diff --git a/xwords4/common/dictiter.c b/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
index 80d679cde..3446e835c 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
+++ b/xwords4/common/dictiter.c
@@ -244,16 +244,24 @@ firstWord( DictIter* iter )
 }
 
 XP_U32
-dict_countWords( const DictIter* iter )
+dict_countWords( const DictIter* iter, LengthsArray* lens )
 {
     DictIter counter;
     dict_initIterFrom( &counter, iter );
 
+    if ( NULL != lens ) {
+        XP_MEMSET( lens, 0, sizeof(*lens) );
+    }
+
     XP_U32 count;
     XP_Bool ok;
     for ( count = 0, ok = firstWord( &counter ); 
           ok; ok = nextWord( &counter) ) {
         ++count;
+
+        if ( NULL != lens ) {
+            ++lens->lens[counter.nEdges];
+        }
     }
     return count;
 }
@@ -438,7 +446,7 @@ dict_makeIndex( const DictIter* iter, XP_U16 depth, IndexData* data )
 static void
 initWord( DictIter* iter )
 {
-    iter->nWords = dict_countWords( iter );
+    iter->nWords = dict_countWords( iter, NULL );
 }
 
 XP_Bool
@@ -505,7 +513,7 @@ dict_getNthWord( DictIter* iter, DictPosition position, XP_U16 depth,
     XP_Bool validWord = 0 < iter->nEdges;
     if ( validWord ) {        /* uninitialized */
         wordCount = iter->nWords;
-        XP_ASSERT( wordCount == dict_countWords( iter ) );
+        XP_ASSERT( wordCount == dict_countWords( iter, NULL ) );
     } else {
         wordCount = dict_getWordCount( dict );
     }
diff --git a/xwords4/common/dictiter.h b/xwords4/common/dictiter.h
index 14b258b4b..14b755bcf 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/dictiter.h
+++ b/xwords4/common/dictiter.h
@@ -59,9 +59,13 @@ typedef struct _IndexData {
     XP_U16 count;    /* in-out: must indicate others are large enough */
 } IndexData;
 
+typedef struct _LengthsArray {
+    XP_U32 lens[MAX_COLS_DICT];
+} LengthsArray;
+
 void dict_initIter( DictIter* iter, const DictionaryCtxt* dict, 
                     XP_U16 min, XP_U16 max );
-XP_U32 dict_countWords( const DictIter* iter );
+XP_U32 dict_countWords( const DictIter* iter, LengthsArray* lens );
 void dict_makeIndex( const DictIter* iter, XP_U16 depth, IndexData* data );
 XP_Bool dict_firstWord( DictIter* iter );
 XP_Bool dict_lastWord( DictIter* iter );
diff --git a/xwords4/common/dictnry.c b/xwords4/common/dictnry.c
index 3884ce0f2..3668debce 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/dictnry.c
+++ b/xwords4/common/dictnry.c
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ dict_getWordCount( const DictionaryCtxt* dict )
     if ( 0 == nWords ) {
         DictIter iter;
         dict_initIter( &iter, dict, 0, MAX_COLS_DICT );
-        nWords = dict_countWords( &iter );
+        nWords = dict_countWords( &iter, NULL );
     }
 #endif
     return nWords;
diff --git a/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c b/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
index f2a602071..deae4a4d1 100644
--- a/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
+++ b/xwords4/linux/linuxmain.c
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@ testGetNthWord( const DictionaryCtxt* dict, char** words,
     DictIter iter;
 
     dict_initIter( &iter, dict, min, max );
-    XP_U32 half = dict_countWords( &iter ) / 2;
+    XP_U32 half = dict_countWords( &iter, NULL ) / 2;
     XP_U32 interval = half / 100;
     if ( interval == 0 ) {
         ++interval;
@@ -960,7 +960,16 @@ walk_dict_test( const LaunchParams* params, const DictionaryCtxt* dict,
     }
 
     dict_initIter( &iter, dict, min, max  );
-    XP_U32 count = dict_countWords( &iter );
+    LengthsArray lens;
+    XP_U32 count = dict_countWords( &iter, &lens );
+
+    XP_U32 sum = 0;
+    for ( jj = 0; jj < VSIZE(lens.lens); ++jj ) {
+        sum += lens.lens[jj];
+        XP_LOGF( "%ld words of length %ld", lens.lens[jj], jj );
+    }
+    XP_ASSERT( sum == count );
+
     if ( count > 0 ) {
         char** words = g_malloc( count * sizeof(char*) );
         XP_ASSERT( !!words );