🎯 How to Play Hangman

Rules, the category-and-clue hint system, a sensible letter-picking order, and the small tricks that rescue your last two guesses.

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What is Our Daily Hangman?

Every morning there's a fresh mystery word. You see the category and the number of letters - then it's one guess at a time. Each miss draws another part of a stick figure; crack the word before six wrong guesses complete the drawing and you've won. The classic schoolroom hangman, now as a free daily puzzle. No account, no app, no paywall.

How to Play

A daily word: Each midnight a new mystery word lands. You see a blank for each letter and a category hint (Animals, Science, Food and so on).
Guess letters: Tap the on-screen keyboard or use your physical one. Each letter can only be guessed once per round.
Correct letter: If the letter's in the word, it fills every position it belongs in. The keyboard key turns green.
Wrong letter: Miss, and one body part of the stick figure is drawn. The keyboard key goes grey.
Win: Fill every letter before the drawing's finished and you've won. The fewer misses, the better the result.
Lose: After six wrong guesses the stick figure is complete and the round ends. The correct word is revealed so you can pocket it for next time.

The 6 Wrong Guesses

Each miss adds one part of the stick figure, in this order:

1. Head
A circle appears as the head.
2. Torso
A vertical line for the body.
3. Left Arm
A diagonal line from the torso.
4. Right Arm
A second diagonal line from the torso.
5. Left Leg
A diagonal line heading down.
6. Right Leg
The final body part - the drawing is complete and the round is lost.

Category & Clue Hints

Category hint: Every word sits within a category (Animals, Food, Science) shown from the off. Use it to keep your guesses on theme.
Clue unlock: After four wrong guesses a 'Show clue' button appears. Tap it for a sharper hint about the answer.
Your call: You don't have to reveal the clue. If you fancy a sterner test, work it out from the category alone. The clue is there as a safety net when your guesses are running thin.

Strategies & Tips

Start with vowels: A, E, I, O, U first - nearly every English word contains at least one.
Common consonants next: after the vowels, try T, N, S, R, L - the workhorses of English spelling.
Use the category: if it says 'Animals', you can ignore abstract nouns entirely. Let the theme do some of the narrowing.
Look for patterns: a _ _ A V E outline points straight at BRAVE, GRAVE or SHAVE. Partial words tighten the odds rapidly.
Common endings: in longer words, watch for -ING, -TION, -ER and -LY. Landing one ending often reveals several letters at once.
Save the rare letters: leave Z, Q, X and J until last. Only try them if the pattern and category practically demand it.

Advanced Tips

Letter pairs: in English, Q is almost always chased by a U. Spotting a confirmed U somewhere odd can be a quiet tip-off.
Double letters: think LETTER, COFFEE, BALLOON - one correct guess fills both slots. Two blanks side by side in a Food-category word, for instance, often means a double is hiding in there.
Wait for the clue: three misses in with no idea? Don't burn another guess on instinct. One more miss unlocks the clue, which may save your last two.
Elimination: once you've a handful of letters, mentally list every word that fits both the pattern and the category. Cross off the ones using letters you've already tried.

Game Features

Daily puzzle: a fresh word at midnight, shared worldwide - so comparing scores with friends is straightforward.
Archive: missed a day? The archive keeps every previous puzzle. Your progress on each one saves automatically.
Share your result: finish up and share a spoiler-free summary - green dots for lives left, red for misses.
Works everywhere: phone, tablet or desktop. Browser only, no app, and progress is kept locally.

Why Play Hangman?

What the daily hangman habit quietly does for you:

Better Vocabulary
A new word every day, with active recall doing more for spelling than any wordlist ever did.
Logical Thinking
Practise deduction and strategy as you narrow down possibilities guess by guess.
Language Sense
Build an instinct for letter frequency, common patterns and the shape of English words.
Daily Ritual
Under two minutes, one mystery word. Share your result with friends and compare scores.

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