How to play

How to play Blossom

Seven letters on a flower, one in the centre. Plant twelve words; make them the twelve best you can.

The rules

• Words must be at least four letters long.
• Words must include the centre letter.
• Only the seven letters on the flower can be used, but you can use each letter as many times as you like.
• The game ends after your twelfth word. Wrong guesses don't count against you.
• No flower contains the letter S, and proper nouns, hyphenated words and offensive terms are not in the list.

Scoring

Word	Points
4 letters	2
5 letters	4
6 letters	6
7 letters	12
8 letters and up	+3 per extra letter (8 = 15, 9 = 18 …)
Pangram (uses all seven letters)	+7
Bonus petal letter	+5 for every time it appears in the word

The bonus petal

One petal is outlined in gold with a +5 badge. Every time its letter appears in the word you play, you earn five extra points: a word with the bonus letter twice earns +10. After a word that uses the bonus letter, the gold outline moves to the next outer letter in alphabetical order; a word that doesn't use it leaves the petal where it is. So the game is about timing: save the pangram for the petal that appears in it most, and play your bonus-free words while you wait.

Ranks

The score bar shows the best possible score for the flower: the twelve-word plan that rides the bonus petal for the most points, worked out exactly. Your rank is a share of it.

Rank	Share of the best possible score
Garden	85%
Bouquet	70%
Bloom	50%
Bud	30%
Sprout	15%
Seed	0%
Perfect garden	the best possible plan, to the point

Hints and the review

The hint (the bulb) shows the best word you can play right now, bonus petal included, in two steps: first its length, first letter and points, then the word. The daily flower allows 3 hints; unlimited mode has no limit. After your twelfth word, the review marks each of your words ✓ or ✗ against the best word available at that moment, and you can open the best plan.

Keyboard

Type letters (keys that aren't on the flower are ignored), Backspace to delete, Enter to plant, Space to shuffle the petals.

Try a flower

An easy practice flower; nothing here is saved.

Ready? Play today's flower or jump into unlimited mode.