Guides & word lore
Comprehensive guides from our resident word people. Every one links straight into the live lists and definitions it draws on — read a claim, tap it, see the words.
The Last Letter Problem: What Word Endings Give Away
More than a third of the dictionary ends in a single letter — and only three words in it end in Q. What last letters reveal, and how to turn them into wins.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jul 11, 2026
Double Trouble: The Words That Repeat Themselves
LEVEE. PUPPY. GEESE. The doubled letter is the quiet streak-killer of every word game — because we're trained to assume five letters means five different ones.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jul 8, 2026
The Shape of English: Why 8-Letter Words Outnumber Everything
Ask anyone the most common word length and they guess short. The dictionary disagrees: 28,420 words are exactly eight letters long, more than any other size.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jul 2, 2026
Why S Starts More Words Than Any Other Letter
Open the dictionary at random and odds are you land in S country. One letter opens 18,680 words — and the reasons say a lot about how English gets built.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jun 25, 2026
Words Hiding Inside Words: The Dictionary’s Nesting Habit
Say THERE out loud and you have also said the, her, here and ere. English nests words inside words constantly — and once you see it, you can score with it.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jun 18, 2026
The Vowel Problem: Surviving a Rack Full of A, E, I, O and U
Vowels are almost half the bag and barely a third of the alphabet. When five of them land on your rack at once, you need a very particular little dictionary.
Nora Whitfield
✓
Jun 12, 2026