za

The only two-letter word containing the letter Z; invented by Scrabble players in order to capitalize on that letter's high point-value.

A: Ha! Look at my bingo: ZODIACS! Since the Z is on the double-letter box and the A is on the triple-word box, I get 87 points for the word, plus a fifty-point bonus for using all my tiles, giving me a total of 137 points for this turn.

B: Pshaw! I could've done it too. You just got lucky.

A: Wait a minute! I also get an additional 21 points for ZA, which raises the grand total to 158 points!

B: Egad! If I had any say in the matter, "ZA" never would have been admitted into the Scrabble dictionary! Who the heck actually uses the word?

A: I just did.

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