Deluxe Waffle Today

What is Deluxe Waffle?

It is the larger version of the daily 5×5 game. Four words run across and four run down, and each word has seven letters. All 40 letters start on the board in the wrong order, and you swap them back into place.

You have 25 swaps. Every grid on this site can be solved in exactly 20. Each swap you save is a star, so a perfect solve earns five. Like the 5×5 game, each grid has only one answer, and our software checks that before it goes live.

How is the 7×7 grid different from the 5×5?

The rules and colours are the same. The margin is not. You still get only 5 spare swaps, but the board has almost twice as many tiles.

How do you play the 7×7 grid?

1. Look at the board. Words run across rows 1, 3, 5 and 7 and down columns 1, 3, 5 and 7.
2. Tap a tile, then tap a second tile to swap them. You can also drag one tile onto another.
3. Read the new colours. Green is right. Yellow belongs somewhere else in a word through that tile. Grey belongs in a different word.
4. Keep going until all eight words are green, or until you run out of swaps.
5. Share your result. The share text shows your colours and stars, never the letters, so it will not spoil the grid.

Which tiles are shared on the 7×7 board?

A tile is shared when it sits in both an across word and a down word. On the 7×7 board that means every tile where an odd row meets an odd column: rows 1, 3, 5 and 7 crossed with columns 1, 3, 5 and 7. That makes 16 shared tiles.

These 16 tiles are where the grid gets hard. Each one has to be right for two words at once. A yellow on a shared tile means at least one of its two words needs that letter somewhere else, but it does not tell you which one.

How are Deluxe stars scored?

You earn one star for every swap you still have when the grid is solved.

What makes the 7×7 grid tricky?

Repeated letters are everywhere. Every one of our 213 Deluxe grids has at least one word that uses the same letter twice. On the 5×5 grid the figure is 93%. When a word needs two Es, the colours only mark as many Es as the word still needs, so a grey E does not always mean the word has no E.

Longer words hide better. Five letters leave few options. Seven letters leave many more, and two words can look right for a row until the crossing columns rule one out.

Less room for error. On the 5×5 grid, your 5 spare swaps are half of the 10 a perfect solve needs. On the 7×7 grid they are only a quarter of 20.

What 213 Deluxe grids tell us

The pair swap number matters most. A perfect Deluxe solve needs about 10.5 swaps that fix two tiles at once. If you find fewer, you will need more swaps than 20.

Seven letter word endings to look for

When a word's last two tiles are green or yellow, check these endings first. The share is how often each ending shows up across all our Deluxe words. The examples come from grids at least a week old.

A five star plan in three steps

1. Solve it in your head first

Before your first swap, go word by word. Write down or say what each word could be from its greens. Start with the words that have the most greens. Then check each guess against the crossing words. A guess is only safe when every shared tile agrees with both of its words.

2. Plan your swap path

Once you know the answer, look for tiles that hold each other's letters. If tile A has the letter B needs, and B has the letter A needs, one swap fixes both. List those pairs. They are your cheapest moves.

3. Pairs first, singles last

Make every pair swap first. Then deal with the leftovers, which usually form small loops of three or four tiles. A loop of three tiles takes two swaps, and a loop of four takes three. Plan each loop before you start it.

Tips for your first Deluxe grid

• Play a few 5×5 grids first. The colours work the same way, and the smaller board is a calm place to learn them.
• Forget about stars on your first try. Aim to finish within 25 swaps. Stars come once you can read the board quickly.
• Start with the edges. The top row, bottom row, left column and right column each have a corner at both ends. Corners are shared tiles, so solving an edge word pins down two corners at once.
• Say the letters out loud. Reading a row as sounds, not single letters, often brings the word to mind faster.
• Use the archive to practise. Old grids do not touch your streak, so you can try new ideas without any cost.

Mistakes that cost Deluxe stars

• Starting to swap before you know the words. On 40 tiles, a wrong guess costs extra swaps to undo, and you only have 5 to spare.
• Trusting a word that fits the row but not the columns. Always check the shared tiles.
• Missing a repeated letter. Count how many of each letter a word needs before you move a grey tile away.
• Fixing one tile when a swap could fix two. Before each move, check if a different partner tile would also land.

Deluxe game details

Do I need an app to play Deluxe?

No. The game runs in your web browser, and your progress saves on your device. To open it like an app, add it to your home screen:

• iPhone or iPad: open this page in Safari, tap the Share button, then tap Add to Home Screen.
• Android: open this page in Chrome, tap the menu button, then tap Add to Home screen.

Who made the original Waffle?

The original Waffle game was created by a developer who goes by jessian, according to the official site at wafflegame.net. We are a separate fan site. We did not make that game, and we are not linked to it. Every grid on this site is our own.

How does Deluxe compare with other word games?

• Wordle: you guess one hidden five letter word in six tries. Deluxe shows you every letter, and the work is placing them.
• Quordle and Octordle: you solve four or eight Wordle grids at once. Deluxe also has eight words, but they share letters, so each choice affects its neighbours.
• Connections: you sort sixteen words into four groups. It tests links between words, while Deluxe tests spelling and planning.
• Spelling Bee: you make as many words as you can from seven letters. Deluxe gives you exactly the letters you need, no more and no fewer.

If you like planning a few moves ahead, Deluxe is the one that rewards it most.

Is there a new Deluxe every day?

Here, yes. We post a new 7×7 grid every day at midnight UTC, next to the daily 5×5 grid. The original Waffle game at wafflegame.net posts its Deluxe as a weekly special. Our grids are our own, so you can play both.

Can I play Deluxe without the daily limit?

Yes. Switch to the 7×7 setting in Unlimited for as many grids as you like. You can also replay any past grid in the Deluxe archive. For the full rules and a practice plan, read the Deluxe guide.

Stuck on today's Deluxe?

Open the hints for #213. Each word gets a clue first, and nothing else shows until you tap for it. Older hints are on the answers page.

The hints come in three levels. First you get a short meaning of the word. Next you get its first and last letters. Last, you can reveal the word. Take one level at a time and go back to the board after each one. Often one clue is enough to name a word, and then the colours do the rest.