1. Do not submit the first group you see
The most obvious group is often a trap. If you can see five or six words that fit, at least one or two of them belong somewhere else. Count before you click.
2. Look for the overlaps
Write down the words that could fit two groups. Those are the red herrings, and deciding where they go usually unlocks the whole puzzle.
3. Start from the purple group
The trickiest group is often wordplay. Once you find it, its words leave the grid, and the remaining groups become much clearer. Try reading each word for hidden words, sounds, or a common word that could come before or after it.
4. Say the words out loud
Homophones and sound-alike groups are hard to see but easy to hear. Reading the grid aloud often reveals them.
5. Think of “___ word” and “word ___”
Many groups are words that complete the same phrase: things that come before “house”, or after “fire”. Try adding a common word to each tile.
6. Shuffle
Your brain sticks to the first arrangement it sees. Pressing Shuffle breaks false patterns and shows new neighbours.
7. Use “One away” as information
A “One away” message means three words are right. Keep them, and think about which word is the odd one out and which word on the board could replace it.
8. Solve by elimination
When three groups are found, the last four words belong together by definition. If you have found two groups, the last eight words usually split in only one sensible way.
9. Mind the specific category
Categories are precise. “Animals” is rarely the answer, but “animals with stripes” or “animals hidden in words” might be. Ask what else the four words share.
10. Practise with Unlimited and the Archive
The more puzzles you solve, the faster you recognise common category types. Unlimited and the Archive give you as many as you want.