Scrimp
Pack every clued answer into one short row of tiles by making the words share letters.
Every day: One numbered puzzle a day, the same for everyone: four or five clued words that must all fit, overlapping, into a single short row of tiles. New puzzle: Once a day, with a new numbered puzzle each date; difficulty climbs through the week.
Scrimp is a free daily word puzzle where the answers have to overlap. Each day you get a handful of clues and a row of tiles too short to hold the answers written out one after another, so you have to find the one arrangement where they share letters. Answers lock in green when they sit in the right place.
About Scrimp
Scrimp is a daily word-packing puzzle played in the browser. Each day brings one numbered puzzle, the same for everyone: a short row of empty tiles and four or five clues. Every answer has to appear somewhere in that row reading left to right, and since there are far fewer tiles than letters, the words only fit if they overlap. The site's own example packs CHAIR, HAIRY, AIRY and RYE into the seven tiles CHAIRYE.
The game is made and run by one person, Jason Accola, who says the print shop theme comes from his grandfather's printing press. The clues are written for the game, and each puzzle is checked so that exactly one arrangement works at the given length and no shorter row is possible.
A day's puzzle starts with the clues, their lengths and a few letters shown. You type straight into the row; when a word lands in its right place it turns green and stays put. Each tile can be typed once for free, plus a small allowance of extra letters that shrinks as the week goes on, and after that every letter costs points. Points add up to a weekly total and to print shop ranks, from Printer's Devil up to Printer Laureate.
Scrimp suits players who like crosswords and anagram work but want a different kind of puzzle from guessing a hidden word. It needs no account, keeps your record in the browser (with an optional code to carry it to another device), and posts yesterday's answer with step-by-step hints.
How to play Scrimp
- Open playscrimp.com and read today's clues and their lengths.
- Work out the answers to the clues.
- Look for places where the end of one answer can be the start of another.
- Type letters straight into the row of tiles.
- Keep going until every answer has locked in green, using as few extra letters as you can.
Tips
- Start with the longest answer, since it fixes the most tiles.
- Think before you type: extra letters past the free allowance cost points.
- Use the answers page for yesterday's puzzle if you missed a day; it still pays in full.
Questions
Is Scrimp free?
Yes. There is no account, no app and nothing to buy.
How often is there a new puzzle?
Once a day. Each puzzle is numbered and the same for every player, and the later days of the week are harder.
Can I play a puzzle I missed?
Yes. Past puzzles stay open, and yesterday's answer is posted with hints once its day is over.
Where is my progress kept?
In your browser. You can save it behind a code to bring it back on another device.
Games like Scrimp
CrissWord
Two clues and two answers that share several letters in a tiny grid.
Long Story Short
Cut the day's sentence down to five words using only its own words.
Crossing The Lexicon
Spell words across a grid using as few letters as possible.
Cluewords
Solve clues whose answers share linked letters.
Doople
A crossword of whole words where each answer joins the next.
7 Little Words
Seven clues answered by combining letter tiles.
Chiddle
Find the five highest-scoring words in a 4x4 grid of letters.
HOLLY
Guess the day's Hollywood film title letter by letter, with five lives.