"I learned the 4,000 four-letter words and about 7,000 seven- and eight-letter words."

But the eight-letter word for "foolishly impractical" eluded me.

My parents could play with seven- and eight-letter words, jumbled in random letter order.

This is achieved by making an eight-letter word with six one-point tiles and two blanks.

In this round, an eight-letter word (a seven-letter word through season 17) is hidden on the board.

The player who starts first must play a word that has at least 5 letters, e.g., eurasian, which is an eight-letter word.

He says he has memorized 16,000 seven- and eight-letter words.

"But I did learn every word up to five letters, plus maybe ten thousand seven- and eight-letter words."

Round two featured eight-letter words, and the unplaced letters were worth $200 each.

The air had been blue with four- , six- and eight-letter words.