Letter Wheel: Free Online Word Puzzle

Letter Wheel is our own word puzzle. A few letters sit on a wheel, and a small crossword waits above it. Swipe from letter to letter to spell a word, then let go. If the word belongs in the grid, it flies into place letter by letter. Each letter on the wheel can be used once per word, and sliding back onto the previous letter takes the last one off. Find every word to finish the puzzle. The words are English.

There are 400 levels. The first ones give you three letters and three words; the last ones give you seven letters and eight to ten words to find. One answer always uses every letter on the wheel. Every level you have reached stays open in the level list, so you can replay any of them. Each day also brings a daily puzzle of seven letters and seven to nine words, the same for everyone. Solve it each day to build a streak.

Real words that aren't in the grid are bonus words. They go in the bag at the top left of the wheel, where you can tap to see the list, and in the daily puzzle they add to your score. A word you already found makes its cells flash, a non-word shakes, and nothing is ever counted against you. Stuck? The button in the middle of the wheel shuffles the letters into a new order, free and as often as you like. A keyboard works too: type the letters, Enter to play the word, Backspace to take a letter off and Space to shuffle.

Two kinds of help cost gems. A hint shows one letter in the grid, and a reveal fills in a whole word. Tap a word in the grid first to choose where the help goes; otherwise it goes to the open word with the fewest hidden letters. Bonus words never turn into free hints. Progress is saved after every word, and the daily clock runs only while the puzzle is on screen.

Only the daily puzzle scores for the leaderboard: a fast solve and bonus words raise the score. Accepted words come from the public-domain ENABLE list and the answers are everyday words from SCOWL, with offensive words left out of both. Letter Wheel is free to play in your browser with no download or sign-up, and its art, sound effects and music are made for the game.