Collins Scrabble Words (SOWPODS) vs NWL/TWL
Why an American word solver can disagree with an Australian Scrabble board, and which list applies where.
If you have ever typed a word into an American Scrabble helper and been told it is invalid, you have run into the difference between the two major Scrabble word lists. Australian tournament players use Collins Scrabble Words (CSW), often still called SOWPODS. North American tournament players use the NASPA Word List (NWL). The two overlap heavily, but they are not the same list, and the differences matter when you are checking a play.
At a glance
| Feature | Collins Scrabble Words (CSW) | NASPA Word List (NWL) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is used | Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and most other countries; the World Championship | The United States and Canada (also reported for Thailand and Israel) |
| Current edition | CSW24 (adopted for tournament play from 1 January 2025, per the Collins Coalition) | NWL2023 |
| Total words | Roughly 280,000 in CSW24 (published figures differ slightly) | Smaller than CSW |
| Two-letter words | 127 | 107 |
| Spelling | World English: Australian, British and American spellings | Based on American dictionaries, with many variants |
Because published word counts differ between sources, treat any single figure as approximate.
Where the name SOWPODS comes from
SOWPODS is an anagram of OSPD (the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, American) and OSW (Official Scrabble Words, British), the two older word lists that were combined. Australian tournaments switched to the combined list in 1994. Today the list is published and updated by Collins as Collins Scrabble Words, and that is the name you will see on official material, though many players still say SOWPODS.
How the list changes over time
Collins Scrabble Words is revised about every five years, with smaller updates in between. Three recent changes are worth knowing:
- CSW19 was a full new edition.
- CSW21 removed more than 400 derogatory words and added none. (The Collins Coalition, a North American group, calls the same update CSW22 because it took effect in 2022.)
- CSW24 added about 1,800 words. Examples published by Collins include AMIRITE, BOUJEE, COVID, FLOOF, MPOX and NERF, and everyday words that were previously missing, such as ANYHOO, AUTOFILL and HEADBUTT. According to the Collins Coalition, it became valid in tournament play on 1 January 2025.
The NASPA list also changes. NWL2023 became official in early 2024 and added more than 4,500 words. The NASPA list is updated on its own schedule, so the two lists move independently.
Practical differences for players
Extra short words
CSW has 20 more two-letter words than NWL. CH is one you will meet often. See our two-letter word guide for the full list.
Spelling
Australian spellings such as COLOUR, CENTRE and ORGANISE are all valid in CSW. Many spelling variants are accepted by both lists, so spelling alone is not a reliable way to tell them apart; the extra words are. Our spelling guide has the details.
Australian and World English words
Scrabble Australia describes CSW as including World English, with spellings and variants from the US, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Words such as DUNNY and SMOKO are examples of vocabulary you will find in Collins. Our guide to Australian words in Scrabble checks many more.
How to Check Which List You're Using
- Ask the organiser. Clubs and tournaments in Australia publish the edition they use. Scrabble Australia currently names CSW24.
- Check the app or site. A good word checker states the edition it uses. If it does not say, treat its answers as a guide rather than a ruling.
- Test a known difference. Enter the two-letter word CH. It is valid in Collins Scrabble Words but not in the NASPA Word List, so a tool that rejects it is not using Collins.
- Look at the count. A current Collins list has 127 two-letter words, and a current NASPA list has 107.
A note on this site's word list
The word list used by Unscramble AU contains 267,751 words and is an earlier edition of Collins Scrabble Words. It does not yet include the newest additions, so a few valid modern words (for example the two-letter words EW, OK and ZE) will not appear in our results, and words that have since been removed may still appear. The site is a study and practice aid. For a tournament dispute, always consult the current official word list.
Bottom line: for Australian Scrabble, use a tool built on Collins Scrabble Words, and check the edition. A tool built on a different list will give you wrong answers in both directions.