The Literati Word Finder searches through the entire English language to determine the best word to play at the best position on the board. The word finder engine was compiled in the powerful C++ language to allow for the absolute fastest execution time possible while still considering every last available move given a particular board and set of tiles. The word returned will always be of the highest point value possible for that particular move. This is because it knows how to make use of all six types of the available moves in Literati:

1. Initial word generation when the board is empty.
2. Form a word that is adjacent to another word(s) with no direct intersection.
3. Form a word that intersects another word.
4. Form a word that intersects multiple parallel words.
5. Extend a previously played word.
6. Combinations of the above.  ex: Intersecting a word and extending another.

In addition, the engine will alert the user if his or her opponent has played an invalid word so that a challenge can be made. The only concept it does not understand is that of tactical advantage. That is, it will happily set your opponent up for an easy 'triple word value' square if it allows the engine to play the highest word possible for that move! If you're smart, you'll occasionally use the [more...] feature and choose an alternate word in situations such as these where the alternate word's value is only a few points less.

Whenever you play a blank tile or two, it is not uncommon for the engine to take 30 seconds or more to run. Occasionally, however, it will take 5-10 minutes or even upwards of an hour, effectively making it appear to be locked up. It's technically not locked up; it eventually returns a result. It's just getting stuck somewhere in an extremely long loop. Since it is fairly rare and has been extremely difficult to track down, I've never given it a high priority to fix it. As a makeshift solution, I've implemented a 50 second timeout into the program. If your query takes longer than 50 seconds to process, it will give up and immediately return what it has found so far. This is the only known bug.

Avalanche?
That's the alias people know me by on the internet. I play several online games with this nick. :)

What happened to the old name of Avalanche's Literati Word finder?
On October 4, 2007 I changed the name to just "The" Literati Word Finder since this project has grown waaaay beyond the scope of the few online friends I originally shared this site with. I think many people didn't understand why "Avalanche" was randomly in the title. They associated it with a real avalanche, not my online nick. ;) It just sounds more formal now anyway.

Is the source code or an executable form of this program available?
Not at this time.

How can I save multiple boards?
This is by far the most commonly requested feature. Currently, to save multiple boards, the only way is to simply save the board into your favorites. I designed the site to be as simple and straight forward as possible. If I find time to add this feature, it will have to be in a way that does not unnecessarily complicate the site's interface.

Will a German, Spanish, or French version be made available?
I'm researching and looking into making these versions. I'll try to implement them when I find the time. If somebody could demonstrate to me that one of these would potentially be very popular, that would help give me some incentive to get it done immediately. :)

May I make a donation via PayPal?
This site was never created with the intent of profit. That's why it's completely free. However, I recently decided to start using unobtrusive advertising on the site to help mitigate the cost of my $301/month dedicated server that runs the site. The best thing you can do is visit an ad that interests you. Your appreciation means very much to me. Feel free to send me a message.

I wish to remain anonymous outside of the academic circle in which I created this project. (I'm a graduate student at an Ivy League school, but I can't be more specific than that!) If you wish to contact me, please use the form below. (I use this system to keep my email box spam-free.) NB: Sometimes it can take me a while to respond if I'm busy with school or business affairs. Thank you for your support; it means a lot to me. :)

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