NYT Crossplay Strategy Guide
Crossplay rewards players who understand how premium squares, round multipliers, and tile management interact. This guide breaks down every layer of strategic depth in the game.
1. Mastering Premium Squares
The 15×15 Crossplay board uses four types of premium squares identical to Scrabble. These squares multiply either the tile value or the entire word value, making board position critical to high scores.
Triple Word (TW) — Purple
Multiplies the entire word score by 3. Located at all four corners and along the board edges. A single TW square can triple a 15-point word to 45.
Double Word (DW) — Light Blue
Doubles the entire word score. These squares radiate diagonally from the center. Hitting multiple DW squares in one play (e.g., bingo) can quadruple your score.
Triple Letter (TL) — Green
Triples the value of a single tile. Perfect for placing a high-value letter like J, X, Q, or Z on a TL square before a word multiplier is applied.
Double Letter (DL) — Orange
Doubles one tile's value. Less impactful than TL squares but still meaningful when combined with a word multiplier.
2. Round Multipliers — Timing Is Everything
Crossplay plays 5 rounds. Each round multiplies your word score by the round number:
| Round | Multiplier | Example: 20-pt word becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 1× | 20 pts |
| Round 2 | 2× | 40 pts |
| Round 3 | 3× | 60 pts |
| Round 4 | 4× | 80 pts |
| Round 5 | 5× | 100 pts |
- Hold your best tiles for late rounds. A 20-point word in Round 5 scores 100 points. The same word in Round 1 scores only 20.
- Don't waste Q, Z, J, or X early. If you draw a Z in Round 1, consider building toward a big ZAP or ZONE play in Rounds 4–5.
- But don't hoard too long. Unplayed tiles score 0. If you can't improve on a tile in later rounds, use it now rather than waste it.
- Combine multipliers: A 12-point word on a Triple Word square in Round 5 scores (12 × 3) × 5 = 180 points.
3. Tile Management
Balance vowels and consonants
A rack of all vowels or all consonants is nearly unplayable. In Crossplay, you receive 7 tiles per round with roughly 2–3 vowels built in by design. If you end a round holding too many vowels, prioritize plays that burn them.
The S advantage
S tiles are excellent because they let you pluralize existing board words and score double plays. If you can play a word and add S to another word simultaneously, you score both words.
Blank tile discipline
Blank tiles are worth 0 points on their own. Use them only when completing a high-value word that scores significantly more than what you could build without the blank. Never use a blank to form a low-scoring filler word.
High-value tile patience
Hold Q, Z, J, and X through early rounds when possible. These tiles pay off most on premium squares during high-multiplier rounds. Exception: if no premium square opportunity exists, QI and ZA at 11 pts each are always available plays.
4. High-Scoring Word Patterns
Knowing your two- and three-letter power words is the biggest skill separator in Crossplay.
| Word | Base Points | Why it's useful |
|---|---|---|
| QI | 11 | Only 2-letter Q word. Always playable. |
| ZA | 11 | Legal slang for pizza. Best no-U Z word. |
| JO | 9 | Sweetheart. Best 2-letter J word. |
| XI | 9 | Greek letter. Pairs X with any vowel. |
| ZAX | 19 | Tool for cutting roofing slates. High Z+X value. |
| QUIZ | 22 | Q+U+I+Z on any square is massive. |
| JAZZ | 29 | Two Z tiles? Devastating on a TW square. |
| JINX | 18 | J+X combo rarely seen but lethal. |
Use the Crossplay word finder to discover all words available from any set of tiles.
5. Board Positioning Strategy
- Open vs. closed boards: Playing words that create many open squares gives your opponent more premium square access. Balance scoring now with board control.
- Parallel plays: Placing a word parallel to an existing word can score both words at once. This often doubles your effective score without using extra tiles.
- Corner attacks: The corner TW squares are the highest-value positions. A word that reaches a corner scores triple for the entire word — worth planning multiple rounds ahead.
- Block your opponent: If you see a clear path to a TW square for your opponent in the next round, consider placing a tile to block it even at moderate personal cost.
More Crossplay Resources
Quick tips to improve your score today.
Point CalculatorCalculate any word's exact score.
Letter ValuesFull tile point chart.
Tile DistributionHow many of each tile exist.