Word Guess

Word Guess asks you to find one hidden word by guessing real words and reading the clues each guess gives you. It is a quiet, thoughtful game: no clock is running, and every wrong guess still teaches you something.

How to play

Type a word of the right length using the on-screen keys or your own keyboard, then press Enter. Only real words are accepted, so a made-up string of letters will be turned away without costing you a try.

After you send a guess, each letter is marked. The marks use shape as well as color, so they are easy to tell apart:

• A blue tile with a dot means the right letter in the right place.
• A white round tile with an orange ring means the letter is in the word, but in a different place.
• A dim, flat tile means the letter is not in the word at all.

The keys at the bottom take on the same marks, so you can see at a glance which letters you have already learned. Use the marks to shape your next guess, and try to find the word before you run out of tries.

The levels

• Easy: 4-letter words and 7 tries. You also get 2 hints. The Hint button reveals one letter in its place.
• Medium: 5-letter everyday words and 6 tries. No hints.
• Hard: 5-letter words and 6 tries, with some less common answers mixed in. There is also a rule: every clue you have found must be used in your next guess. A letter marked as being in the right place has to stay there, and a letter marked as being in the word has to appear again.
• Expert: 6-letter words and 6 tries, with less common answers more often, and the same must-use-your-clues rule.

If a guess breaks the rule on Hard or Expert, the game tells you exactly which letter you forgot, and the guess does not count.

If you run out of tries, the answer is shown so you can learn from it.

Today's game

Once a day there is a 5-letter word that is the same for everyone, played at Medium rules. Start it from the "Today's word" button on the new game card. Your result for the day is remembered, so you can look at it again later.

Tips

1. Open with a word made of common letters, such as E, A, R, T and O, with no letter repeated. That gives you the most information from one try.
2. Use your second guess to test new letters rather than repeating old ones. Knowing which letters are missing is as valuable as knowing which are present.
3. Look at the keyboard before every guess. Letters that are dim cannot help you any more, so keep them out.
4. A letter with a ring means it is in the word but in the wrong spot. Try it in a different place each time, and think about where words usually put that letter.
5. When one spot is still open, picture common endings such as -ER, -ED, -LY and -ING. They narrow things quickly.
6. Doubled letters are easy to forget. If you are stuck, try a word with a repeated letter.
7. On Hard and Expert, the must-use rule works in your favour. It stops you wasting a guess and pushes you toward words that fit all the clues so far.

Questions

Why was my guess refused? Either the word is not in the list the game accepts, or it has the wrong number of letters. On Hard and Expert it may also have left out a clue you were given.

Does a refused guess cost a try? No. Only accepted guesses are counted.

Can the same letter appear twice in the answer? Yes, in any level. The marks show you how many copies are in the word.

Do I need a keyboard? No. The big on-screen keys work fine on a phone or a tablet.