Threadle

About Threadle

Threadle is a twist on Wordle: you are still hunting a hidden five-letter word with coloured tiles as feedback, but the board tells you the theme the answer belongs to, such as Love or Move. The trade-off is a shorter board, with four rows instead of the usual six.

The game was coded by Toir, with ideas and playtesting by Toir and Rayvaxl. Toir also makes the related Wordle variants Splitle, Fusele and Shiftle, which share the same look and the same daily and unlimited modes.

The daily puzzle is numbered and resets at midnight UTC, so everyone gets the same word and theme at the same time. You read the theme, think of five-letter words that fit, and use the green and yellow tiles to close in on the answer. When you finish you can copy a result line with your score out of four to share. An Unlimited mode lets you keep playing random themed words.

The theme changes how you guess: instead of opening with a word chosen only for its letters, you can try a word that also fits the topic. It suits Wordle players who want a quicker game with a little more meaning behind each guess.

How to play Threadle

1. Read the theme shown above the board.
2. Type a valid five-letter word, ideally one that fits the theme, and press Enter.
3. Check the colours: green is the right letter in the right spot, yellow is in the word but elsewhere, dark is not in the word.
4. Use those clues for the next guess, with four guesses in all.
5. Share your Daily Threadle result once you are done, or switch to Unlimited for more.

Tips

• With only four rows, a first guess that fits the theme and uses common letters gives you two kinds of clue at once.
• Think through a short list of themed five-letter words before typing, then pick the one that best tests the letters still in doubt.
• On a PC, Shift plus a letter fills a tile without moving on, which helps when you want to edit a single spot.

Questions