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.

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

From Z to A: all the "ZYM-" words

So far, I've covered ZYMURGY (pluralized ZYMURGIES) which is the science of fermentation.

ZYMOLOGY is another name for the science of fermentation, and is pluralized ZYMOLOGIES.

ZYMOTIC is an adjective, and refers to fermentation or the spread of sickness, depending on whether you are in England or the US!

 ZYMOSIS is also fermentation, and is pluralized ZYMOSES.

All these words refer to fermentation because "zym-" is a Greek prefix meaning to FERMENT.

FERMENTATION takes place with YEAST.

So the remaining list of words also has something to do with FERMENTATION, although the Dictionary doesn't say so speciofically.

ZYMOSAN (pluralized ZYMOSANS) - an insoluble fraction of yeast cell walls.

ZYMOGRAM - pluralized ZYMOGRAMS: a record of separated proteins after electrophoresis

ZYMOGENE(S) - a ZYMOGEN(S).

ZYMOGEN(S) - a substance that develops into an ENZYME when "suitably" activated.

ZYME - pluralized ZYMES. An ENZYME(S)

ZYMASE(S) - an ENZYME(S).

So there are 13 words you can potentially make, should you have the Z, a Y and an M!

From Z to A: ZYMOSIS

ZYMOSIS, according to the Official Scrabble® Dictionary, means FERMENTATION. (The word FERMENTATION isn't in the regular Scrabble® Dictionary, but it's in the Tournament word list so use it, says I! If you have the opportunity! For example if someone plays FERMENT, put "ation"on the end!)

Interestingly, if you go to Wikipedia, and search for ZYMOSIS, you are redirected to FERMENTATION - a page on which the term ZYMOSIS is not used.

The word ZYMOLGY is mentioned, since the science of FERMENTATION is called ZYMOLOGY. There's a link to a ZYMOLOGY page.

ZYMOLOGY is also referred to as ZYMURGY.  According to the Dictionary, it can be pluralized ZYMOLOGIES. Just as ZYMURGY can be pluralized ZYMURGIES, as if there was more than one branch of science with that name.

ZYMOSIS is pluralized ZYMOSES.

Go to Dictionary.com and you'll find that ZYMOSIS, in British English, means "to spread disease."

You can also use the word ZYMOTIC, relating to or causing infection (or FERMENTATION.)

To FERMENT something is to cause it to turn into ALCOHOL.

ZYMURGY - ZYMURGIES
ZYMOSIS - ZYMOSES
ZYMOLOGY  - ZYMOLOGIES

From Z to A: ZYMURGY

ZYMURGY, pluralized ZYMURGIES, is that branch of applied chemistry that deals with fermentation for winemaking and brewing specifically.

The word ZYMURGY was coined in 1868, by combing "zymo" - the Greek for "to leaven" with "ourgia", for "working."

There's "pure" chemistry, which is the science of increasing the knowledge of chemistry, and then there's "applied" chemistry" which is the application of the principles of chemistry to solving problems. 


More words that end in "urgy":

SCRABBLE-Os (BINGOS) 7-Letter words

LITURGY - a collection of formulas for WORSHIP
 
SPLURGY - spending a lot of money. "She was feeling SPLURGY"

THEURGY - divine intervention in human affairs. "If I win this tournament, I'll believe in THEURGY."  "That was a THEURGIC win for me."

5-letter words
SURGY - "the waves are SURGY."

8 letter words
CHEMURGY - applied chemistry used in the farming industry

HIERURGY - holy act or rite of worship

MICRURGY -dissection under a microscope

Even though they don't appear in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, 5th edition, the following words can be used in Scrabble because they appear in the Tournament word list.

THAUMATURGY - the workings of miracles. "thauma" is Greek for WONDER.

METALLURGY - working with metals.

DRAMATURGY - working with theater scripts

From Z to A: ZYZZYVA

The ZYZZYVA is a weevil found in South America.

A WEEVIL is a kind of beetle.

According to Wikipedia:

It was first discovered in 1922 in Brazil and named by an Irishman.

Thomas Lincoln Casey, Jr., an entomologist at New York's Museum of Natural History thought that, because there was not a Latin name or Brazilian name associated with this weevil, it was probably named Zyzzyva as a practical joke to place it in a prominent ending position in many guides and manuals.

So ZYZZYVA can be pluralized ZYZZYVA(S), and WEEVIL can of course be pluralized WEEVIL(S).

There is also a magazine called ZYZZYVA, so named because its creators wanted it to be "the last word," and ZYZZYVA is actually the last word in the American Heritage dictionary. (At least it was in 1985 when the magazine was founded.) http://www.zyzzyva.org/.

(It is no longer the last word in the Scrabble dictionary, since ZZZ took over that spot in the 5th edition.)

From Z to A: ZZZ

ZZZ is a word used to indicate the sound of sleeping. It is an interjection, so cannot be pluralized.

The only way it can be spelled is with a Z and two blanks.

On March 18, 2009, writer Carl Bialik wrote an article about Scrabble in the Wall Street Journal. His first paragraph:

A trio of words -- one that's slang for pizza, another defined as a body's vital life force and a third referring to a snoring sound -- have conspired to change the game of Scrabble.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123731266862258869

"Za," "qi" and "zzz" were added recently to the game's official word list for its original English-language edition. Because Z's and Q's each have the game's highest point value of 10, those monosyllabic words can rack up big scores for relatively little effort.

 ZZZ actually can't get you many extra points, since you need those two blanks to spell it!

The 4th edition of the Official Scrabble Dictionary was superseded by the 5th edition in 2015. The 4th edition had actually been published in 2006, three years before Bialik wrote his article. (Which also addressed board games like Monopoly and athletic sports like basketball and football.

Price Drop: Stocks, Homes, Now Triple-Word Scores

Scrabble and Other Games -- on Boards, Fields, Courts and Ice -- Have Overvalued Points; Vermont Avenue Is a Steal

 Apparently in 2009 the prospect of lowering the values for the Q and Z were being discussed. But changing the point values would play havoc with the record books, so it was never carried through.

The addition of non-words (IMHO) to the Scrabble Dictionary began with the 4th edition and continue to this day.

Take NEARLY, for example. In the Tournament Word List, NEARLIER and NEARLIEST are viable words!

Ridiculous!