Kindred

What is Kindred?

Kindred is a daily word-grouping puzzle. Sixteen words sit on the board, and they split into four groups of four that share something: kinds of bread, things you can crack, words that hide an animal. The categories change with every puzzle, and each one is built so a few words look like they belong somewhere else.

It is made to be fair and friendly. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, categories avoid local trivia, and when you finish you see why every word belongs where it does, including the red herrings we planted. You can mark tiles while you think, drag them into piles, and take a gentle hint that costs points rather than a life.

How to play Kindred

1. Read all sixteen words. Look for words that seem to fit more than one idea.
2. Tap four words that you think belong together and press Submit. You can make four mistakes; 'One away…' means three of your four were right.
3. Think out loud on the board: pick a marker (● ▲ ■ ◆) and tap tiles to sort your candidates, or long-press a tile to cycle its marker. Drag tiles to rearrange them.
4. Stuck? A hint names the easiest group, then pins one of its words, then names another group. Hints cost points, never lives.
5. Find all four groups. Then read the explanations, check your score and share your colour grid without spoilers.

Kindred tips and strategy

• Count the candidates. If five words seem to fit a group, one of them is a red herring that belongs to a harder group.
• Go after the Devious (violet) group early. Words that hide other words, sound like something, or complete a phrase are usually the key.
• Use markers instead of guesses. Marking two competing groups side by side shows you which word is the swing word.
• Treat 'One away…' as information: swap out the word you were least sure of, not the one you were most sure of.
• Solving the harder groups first raises your score, and solving them in reverse order earns a rainbow.

The four difficulty colours

Each puzzle has one group of each difficulty: Gentle (gold), Steady (green), Tricky (blue) and Devious (violet). Gentle groups are plain members of a set; Devious groups are wordplay, like hidden words or a missing word that completes a phrase. Every colour also has a label and dot pattern, so you never need to tell colours apart to play.

Daily, Archive and Practice

Today gives everyone the same puzzle and keeps your streak. Archive holds every earlier daily puzzle, free, with your result for each. Practice deals puzzles that never appear as dailies, as many as you like. Archive and practice games count toward your stats but never touch your streak.

Scoring

A clean solve scores 60, plus up to 40 more for tackling the harder groups first. Each mistake costs 15 and each hint costs 10. Solve all four from Devious down to Gentle for a reverse rainbow.

Kindred FAQ