Spotle

WHAT IS SPOTLE?

Spotle is a daily word game in which you have six tries to find a five-letter answer. It follows a familiar guessing format, but with one important twist: some tiles hide their color feedback. You can see the letter you entered in a hidden tile, yet you cannot tell from that tile whether the letter is correct, misplaced, or absent.

That uncertainty changes how you play. A black tile is not a failed guess—it is a clue you do not have yet.

HOW TO PLAY SPOTLE

Type a five-letter word using your keyboard or the on-screen keys, then press Enter. After each guess, use the tile colors to narrow down the answer. Press Delete if you need to correct a letter before submitting.

What Do the Tile Colors Mean?

• Green: The letter is in the answer and in the correct position.
• Yellow: The letter is in the answer but belongs in another position.
• Gray: The letter is not in the answer.
• Black: The tile’s feedback is hidden. Do not treat its letter as right or wrong yet.

An Example of a Hidden Clue

Imagine the answer is CRANE, and you first guess SLATE. Suppose S, L, and T turn gray, A turns green, and the tile containing E is black.

You know that A belongs in the third position and that S, L, and T can be ruled out. You do not know what the black tile would have revealed about E, so removing E from all future guesses would be a mistake. A second guess such as CRANE keeps A in place, tries new letters, and retains E as a possibility. In this example, it solves the word.

The example is hypothetical; the answer and hidden tiles change with the puzzle.

WHY DOES THE GRID LOOK DIFFERENT EACH DAY?

Spotle changes the pattern of hidden tiles. Weekday patterns are selected from a randomized set, Saturday’s pattern is symmetrical, and Sunday’s resembles a staircase. Special dates may have their own designs. Every row has at least one hidden tile, but never all five, so each guess still provides some visible feedback.

OPTIONAL DIFFICULTY SETTINGS

If the standard puzzle is not enough, Spotle offers three optional settings:

• Hard Mode: Use every revealed hint in your later guesses.
• Grid Hard Mode: See where the hidden tiles are only after making each guess.
• Hidden Letter Mode: Letters that were hidden in earlier guesses remain hidden in subsequent guesses.

These settings add restrictions to the same word puzzle; they are not separate games.

TIPS FOR SOLVING HIDDEN CLUES

Use the information you can confirm before worrying about the tiles you cannot read. Keep green letters in place, move yellow letters, and avoid gray letters when choosing your next word. If a letter appeared on a black tile, leave both possibilities open until another guess gives you a clearer reason to keep or discard it.

DISCOVER MORE WORD GAMES

• GNT Wordle
• Cowordle
• Obscordle