Spindle

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Flip valid words inside a 5x5 letter grid until the day's target word reads across or down.

Play Spindle

on playspindle.com

Spindle puzzle for 18 October 2026 on a desktop: target word RACED above a 5x5 letter grid with its letters shaded blue, no turns taken yet

Spindle is a free browser word game that its maker calls a cross between Wordle and a Rubik's Cube. Each day you get a 5x5 grid of letters and a target word, and you flip runs of letters that spell real words until the target reads across or down. The aim is to do it in the fewest spins.

About Spindle

Spindle is a free daily word game played in the browser. It was shown on Hacker News at the end of December 2023 by its maker, who described it as a cross between Wordle and a Rubik's Cube and built it as a small Laravel and Livewire site.

Every day brings one dated puzzle: a 5x5 grid of letters and a target word printed above it. The letters you need are shaded in the grid, scattered across rows and columns. Your job is to bring them together so the target word reads in a straight line, either across or down.

The only move is a spin. Tap the first letter of a run and then its last letter; if the letters between them spell a valid English word, read either way, the whole run flips end to end. A two-letter word swaps a pair of tiles, and a longer word carries letters further. A turn counter under the target keeps score, and the goal is to finish in as few spins as you can.

What sets it apart from swap-based grids such as Waffle is that you never move a single letter freely: every move has to be a real word, so the letters you are not using matter as much as the ones you are. Past days can be opened with the arrow beside the date, so you can play the puzzles you missed.

There are no ads and no sign-up is needed to play; an optional account sits in the corner. It suits word game players who enjoy planning a few moves ahead, and the grid fits a phone screen as well as a desktop.

How to play Spindle

Read the target word above the grid; its letters are shaded in the grid.
Find a run of letters in a row or column that spells a valid English word, forwards or backwards.
Tap the first letter of that run, then the last letter, and the run flips end to end.
Keep spinning words to bring the shaded letters into one line.
Finish when the target word reads across or down, in as few spins as you can.

Screenshots

Spindle on 18 October 2026 after one spin: AW in the second row flipped to WA, counter showing 1 turn taken

Spindle's 18 October 2026 puzzle at phone size, the 5x5 grid and target word RACED fitting the screen

Tips

Two-letter words such as AW or AT are the simplest way to swap a pair of neighbouring tiles.
A run counts if it spells a word backwards too, so check each row and column both ways.
Work out which line the target can finish in before you start, then move letters toward it.
Use the arrow beside the date to practise on earlier puzzles.