Both Free and Pay Versions of Word Hooks are now in the App Store

Both the free version and pay version are now available in the App Store. The easiest way to find them in the App Store is to click on the search tab and enter "Word Hooks".

About Word Hooks

Word Hooks full version screenshot 

with current word "WORD". The upper

keyboard corresponds to the prefix

cursor (cyan) and the lower keyboard

corresponds to the suffix cursor

(yellow).

Word Hooks is an iPhone app designed to help you improve your word game strategy. It is specifically targeted for Words With Friends TM, but using it should help you improve at any similar game, whether you are playing on your phone or on a physical board. It can help you improve your offense by quickly finding where you can hook new words onto those that have already been played. It can help you improve your defense by showing you how vulnerable the words you are considering playing are to hooks by your opponent.

Key Coloring

Word Hooks utilizes custom colored keys to let you quickly visualize where you can play hooks and extend words. An individual key can take one of four colorings depending on how the relates to the current search word:

• The red base with red text indicates that adding the letter forms a word and that no longer words can be formed by adding additional letters. For example, the "Y" key in the suffix keyboard indicates that "WORDY" is a complete word and that no letters can be formed from it.
• The red base with green text indicates that adding the letter forms a word and that longer words can be formed by adding additional letters. For example, the "S" key in the suffix keyboard indicates that "WORDS" is a complete word and that longer words can be played from it.
• The green base with green text indicates that adding the letter by iteself does not form a word, but that longer words can be formed by adding additional letters. For example, the "E" key in the suffix keyboard indicates that "WORDE" is not a complete word, but adding more letters will form a complete word - in this case adding "ED" forms "WORDED".



Word Hooks free version screenshot

with current word "WORD". The free

version is add-supported and you need

to switch the keyboard between

prefixes and suffixes.

• The light gray text with no base color indicates that adding the letter will not form any words.

Opponent Hook Likelihood

Word Hooks calculates the likelihood that your opponent has at least one letter that can hook off of the current word as a prefix or as a suffix. Your can use this information to avoid setting up your opponents or to block them with words that can't be extended, or make a calculated risk to set yourself up for a big play. In the screenshot example the Opponent Prefix Hook Likelihood of 29.9% means that there is a 29.9% chance that your opponent has an "S" or a blank in the rack. The Opponent Suffix Hook Likelihood of 39.5% means there is a 39.5% chance that your opponent has an "S", "Y", or blank in the rack.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What word list does Word Hooks use?

Word Hooks uses the exact word list of WWF version 3.12, which is the latest version as of this post. If WWF updates their word list in a future version the updated list will be incorporated into a new release of Word Hooks as soon as possible.

How do you calculate the opponent hook likelihoods?

The hook likelihood calculations are equal to the percentage of all possible sets of 7 tiles that have at least one hook letter. The likelihood that an opponent has at least one hook letter in the rack is equal to 100% minus the likelihood they have no hook letters in the rack. Thus, the hook likelihood is calculated as: Likelihood = 100% - (non-hook letter tiles / total letter tiles) ^ 7. The calculation uses the WWF letter distribution: A=9, B=2, C=2, D=5, E=13, F=2, G=3, H=4, I=8, J=1, K=1, L=4, M=2, N=5, O=8, P=2, Q=1, R=6, S=5, T=7, U=4, V=2, W=2, X=1, Y=2, Z=1, *=2