Waffle: today's puzzle, free

How to play Waffle

Twenty-one letters sit on a waffle-shaped grid. Drag one tile onto another (or tap one, then the other) to swap them. Green means the letter is home and it locks; yellow means it belongs in that row or column but not there; grey means it isn't in that row or column at all. Rebuild all six words in 15 swaps or fewer. Every waffle can be done in 10, and each swap you don't use is a star. Full rules, worked examples and a practice board on the how to play page.

Stuck? A hint rings two tiles and explains why. Done? The swap review marks every swap ✓ or ✗ so you can see where the stars went. Want more? Unlimited Waffle has 1,200 puzzles with undo and a zen mode. Missed a day? Every past waffle is in the archive.

Waffle strategy and tips: how to solve every waffle in 10 swaps for five stars

Every Puzzlune Waffle can be solved in exactly 10 swaps, and you are allowed 15, so five stars means not wasting a single one. The grid is 21 letters making six five-letter words, three across and three down, crossing at nine cells. At the start about 6.3 letters are already green, 6 yellow and 8.7 grey, and each word has only about 1.5 of its five letters in place. 5 spare swaps sounds generous; it is two bad decisions. These are the habits that keep the spare swaps unspent, with figures from 600 of our waffles.

How many swaps does a Waffle need?

Ten, on every Puzzlune waffle, and never fewer: the bank is built so that the misplaced letters sort out in 10 swaps at best. A swap moves two letters, so 15 misplaced letters in 10 swaps means most of your swaps have to put both letters in their final place. Count before each swap: if the number of misplaced letters is more than twice the swaps you have left, you have already lost a star.

What does a yellow letter mean in Waffle?

Yellow means the letter belongs in that word but in a different cell; on a crossing cell, it belongs to either the across word or the down word, and you do not yet know which. A yellow on a non-crossing cell is unambiguous: it belongs to that one word, and there are at most four other cells it can go to. A grey letter is not in any word that passes through its cell, but it is somewhere on the board, because every letter on the grid is one of the 21 that make the six words. Grey letters are the ones you will be moving the furthest.

What is the best first swap in Waffle?

A swap where both letters land green. Look for a yellow letter whose correct cell is visible (the word is nearly readable, or the letter has only one open cell in its word) and check what sits in that cell; if that letter in turn belongs where the yellow one is, the swap scores twice. These double swaps exist on every board, and a 10-swap solution is made almost entirely of them. If you cannot see one, do not swap: read the words first.

How do you read the words before swapping?

Start with the word that has the most green letters and guess it from the pattern, using the yellow and grey letters elsewhere on the board as the pool of candidates. A word with three greens and the two missing letters both yellow somewhere in its row is solved on paper before you touch it. Then look at the crossings: a letter that two words both claim is the one to resolve first, because placing it fixes a cell in both. The corners and crossing cells are constrained twice, so they are the cheapest cells to be certain about.

How do you avoid wasting swaps in Waffle?

Never move a green letter, never swap two letters where neither one lands green, and never swap to “see what happens”. A swap that greens one letter and parks the other in a yellow spot is acceptable only when no double swap exists. Swapping two identical letters costs nothing, so when the same letter appears twice on the board, use that: the one that is already yellow in the right word may be cheaper to leave and route the other.

How do Waffle hints and the swap review work?

A hint rings two tiles and explains why they should be swapped, preferring a perfect double swap, then a yellow letter with only one open cell left, then any yellow, then a grey; the daily allows three. After you solve, the swap review marks each of your swaps ✓ if it brought the board one swap closer to solved and ✗ if it did not, and a tap on a ✗ shows the board as it was with the swap you should have made. One ✗ is one lost star, so a week of reading the review is the fastest route to five.

Waffle daily, Waffle practice or the Waffle archive: which should you play?

Play the daily when you have five minutes, practice when you want to get better, the archive when you want a worked example. The daily. One waffle, 15 swaps, five stars at 10, the same for everyone. It is the only mode that counts for your streak, and the one to share.

Endless practice. A fresh waffle whenever you like, with undo and a zen mode that does not count swaps. Nothing you do there spoils the daily.

The archive. Every past waffle with its six words, the starting colours and a swap-by-swap 10-swap line. Every page has the full solution, so it doubles as a worked example when a technique from the strategy above hasn't clicked yet.

Waffle FAQ

What is the Waffle game?

Waffle is a word puzzle on a 5×5 waffle-shaped grid: 21 letter tiles, six five-letter words (three across, three down) that cross at nine cells. The letters are scrambled; you swap two tiles at a time until every word reads correctly. Every waffle can be solved in 10 swaps, you have 15, and each swap you don't use is a star.

Is this the original Waffle?

No. Waffle is made by Waffle Studio (wafflegame.net), which publishes one puzzle a day. Puzzlune's Waffle follows the same rules with our own puzzles and word list: a free daily, unlimited mode with undo and zen, an archive of every past day, free hints that explain their reasoning, and a swap-by-swap review after you solve. We're not affiliated with Waffle Studio.

What do the colours mean?

Green: the letter is in the right place, and it locks. Yellow: the letter belongs in this row or this column, just not here. Grey: the letter isn't in this row or column at all. A tile on a crossing cell belongs to two words, so a yellow there can point to either. Repeated letters follow Wordle's rule: once a copy is green, the extra copies stop lighting up.

How do the stars work?

Every waffle needs at least 10 swaps. You get 15. Solve it and each unused swap is a star: 10 swaps is five stars, 14 swaps is one star, 15 swaps is a win with no stars. Run out before it's solved and the board shows you the answer.

What is the swap review?

After you solve, every swap you made is marked ✓ or ✗: a ✓ brought the board one swap closer to solved, a ✗ didn't. Tap a ✗ to see the board as it was and the swap that would have worked. It's how you get from three stars to five.

How do hints work?

A hint rings two tiles and tells you why: 'the yellow E belongs in row 3, and this is the only open cell left for it', or 'these two are each other's answer'. The daily waffle allows three hints; unlimited mode has no limit.

Is this Waffle unlimited, and is there a Waffle archive?

Yes to both. Waffle unlimited, daily waffle archive, waffle game archive and wafflegame are all searches for what this page has: a free daily waffle, endless practice with undo, and an archive of every past day with its answer and a 10-swap solution. Puzzlune is not affiliated with Waffle Studio.

Do I need an account?

No. Progress, streak and stats are stored in your browser. A day counts for your streak once it's solved, with any number of stars.