How to play
- Everyone gets the same prompt and the same bag of letters each day.
- Answer the prompt by typing. Every letter you type is spent from the bag, and its key shows how many are left. A key goes dark when its letters run out.
- Spaces and punctuation are free.
- Every word has to be a real word. Made-up words and names don't pass the check.
- Spend as many letters as you can, then send. Spend them all and you rank Spent.
Every bag has been checked by a solver that found a way to spend every letter using common words. After you send, it shows you its way.
A new puzzle arrives at midnight where you are. Your streak counts the days in a row you've sent an answer.
Tips
- Look at the bag before you type. Rare letters are the hard part, so find a home for them first.
- Short words like a, i, of and to mop up loose vowels.
- Delete gives letters back, so you can try a word and take it out again.
- The answer doesn’t have to be a perfect sentence. It has to be real words.
The word list
Words are checked against a list built from SCOWL (Spell Checker Oriented Word Lists) by Kevin Atkinson, sizes 10 to 50 in English, American and British spellings, plus common contractions. Words ending in ’s are accepted when the base word is. SCOWL may be used, copied, changed and sold under its permissive licence; its copyright and permission notice is kept with the lists. The puzzles and proofs use only the most common words in SCOWL, sizes 10 and 20.
New modes
A two-player mode and a longer weekend bag are being considered. Leave an email to hear once if either one ships. No daily emails.