Answer Stats Page Guide

How the average and solve rate are calculated

The distribution has seven bars: players who solved it in one to six tries, plus players who failed. The sample size is the sum of all seven. The solve rate is the share of the sample who solved within six tries, and the average is calculated only over players who solved it — the mean of the try on which they got it — shown to one decimal place.

Note that failed games are not in the average. On a hard day with many failures, the average can still be low if those who solved it did so quickly. So judge a day's difficulty by the solve rate as well as the average. An average in the 3s with a low solve rate means a word that people either got at once or never got at all.

Bar length and the number on the right use different bases. Bar length is drawn relative to the largest of the seven bars, which fills the full width; the percentage next to the player count is relative to the whole sample. So a full-width bar does not mean that bar is more than half. Percentages and the solve rate are rounded to whole numbers, so the seven percentages may add up to 99 or 101 rather than 100.

Comparing with your own record

• On days with a small sample, each bar swings a lot. Treat those distributions as rough and look at trends across several days.
• Revisit the answer pages only for days when you needed two or more tries above the average. Check first whether your opening two rows repeated letters or used a compound vowel too early.
• Note down the answers on days with an unusually long fail bar. Seeing which letters they contained reveals the kinds of words you struggle to recall, and helps you find candidates faster next time.
• Solve rates go up and down from day to day. Write your result next to each day's solve rate for a week, and you will see whether you solved the days others found hard or slipped on easy ones, which shows what to practise next.

Questions about the stats

Is my game included in the stats?

When you finish today's puzzle, only three things are added anonymously: the date, your number of tries and whether you solved it. No name or contact details are sent. Replays of past words are not counted, so the distribution reflects people playing on the day.

It says there are not enough records yet.

Until records build up, a note appears instead of the distribution. Once more people have played, the bars fill in.

The result window and your own stats

When you finish today's puzzle, the result window shows the same distribution bars with the bar for your try count highlighted, so you can see where you stand that day without opening the answer page.

Your stats screen shows your current streak and your longest streak. The streak grows while you solve the daily word every day without a gap, and starts over if you fail or skip a day. It is stored only in this browser, so a new device starts a new record.

The four boxes at the top of your stats screen are Played, Win %, Current Streak and Max (your longest streak). Below them, distribution bars in the same style as the answer page are drawn from your games alone, with your average tries over solved games. The calculation matches the answer page, so you can compare the two averages directly.

If the answer page distribution is everyone's record, your stats screen is yours alone. Looking at both tells you whether a day you did unusually well was simply an easy day or a sign that your skill has improved.