How to play Word Guess
Word Guess is a quick puzzle for your brain: there is one hidden five-letter word, and you have six tries to find it. After every guess, the tiles change color to show how close you are. It takes about five minutes, makes a nice warm-up before class, and is a fun way to build vocabulary and spelling.
The rules
- Type a five-letter word with your keyboard or the on-screen keys, then press Enter. It has to be a real English word.
- Read the colors. Each tile turns green, yellow or gray to give you a clue about that letter.
- Use the clues to make a better guess. Keep going until you find the word or run out of six tries.
What the colors mean
- Green: the letter is in the word and in the right spot.
- Yellow: the letter is in the word, but in a different spot.
- Gray: the letter is not in the word (or you have already used up all its copies).
The keyboard keeps track of what you have learned, so you can see at a glance which letters are still possible. If green and yellow are hard to tell apart, turn on Color-blind colors in Settings to use orange and blue instead.
Daily puzzle and practice
The Daily puzzle is the same for everyone on the same date and resets at midnight where you live. Finish it to update your stats: games played, win percentage, your current and best streak, and how many guesses your wins usually take. Then press Copy result to share a grid of colored squares that shows how you did without giving away the word. Practice mode gives you a fresh random word whenever you want one.
Tips for solving in fewer guesses
- Start with common letters. A first word with several vowels and letters like R, S, T, L and N tells you a lot. Words such as “stare,” “crane” or “audio” are popular starters.
- Do not reuse gray letters. Every gray letter is a letter you can cross off for good.
- Move yellow letters around. A yellow letter is in the word, so try it in a new spot next time.
- Think about letter patterns. English words often end in -er, -ly or -ch, and pairs like th, sh and ck are common.
- Remember repeats. Words like “apple” and “sheep” use a letter twice. If you are stuck, a double letter may be the answer.
- For teachers: solve the daily puzzle together as a class. Ask students to explain which words are still possible after each guess.
Questions
Is there a new word every day?
Yes. The daily puzzle changes at midnight in your own time zone, and everyone who plays on the same date gets the same word. You can play one daily puzzle per day and as many practice words as you like.
What is the difference between Daily and Practice?
Daily is the shared puzzle of the day and counts toward your stats and streak. Practice picks a random word each time, so you can warm up, try new strategies or keep playing after the daily puzzle is done.
How do repeated letters work?
Each tile is colored for one copy of a letter. If the answer has one E and you guess two, only one E turns green or yellow and the other turns gray. If the answer has two of a letter, both copies in your guess can light up.
What does hard mode do?
In hard mode, any letter you have found must appear in your next guesses, and green letters must stay in the same spot. It makes the game a little harder because you cannot spend a guess just to test new letters.
Why does it say Not in word list?
Every guess must be a real five-letter English word, so random letter strings are not accepted. Check the spelling, or try a different word. Names and most abbreviations are not in the list.
Are my stats saved?
Yes, in this browser on this device. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account. Clearing your browser data or using a private window will reset your stats and streak.