Outlier

About Outlier

OUTLIER turns a letter grid into a test of originality. The day's board has 25 letters, and you use them to build words of at least four letters, with each letter available only as many times as it appears on the board. You get ten words. Instead of rewarding length or obscure spelling alone, the scoring looks at what everyone else played: the less obvious your word, the more it is worth, and your total is ranked out of 1,000 against all players.

Boards have their own character, which the game calls terrain: some days are wide open and full of words, Decoy boards are friendlier than they look, and on Mystery days you only find out what you were facing at the end. A new board arrives every day at noon US Eastern time, and past boards, a worldwide leaderboard, rarity tiers and tips are on the site.

There is also OUTLIER Live, where friends or strangers share a board in real time over ten 60-second rounds and the rarest word takes each round. The game is free. It suits word-game players who are good at anagrams and like the idea of beating the crowd rather than the dictionary.

How to play Outlier

1. Open today's OUTLIER to see the 5x5 grid of letters.
2. Build a real word of four or more letters, using each letter no more times than it appears on the grid.
3. Submit up to ten words; each is scored on how rarely other players found it.
4. See your total out of 1,000 and your place on the worldwide leaderboard.

Tips

• Skip the first word that jumps out at you; most players will find it too.
• Longer or less common words built from awkward letters tend to score best.
• Check the board's terrain type to judge whether to play safe or hunt for rarities.
• Look at past boards and the rarity tiers to learn what scores well.

Questions