More Words Review

It made the most sense to me to try to find a word ending in -ast, since that was the only combination of tiles that had any chance of ultimately becoming a word.  Still, I needed help.  On a whim, I Googled "words that end in ast" and discovered More Words.com.

More Words is a simple website with a simple purpose:  " [to] Find dictionary words for crossword puzzles, code words and word games like Scrabble, Upwords and Jamble."  In the search box, I entered an asterisk and the ending letters (*ast) and ended up with 142 results for my word search.  Midway through the results, I found the 7-letter word that corresponded to my Scrabble challenge:  fantast.  Not only was I able to detonate the bomb and move on to the next level, I learned that fantast really is a fantastic word.

In addition to "words that end in" searches, MoreWords.com also allows you to:

• Use a hyphen to give the location of a missing letter: w-rd or -are
   
• Use an asterisk for any number of unknown letters: lett* or *gry or ar*ct
   
• Exclude words containing the letters that follow a caret: ma-e ^kt
   
• Enter a few letters (without hyphens or asterisks) to see if they make any words.

If you're into words in general, and word games in particular, this is a fun resource as long as you don't depend on it exclusively.  I generally won't use it until I'm completely stumped on a word and just have to know the answer; otherwise I'll ruin the sense of accomplishment in my games.  On those occasions where I do need a hint, MoreWords.com is the best place to find one.