Etymon

Etymon is a daily word-history puzzle that runs as a Substack newsletter. It started in late May 2026 and has posted a numbered puzzle every day since; #150 came out on 21 October 2026. The same puzzle goes to every reader, by email and on the Etymon site.

Each puzzle is six numbered clues running down the page. The first gives the era and the language a word came from, often with the text it was first recorded in. Later clues follow its path through French, Latin or Greek, its literal meaning, related English words built on the same root, a historical use, and last of all the number of letters. Below each clue sits a Solved in N banner, a staircase of tiles, so you know where you stopped. The answer is on an upside-down Answer Card at the bottom, with the full etymology and a note on how the word is used today.

The hidden words come from twenty-three source languages, from Old English and Old Norse to Arabic, Sanskrit and Yiddish, and each puzzle is tagged by language and by one of seventeen themes such as law, medicine, navigation or myth, so the archive can be browsed that way. Readers share their Solved in N banner on Substack Notes without giving the word away.

Weekday puzzles are free but the last clues and the answer need a free email subscription; weekend puzzles and the archive are for paid subscribers. There are no ads. It suits word lovers and crossword solvers who like to think through a clue rather than race a clock.