Lockword is a daily word puzzle with a twist. Like Wordle, you guess a secret five-letter word. Unlike Wordle, you're only told how many of your letters are right, never which ones. It's a code to crack, and this page shows you how.
Play today's LockwordFind the secret five-letter word in ten guesses or fewer. Every guess must be a real word. There's one secret word a day, the same for everyone, so you can compare with friends.
Two things make it fairer than it sounds:
After each guess, five marks appear beside it. Together they're your reading:
Here are three guesses, with the secret word shown so you can see why each reading is what it is.
The important bit: the dots always come first, then the rings. Their order tells you nothing about which letters they belong to. Working that out is the puzzle.
Beside each reading is a number: how many words could still be the answer, given everything your guesses have told you so far. Before you start, it's 5,665: every word with five different letters.
Each guess shrinks it. Watch it fall and you can feel the lock giving way. When it reaches 1, there's only one word left that fits, so you've cracked it in principle. You just have to work out which word it is.
Even a guess that scores nothing shrinks the number, often by a lot. It's a good way to tell a useful guess from a wasted one.
Here's a real game, start to finish. The secret word is CRYPT (this is only an example: CRYPT is never a daily answer).
One ring. So exactly one of S, L, A, T or E is in the word, but not in the spot it's in here. We don't know which one yet. Still, 1,184 words fit, down from 5,665.
Nothing at all! D, O, U, G and H are all out. Tap them in your guess to mark them out, and they fade everywhere, keyboard included. With five letters gone and no vowels left but A, E, I and Y, only 155 words fit.
One dot and no rings: exactly one letter of BRINK is in the word, and it's in the right place. The number drops to just 4. The four words that still fit are CREPY, CRYPT, FAWNY and PREXY. Remember that answers are everyday words, and only one of those is.
Five dots, and the padlock opens 🔓. Cracked in four! Looking back, it all fits: the T in SLATE was the ring (it's in CRYPT, just in a different place), and the R in BRINK was the dot.
Tap any letter in your guesses to make a note about it:
Here D, O, U, G, H, S, L, A and E are marked out, and T is marked in.
A mark applies to that letter everywhere: in every guess, and on the keyboard, where letters you've ruled out fade and letters you've ruled in turn green. Notes are only reminders for you. They never change the game. To wipe them all, tap Clear notes under the keyboard.
When you finish, tap Share to copy your result, ready to paste into a message or post. It shows your readings and how fast the words-left number fell, but never your actual guesses, so there are no spoilers:
🟡 is a dot, ⚪ is a ring and ▫️ is a spare place. The numbers are the words left after each guess.
Locksmith mode is the hard way to play. There's one extra rule:
Every guess after your first must be a word that could still be the answer.
In normal play you can guess anything, including words you know are wrong, just to test letters. That's what DOUGH was doing in the example game above. In Locksmith mode you can't. Every guess has to be a real attempt at the answer, so you need to keep track of everything you've learned.
Here's a handy way to check a word before you guess it. Imagine that word is the secret word, then ask: would every one of my earlier guesses have got exactly the reading it did? If yes, you're allowed to guess it. If even one reading would have come out differently, the word can't be the answer, so it's not allowed.
Say your first guess was SLATE, and it got one ring:
Now try some second guesses:
You don't have to do this in your head every time. The words-left number counts exactly these words. And if you try one that's ruled out, the game won't use up a guess. It shakes the row and tells you which earlier guess rules it out, so you can think again.
Same secret word as before, CRYPT, but this time every guess has to be a possible answer.
Your first guess can be anything. One ring: one of S, L, A, T or E is in the word, somewhere else.
TRICK fits SLATE's reading (it has just one of SLATE's letters, T, in a different place), so it's allowed. It scores a dot and two rings: three of its letters are in the word. Only 25 words now fit everything.
FRUIT is one of those 25 words, so it's allowed, and it's a clever pick. It keeps R in second place and moves T to the end, testing both at once. Two dots, and the number drops straight to 1. Only one word fits now.
Cracked in four, the hard way. Your shared result shows the 🗝️, so everyone knows: Lockword #12 🔐🗝️ 4/10.
Locksmith tip: the best guesses keep the letters you think are right and swap the ones you're unsure about, like FRUIT above. Each guess then tests something new while still being a possible answer.
Think you can stump someone? Tap Lock a word for a friend under the keyboard. Add your first name if you like, pick any five-letter word with five different letters, and send the link.
Your friend gets the same ten guesses to crack your word, with all the usual clues. The word is scrambled inside the link, so they can't cheat by peeking at it. When they finish, they can send you their result and lock one back for you.
The daily word changes at midnight, your time, and it's the same for everyone. Your daily games build your stats and your streak (the chart button at the top).
Unlimited gives you as many extra words as you like, any time. They don't count towards your streak, so they're perfect for practice. Tap Unlimited under the keyboard.
Start with common letters. Words like SLATE, CRANE or STARE test popular letters, so the first reading tells you a lot.
A blank reading is gold. Getting nothing rules out five letters at once. Some players deliberately try a word full of letters they haven't used yet.
Change one letter at a time when you're close. If the reading changes, you know that letter made the difference.
Watch the number. A guess that cuts the words-left number the most is usually the best one, even if it can't be the answer itself.
Take notes as you go. Marking letters out stops you wasting guesses on them later.
Remember the answer is an everyday word. When the number is small, the common word is usually the one.
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