Word guess

How it works

What you get from it

A small daily dose of words. You work from evidence, not luck: each row narrows down what the word can be, and the last guess often feels earned.

It plays to how you think about spelling, which letters go together and where. Answers are common, everyday words, chosen by hand.

Six tries leave room to think: you can spend a guess on learning rather than on winning.

Rules

Guess the hidden English word in six tries. Every guess must be a real five-letter word. After each guess, the tiles turn: coral for a letter in the right spot, blue for a letter that’s in the word somewhere else, sand for a letter that isn’t in it.

Repeated letters count as often as the word has them. If you guess SPEED and the word is ERASE, both Es are blue, the S is blue, and P and D are sand.

How to play in Rather

Type with the keyboard under the board and tap Enter. Enter stays dimmed until the row is a word Rather knows. The keys take the best colour their letter has earned.

Undo deletes typing, but never a row you have sent.

The tiles turn one after another as a row is checked. With Reduce Motion they turn together.

Where to start

Open with common letters. A word like STONE tests five of the most frequent ones at once.

Then use everything you’ve learned. Keep coral letters where they are, move blue ones to new spots, and skip sand ones. Sometimes a word that can’t be the answer is the best second guess: it tests five new letters.

Easier words use common letters. Harder ones have a repeated letter, or several less common ones.

Mind repeated letters. One blue E doesn’t mean there is only one E, and harder words often repeat a letter.

A blue letter also tells you where it isn’t. Don’t put it back in the same spot.

When you’re stuck

Tap Hint. It types the word’s letters up to the next spot you haven’t found, and names it: “The third letter is U.” Letters you already found come free.

After six rows, a calm card shows the word, and you can play it again fresh.

A row that isn’t a word is underlined in coral with “Not in the word list.” Nothing is used up: delete a letter and try another.

Sizes

• Easy 5 letters Common letters.
• Medium 5 letters A less common letter or two.
• Hard 5 letters A repeated letter, or several less common ones.

Questions

Are plurals or names answers?

No. Answers are everyday words, no plurals ending in s and no names.

What counts as a word?

Any five-letter word in a large public word list, plus the answers.

Is it in other languages?

English only, for now.