How to play Handful

The rules

• Make up to three different words from today's seven tiles.
• Each word needs at least three letters and must be in our word list. British and American spellings both count.
• Within one word each tile is used once (if there are two Es on the rack, you can use two Es).
• Every word starts again with all seven tiles, so your three words can share letters.
• Submit once. You then see the best possible words, every word that uses all seven tiles, and how your total compares with today's players.

Tap tiles to spell a word and press Add word, or just type on a keyboard and press Enter. Tap a saved word to put it back. Shuffle rearranges the rack, which is often all it takes to see a new word.

How scoring works

Each word scores the values printed on its tiles plus a length bonus. Your total is the sum of your three words.

• 1 point: E, A, I, O, R, S, T, N
• 2 points: L, U, D
• 3 points: C, M, P, H, G
• 4 points: B, Y, F, W
• 5 points: K, V
• 7 points: X, J
• 8 points: Z, Q

Length bonus: nothing for three letters, +1 for four, +3 for five, +6 for six and +15 for a word that uses all seven tiles.

Because the bonus climbs so steeply, length usually matters more than the letters. A seven-letter word gets 15 points before you count a single tile, which is more than most five-letter words score in total.

Tips and strategy

Find the seven first

There is always at least one everyday word that uses every tile, and it is the biggest single score of the day, so hunt for it before anything else. The everyday seven-letter word the tiles are built from never ends in S, so do not just look for a plural. Look for common chunks: ING, ED, ER, TION, ATE and prefixes such as RE, UN and DE. Put those letters aside in your head and see what the remaining three or four can do.

Then drop one tile

Once you have the seven, the next best words are usually six-letter words made by leaving out one tile. Try removing the lowest-value tile first, because the six-letter word that keeps the high-value letters scores most. A six-letter word earns +6, so two of them plus the seven is the usual winning shape.

Reuse the expensive letters

Your three words can all use the same K, X or Z. If there is a high-value tile on the rack, every one of your words should include it where possible. A five-letter word with a K often beats a six-letter word made of one-point letters.

Shuffle and say it out loud

If you are stuck, shuffle. Placing consonants between vowels helps you see syllables rather than a jumble. Try each vowel as the second letter, since a great many English words start consonant, vowel.

A worked example

A made-up rack: C, H, A, P, T, E, R. The seven-letter word is CHAPTER, worth 13 for its tiles plus 15, so 28 points. Dropping the T gives PREACH, 12 plus 6, so 18. Dropping the H gives CARPET, 10 plus 6, so 16. Those three make 62.

Compare a player who finds PEACH, CHEAP and PATCH. Each scores 11 plus 3, so 14, for a total of 42. Five-letter words are good, but missing the seven and the sixes costs 20 points.

The best words and seven-letter answers for every finished day are in the Handful answers archive. The other daily games are on the dailies page.

Frequently asked questions

How is a Handful word scored?

Add up the values printed on its tiles, then add a length bonus: 1 point for four letters, 3 for five, 6 for six and 15 for a word that uses all seven tiles.

Can my three words share letters?

Yes. Each word is made from all seven tiles, so the same tile can appear in more than one of your words. Within a single word each tile is used once.

Is there always a seven-letter word?

Yes. Every day's tiles are chosen so at least one everyday word uses all seven of them, and that word never ends in S.

Do I have to make three words?

No. You can submit one, two or three, but each word adds to your total, so three is always better.

Is Handful free?

Yes. Handful is free to play in any web browser, on a phone or a computer. There is nothing to install and no account to make.

What time does the new Handful set of tiles come out?

At midnight UK time (GMT in winter, BST in summer). Everyone in the world gets the same set of tiles on the same day. If you already have the old puzzle open at midnight, you have 30 minutes to finish it and still have it count.

Can I play past Handful puzzles?

Yes. Tap the calendar (Past puzzles) button in the game to replay any of the last seven days. Archive plays are scored with the same rules but are just for fun: they are not ranked and do not count towards your streak.

Where can I see yesterday's Handful answer?

The Handful answers archive shows every finished puzzle with its solution. Today's answer never appears there until the day is over.