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Word Tactics · Missing Word

Missing Word

Identify the missing final word from the coloured clues. Close three case files to finish your daily game. Two extra cases are optional.

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Three five-case practice packs

Choose one clue rule to practise. Each pack has five selected cases, an explanation after every result, and a saved place to return to.

Read the fixed letters

Build from obvious green fragments to evidence split across two rows.

Start five-case pack

Count repeated letters

Learn when a gray copy means one letter, and when two colored copies require two.

Start five-case pack

Move the yellow letters

Turn yellow clues into a list of forbidden slots, then combine them.

Start five-case pack

Replay an earlier dossier

Saved daily cases from 2026-08-10 to 2026-09-12. Archive attempts are practice and leave your original daily record unchanged.

How the clues, points and puzzle selection work

Practice endgame deduction

Missing Word deals five endgame case files each day, when every clue is already on the board. In every file, exactly one word in the site's reconstructed accepted-guess list matches all the evidence. Type a word and the consistency check names the row and exact clue it contradicts, which makes missed rules easier to spot. Match the Solver focuses on choosing an informative guess, while Split the Pack focuses on splitting a candidate list.

How the game and the score work

Each case comes from the same fairness-checked bank. The generator starts with a popular or strong opener, uses the solver's recommended follow-up for that feedback, and may add a third guess. It keeps a board only when exactly one word in the site's reconstructed accepted-guess list (14,855 words) reproduces every visible color, so the deduction always has one right answer. A wrong first finding is not fatal: its colors join the board as new evidence and you get a second finding. The five cases are selected deterministically, and the former single daily puzzle remains one of the five so historical dates do not change underneath returning players.

Case resultPointsWhat it means
Solved on first finding 20 / 20 You solved before a wrong submitted answer. Optional help is recorded separately.
Solved on second finding 14 / 20 The first finding missed, but its feedback led you to the answer.
Closed for review 6 / 20 You still complete the file and receive its answer and technique note.

Five first-finding solves score 100, with assistance recorded separately. There is no zero-point case: completing a difficult file and reviewing the deciding rule still moves the daily dossier forward.

The five case-file badges

The sequence introduces one clear tactical motif at a time before the expert synthesis:

Clear clue
Start with the clue that fixes the case most directly.
Duplicate detective
Count repeated letters carefully; a gray copy is evidence too.
Wrong slot
Use a yellow clue to eliminate the tempting wrong position.
Trap family
Several lookalikes survive alone; combine the evidence to split them.
Expert file
Close the hardest file by synthesizing every row.

The evidence rule recorded after each case

The generator also re-solves each file with rules relaxed to identify its load-bearing clue:

gray letters
The green positions and gray letters alone leave one word.
yellow positions
A yellow tile confirms a letter and rules out one slot. That restriction separates the answer from its lookalikes.
duplicate letters
A gray copy beside a colored copy limits how many times the letter can appear.
combined rows
No single row is enough. Only the rows together leave one word.

Answers come from the site's release-pinned Daily answer pool (2,332 words) and consistency is checked against the site's reconstructed accepted-guess list. Neither is a claim about what the NYT will choose. There is no timer or speed bonus. Each case awards 20, 14 or 6 points according to whether you solve on the first finding, recover on the second, or close it for review.