How to Play Facet
Facet is a free daily word square puzzle. A new puzzle is published every day at midnight, your time.
The Goal
Fill the 5x5 grid so that every row and column forms a valid English word. The grid is symmetric, which means the letter in row 2, column 3 is always the same as the letter in row 3, column 2. In other words, the words read the same across and down.
What Makes Facet Unique
Unlike other daily word puzzles, Facet uses symmetric word squares. This is a classic puzzle format with roots going back centuries. The ancient Roman SATOR square is one of the most famous examples. In a symmetric word square, the grid is its own transpose: if you read the words across, they are the same words you get reading down. This symmetry constraint makes each puzzle a satisfying logic challenge.
How the Grid Works
Each puzzle starts with some letters already revealed to give you a foothold. Tap or click a cell to select it, then type a letter on the keyboard. The cursor moves automatically to the next empty cell.
Some puzzles include 4-letter words. When a row or column is only 4 letters long, the corner cell on that diagonal shows a cross-hatch pattern instead of a letter. It is not part of the word and cannot be selected. The same word still reads across row i and down column i.
When a line is finished
Fill a row or a column and a mark appears beside that row or above that column. Until then, nothing sits around the grid.
- Green tick: the word in that row or column is correct.
- Red cross: the word is not a match. Check your letters.
Clue tiles are solid amethyst. Letters you type use that same tile shape, in the ordinary text colour. Hint letters are a soft gold, with a small gold mark. The legend under the board shows the same three.
Hints
Stuck? You get 3 free hints per puzzle. Tap the gold Hint button to reveal a correct letter. It shows how many you have left. Once you have used all three, you are on your own.
Tips and Strategy
Because the grid is symmetric, every letter you place actually fills two cells at once (unless it is on the diagonal). Use this to your advantage:
- Start with the diagonal. Letters on the main diagonal (top-left to bottom-right) only appear once, so they are the easiest to reason about.
- Look for common word patterns. If you know the first and last letters of a row, think about what 5-letter words fit. The symmetry constraint will often narrow it down quickly.
- Use the marks. Fill in a full row or column and see if it earns a tick. If it does, those letters are confirmed.
- Save your hints for the end. The first few letters are usually the hardest. Once you have some correct words locked in, the remaining letters tend to fall into place.
Scoring and Streaks
Your solve time and hint usage are tracked so you can see your personal stats. Solve puzzles on consecutive days to build a streak. Visit the Archive to catch up on any puzzles you missed.
Accounts and sharing
No account is required to play. Sign in if you want your streak kept from phone to phone. Past days sit in the archive, and each puzzle has its own link so a result can be shared without giving the words away.
Facet is made by Scotty Allen.
What is a Word Square?
A word square is a special arrangement of words in a grid where the same words can be read both horizontally and vertically. The concept dates back at least to ancient Rome, where the SATOR square (SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, ROTAS) was inscribed on walls and artifacts across the empire. In the 19th and 20th centuries, word squares became a popular challenge in recreational mathematics and puzzle magazines.
Facet brings this classic format into a modern daily game, combining the elegance of symmetric word squares with the daily-puzzle habit that games like Wordle popularized.