Letter Boxed
Chain words around a square of letters until every letter has been used.
DleBox's guide
Letter Boxed draws three letters on each side of a square, twelve letters in all. You spell a word by picking letters, and you may not pick two letters in a row from the same side. The next word has to start with the letter that ended the previous word. The puzzle is solved when every letter has been used at least once. Fewer words is the elegance the game is built around, and two-word solutions are the ones people chase.
There is no hidden target word. Any valid chain that covers the square can finish the puzzle. The Times shows how many words you used. A letter can be reused in later words. It cannot be reused in a way that breaks the side rule inside a single word. DleBox does not host the square and does not publish a solution chain.
The daily square is shared. Tomorrow's letters are a different box. This page only describes the rule and points at the original puzzle. Spelling Bee is the other letter-tray game on the list, and it scores a dictionary harvest rather than a covering chain. Waffle shows you a finished grid of words and asks you to swap letters. Letter Boxed starts from an empty chain.
Rules
- Twelve letters sit on the four sides.
- Consecutive letters in a word cannot come from the same side.
- The next word starts with the previous word's last letter.
- Every letter must be used at least once.
- DleBox does not publish a chain.
Why we like it
- ✓ The goal is coverage, so many chains can be correct.
- ✓ A two-word solution is visible skill, not luck.
- ✓ The side rule is checkable as you type.
It suits a player who likes constraints more than clues. If the side rule feels arbitrary, that is the puzzle. The link between the end of one word and the start of the next is where most attempts get stuck, not in finding a single rare word.
A chain that leaves one awkward letter for the end is the usual failure. The side rule is what makes that leftover awkward. DleBox does not count your words and does not award a two-word badge. If you want that tightness, you play it on the Times puzzle. The directory only insists that coverage, not a hidden target, is the finish line.
About the game
Letter Boxed is published by The New York Times. DleBox did not make that game. This page names the maker and links over. It does not speak for them.
- Category:
- Words. Open the Words category.
- Updates:
- Once a day on the original site.
- Reset:
- This page does not state their timezone. The original game shows the day's puzzle.