How to Play Chainle
Chainle is a five-round daily word game about meaning. You are given two clue words and asked for one word that connects them both, and the game scores how close you are to the middle of that connection. There is no letter grid and no fixed word length: any common English word is a valid guess. This page covers the rules, what the score actually measures, how hints and streaks work, and the questions players ask most often.
1. The rules
- 1
Read the two clues. Two words appear side by side. Your answer has to feel close to both of them, not just one.
- 2
Type one word. Any common English word is accepted. A word outside the list is reported as unknown and does not use up a guess.
- 3
Read the score. You get a number from 0 to 100, a colour bar, and a sentence naming the clue that is holding your score back.
- 4
Ask for a hint. Three graded hints per round: the word's shape, a direction, then the answer. Hints never break your streak.
- 5
Keep the streak alive. Finish all five rounds before the next UTC midnight and your streak goes up by one.
2. What the score means
The score is a relative measure, not a percentage of correctness. Every round has a canonical answer, and the model measures how strongly that answer sits between the two clues. Your guess is measured the same way and the two numbers are compared. A guess that is just as good as the canonical answer scores around 100; a guess that touches only one clue collapses towards zero, because the weaker of the two similarities dominates the formula.
| 0–100 | 2. What the score means |
|---|---|
| 96–100 | The word sits at the centre of both clues, or is an accepted answer. |
| 80–95 | Very close: both clues point strongly at it. |
| 60–79 | Related to both clues, but off centre. |
| 40–59 | Warm: connected, but leaning towards one clue. |
| 20–39 | One clue fits noticeably better than the other. |
| 0–19 | Little or no connection to the clue pair. |
3. Hints
Each round has three hints. The first tells you the answer's length and first letter, the second gives a direction, and the third names the answer. Using them does not reduce your streak, but a round closed with the third hint appears as a black square on your result card.
4. Streaks and modes
Your streak counts consecutive days on which you finished all five rounds. It increases once per UTC day and resets if you skip a day. Unlimited mode builds practice sets from the back catalogue and deliberately excludes today's puzzle, so practising cannot spoil the daily game.
5. Questions
What is Chainle?
Chainle is a free daily word game. Each puzzle has five rounds, and each round gives you two clue words. You type one word that connects both, and the game scores how close you are to the centre of their shared meaning.
How do you play Chainle?
Read the two clues for the round, type a single English word, and press enter. The server compares your word with both clues and returns a score from 0 to 100 with a short explanation. Guess as often as you like until you find the accepted answer, then move on.
How is my guess scored?
Your word is compared against both clues using a 50,000-word semantic model. The weaker of the two similarities dominates the score, so a word that only fits one clue cannot score highly.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no login, and no server-side profile. Your streak and today's progress live in your own browser, which is why they survive a refresh but not a different device.
What happens if I use a hint?
Hints are optional and graded: word length and first letter, then a direction, then the answer. Using hints is marked on your result card but does not break your streak.
When does a new puzzle come out?
Every day at 00:00 UTC, the same instant worldwide. The answer and hint pages for that date are published at the same moment.
Can I play old puzzles?
Yes. The archive lists every published day by month, and unlimited mode draws random rounds from the back catalogue.
Is Chainle free?
Yes. Chainle is free to play, with no paid tier and nothing to install. The game runs in your browser and the scoring happens on our server.