From Z to A: ZYDECO

ZYDECO, pluralized ZYDECOS, is a "popular music of southern Louisiana.

Here's a video of ZYDECO music, using old-fashioned instruments like accordions and washboards.

From Z to A: ZYGOMA

The ZYGOMA is the cheekbone.

It is pluralized ZYGOMAS or ZYGOMATA.

From Z to A: ZYGOTE

There are three other "zyg-" words in the Dictionary, after ZYGOTENE,  that also refer to MEIOSIS.

ZYGOTE - a cell formed by the union of two GAMETES

ZYGOSITY - the makeup of a particular ZYGOTE.

ZYGOSIS - the process of the union of two GAMETES

A GAMETE is a mature reproductive cell.

From Z to A: ZYGOTENE

ZYGOTENE, according to the Official Scrabble Dictionary, is "a stage in MEIOSIS."

MEIOSIS is a stage in cell division, which takes place during sexual reproduction.

In the ZYGOTENE stage, which cna be pluralized ZYGOTENES, the chromosomes are pairing together.

The prefix "zygo" comes from the Greek for YOKED.

Remember that "zymo" is from the Greek for LEAVEN.

So there is ZYMOGENE, menaing "a substance that develops into an ENZYME when suitable activated"/

And there is ZYGOTENE, which is the stage in MEIOSISI where cells begin to line up in pairs, to be YOKED.

No Vowels? No problem: BRR

As I don't need to tell you, it is extremely frustrating to have all vowels or all consonants, rather than a nice mixture of each.

If you don't want to turn in letters, this series of posts will deal with words you can spell if you don't have any vowels.

BRR is a phonetic spelling of the noise you make when it is too darn cold outside.

It can also be spelled BRRR.

These are interjections, so they can't be pluralized or conjugated in any way.

From Z to A: ZYME and ZYMASE

ZYME(S) and ZYMASE(S) are defined as enzymes in the Scrabble Dictionary.

An ENZYME is a biological catalyst, meaning it causes or speeds up a chemical reaction in the body.

Most ENZYMES are PROTEINS.

According to Wikipedia,  

Zymase is an enzyme complex that catalyzes the fermentation of sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. It occurs naturally in yeasts. Zymase activity varies among yeast strains

RATIONAL SCRABBLE: FOOTIER

I just looked up FOOTIER at Dictionary.com

It's from a Northern English dialect.

The word FOOTY means poor, worthless and paltry, so FOOTIER is a superlative of that, and then there's FOOTIEST also.

So it's got nothing to do with one's foot or feet. It's just a slang word from the North of England which probably hasn't been used in 400 years.

Then there's FOOTIE, which doesn't mean British football (i.e., soccer), but rather is another spelling for FOOTSIE, which is  game two people who are flirting with each other do with their feet.