Hints, without spoilers

How the in-game hint works

1. You have three hints per puzzle. The counter is shown on the Hint button, and hints are counted in your statistics — nothing else about your solve changes.
2. The first tap is a nudge. It tells you the starting letter and length of a word that would work from where you are, and highlights that letter on the board. It also guarantees the word uses at least one letter you still need.
3. The second tap reveals the word. Tap Hint again for the same suggestion and the full word is shown. It is only one option — a word you find yourself is always just as valid.
4. Hints respect the chain. If you have already submitted a word, a hint starts with the letter your next word must start with. If you are halfway through a word, it looks for a completion of that word first.

Hints are computed live from the curated word list and the rules of the board. They are never a stored answer key, and they never reveal the puzzle's verified solution unless that solution happens to be the best hint for your position.

Before you use a hint, try these

• Read the remaining letters aloud. Saying them often surfaces a word that scanning silently misses. The game lists the remaining letters under the progress bar, in plain text.
• List words that start with the required letter. If your next word must start with “S”, write down — mentally or on paper — every S-word you can make from the board. One of them will usually reach the letters you need.
• Swap the order. If a word almost works but two letters share a side, try a synonym, a different tense, or the same letters in a different order. The board rewards flexibility more than vocabulary size.
• Undo, don't restart. Removing the last letter or two often rescues a word that went wrong. Your submitted words are safe while you experiment.
• Step away. These puzzles are small enough to hold in the back of your mind. A fresh look after a cup of tea solves more boards than staring does.

If you are truly stuck

Use the hint, then study the word it suggests: which sides did it visit, and which letters did it leave behind? That pattern is the lesson the board was teaching. And if a puzzle still will not yield, a practice puzzle with fresh letters is a good reset — the daily board will be there when you come back to it.

For the bigger picture, read Strategies that actually help, or revisit the full rules to check a rule you may be misremembering.