Bingo Stems: The Six Letters That Make Seven-Letter Words
In Scrabble, playing all seven tiles in one turn earns a 50-point bonus (called a "bingo" in North America). Strong players don't find these words by luck. They learn a few six-letter combinations, called stems, that combine with many different seventh letters.
How stems work
A stem is a group of six letters that forms a seven-letter word with many possible extra letters. If your rack holds the stem, you only need to check which letter you have left over. The best stems use the most common tiles in the bag (E, A, I, N, R, S, T, L), so they turn up again and again.
All lists below were generated from the ENABLE word list used by WordJumbler. They show every seven-letter anagram, so you can see just how productive each stem is.
1. SATINE (A E I N S T)
Often called the best stem in English Scrabble. In our dictionary, SATINE makes a seven-letter word with 23 of the 26 letters. Only J, Q, Y fail.
| Add | Seven-letter words |
|---|---|
| +A | ENTASIA, TAENIAS |
| +B | BANTIES, BASINET |
| +C | ACETINS, CINEAST |
| +D | DESTAIN, DETAINS, INSTEAD, SAINTED, STAINED |
| +E | ETESIAN |
| +F | FAINEST |
| +G | EASTING, EATINGS, INGATES, INGESTA, SEATING, TEASING |
| +H | SHEITAN, STHENIA |
| +I | ISATINE |
| +K | INTAKES |
| +L | ELASTIN, ENTAILS, NAILSET, SALIENT, SALTINE, SLAINTE, TENAILS |
| +M | ETAMINS, INMATES, TAMEINS |
| +N | INANEST, STANINE |
| +O | ATONIES |
| +P | PANTIES, PATINES, SAPIENT, SPINATE |
| +R | ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STEARIN |
| +S | ENTASIS, NASTIES, SESTINA, TANSIES, TISANES |
| +T | INSTATE, SATINET |
| +U | AUNTIES, SINUATE |
| +V | NAIVEST, NATIVES, VAINEST |
| +W | TAWNIES, WANIEST |
| +X | ANTISEX, SEXTAIN |
| +Z | ZANIEST, ZEATINS |
2. SATIRE (A E I R S T)
Close behind, with 18 working letters. Notice how many common consonants give more than one answer: with a D you can choose between seven different words, which helps you fit the board.
| Add | Seven-letter words |
|---|---|
| +A | ARISTAE, ASTERIA, ATRESIA |
| +B | BAITERS, BARITES, REBAITS, TERBIAS |
| +C | CRISTAE, RACIEST, STEARIC |
| +D | ARIDEST, ASTRIDE, DIASTER, DISRATE, STAIDER, TARDIES, TIRADES |
| +E | AERIEST, SERIATE |
| +F | FAIREST |
| +G | AIGRETS, GAITERS, SEAGIRT, STAGIER, TRIAGES |
| +H | HASTIER |
| +I | AIRIEST |
| +L | REALIST, RETAILS, SALTIER, SALTIRE, SLATIER, TAILERS |
| +M | IMARETS, MAESTRI, MISRATE, SMARTIE |
| +N | ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STEARIN |
| +P | PARTIES, PASTIER, PIASTER, PIASTRE, PIRATES, TRAIPSE |
| +R | ARTSIER, TARRIES, TARSIER |
| +S | SATIRES |
| +T | ARTIEST, ARTISTE, ATTIRES, IRATEST, RATITES, STRIATE, TASTIER |
| +V | VASTIER, VERITAS |
| +W | WAISTER, WAITERS, WARIEST, WASTRIE |
3. RETAIN (A E I N R T)
RETAIN is the go-to stem when you don't have an S. It makes a bingo with 17 letters. That matters because good players often keep the S for a bigger play later.
| Add | Seven-letter words |
|---|---|
| +C | CERATIN, CERTAIN, CREATIN |
| +D | ANTIRED, DETRAIN, TRAINED |
| +E | ARENITE, RETINAE, TRAINEE |
| +F | FAINTER |
| +G | GRANITE, GRATINE, INGRATE, TANGIER, TEARING |
| +H | HAIRNET, INEARTH |
| +I | INERTIA |
| +K | KERATIN |
| +L | LATRINE, RATLINE, RELIANT, RETINAL, TRENAIL |
| +M | MINARET, RAIMENT |
| +N | ENTRAIN |
| +P | PAINTER, PERTAIN, REPAINT |
| +R | RETRAIN, TERRAIN, TRAINER |
| +S | ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STEARIN |
| +T | INTREAT, ITERANT, NATTIER, NITRATE, TERTIAN |
| +U | RUINATE, TAURINE, URANITE, URINATE |
| +W | TAWNIER, TINWARE |
4. SALTIE (A E I L S T)
Swapping the N or R for an L still leaves a strong stem, with 16 working letters.
| Add | Seven-letter words |
|---|---|
| +B | ALBITES, ASTILBE, BASTILE, BESTIAL, BLASTIE, STABILE |
| +C | ELASTIC, LACIEST, LATICES |
| +D | DETAILS, DILATES |
| +F | FETIALS |
| +G | AIGLETS, LIGATES |
| +H | HALITES, HELIAST |
| +I | LAITIES |
| +K | LAKIEST, TALKIES |
| +L | TAILLES, TALLIES |
| +N | ELASTIN, ENTAILS, NAILSET, SALIENT, SALTINE, SLAINTE, TENAILS |
| +O | ISOLATE |
| +P | APLITES, PALIEST, PLATIES, TALIPES |
| +R | REALIST, RETAILS, SALTIER, SALTIRE, SLATIER, TAILERS |
| +S | SALTIES |
| +V | ESTIVAL |
| +Z | LAZIEST |
Other strong stems
SATINE is the clear winner, but it isn't the only stem worth learning. We tested every six-letter combination of the ten most common letters (A, D, E, I, L, N, O, R, S, T) against our dictionary and counted how many of the 26 possible seventh letters make a word. These stems all score 18 or more:
- TEASER (A E E R S T): 20 letters. Two E's sound like a problem, but this stem is extremely flexible.
- SALINE (A E I L N S): 19 letters, a good alternative when you have an L instead of a T.
- INSERT (E I N R S T): 18 letters, useful when you have no A.
- ASTERN (A E N R S T) and ALERTS (A E L R S T): 18 letters each, and no I needed.
Notice that almost all of them contain E, S and T. Those three letters are the backbone of English bingos, which is why many players hold on to an S rather than play it for a few points.
How to use stems in a real game
- Keep the right letters. When you play a word, think about what stays on your rack. Keeping E, A, I, N, R, S, T or L and getting rid of duplicates and heavy letters makes your next rack more likely to bingo. Players call this "rack balance" or "leave".
- Learn one stem at a time. Start with SATINE and RETAIN. Cover the answer column above, say the extra letter, and try to name the words.
- Look for eight-letter plays too. If the board has a single letter with space on both sides, your seven tiles plus that letter can make an eight-letter word.
- Check with the solver after the game. Type the rack you held into WordJumbler and see which bingos you missed. It is one of the fastest ways to improve.
Remember: Words With Friends also rewards using all seven tiles, but with a 35-point bonus instead of 50. See Scrabble vs Words With Friends scoring.