I am unclear about the value of adding blank (wooden) "s" to words.
Or other suffixes. Even an s doesn't add much.
What value does welder put on a word that is 1letter longer?

Eg "welder" with a wooden tile one square away. Is it worth a swap to move it & one to convert it to an "s"?
Is WELDER going to give more gold tiles for the longer word?

Thanx 4 any advise,
Pop4fun, a newbie addict.

The score of a word is the tile total multiplied by the word length and then any bonuses added, so one extra letter can make quite a difference to the value of a word.

Whether it's worth moving and using a blank depends on the situation! In your example, the word "welder" is worth 72 points and "welders" (with a blank "s") is worth 84 points. Are 12 points worth 2 swaps? Up to you!

If you make longer words you will get more gold tiles. They come in at a more or less regular pace - the more tiles you use, the more multipliers you will get. But you will also get more hot and broken tiles!

Hope this helps!