeats are where a letter inventory most often gets misread.

Practice: find the inventory trap

Each answer below is a dictionary word, but it cannot be made from that base word. Which repeated letter causes the problem?

• CHOCOLATE → ACETAL
• PLAYGROUND → DOGGED
• GENERATIONS → SINGERS
• EXPLANATION → ALIENATION
• WATERMELON → TATTLE

Each trap was checked against Spliinter’s current server dictionary and letter-count validator. A dictionary update could change word membership, but it would not change the inventory rule.

Related guides

Play a round, read the full rules, learn how the server validates a word, or use the word-search strategy guide.