How to play Word Hive
- Make words of four or more letters from the seven in the hive. Every word must use the center letter. Letters can be used more than once.
- Type the word or click the letters, then press Enter. Four-letter words score 1 point; longer words score one point per letter.
- A pangram uses all seven letters and scores 7 extra points. Every puzzle has at least one.
- Climb the ranks as your score grows. Today’s puzzle is the same for everyone and changes at midnight; Random gives you a new one whenever you like.
Tips for Word Hive
- Find the pangram early. It’s worth the most points, and it often shows the useful word endings for the rest of the puzzle.
- Try common endings. -ING, -ED, -ER and -TION turn one word into several when their letters are in the hive.
- Use the center letter in different places. Words can start, end or have it in the middle. Go through each position in turn.
- Shuffle when stuck. Seeing the outer letters in a new order often brings new words to mind.
- Double letters are allowed. Letters can repeat, so words like “level” or “coffee” can count.
About the game
Letter puzzles like this, with a set of letters and one that must be used, have run in newspapers for decades. This version builds each puzzle around a common pangram and keeps answers to everyday words, so the target is reachable without knowing obscure vocabulary. The daily puzzle is picked from the date, so everyone playing on the same day gets the same letters.