Buchstabenring (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

About Buchstabenring (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Buchstabenring (letter ring) is one of the puzzles in the Süddeutsche Zeitung's Rätsel section. Each edition is numbered and dated, and the puzzle for 2 October 2026 was number 1481, so it has run every day for several years.

The letters sit around a ring. You build a word of at least four letters by tapping letters one after another, and letters may be used more than once; only the letter you just used and its direct neighbours on the ring are blocked for the next step. Each new word must begin with the letter the previous word ended on. The puzzle is solved once every letter on the ring has been used, and the score is simply how many words it took.

The rules say every ring can be done in two words, though that is hard. Allowed words are all headwords listed on duden.de, including proper names and abbreviations; inflected forms such as plurals or past tenses do not count unless Duden lists them as headwords of their own.

The idea is close to The New York Times' Letter Boxed, but in German, on a ring instead of a square, and with the Duden as the word list. The puzzle is part of the SZ's paid SZPlus offer, and the newspaper runs a comment column under each puzzle where players compare solutions.

How to play Buchstabenring (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

1. Open the day's Buchstabenring on sueddeutsche.de.
2. Tap letters on the ring to spell a German word of at least four letters; you cannot use the letter you just used or its two neighbours next.
3. Confirm the word; the next word must start with its last letter.
4. Keep chaining words until every letter on the ring has been used.
5. Try again on later days to solve in fewer words; two is always possible.

Tips

• Look first for long words that cover letters from all sides of the ring.
• Find a good closing word early: a word that starts on a common ending letter such as E, N or R makes chaining easier.
• Proper names and abbreviations in the Duden count, which opens options that plain word lists do not.
• Plurals and conjugated forms do not count unless they have their own Duden entry, so prefer base forms.

Questions