Hooking with -AX words
Endings like -AX let you tack a word onto a tile already on the board, often turning a small play into a big one. Look for the high-value entries above to maximise points.
A quick statistical tour
The shape of this list: 65 entries between 3 and 13 letters long, peaking at 6 letters with 15 words. Five-letter picks number 9 and seven-letter picks 14. Nothing here outscores CEPHALOTHORAX — 30 points from 13 tiles on plain squares.
For quick reference, the top of the score table reads: CEPHALOTHORAX (30), HYDROTHORAX (28), PNEUMOTHORAX (26), PACKWAX (25), PAXWAX (25). CEPHALOTHORAX (13 letters) stretches furthest, while the list-wide average score sits near 17 points. If you are fishing for these words, keep A (65 appearances), X (65) and R (29) on your rack.
Start with these three
- When the rack looks hopeless, NONTAX (6 letters, 13 points) is the kind of quiet play that keeps a game moving.
- Playing STORAX across a double-word square turns its base 13 points into 26 — solid value for 6 tiles.
- SURTAX is easy to keep in memory: 6 letters, 13 points, and no awkward tiles to hunt for.
Round out your set with RELAX (12), RETAX (12), POLEAX (15), PRETAX (15), SMILAX (15) — all built from common tiles.
Back-hooking with -AX
When the board tightens up late in a Scrabble game, -AX words keep you scoring: they attach to existing letters instead of needing seven clean tiles. Crossword solvers use the same trick in reverse — if the grid gives you the last letters, this list is the candidate pool. Check the length filter in the Word Finder to match your open squares exactly.
More endings
Narrow it down
Pair an ending with a length or starting letter in the Word Finder.