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THE DAILY EDITIONPLAY TODAY · DAILY PUZZLES

A DAILY SLIDING WORD PUZZLE

Slideword

Five small words concealed in a shifting grid.

BY THE PUZZLE DESK · PLAY FREE

PUZZLE NOTES

When One Shift Moves Five Letters

A sliding word grid where progress in one row can complicate another.

A correct row is only safe until the next move.
THE PUZZLE DESK

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE

An almost-correct row is not necessarily safe. Shifting one column changes letters elsewhere, so useful progress often means thinking a move ahead.

The board rewards thinking about consequences rather than just destinations. A promising horizontal shift may improve a clue, while a vertical shift changes several rows in one motion. Letters wrap around the edges instead of falling away, so each move rearranges their relationships. Undo and restart make it possible to experiment, but the trick is finding an order of moves that lets all five answers sit correctly at once.

HOW IT WORKS

Rows and columns wrap around the edges of the five-by-five board. All five row answers must align, and even a completed row can be moved again while solving the others.

IS THIS FOR YOU?

For players who enjoy word clues with a spatial twist. It asks for both five-letter vocabulary and patience with moves that affect multiple rows.