FANDANGO

It’s a whole new word.

(With all new letters.)

GAME00 / 30MOVES USED
DAILY 4-5 LETTER GAME

Tap two tiles to swap them. Drag and drop a tile to a new location to move it.
GOAL: Form a top-row 5-letter word that does not share any letters with the original top-row word.
Valid words have 4-5 letters or 3-6 letters, depending on mode.

How to play

Using at most 30 moves, form a new 5-letter word in the top row that does not contain any of the letters in the original word.

  1. Swap: Tap any two tiles to change their places. They may be in the same word or different word.
  2. Drag: Drag and drop a tile to a new location.
  3. Every row must always remain a word in the game's wordlist, with 4 or 5 letters in a 4-5 LETTER GAME, or 3, 4, 5, or 6 letters in a 3-6 LETTER GAME. Invalid rows flash three times and the position reverts with no cost.
  4. GOAL: Make a five-letter word in the top row containing none of the letters in the original top-row word. That original word stays printed on the left, and dots on the tiles indicate which letters still need to be vacated. Repeated letters are allowed.
  5. The counter starts at 00 / 30 and counts up with each valid move. Your score is the number of moves used to reach the goal: lower is better. You may use at most 30 moves. Every computer-generated game will have a solution from 6-10 moves all using words appearing on the smaller (about 10K) wordlist, though the player is free to use any word appearing on the larger wordlist.

Undo reverses a move and removes it from the moves-used counter. Reset restarts the current puzzle. Daily 4-5 Game or Daily 3-6 Game starts that mode’s puzzle for your current local date from the beginning, without a warning. Each mode has its own daily puzzle, the same for everyone playing on that local date, with a shortest solution of 6–10 moves using words on the smaller wordlist. Each computer solution will involve changing each starting word at least once. All games start with rows of 5, 5, 4, and 4 letters. The default mode is 4-5 LETTER GAME; the badge above the tiles shows the current mode.

Show best solution from smaller wordlist lets you step through a shortest solution from the start using the smaller wordlist and the current mode’s allowed lengths. Light-red tiles identify the tile moved or the two tiles swapped in the displayed step. Your own position returns when the solution is exited.

Save Game saves the original four words as an 18-letter string followed by the 2-digit mode (45 or 36), so you can save or share the puzzle. Import Game accepts a valid string and starts a game with 30 moves. Imported games might not meet the 6–10-move window and might even be unsolvable; their shortest solution using the smaller wordlist is calculated when requested.

Designed and coded by Dave Shukan
More games and puzzles at: davespuzzles.com

Save game

This string saves the starting puzzle. Import it to play again from the beginning. COPY STRING AND SOLUTION also includes your current game’s moves, if any, after the solution.

Import game

The 18 letters are split into words of 5, 5, 4, and 4. The final digits select the mode: 45 for a 4-5 LETTER GAME, or 36 for a 3-6 LETTER GAME. Each word should be in the player wordlist. Importing starts a new game with 30 moves.

Finding the best solution from the smaller wordlist

Checking the imported puzzle…

Your game is preserved while the search runs. Difficult puzzles can take longer.

GAME OVER

You used all 30 moves without reaching the goal.

You can undo your last move, replay this puzzle, or start a new game.