Words, Dictionaries, and Challenges and Cheating

Words Words allowed in WildWords are those that can be written in all lower case (no proper nouns) and are not abbreviations, trademarks, chemical element symbols (e.g. Ni for nickel), or words needing a hyphen.   Of course, any two players can modify the rule for some special purpose. People have even played "themed" games where only words related to theme in question can be played. Dictionaries and Wildwords Functions: Players may choose an assortment of dictionaries for their own games. There are three dictionaries that can be easily referenced within WildWords. These are Merriam Webster's, the Cambridge English Dictionary, and Dictionary.com. When a word has been typed into the chat line box, instead of sending it to your opponent as a message, you may in some circumstances push a button labeled "Show Pages." This button will bring up the page for each dictionary that results from a request for the definition of the typed word. This is quicker than going to each site and typing the word yourself. This process could, however, lead to players gaining information about correct spellings, etc.  You can of course pick your own dictionaries and make your own rules. The simplest thing is to rely on just the three dictionaries that come up automatically. If the word is in any of three dictionaries and follows  the guideline noted above, the play is generally considered valid. Challenges and Cheating First off, you should not be looking at any dictionaries within or outside of WildWords in a competitive game. Both players can agree to play with an open dictionary if they so choose. In such cases, an Option in the Game Play box can be set to allow the use of the Lookup and Show Pages buttons at anytime. When you are "Practicing," you can access those buttons anytime without setting the option. That's the best time to be using the Show Pages button, see the full pages at the dictionary site, and learn about words. In a competitive game with the special option not set, the Show Page buttons is only available between the launch of a challenge and the dertermination of its merits. Once a challenge is launched, the challenged player (if requested) must provide the complete spelling of any or all words newly formed that contain one or more wildcard tiles. To save time, these spellings can be typed into the Chat line box and the Show Pages button can be pushed. The dictionary pages will be shown to both players. If any word is not reported to be valid by at least one dictionary, the challenge succeeds. The player who launched the challenge should be on the lookout for spellings that do not actually correspond to the play on the table. For example, "jurisprudence" is a valid word but you could not form it with the tile play "JU*RUDN*E". Any effort to  reference a dictionary or other document to acquire information during a game is cheating.