Letter Selection Rules

Letter selection varies according to whether the "Proportional letters" option is active. Standard selection, without this option, is like taking a letter at random from a set of tiles or cards. With the proportional letters option, each letter appears with a probability in proportion to the number of times the letter appears in the list of words accepted in the game.

Standard selection

• The letters are generated at random, but weighted so that the letters most commonly used in English are more likely to appear. See the table below for details.

• Letters are selected without replacement. Thus you cannot get more than one Q (for example) in a game.

• There are never more than three of the same letter in a game.

• There are never more than seven vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in a game.

Proportional letter selection

• The letters are generated at random, weighted proportionally to their frequency in the Letterbox word list. See the table below for details.

• If you have selected the option to have 'QU' treated as a single letter, the frequency of Qs will be greater than shown: about 0.4% instead of 0.1%. This is because you can play any five-letter word that contains a Q.

• There are never more than three of the same letter in a game.

• There are never more than seven vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in a game.