About

Why this exists

Most spelling games ask you for the one right answer. English rarely has one. The sound in BED turns up spelled E, EA and AI depending on which century the word arrived in and who was writing it down at the time.

So the question here is the other way round. Not how do you spell this word, but how many ways could you. It turns out that is the question that teaches you something.

Where the answers come from

Every accepted spelling is built from a spelling-to-sound pattern that real English words already use, and every pattern comes with the words that set the precedent. EA makes the sound in BED because HEAD, DEAD and BREAD do it already.

A pattern backed by a single family of words is not enough on its own. Some candidates are built from perfectly real patterns but land somewhere too odd to accept, and those are kept on a list with the reason, rather than thrown away.

Who decides

A person does. Software proposes, a human approves, and nothing reaches a player until someone has read it. That is a rule, not a stage we plan to grow out of.

If you think we have missed a spelling, flag it in the game. It goes on a list a human reads.

Who it is for

Children, mostly, and the adults who end up playing it over their shoulder. Which is why there are no accounts, no ads, no tracking and nothing to buy. See privacy for exactly what that means.