How to play
Trace adjacent letters to spell a word. Clear the list, and the day is done.
The game
Every day there is a grid of letters and a list of words hidden in it. A word is made by moving from tile to touching tile — up, down, sideways or diagonally — and no tile can be used twice in the same word. Four letters is the minimum.
Press a letter and drag through the ones that follow it, or type the word and press Enter. When the list is empty, the puzzle is finished.
There are two boards a day. Standard is the main one and grows through the week, from a 4 × 4 on Monday to a 5 × 6 on Sunday. Express stays 3 × 3 all week — a few minutes rather than half an hour — but its words grow more numerous and less common as the days pass.
Both are free, both are the same board for everyone, and neither needs an account. Today’s puzzle is here.
Words that count, and words that are extra
The list is the everyday half of the grid’s vocabulary: words a dictionary gives in lower case, common enough to be fair. Anything else you find that is a real word is an extra. Extras score exactly the same — they are simply not needed to finish the day.
Longer words are worth more, and a word you were shown rather than found scores nothing at all.
Which words end up on the list, and which stay extras, is a longer story than it looks — how the words are chosen sets out the method, and where it still gets things wrong.
Streaks, the clock and the leaderboard
A streak counts consecutive days finished, and each board keeps its own. Miss a day and it starts again, though your best is kept.
The clock runs while the board is open and stops when the last word goes in. It is not a time limit — nothing is lost by taking all day — but it is what separates two players on the same score, and after that, whoever used fewer reveals.
Anyone can read the leaderboard, and finishing without an account still shows you where you would have come. Taking the place needs an account and a nickname.
Questions
I found a real word and it wasn't accepted.
Three letters and under never count, in any grid. Otherwise the tiles probably aren't adjacent — letters must touch, including diagonally — or one was used twice in the same word.
Why is that word only an extra?
The list is the everyday half of the grid's vocabulary: words a dictionary lists in lower case and that are common enough to be fair. Extras score identically, so nothing is lost either way.
What happens if I press "End puzzle"?
The words you hadn't found are filled in so you can see them, marked as revealed. They score nothing, the day doesn't count towards your streak, and the board takes no place on the leaderboard.
Why did my streak reset?
A streak counts consecutive days finished. Miss one and it starts again — but your best is kept, and Standard and Express are counted separately.
When does the puzzle change?
3am US Pacific, the same moment for everyone in the world. If you're mid-board when it turns over, your board stays put until you choose to move on.
Can I play yesterday's puzzle?
Not at the moment — a puzzle belongs to its day. An archive is something we would like to add, but there is no date for it.
Does my progress follow me between devices?
Yes, once you're signed in. A board you started on your phone carries on where you left it on a laptop — the same words filled in, the hints already spent, the clock still running. Without an account everything stays in the browser you play in, so clearing your site data clears your streak too.
What is the number at the top of the page?
The edition number: how many days Squaredle Quest has been running. It counts from the very first puzzle, so today's number is the same for everyone, and the same on both boards.
Do I need an account?
Not to play. An account carries your streak and your part-finished boards between devices, and it is what lets you pick a nickname and appear on the leaderboard. Signing in is by a code sent to your email, or with Google — there is no password.
Can I make it harder?
Turn the tile numbers off in Settings and work from the tints alone, or leave the hints untouched and clear the extras as well as the list.