What is a word square?

A word square is a grid where the words written across and the words written down are all the same set of words. In Squareword you get a 4x4 grid with a few letters filled in, and you complete it so that all four rows and all four columns read as real words.

How do you play Squareword?

Type letters into the empty squares. Every row and every column has to be a real four-letter word at the same time, so each letter you place has to satisfy both its row and its column. Press the check button and any line that is not a word is highlighted.

Is Squareword free? Is there a daily puzzle?

Squareword is completely free with no login. One puzzle is posted daily at midnight US Eastern with a streak and a leaderboard, and the Levels mode has more than two thousand puzzles in increasing difficulty.

Does Squareword have more than one solution?

No. Every puzzle here is generated and checked so that the given letters leave exactly one valid word square — if you find a grid where all rows and columns are words, it is the intended answer.

Squareword — Free Word Square Puzzle Game

Squareword: a word square you can actually finish

A word square is one of the oldest word puzzles there is: a grid where the words across and the words down are the same set. Squareword turns it into a small daily puzzle — a 4×4 grid with a handful of letters already in place, and one rule: every row and every column must read as a real word.

Because each empty square has to satisfy two words at once, the grid is a genuine logic problem rather than a word hunt. A letter that looks perfect for the row across can wreck the column down, which is exactly what makes a word square satisfying to crack.

How the puzzle is built (and why it is fair)

Every Squareword is generated from a bank of everyday five- and four-letter English words and then verified: the given letters are chosen so that exactly one 4×4 grid completes all eight words. If you find a grid where every row and column is a word, it is the intended answer — there is no guessing between two equally valid squares. Easier levels reveal ten letters; the hardest leave you six.

Strategy for word squares

Start at the crossing with the most given letters. More clues in one corner means fewer possibilities for the row and column that share it.
Treat every square as two clues. Before typing a letter, ask what it does to the word going down as well as the word going across.
Work the shortest list first. If a row is nearly filled, list the words that fit its pattern, then test their letters against the columns.
Use real words only. The checker accepts ordinary English words, so if a line reads like something a person would never write, it is wrong.
Clear and retry freely. There is no timer — only strikes from checking.

Daily puzzle, 2,000+ levels

The daily Squareword is the same grid for everyone and resets at midnight US Eastern, with a streak and a leaderboard ranked by strikes. Levels mode holds more than two thousand puzzles that get harder as the words get rarer, and your progress is saved in your browser.

Rules, strategy and today's answer

Read the full Squareword rules and strategy, or jump straight to today's Squareword hints and answer.

More free word games

Try Clueword, Chainword, 5-Letter Word Game, Category Groups or Span Word.