Looking for a good strategy? Try to create words that could easily be turned into other words by changing one or two letters. For example, D-R-I-N-K could easily be confused with B-R-I-N-K, B-L-I-N-K and B-L-I-N-D, among others. This will keep your opponents guessing even when they think they have it.
Letter Hint Rule: Mind Your Vowels
Hanging With Friends will automatically display the last vowel you or your opponent used in a word for free. That's either A, E, I, O, U -- but not Y. Think about this when creating a word. For example, if you've created a verb with, say, an "ed," "er," or "Ing" ending, not only will it be easier for your oppontent to find a starting point, but any other instances of the letter e will also be revealed. So try to avoid using the last vowel in your word twice whenever possible.
On the flipside, if the hint feature reveals a vowel in the middle of your opponent's word, you can be certain that there is no other vowel after it. So the word "??I??," for example, cannot possible be "CHIDE." And if the word you're trying to guess has no vowel hint, you know that "Y" is not only in the word, no other vowel appears. Knowing this is crucial to fast guess work. Since few players know this rule, it also gives you a great opportunity to stump them with words that only contain a Y and no vowels as they're likely to try and guess vowels first.
Listen for the Drumroll
The game plays a drumroll sound effect when you're guessing a word and have just one letter left to guess. If there are still two or more spaces left when you hear this sound, you know that those two or more spaces are filled with the same letter. So if you see "L A - - E R S" and hear the drumroll you can guess the word is "L A D D E R S" and not "L A Y Z E R S."
Most common Letters in English
Something to keep in mind, both when guessing your buddy's words and when creating new words for your buddy to solve: These are the most common letters in English, in the approximate order of popularity.
E
T
A
O
I
N
S
R
H
L
D
C
U
M
F
P
G
W
Y
B
V
K
X
J
Q
Z
Strike rules
Know the relationship between word length and the numberof strikes your oppontent gets, and use it to your advantage. For example, when constructing a four-letter word, do a mental check that there are enough words with similar letters to make the word last eight attempts. You can be less diligent when creating longer words, but do try to swap out some tiles to change the word to a less common one where possible. Here's how many strikes you or your opponents will receive based on word length (four letters is the minimum you can play).
When it's your turn to create a word for your buddy to solve, follow these tips. Use the most uncommon letters in your pool. Ever watch Wheel of Fortune? The most common letters are R, S, T, L, N, E. People will guess these letters. Try to use letters they won't guess, like X, Q and X. Don't use the same letter twice. If you use the same letter twice, you'll help the other player by giving him two letters for just one guess. Words are much harder to figure out if they don't have repeating letters. Use an online anagram generator. This is a bit cheesy, and you can tell your friend to blame us. But search for online anagram generators and type in your pool of letters to get a bunch of words that your letters can spell.
Use your Lifelines Wisely
Lifelines can give you a leg up when trying to solve some of the trickier words your opponents play. For example, if you know the word ending but there are a multitude of words or starting letters that apply, you can use "Suspects" to quickly narrow down the selection and display four letters, one of which is in the word. Make sure to keep a mental note of the letters in case you guess wrong. Generally, it's a good idea to be stingy with your lifelines and only use them when your opponent has a big lead over you or if you're down to your last balloon. To build up good supply of lifelines, make sure to leverage score modifiers when constructing your own words whenever you can. Tryto start off by placing the highest-value letter on a DL or TL field and work from there. And if you're short of a TW or DL field, think about how you can extend the word, by making it plural, past tense, converting it to a noun, or similar.
Words without Vowels
You can be a real jerk and make a word that has no vowels. Here are some examples.
TSKS
TSKTSK
TSKTSKS
PSST
If your friend gets mad at you, tell him this was Peer's idea. The following words contain the vowel "Y," which might as well not be a vowel at all!
BYRL
BYRLS
CRYPT
CRYPTS
CYST
CYSTS
DRYLY
DRYS
FLYBY
FLYBYS
FLYSCH
GHYLL
GHYLLS
GLYCYL
GLYCYLS
GLYPH
GLYPHS
GYMS
GYPS
GYPSY
HYMN
HYMNS
HYPS
LYMPH
LYMPHS
LYNCH
LYNX
MYRRH
MYRRHS
MYTH
MYTHS
MYTHY
NYMPH
NYMPHS
PSYCH
PSYCHS
PYGMY
RHYTHM
RHYTHMS
RYND
RYNDS
SCRY
SHYLY
SLYLY
SPRY
SPRYLY
STYMY
SYLPH
SYLPHS
SYLPHY
SYNC
SYNCH
SYNCHS
SYNCS
SYNTH
SYNTHS
SYPH
SYPHS
SYZYGY
THYMY
TRYST
TRYSTS
TYPP
TYPPS
TYPY
WHYS
WRYLY
WYCH
WYND
WYNDS
WYNN
WYNNS
WYNS
XYLYL
XYLYLS
XYST
XYSTS
@@Words that End with E
One thing I've noticed is that if the revealed letter given to you is an "E" in the second to last position, the last letter is most likely an "R", a "D", or an "S". Your opponent may be making a word like "trad-ER", "trad-ED", or "trad-ES". Conversely, when it's your turn to make a word, you may be able to stump your opponent for a bit by placing an "E" in the second to last position and making a word that ends in "-EM" or "-EN".
