NYT Crossplay Word Finder

Crossplay is The New York Times' two-player tile game. Two players take turns building connected words on a grid from a rack of seven tiles, as in Scrabble, but the Times has rebalanced the rules. Crossplay runs as its own app with chat, matchmaking against friends or strangers, and a post-game coach that reviews your moves and points out the plays you missed. It has no ads, and its word list is curated to leave out offensive and very obscure entries.

Nine letters are scored differently from Scrabble: B, G, J, K, L, U, V and W are worth more, and H is worth less. The bag also has an extra blank, an extra H and an extra S, and one fewer I, N and U. Those changes reward different words. In Crossplay, kvetch scores 20 from face value alone, against 18 in Scrabble.

Crossplay's dictionary is based on the North American tournament list (NWL) and trimmed by the Times' editors. This finder uses Scrabble US (TWL), the closest public list. It agrees with Crossplay on the vast majority of words, but Crossplay is stricter: a few legal Scrabble words, mostly offensive terms and some very obscure entries, are refused in the app. If a result looks unusual, use the Word checker tab to read its definition before you commit, and pick the common alternative when you have one.

Revalue your rack

Habits from Scrabble undervalue K, V and W in Crossplay and overvalue H. A W on a triple-letter square is worth 15 here. A V on a double word in a short word can outscore a long word full of one-point tiles. Let the finder's Crossplay scores re-train your instincts.

Plan for the equal-turns ending

Because both players always get the same number of turns, going out first doesn't end the game early or earn a big bonus. Near the end, the last move is about squeezing the most points from the tiles you have left, not dumping them quickly. Count the tiles left in the bag and plan your final two moves together.

Three blanks change the odds

With an extra blank in the bag, seven-letter plays come up more often than in Scrabble. Keep a balanced rack (common letters like E, R, S, T, A, I and N) and hold a blank for a full-rack play rather than spending it for a few points.

Short words are still king

Two-letter words let you place expensive tiles in two directions at once. Ka and ki put a 6-point K to work, and jo, xi and xu do the same for J and X. Review the two-letter word list and the three-letter words.

Results are grouped by length, longest first, and sorted by Crossplay points inside each group. Letters played with a blank are shown in grey and score nothing, just as in the app. Use the length buttons above the list to jump to the size that fits an open lane on your board. Tap any word to see its definition before you play it.

Crossplay's built-in coach shows you after a game which moves were best. This finder lets you explore why. Enter a rack from a game you lost, try the board letters you had, and compare the options it lists. Doing this for a few games builds a feel for Crossplay's values far faster than playing alone.