How the daily puzzles work
Every day has one sudoku and one word. Neither is stored on a server: your browser works both out from today's date with a fixed formula, so the same date gives the same puzzle on every phone and computer. The day changes at midnight on your device. Open a puzzle, close the tab and come back later, and it is where you left it, as long as it is still the same day.
The daily sudoku uses the same board as our sudoku game, with pencil notes, undo, a check button and a timer that pauses when you leave the tab. Monday and Tuesday are easy, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are medium, Friday and Saturday are hard. All three levels can be finished with naked and hidden singles, which our guide to solving sudoku explains step by step. Revealing the solution ends the puzzle for the day and does not count for the streak.
The daily word comes from the hand-picked word list of our hangman game: animals, food, countries, sports, school and science. It has 5 to 12 letters, and the category is shown as a clue. You have six wrong guesses. A hint reveals one letter and costs one of them.
Streak and results
The streak counts the days in a row on which you solved at least one of the two puzzles. Both results of a day, your sudoku time and your number of wrong guesses, are kept in the local storage of this browser, together with the last 400 days. There is no account and nothing is sent to us, so a second device starts its own streak.
Frequently asked questions
When does the next puzzle start?
At midnight in your own time zone, by the clock of your device. The countdown on this page shows how long that is. Someone in another time zone gets the same puzzle for the same calendar date, a few hours earlier or later than you.
Does everyone get the same puzzle?
Yes. The sudoku grid and the word are worked out from the date, so every visitor who opens the puzzle on the same date sees the same one. You can compare times with friends or a class.
How does the streak work?
A day counts when you solve at least one of the two puzzles: the sudoku without revealing the solution, or the word before the drawing is finished. The streak is the number of days in a row that count. It stays alive during today until midnight and goes back to zero when a full day passes without a solved puzzle.
Where is my streak saved?
Only in this browser on this device, in its local storage. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. That also means the streak does not follow you to another device, and it is gone if you clear your browser data or play in a private window.
Can I play a daily puzzle again or catch up on a missed day?
No. Each daily puzzle is played once, and a missed day cannot be made up. For as many puzzles as you like, open the sudoku game or the hangman game in free play: both make a new puzzle whenever you ask.
How hard is the daily sudoku?
It depends on the weekday. Monday and Tuesday are easy, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are medium, Friday and Saturday are hard. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and can be finished with naked and hidden singles, so no guessing is needed. Hints are allowed and are shown with your time.
More puzzles and games
For more than one puzzle a day, play free rounds of sudoku, hangman, solitaire, the memory game or tic-tac-toe. To make puzzles for others, use the word search generator, the crossword puzzle maker or the maze generator.