Word is the daily five-letter guessing game, played the way you'd expect: six attempts, colour-coded feedback after each guess, one answer per day for everyone. Green means the letter is in the right spot, yellow means it's in the word but somewhere else, grey means it isn't there at all.
What's different here is that Word doesn't stand alone. It's one of four games on the day's card, and your result feeds a single combined score alongside Chain, Duality and the Mini crossword. Solving in two guesses is satisfying on its own; it's more satisfying when it moves your total.
A round takes a minute or two. Even a loss pays partial credit for the letters you managed to lock in green, so a near miss is never a total wash.
Solving in one guess is worth the full 1,000 points, dropping by 100 for each additional guess down to 500 for a sixth-try finish. A loss still pays partial credit for every letter you proved green, so a close miss keeps something on the board. Your result joins your daily total and all-time score.
A strong first guess tests several common vowels and consonants at once. Words like AROSE, SLATE or CRANE eliminate a large share of the alphabet in one move.
On your second guess it's often better to test five brand-new letters than to reshuffle the ones you've already confirmed. Information beats partial progress in the early rounds.
Plenty of answers double a letter, and that's where most six-guess losses come from. If you're stuck with four confirmed letters and no fit, try doubling one of them.
If you reach guess five with several possibilities left, pick the option that distinguishes between them rather than the one you merely hope is right.
Word is one of four free puzzles that land every midnight, and whatever you score on each adds up to one daily total. You don't have to play all four.