Words in Waffle

Every daily grid hides six words, and the Deluxe grid hides eight. We counted every answer word from our past grids, so you can see which words come back and which letters start and end them most often. Today's grids are left out, so nothing here spoils the live puzzle.

How many different words have come up?

Across 253 past daily grids, we used 1,518 answer words. 1,144 of them are different, and 371 have appeared more than once. So a word you solved before may well turn up again.

Which Waffle words come up most?

Repeats are spread out, so no single word takes over. The most any word has appeared is 3 times. Here are the top 20 repeat words from past daily grids, with how many grids each one was in.

Which letters start and end Waffle words?

The most common first letters are S (12%), A (9%), T (8%), R (8%), E (7%), L (6%). The most common last letters are E (16%), R (11%), Y (11%), T (11%), D (9%), S (8%).

That is useful on the board. The corners of the grid are the first and last letters of the words around the edge. When a corner is wrong, the common first and last letters above are the best bets for it.

What about the Deluxe grid?

The 7×7 Deluxe Waffle uses seven letter words. Across 253 past Deluxe grids we used 1,524 different words. Deluxe words most often start with S, E, R and end with E, D, T.

Where do the words come from?

Every answer is a common English word with a dictionary entry. Our software builds each grid from that list, checks that there is only one answer, and makes sure it can be solved in exactly 10 swaps. Rude and hurtful words are kept out. You can read more on our puzzle making page.

How can this list help you play?

• When a word has two or three green letters, run through the common words above that fit them.
• Try the common last letters on the corners first. They are right more often than not.
• Remember that repeats happen. A word from last week may be back.

Put it to work on today's Waffle game, or pick up more strategy in our Waffle tips and tricks.