Stackdown

About Stackdown

Stackdown comes from Puzzlist, the small studio behind Waffle and One Word Search. Each day there is one numbered stack, the same for every player.

The stack is a heap of overlapping letter tiles. Only tiles that are not covered can be picked. Tapping one moves it into the row of five slots below, which may expose tiles underneath. Fill all five slots with a valid word and those tiles are gone for good; an invalid word sends them back. The puzzle is built so that at each point there is only one possible word to find, so the challenge is spotting it among the exposed letters.

If you are stuck, you can swipe to reveal a hint, but your star score depends on how few hints you use. A timer records how long each word and the whole stack took; it is hidden by default and does not affect the stars.

It suits Waffle fans and anyone who likes anagram hunting with a bit of order-of-operations thinking.

How to play Stackdown

1. Look at the exposed letter tiles on top of the stack.
2. Tap tiles to move them into the five slots and spell a word.
3. Complete a valid five-letter word to remove those tiles and expose new ones.
4. Repeat until the whole stack is cleared, using as few hints as possible.

Tips

• There is only ever one valid word available, so look for it among the exposed tiles only.
• Tap a slotted tile to put it back if a word is not working.
• Save hints: they lower your star score, while the timer does not.

Questions