Crossplay Board Layout
The 15×15 grid with every premium square marked. Tap or hover any square to see what it does and where it sits. This is the layout the solver scores with.
Tap or hover any square to see what it does.
- 2L
- 20
- squares
- 3L
- 20
- squares
- 2W
- 8
- squares
- 3W
- 8
- squares
- ★
- 1
- centre
How the premiums combine
Letter multipliers apply to a single tile. Word multipliers apply to the whole word — and if a word covers two of them, they multiply together. A word across two double word squares scores four times; across two triples, nine times.
The order matters. Letter premiums are applied first, then the word premiums multiply the total. A Z on a triple letter inside a double word word is (10 × 3) doubled, not 10 × 3 × 2 applied in some other order — but the arithmetic works out the same, which is why the shape to look for is simply “expensive tile on a letter premium, cheap tiles reaching a word premium”.
The squares that decide games
- Triple word. Eight of them, on the outer edge but set in from the corners. Leaving a lane open to one is the most common way to lose a game you were winning.
- The triple letter in each corner. An expensive tile there, in a word that also reaches the nearby triple word square, is where 100-point turns come from.
- The centre. The opening move must cover it, and it doubles that word — so the first play is always worth at least twice its face value.
Defending premium squares
You cannot block everything, but you can control the approach. A triple word square is only reachable through the row or column leading to it; putting a low-value tile in the path, or playing a word that leaves no valid hook on that line, closes the lane without costing you a turn.
Related
- Scoring RulesHow a play is scored, worked through step by step.
- Tile ValuesWhat every letter is worth, sortable.
- Strategy GuideTen ideas that add points to every game.
- Crossplay SolverEnter your board and rack, get every legal move ranked by score.
- How to PlayThe rules, in the order you need them.
- Tile DistributionHow many of each letter are in the bag.
Common questions
How many premium squares are there?
8 triple word, 8 double word, 20 triple letter and 20 double letter squares, plus the centre square, which acts as a double word on the opening move.
Do premium squares work more than once?
No. A premium square only counts on the turn a new tile lands on it. Once a tile is sitting there, later words running through it score that tile at face value.
Where are the triple word squares?
Not in the corners, which catch people out. They sit two squares in from each corner along the outer edge — eight of them in total, in symmetric pairs. The corners themselves are triple letter squares.
Is this the same board the solver uses?
Yes, literally. This diagram and the scoring engine read from the same layout definition, so what you see here is exactly what your score is calculated against.