Guide
How to play Spelltide
Spelltide is a daily word puzzle. Each day has a theme, a hidden word that fits it, and 7 tries to find it. It takes about three minutes.
The rules
- Read the theme. Today's theme might be Space, Bakery or Pirates. The answer always fits it.
- Guess a real word of the day's length. You have 7 guesses, and guesses must come from the dictionary.
- Read the symbols under each letter to see how close you are.
- Stuck? Reveal a clue. Up to 3 clues go from vague to specific. Each one adds 1 to your score.
What the symbols mean
Spelltide uses shapes, not colours, so it works for everyone, including colour-blind players and screen-reader users.
- Full: right letter, right spot
- Half: in the word, wrong spot
- Empty: not in the word
Example: the theme is Ocean and the answer is TIDE.
T● I● E◐ D◐
T and I are already in place. E and D are in the word but need to swap.
R○ E◐ E○ F○
Repeated letters only get as many marks as the answer has. TIDE has one E, so only one E is marked.
The rising tide: word length by day
Words get longer as the week goes on, so Monday is a quick warm-up and Sunday is the big one.
| Day | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letters | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
Scoring
Your score is guesses used + clues revealed. Lower is better. Solving in 3 guesses with 1 clue scores 4. Your streak counts the days in a row you've solved the daily puzzle.
When you finish, you'll see the answer, a fun fact about it, your stats and a countdown to the next puzzle. The share button copies a spoiler-free result like this:
Spelltide #42 · Space · 4/7 · 1 clue ○◐○○○○ ◐○●○◐○ ●●○●●◐ ●●●●●●
Tips
- Start with common letters such as E, A, R, S and T, even if the word doesn't fit the theme.
- Use the theme to narrow things down once you have a few letters.
- Save clues for when you're truly stuck. Each one costs a point, the same as a guess.
- The keyboard marks each letter with its best symbol so far.
FAQ
- Is it free?
- Yes. Today's puzzle is always free.
- Do I need an account?
- No. There is no login. Stats and streaks are kept only in your browser, so clearing site data resets them.
- When is the next puzzle?
- Every day at midnight, your local time. Everyone gets the same word on the same date.
- Can I play on my phone like an app?
- Yes. Use "Add to Home Screen" (iPhone) or "Install app" (Android, desktop Chrome and Edge). It also works offline.
- Can I play past puzzles?
- An archive of past puzzles is coming soon.