I agree that memorizing the words rather than the mnemonics is both easier and more interesting.

But if you can only memorize two words, go for "za" and "qi" - they come in really handy to get rid of a q or z. (za is an absurd short form of pizza, and qi is Chinese life energy, same as chi.)

I also recommend the handy words qat (the stimulant leaf) and waqf (an Islamic charitable donation). After you're challenged unsuccessfully on waqf, you can get away with anything :-)

Comparing his approach vs yours I can't help but think a: birthdays mangle wax is easier to remember than that list.

But it is easier to check the the GP's solution:

    return definitions.get(candidate) != null;

vs

    foreach c in definitions(candidate.charAt(0)) {
        if c == candidate.charAt(1)) return true;
    }
    return val;

That leaves aside the general usefulness of knowing the definitions of words.

Agreed. You really don't have to be a savant to memorize these. Only about half of them are non-obvious. Another quarter are just spellings of letters. And the last quarter might be obscure, but just playing a few games using the list and gaining all those points and I guarantee you'll have them down.