Slate Pears

About Slate Pears

Pears is the word game Slate calls its juiciest. A new numbered puzzle goes up every day at noon Eastern, later than the magazine's other games, and each one is posted with a line such as how many pears the day holds. Game 413 came out on 1 October 2026.

You start with a set of letters and type any words you can make from them, as long as they meet the minimum length. Short words score one point and words of five letters or more score two. Once you have entered four words, a pear appears: two letters that must sit side by side in your next word, with at least one other letter beside them. A pear word scores its own length and multiplies the points of the words before it, so a long pear word can turn a modest run into a big score. Then the next run of four begins, until the day's pears are used up.

The game marks the longest possible pear words with a star when you find one, and points out words no other player has found yet. It is free in the browser with ads; Slate Plus members can play more than 400 past games from the archive. It suits players of Spelling Bee and other letter-set games who want a scoring twist that rewards planning.

How to play Slate Pears

1. Open the day's Pears, new at noon Eastern.
2. Type words made from the day's letters, at least the minimum length; five-letter words and longer score double.
3. After four words, a pear of two letters appears.
4. Make a word that uses the pear letters together plus at least one more letter; it scores its length and multiplies your run.
5. Keep going through each run until the day's pears are done, then compare your score.

Tips

• Hold back a few long words you have spotted: the run before a pear sets what the pear word multiplies.
• Look for the longest word containing the pear; the game stars the longest ones.
• Pear letters only count together, so do not plan a pear word that splits them.

Questions