How to play Pairadactyl
Pairadactyl is a free daily word game. You get a start word and an end word, and you link them with a chain of words where every neighbouring pair makes a compound word or a common two-word phrase. Everyone gets the same two words each day, and a new puzzle arrives at midnight Pacific time.
An example
To get from ice to root: ice cream, cream cheese, cheese cube, cube root. That chain uses 3 words in between. A shorter one exists: ice cube, cube root, which uses just 1. Fewer words is better.
The rules
- Each step is a pairing. Two words next to each other have to make a compound word (lighthouse), a hyphenated word (well-known) or a common phrase (ice cream, hang up, New York).
- Order matters. “Ice cream” takes you from ice to cream, not from cream to ice.
- Words are matched exactly. “Fishing rod” links fishing to rod, not fish to rod.
- Your score is the number of words between the start and the end. You can keep playing after you finish to find a shorter chain.
Playing
- Click or tap any word on the board, then type a word that pairs with it and press Enter.
- You can build forwards from the start word, backwards from the end word, or both, and branch out as often as you like. The puzzle is solved when the two sides meet.
- Drag words to rearrange them, and use Undo or Reset if the board gets messy. Your board is saved in your browser.
- If you type a pairing the game doesn't know, you can submit it to be added.
Daily, random and custom puzzles
The daily puzzle is the same for everyone. Random gives you another puzzle whenever you want one, with a link you can send to a friend. Custom lets you pick any two words and try to link them.
Leaderboard and stats
When you finish, you see how long everyone's chains were and a leaderboard you can sort by time, shortest chain or most pairs found. A timer at the top of the board runs while you play. Signing in with Google or X is optional: it lets you pick a username, show your solution on the leaderboard, and keep your streak and stats across devices.
Tips
- Work from both ends. Words that can come before the end word are often easier to think of than the next step from the start.
- Small words such as up, out, off and over pair with a lot of things.
- Brainstorm freely. Every pairing you find counts toward “most pairs”, even if it isn't in your final chain.