Squareword: How to Play the Word Square Puzzle
Fill a 4×4 grid so every row and every column is a real word — free daily puzzle, 2,000+ levels, exactly one solution.
What is a word square?
A word square is one of the oldest word puzzles there is: a grid in which the words reading across and the words reading down are the same set of words. The earliest examples are scratched into Roman walls, and Lewis Carroll was still publishing them in the 1800s.
Squareword brings the idea to the daily-puzzle format: a 4×4 grid with a handful of letters already filled in, and one rule — every row across and every column down must be a real four-letter word.
Rules
- Grey squares are given and locked; you fill the empty ones.
- All four rows and all four columns must be real English words.
- Checking a full grid that has a bad line costs a strike.
- Hint reveals one letter for one extra strike. There is no timer.
- Easier levels reveal ten letters; the hardest reveal six.
Why every Squareword has exactly one answer
Word squares usually come with a catch: several different grids can satisfy the same clues. Squareword removes it. Every puzzle is generated from a bank of everyday four-letter words and then verified — the given letters are chosen so that exactly one grid completes all eight words. If you build a square where every row and column is a word, you have found the intended answer, not a lucky alternative.
How to play, step by step
- Start at the busiest crossing. The corner with the most given letters is the most constrained, so it is the fastest place to begin.
- Treat each square as two clues. Before typing a letter, ask what it does to the word going down as well as the word going across.
- List candidates for the easiest line. If a row is nearly complete, write down the words that fit its pattern and test their letters against the columns.
- Reject nonsense. If a line reads like something nobody would write, it is wrong.
- Clear and retry freely. Only checking costs a strike.
Free daily puzzle and 2,000+ levels
The daily Squareword is the same grid for every player and resets at midnight US Eastern, with a streak and a leaderboard ranked by strikes. Levels mode ships with more than two thousand puzzles and generates beyond that, so it never runs dry. Free, no login, no paywall.
Stuck today? See Squareword hints for today, or play Squareword free.
Frequently asked questions
Is Squareword free? Yes — free and unlimited, with no account required.
Does a word square have to use the same words across and down? In a true square the grid is symmetric, so the across and down words mirror each other. Squareword only requires that both directions are valid words.
Can I use rare words? The checker accepts everyday English words, which is what the puzzles are built from.
Where is today's answer? On the Squareword hints page.
More free word games: Clueword (reverse Wordle) · Chainword (tile chain) · Squareword (word square) · 5-Letter Words