I have a saying that there can never be too many I’s in Finnish Scrabble. It is a rare day when I get to play Scrabble in any foreign language, yet I am always on the lookout for interesting words that are valid in international play. Should I come across a word, in Finnish in particular, that catches my eye, I create its alphagram and imagine seeing it on my rack.

Each of these alphagrams creates a valid Finnish word. Don’t dump your rack…play it!

ISTUUUUU

AAAAAJV

AAAAJJ

KKKYYY

IIIVVY

RTUUU

HIIIL

IIIR

[Edited later addition: PUUUU]

ISTUUUUU = UUSIUTUU, the third-person singular of the verb uusiutua (to reinvent oneself). The word uusi means “new” and -utu- is the reflexive infix.

AAAAAJV = AVAAJAA (an opener, as in a can opener) in the partitive case.

AAAAJJ = AJAJAA (a driver, as in a driver of a car) in the partitive case.

KKKYYY = KYYKKY (squats or knee-bend exercises)

IIIVVY = VIIVYI, the third-person singular imperfect of the verb viipyä (to be late).

RTUUU = RUUTU (a square). There are a couple NHL players with this surname, Jarkko and Tuomo.

HIIIL = HIILI (coal).

IIIR = IIRI (the Irish language, spelled in lowercase in Finnish).

[Edit: PUUUU = UUPUU, the third-person singular of the verb uupua (to get tired).