Get the Word!
Get the Word is the guessing format everyone knows, played at four letters instead of five.
That one letter difference is larger than it sounds. A five letter puzzle gives you room for two exploratory guesses before you have to start converging. A four letter puzzle does not. You have six attempts and a much smaller field, which means information gathered slowly is information gathered too late.
It is also a format where the traps are different. Four letter English words include a lot of near identical families, and having three greens with one blank is a genuinely difficult position rather than a formality.
How to play Get the Word!
- Type any real four letter word and submit it.
- Green means the letter is correct and in the right position.
- Yellow means the letter is in the word but elsewhere.
- Grey means the letter is not in the word.
- You have six attempts to find it.
Opening
Your first guess should spend four different common letters. Something built from A, E, R, S, T or N tells you far more than a word that repeats a letter or uses a rare one.
The temptation on a short puzzle is to start guessing at the answer immediately. Resist it for one turn. A guess that eliminates four letters is worth more than a guess that happens to be wrong.
The three green problem
With four letters, having three confirmed and one unknown is common and it is where rounds are lost. If the blank is the last position and the first three are C, A and R, the field is still large.
The way through is to spend a guess on a word that tests several candidate letters for that position, even if the word cannot be the answer. It costs one attempt and it usually settles the round.
Tips and strategy
Guess order
- Open with four distinct common letters.
- Use the second guess to test four more, unless you already have two greens.
- Only start converging on the third attempt. Converging too early is the main cause of failed rounds at four letters.
Reading the feedback
- Yellow is more useful than green. Green settles one position. Yellow confirms a letter and rules out a position at the same time.
- Watch for doubled letters. They are the most common reason a solver with three greens fails, because the mind fills the gap with a new letter rather than a repeat.
- Grey letters are information too. Four greys eliminate a great deal of the four letter vocabulary.
Common mistakes
- Guessing plausible answers from the first turn instead of gathering information.
- Ignoring the possibility of a repeated letter.
- Spending the last attempt on a word you already suspect is wrong instead of one that distinguishes two candidates.
The five and six letter version is Guess Word, and Phrasle Master applies the same colours to whole phrases.
More games like this
Play our free daily puzzles See all →
Made by us. One a day, the same for everyone, no sign up.
Last updated
Frequently asked questions
How many letters is the word in Get the Word?
Four, and you have six attempts to find it.
What do the colours mean?
Green means the letter is correct and in the right position, yellow means it is in the word but elsewhere, and grey means it is not in the word at all.
Is a four letter puzzle easier than a five letter one?
Not necessarily. There is less room for exploratory guesses, and four letter English words include many near identical families.
Do all players get the same word?
The format is built on the same idea as the puzzle that popularised it, where everyone works on the same target.