What is Plusword?

Plusword is a five-by-five grid puzzle where five numbered clues each produce a five-letter answer. One column is highlighted throughout, and the letters that fall into it spell a sixth word—the Plusword itself—which is the actual solution. For example, clues like "Common round fruit, often red or green", "Baked food made from flour", "Vast body of salt water", "Sound made when speaking", and "Large bird of prey" might fill the rows, with the first column shaded to reveal the final answer.

How to play Plusword

Read all five clues before filling anything. They are straightforward definitions, and the easier answers help anchor the grid.

Enter each five-letter answer in its numbered row. As you fill the grid, watch the highlighted column: its letters spell a sixth word, the Plusword. If they do not form a word, recheck the answers above.

The shaded column changes how you solve. In a normal crossword each answer stands alone. Here every row feeds one shared letter into a word you cannot see yet, so a half-remembered answer can be confirmed backwards once the column starts making sense, and a confident answer that breaks the column is probably wrong. The clues themselves are deliberately plain, which keeps the difficulty in the final leap rather than in the definitions. It is a five-minute puzzle with a real ending.

Tips & strategy

  • Solve the clues you are certain of first, then read the column as a partial word. Two or three known letters in the right positions often give the Plusword before the other rows are done.
  • Use the column as a checksum. If four answers feel right but the column spells nonsense, the error is in one of them. The grid is telling you where to look.
  • The definitions are deliberately unfussy, so resist overthinking them. A vast body of salt water is exactly what it sounds like.

Common questions

How many words do I have to find?
Six. Five clued five-letter answers, plus the Plusword spelled by the highlighted column running through them.

Are the clues cryptic?
No. They are plain definitions. The difficulty sits in the final column word rather than in the wordplay.

Is there a new puzzle every day?
Yes, and each is numbered and dated.

Do I need an account?
No. The grid loads and plays directly in the browser.