The classic five-letter format, without the daily limit. Solve a word, tap New word, keep your win streak going.
The classic game, as many times as you like
Five letters is the sweet spot of word guessing: long enough to be interesting, short enough to crack in three or four tries. The daily version gives you one shot a day. Here you can play the same format as often as you want, which is the fastest way to get better at it.
The answers are 2,044 everyday five-letter words, the kind you would use in a text message, and your guesses are checked against 9,032 valid words. Plurals and past tenses (boxes, baked) count as guesses but are never the answer. About 33% of answers repeat a letter, like geese or shall, so do not rule out doubles too early.
Test your opening word
We scored every possible first guess against the full list of five-letter answers and measured how well its colors split that list. The best everyday words to start with are RAISE, SLATE, STARE, TRACE, CRATE. RAISE leaves about 51.4 possible answers on average after the first guess. A strong second guess that shares no letters with it is CLOUT. The full method is on the how to play page.
Infinite mode is the perfect lab for this. Play ten rounds with RAISE, ten with SLATE, and compare your guess distribution in your stats (the chart button). The most common letters in five-letter answers are E (45.5%), A (40.9%), R (35.7%), T (29.4%), O (29.1%), I (27.8%); the most common last letters are E, Y, T.
Challenge a friend with the same word
Found a nasty one? Tap the link button or Challenge a friend at the end of the round. You get a link that opens this exact word on their device without showing it, so you can compare scores on the same puzzle. It works in every length, and your friend can pass it on.
When you want a ritual rather than a practice session, play the daily five-letter puzzle, which resets at midnight Eastern Time and has graded hints if you get stuck.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same word list as the daily puzzle?
The same kind of words: common base words. Infinite rounds are picked at random from the full answer list, so they never spoil the daily puzzle.
Will I see the same word twice?
Not soon. The game remembers the last 300 answers you played in each length and skips them.
What happens if I tap New word in the middle of a round?
Tap it twice to give up. That counts as a loss and resets your win streak, so the streak stays honest. Before your first guess, New word simply skips the word.
Can I play with British spelling?
Yes. Pick UK, Canadian or Australian spelling in Settings (the gear button), or play on the UK page. Words like colour and metre then become possible answers.