While this is self-explanatory, players often count tiles at two different times: 1) before a game begins to ensure that there are 100 tiles; 2) near the end of the game, when knowing exactly how many tiles remain to be played can be crucial for the astute player. COURTESY RULE

DLS:

The alphabetic arrangement of a group of letters. Example:

A word that is spelled with the exact same letters as another word. Example:

See "EXTENSION PLAY

See "HOOK

Making a play that allows you to save the letters on your rack that will most likely help you score well next turn. This often means leaving an equal number of vowels and consonants. BINGO

A group of tiles that are likely to produce a bingo. Often used to describe a player's set of three to six tiles just before drawing his or her replacement tiles. Example:

A bingo that includes a blank tile. BLOCKING

The act of deliberately playing a phoney word. This is completely ethical and is a weapon used by many experts, even against other experts. BRAILING