The Times Wordhunt

About The Times Wordhunt

Wordhunt sits in the word puzzles section of The Times next to Polygon, Lexica and the paper's codewords. Each day has a numbered puzzle with its own dated page, and the count passed No. 276 at the start of October 2026, so it has run for most of a year.

The idea is a cross between a deduction game and Wordle. A five-letter answer is hidden and a grid of 25 letters stands between you and it. Every letter you reveal costs a turn and tells you something about the answer, and you can type the word as soon as you think you have it. A clock runs while you play, but the score that counts is the number of turns.

The medal depends on how few turns you needed: eight or fewer earns diamond, up to twelve gold, up to sixteen silver, up to twenty-one bronze and up to twenty-five orange. The game keeps your streak, win rate and past results in the browser. One puzzle takes a few minutes, which makes it a quick start before the longer Times puzzles.

How to play The Times Wordhunt

1. Open the day's Wordhunt and look at the 25-letter grid.
2. Reveal a letter to spend a turn and learn how it relates to the hidden word.
3. Use what each reveal tells you to narrow down the five-letter answer.
4. Type your guess on the keyboard when you think you know the word.
5. Check your medal, set by how many turns you used, and come back the next day for a new number.

Tips

• Start with common vowels and consonants such as E, A, R and S; they rule in or out the most words.
• Stop revealing as soon as a word fits: every extra turn can drop you a medal band.
• Eight turns or fewer is diamond, so plan your first reveals rather than tapping at random.

Questions