FiveSquare starts with a simple challenge: find five words connected by one idea.
There are no sprawling crossword grids and no encyclopedia-sized list of clues. Just a theme to uncover and five answers that belong together.
The simplicity is deceptive.
How FiveSquare Works
Every FiveSquare puzzle contains five related words. Each answer is six letters or fewer, keeping the puzzle compact while still leaving plenty of possibilities.
The words might all be pieces of equipment, ingredients, objects found in the same place, synonyms, parts of something larger or members of a recognizable category.
One puzzle might send you onto a basketball court. Another could put you in a kitchen, at the beach, on a golf course or standing in front of a washing machine.
Your job is to find all five.
Finding One Changes Everything
The first answer is often the hardest because the puzzle could still be about almost anything.
Once you have one word, possibilities start narrowing. Find two and you can begin testing a theme. Find three and the remaining answers often become a matter of filling in the gaps.
But there’s a catch.
An answer that could fit isn’t necessarily an answer that does fit.
If the puzzle appears to involve baking, there might be dozens of reasonable ingredients. FiveSquare is asking for five particular ones.
That turns the game into a combination of vocabulary, association and deduction.
Think Sideways
If you’re stuck, stop searching for another word and think about the group itself.
What larger category explains the answers you already have?
Are they all objects? Actions? Ingredients? Places? Synonyms?
Sometimes changing the level at which you’re thinking is enough to reveal the rest.
It also helps to remember the six-letter limit. If you’re imagining an eight-letter answer, you can eliminate it immediately and start looking for a shorter alternative.
Why Five?
Five is enough to establish a satisfying pattern without turning the puzzle into homework.
A good FiveSquare develops as you solve it. The first word gives you a foothold. The middle answers expose the theme. The final answer tests whether you really understood the connection.
Some days the entire square falls into place immediately.
Other days you’ll stare at one stubborn missing word wondering how something with six letters can possibly be causing this much trouble.
That’s FiveSquare.
Five little answers. One surprisingly big problem.