Shuffalo
Unscramble four letters into a word, then add a letter and do it again.
Every day: One dated Shuffalo puzzle a day, the same for every reader: a chain of anagrams that starts at four letters and gains one letter with each word you solve, up to eight, with a nine-letter bonus at the end. New puzzle: Once a day; the site does not state the time.
Shuffalo is The New Yorker's daily anagram game. You start with four letters and make a word from all of them; each time you solve one, a new letter joins the wheel and you need a longer word, up to eight letters and an optional nine-letter bonus. Your rating comes from your time and how many hints you used.
About Shuffalo
Shuffalo is a daily anagram ladder from The New Yorker, launched in the autumn of 2025 and played on the magazine's puzzles and games page. Each puzzle has its own dated page, so you can see the run of past days.
A round starts with four letters on a wheel. You rearrange them into a four-letter word that uses every one. Solve it and a fifth letter is added, and now you need a five-letter word from all five. The chain carries on through six, seven and eight letters. A ladder might run SEAS, SEARS, SPARSE, ASPIRES, PARISHES. After the eight-letter word there is an optional bonus round: a nine-letter word from everything you have collected.
There is a clock but no limit on tries. If you are stuck, a hint reveals one letter of the answer, which costs you on the final rating. The result shows your time and hints, and the share grid marks which words you found and where you needed help.
It suits players who like anagrams and the feeling of a word growing under their hands. A day takes a few minutes, and the longer words near the end make it harder than its four-letter start suggests.
How to play Shuffalo
- Open the day's Shuffalo on The New Yorker's puzzles and games page.
- Rearrange the four letters on the wheel into a word that uses all of them.
- When you solve it, a new letter joins the wheel; make a five-letter word from all five.
- Keep going as the word grows to six, seven and eight letters.
- Use a hint if you are stuck: each one reveals a letter but lowers your rating.
- Try the optional nine-letter bonus, then share your time and result.
Tips
- Look for common endings first, such as -ED, -ER, -ES and -ING, then build the rest of the word in front of them.
- The previous word is often a good start: see whether the new letter fits inside it or at its end.
- Move the letters around the wheel; seeing them in a new order helps break a fixed reading.
- Hold off on hints until you have tried a few endings, since they cost more than a slow solve.
Questions
Is Shuffalo free?
The newest puzzles are free on The New Yorker website. The magazine has said older puzzles in its archive need a subscription.
How many letters does Shuffalo go up to?
The main puzzle runs from four to eight letters, one word at each length. A nine-letter bonus word is optional.
How is Shuffalo scored?
By your time and the number of hints you used. Each hint reveals one letter of the current word.
Games like Shuffalo
Wordiply
Build a longer word around a short starter each day, the same reward for long words
WordSlip
Unscramble seven letters on a hex grid each day, a close anagram cousin
Blossom
Make long words from a fixed set of seven letters, with extra points for using them all
Spelling Bee
A daily seven-letter puzzle where finding the word that uses every letter is the prize
Catalogues
The New Yorker's other quick daily game, ordering items by a hidden theme
Waffle
Swap scrambled letters back into words each day, for players who like rearranging
Break 5
Turn one five-letter word into another, one letter at a time, against the clock.
Crossclimb
Answer trivia clues, then stack the answers into a ladder where each word changes one letter.