Word wheel rules
A word wheel is a puzzle with nine letters: eight around the rim and one in the middle. The goal of the game is to find as many words as you can.
- Four letters or more. Shorter words do not count.
- The middle letter is in every word. It is the highlighted tile in the center of the wheel.
- Each tile once per word. A letter can be used as often as the wheel shows it. Two Es in the wheel allow two Es in a word.
- Only words from the list. Plurals and verb forms count when the word list has them. Names and abbreviations do not.
Every wheel hides at least one word that uses all nine letters. It is an anagram of the whole wheel, and finding it gets its own mark.
What the game tells you
When a word is not accepted, the line under the wheel says why. There are five reasons: the word is too short, it is missing the middle letter, it uses a letter more often than the wheel has it, it is not in the word list, or you found it before. A letter that is not in the wheel at all is refused while you type.
The targets Good, Great and Excellent
Each wheel has its own number of answers, between 20 and 80. The three targets are shares of that number: Good is 25 percent, Great is 50 percent and Excellent is 75 percent of all words, rounded up to a whole word. The line above the bar tells you how many words are missing for the next target.
| Words in the wheel | Good | Great | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| 40 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| 51 | 13 | 26 | 39 |
| 80 | 20 | 40 | 60 |
You do not have to find every word. Many wheels contain rare words, and the targets are there so that a round has a clear finish without them. Show all answers ends the round and lists every word, with the ones you missed marked.
How a wheel is made
The game starts from a nine-letter word. We picked 899 of them by hand from the word list: everyday words, no plurals, nothing unsuitable for a classroom. Then the game counts, for each letter of that word, how many answers the wheel would have with this letter in the middle. One of the letters that gives between 20 and 80 answers becomes the middle letter, and the other eight are shuffled around the rim.
All random choices come from a generator that starts from a short code, so the same code always builds the same wheel. That is how the daily wheel can be the same for everyone without a server, and how Copy link can hand your practice wheel to someone else.
Answers are checked against the 12dicts word list by Alan Beale, which he released to the public domain. It is the list our other word tools use, with slurs and strong swear words left out. For the wheel we also leave out a set of words about alcohol, drugs, the body, illness, violence and insults. If you type one of them, the game says it is not in its word list.
Daily wheel and practice
The daily wheel is one wheel per calendar day, counted in your own time zone. The days run through our list of nine-letter words in a shuffled order, and each round through the list uses every word once. Your found words are kept when you close or reload the page. Once you reach Good, the day counts as solved on the daily puzzles page, and you can go on to Great and Excellent. Share my result copies a line with your word counts and the target you reached, without a single letter of the wheel.
Practice gives you a new random wheel as often as you like. The wheel you are on is saved in this browser with the words you found, so a reload continues it. Copy link puts the code of the wheel into a link. Everyone who opens that link gets the same nine letters.
Tips for finding more words
- Start with short words. Four-letter words make up a large part of most wheels and get you to Good quickly.
- Try endings. If the wheel has an S, an E and a D, or the letters I, N and G, check your words again with -s, -ed or -ing.
- Shuffle often. A new order of the outer letters puts other letters next to each other, and new words show up.
- Hunt the nine-letter word from its parts. Look for a common beginning or ending in the letters, set those tiles aside in your head and see what the rest spells.
If you are curious which words a set of letters can make, the word unscrambler and the anagram solver list them. For other word games on screen, try the word ladder or the word guess game.
Word wheels for a class or a group
For a group, everyone should work on the same wheel. There are two ways to do that. Use Copy link and share the link, so each person plays the same practice wheel on their own device. Or download the PDF and print it: the first page has the wheel, the rules, the three targets and lines to write on, in US Letter or A4. Keep the answer page for yourself, or leave it out with the check box.
The targets work well as goals for a round: ask for Good in five minutes, or let pairs race to the nine-letter word. On a projector, type the words the group calls out and let the game check them. The word search generator makes another printable word puzzle from your own words.
What is stored
The game keeps two small entries in the local storage of this browser: the practice wheel you are on with the words you found, and today's daily wheel with the words you found. The result of the daily wheel is added to your daily puzzle results, which also live only in this browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
How to play word wheel online
- 1Tap the letters of a word in order, or type them on your keyboard. Tapping the last tile again takes it back.
- 2Press Enter to check the word. Delete or Backspace removes the last letter, and Escape clears the word.
- 3Use Shuffle to reorder the outer letters when you run out of ideas.
- 4Watch the bar fill up to Good, Great and Excellent, and look for the word with all nine letters.
Sources
- 12dicts readme by Alan Beale, the public domain word list used to check the words
Related guides
- Letter Frequency in English and the Best Starting Words
- How Crossword Clues Work: Abbreviations, Tense and Tricks
Frequently asked questions
Which words count in the word wheel?
Words of 4 or more letters that use the middle letter and only letters from the wheel, and that are in our word list. Plurals and verb forms such as -s, -ed and -ing count when the list has them. Names and abbreviations are not in the list. A set of words about alcohol, drugs, the body, illness, violence and insults is left out, so the answer list stays suitable for a classroom.
Can I use a letter twice in one word?
Only as often as the wheel shows it. Each of the nine tiles can be used once per word. If the wheel has two Es, a word can have two Es. If it has one T, a word with a double T is not accepted, and the game tells you why.
How are Good, Great and Excellent worked out?
From the number of answers of the wheel. Good is 25 percent of all words, Great is 50 percent and Excellent is 75 percent, each rounded up to a whole word. A wheel with 40 answers has the targets 10, 20 and 30. The bar under the word count shows the three marks.
Is there always a nine-letter word?
Yes. Every wheel is built from a nine-letter word, so at least one answer uses all nine tiles. Some wheels have more than one, when the same letters also spell another word. Finding a nine-letter word is shown as its own mark next to the three targets.
How does the daily wheel work?
The daily wheel is the same for every visitor on the same calendar day, and a new one starts at midnight in your time zone. Your found words stay when you reload the page. The day counts as solved once you reach Good, and you can keep going after that. Share my result copies your word counts without any word or letter.
Can I print a word wheel?
Yes. Under Printable wheel, pick the paper size and download the PDF. The first page shows the wheel on screen with the rules, the three targets and lines to write on. The second page lists all answers by length. You can leave the answer page out.
Where is my progress saved?
Only in this browser on this device, in its local storage. The practice wheel you are on and the daily wheel are each saved with the words you found. Nothing is sent to a server. A new practice wheel replaces the saved one.