Keyword Washington Post: The Daily Word Puzzle Explained

If you love Wordle but want something a little more cerebral, Keyword — the daily word puzzle from The Washington Post — deserves a spot in your morning routine. Each day you're shown six words, every one of them missing a single letter, and the missing letters read together spell the hidden keyword. It's part crossword, part acrostic, and entirely addictive.

What Is the Keyword Game?

Keyword is a daily word puzzle published by The Washington Post as part of its growing games section. Instead of guessing a word outright (as in Wordle), you uncover a six-letter keyword by solving six intersecting words, each of which is missing exactly one letter. Read the missing letters from top to bottom and they spell the keyword itself — a satisfying "aha" moment that fans of crosswords and logic puzzles tend to love (see the how-to guides at wordgameclues.com and askdavetaylor.com).

The Post introduced Keyword as the third game in its games catalogue, alongside its crossword and the On The Record daily news quiz. In the launch announcement, Jessica Gilbert, head of product, said reader play rates had grown 70 percent in a year. A new edition of Keyword publishes seven days a week at midnight ET and can be played on desktop, mobile web and the Post app.

Like Wordle, there is one new puzzle every day, and the game keeps track of your stats so you can compare results with friends. It's a quick, satisfying spin on the traditional crossword: instead of filling in an entire grid, everything funnels into one six-letter answer.

How to Play Keyword: The Rules

The premise is simple, but the execution rewards careful deduction. Here's how a typical round works:

1. Open the game. Visit The Washington Post's games section and launch Keyword (washingtonpost.com/games/keyword/).
2. Study the six words. You're shown six horizontal words, each displayed with one missing letter. The words are arranged vertically, crossword-style.
3. Guess letters one square at a time. Click any blank square and type or tap a letter. Each blank lists which letters could legally fill it — a blank with only one or two candidates is essentially a free letter, so lock those in first (wordgameclues.com).
4. Read the missing letters in order. The letters you place, taken top to bottom, spell the hidden keyword. A partial pattern is often enough to guess the whole thing.
5. Submit your keyword guess. When you think you know the keyword, enter it and check your score. Your goal is to solve with as few guesses — and as few revealed letters — as possible.

Unlike Wordle, there is no hard limit on guesses. But every reveal you use costs you points, so restraint is rewarded: your score is based on how little help you needed (gooodwriter.com).

Understanding the Feedback Symbols

Keyword communicates through a clean system of squares and circles. Here's what each one means:

• Blank square — the letter hasn't been guessed yet.
• Circle around a letter — the letter appears in the word but isn't necessarily in the correct position.
• Filled (green) square — correct letter, correct position. Well done.
• Pink square — the letter doesn't fit in the word at all. Move on.

These visual cues guide every guess, and learning to read them quickly is what separates casual players from streak-holders.

Keyword Rules at a Glance

Keyword vs Other Daily Word Games

How does Keyword stack up against its daily-puzzle rivals? Here's a quick comparison:

If you enjoy Plusword's daily deduction challenge, Keyword is a natural companion game — both reward vocabulary and careful reasoning rather than speed. For a wider format comparison, see our Plusword vs Wordle breakdown.

Tips and Strategies for Winning Keyword

1. Start with the fewest choices. Scan all six blanks and begin with the one that has the smallest set of possible letters. A blank with a single candidate is a free letter — take it before touching anything ambiguous (wordgameclues.com).

2. Let solved words validate their neighbours. Once you crack one word's letter, check whether it also fits the keyword pattern you're forming. Cross-checking catches wrong guesses before they cost you a reveal.

3. Read the partial keyword early. You don't need all six letters to start guessing. Three or four letters in order often narrow the keyword to a single obvious candidate.

4. Run the keyword back through the words. Once you have a plausible keyword, verify each of its letters still produces a real English word in its column. This consistency check is your safety net.

5. Don't fear the reveal — but budget them. An occasional reveal is cheaper than a string of wild guesses. Spend reveals on the blanks with the most candidates, where brute force would cost the most.

6. Keep your stats in mind. The game tracks your plays, average guesses, and average time, and it aggregates recent days so you can replay missed puzzles. Aiming for fewer reveals each day is a satisfying way to measure improvement.

Where to Play Keyword

The official game lives at washingtonpost.com/games/keyword in The Washington Post's games section. Note that some Post games sit behind a subscription, so check the page for current access details — askdavetaylor.com notes a subscription may be required to play.

There are also unofficial fan-made versions and clue sites floating around the web, but for the authentic daily puzzle (and your official streak), the Post's own page is the one to use.

The Bottom Line

Keyword is one of the smartest daily word puzzles around: six words, six missing letters, one hidden keyword, and a scoring system that rewards elegant deduction over brute force. It scratches the same itch as Plusword and Wordle while feeling entirely its own game. Give today's puzzle a try — and when the keyword clicks into place, you'll understand why its fans are so loyal. If you enjoy deduction-style dailies, our own Plusword puzzle belongs in your rotation too.