One Hit Wonder (Lex.Games)

About One Hit Wonder (Lex.Games)

In One Hit Wonder the board opens with a five-letter word already played and coloured the usual way: green for a letter in the right spot, orange for a letter in the answer but elsewhere, and grey or black for a letter that is not in the answer. The puzzle is built so that exactly one common five-letter word is consistent with that row. That row is all the help you get.

Type the word you think it must be and press Enter. A wrong guess flashes red and disappears, with no information about which letters were close, and you keep guessing until you hit. A correct answer scores 1,000 points plus a point for every second under five minutes, and each wrong guess costs 100 points, so speed and certainty both matter.

The puzzle is numbered and dated, the same for everyone, with a leaderboard and an archive of earlier days. It is one of the free games on Lex.Games, the puzzle site run by Lex Friedman, and is also in the Lex.Games app for iPhone and iPad. It suits Wordle players who enjoy the moment of pinning down the last possible word.

How to play One Hit Wonder (Lex.Games)

1. Look at the coloured guess already on the board.
2. Work out which common five-letter word fits every clue: greens in place, oranges elsewhere, greys absent.
3. Type your answer and press Enter; a wrong guess wipes clean with no new hints.
4. Keep going until you hit; faster answers with fewer misses score more.

Tips

• List candidate words before typing anything; a wrong guess costs 100 points.
• Remember that orange letters must move to a different spot, which often rules out many words.
• Think of common words only; obscure words are never the answer.
• The clock starts when the board appears, so read the row carefully but quickly.

Questions