Cryptle

Cryptle is a daily word puzzle built like a combination lock, made by Matthew Graham. Instead of typing guesses on a keyboard, you work a row of six letter dials, one for each letter of the hidden word, dragging each dial left or right until the letter you want sits in the frame in the middle. The answer is one six-letter word, the same for every player that day.

Each dial holds only a handful of letters, so the lock already narrows the field: the game builds the dials from the day's word and twenty words from its list that share the most letters with it in the same places. When you have set the dials, you press the key button to test the combination. A letter right for its position turns green and a wrong one turns dark, and those marks stay on the dial, so later you can see which letters you have already ruled out. There is no yellow for a letter that belongs elsewhere: every clue is about one position.

You get five keys, and each test spends one, so the puzzle is about choosing combinations that teach you the most. Line all six dials up on the word and test it, and you win; the results card shows how many keys you used, a chart of your past days and a Share button that copies your result. You can also reveal the word if you run out.

The words come in turn from a fixed list of 2,452 six-letter words in the game's code, counted from 18 June 2024, and the day follows your device's date, so a new word arrives at local midnight. There is no account and no sign-up, and the page shows no ads. It suits players who like Wordle's deduction but want a slower, more tactile puzzle where each test has to be planned.