The Times Polygon

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Make words from the day's ring of letters, always using the centre one.

on thetimes.com

The Times Polygon board in the Times Puzzles app: seven letters in a ring around an orange centre L, with the word SLAIN in the entry bar, under the caption Exclusive Polygons

Polygon is The Times daily word wheel. Each day brings a new set of letters around a central one, and you make as many words as you can that use the centre letter: three letters or more on Mondays and Tuesdays, four or more on other days. One word always uses every letter. It needs a Times subscription.

About The Times Polygon

Polygon is The Times' version of the word wheel, published every day on its puzzles site and app. The letters sit in a ring around a hub letter. Every word you make must contain the hub letter, and each letter in the wheel can be used only once per word, unless it appears more than once.

The size changes through the week. Early in the week the wheel is smaller and words of three letters count; The Times' puzzle list marks Monday and Tuesday puzzles as 3+ letter words and the rest of the week as 4+ letter words, with wheels growing toward the weekend. Whatever the size, there is always at least one word that uses every letter, and finding it is the main prize of the day.

Only ordinary dictionary words count, so proper nouns and abbreviations are out. Each puzzle gives a target number of words, with grades for good, very good and excellent, so you can measure a day's effort against the setter's list.

The Times puzzles page keeps a list of recent Polygons by date, so missed days can be played. Access needs a Times subscription, either a Puzzles subscription or full digital access.

How to play The Times Polygon

Open the day's Polygon on The Times puzzles page or app.
Note the centre letter and the minimum word length shown for the day.
Make words from the letters in the wheel, always including the centre letter and using each letter only once.
Enter each word; the puzzle keeps your list and counts toward the targets.
Hunt for the word that uses every letter in the wheel.
Compare your total with the good, very good and excellent targets.

Tips

Look for the all-letter word first: common endings such as -ING, -TION and -ED often stand out among the letters.
Build families of words: once you have a long word, shorter words inside it often count too.
Remember the centre letter is in every word, so start each attempt from it.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, three-letter words count, which adds many quick extras.