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No — the daily puzzle at /daily is playable right away as a guest. Create a free account whenever you like to save your streak; if you played as a guest first, that result comes with you.

The simplest way is a one-time link emailed to you — no password to remember. If you’d rather use a password, there’s a "Prefer a password?" link on the sign-in page, and a "Sign in with Google" button where available.

Yes — the "Text size" buttons at the top of every page (A, A+, A++) change the size site-wide and remember your choice.

Never. Every puzzle can be played at your own pace, with no clock in sight.

Three difficulty bands you choose before starting each puzzle. Gentle gives unlimited hints and extra time to look; Classic is the standard experience; Challenge is smaller hint budgets for a bigger test. You can change your default any time from your account.

Tap the hint button any time — it never counts against you in a punishing way. Using hints simply changes your stars from 3 down to 2 or 1; finishing always earns at least one star.

After you finish a puzzle, a panel explains the answers — a word’s history, a fact, or the reasoning behind a deduction. It’s there for the curiosity, not just the score.

Nothing dramatic. Every full week of showing up quietly banks you two "rest days" (up to 4 saved at once) — miss a day here or there, whether from travel, a busy week, or crossing time zones, and a banked rest day covers it automatically, so your streak keeps going. You can see how many rest days you have saved on your Today page. If a streak ever resets when it shouldn’t have, write to us — a real person can restore it.

One button, one confirm step, from your account page — see The Fair Deal on our pricing page for the full promise.

No. Canceling only removes paid features at the end of your current period; your account, streak, and history stay put on the free tier.

No — never. See our privacy policy for the full details.

Yes to both, from your account’s Data & privacy section: a JSON export emailed to you, or account deletion (immediate, with a 30-day window before it’s permanently purged).