Waffle tips and tricks
Every grid can be solved in 10 swaps, and you get 15. Each swap you save is a star. These tips come from the 254 grids we have published so far, and they work on the daily puzzle, the Deluxe and Unlimited alike.
What is the fastest way to get five stars?
Look for pair swaps first. A pair swap moves two letters straight into their right spots in one move, so it fixes two tiles for the price of one. A perfect solve here has about 5.7 of them, and finding them all is what five stars really means.
To spot one, take a tile that is wrong and ask where its letter belongs. Then check the tile in that spot. If its letter belongs where you started, swap the two and both turn green.
Which tiles should you look at first?
- The greens. About 5.3 of the 21 tiles start green. They are fixed, so they tell you part of every word they touch.
- The corners and the center. These nine tiles sit in two words at once. A right letter there helps both words, and a wrong one confuses both.
- The word with the most greens. Name it first. Once you know one word, its letters are spoken for and the rest of the board gets easier.
How do you read a yellow tile?
Yellow means the letter belongs to a word that runs through this tile, but in another spot. On an edge tile there is only one word to check. On a corner or the center, the letter could belong to the across word or the down word, so check both before you move it.
A grey tile is good news in a way. It means the letter belongs to a word that does not touch this tile at all, which rules out a lot of the board.
What about repeated letters?
In 93% of our grids, at least one word uses a letter twice. The colors only mark as many copies as a word still needs, so a spare E can show grey even though the word has an E. If a common letter shows grey in a word that looks like it needs it, think about a double letter, like the two Es in GEESE.
Which letters and endings come up most?
E is the letter you will move most often: it makes up 13.3% of all tiles. After that come A (9.7%), R (8.1%), O (7.1%). The most common word endings are ER and ED. When you are stuck on a word, try those endings first.
How should you plan the last five swaps?
With five swaps left, stop and count. Every wrong tile still has to move, and a pair swap fixes two at once. If you have six wrong tiles and can see three pair swaps, you can still finish with all your stars. If you can only see two, find the third before you touch anything.
The worst move at this stage is a swap that turns a grey tile yellow. It feels like progress, but the letter still has to move again, and that costs a swap you did not need.
Do the same tips work on the Deluxe grid?
Yes, with more to keep track of. The 7×7 Deluxe Waffle has eight words, 9.5 starting greens on average and about 10.5 pair swaps in a perfect solve. You get 25 swaps and need 20 for five stars, so there is less room for slips. Start with the corners, since a Deluxe grid has more of them.
Three mistakes that cost stars
- Fixing a row and forgetting the column. A row can look done while a shared tile is still wrong for the word that crosses it.
- Guessing a word too early. If two words fit the same letters, wait until a green settles it.
- Swapping to see what happens. Each test swap is a star. Work it out on the board before you move.
How can you practice?
Play Waffle Unlimited for as many grids as you like, with no effect on your streak. Or replay old grids in the Waffle archive and try to beat your first score. When you are ready, put the tips to work on today's Waffle game. Stuck on #254? The hints page gives you one clue at a time.