CrissWord Full Circle

CrissWord: Full Circle links words along a path that returns to its starting point. Each square on the path shows its clue and the expected number of letters, and between two squares an action indicates how to go from one to the other: change a letter, find an anagram, add a letter, or remove one. The loop is the game's neat idea: the first and last words share the same clue, with different lengths, so the same definition serves as both entry and exit.

1. Read the path from top to bottom: each square displays its clue and the number of letters; the interleaved action connectors show the operation to apply to the previous word.
2. Fill the squares while respecting the action announced between neighboring words: change a letter, add a letter, remove a letter, or anagram.
3. Watch the color of the action connectors: they turn green when the transformation between the two words you entered is valid, and red when it is not.
4. Close the loop: the first and last words answer the same clue, which completes the circle.
5. If you get stuck, each square has a Hint button, and the header contains the Reveal a Word and Reverse Order buttons.

The loop changes everything: because the first and last words answer the same clue, the grid doesn't really have a beginning and you can tackle it from any end. Add connectors that check the mechanics without ever confirming the meaning, and you get a game where you can be perfectly consistent while being completely wrong, a far better source of thrills than an error counter.

The game separates two things that most word games blur together. The action connectors turn green or red depending on whether the transformation between your two words is valid, and the game states plainly that this has nothing to do with whether the answers are correct: you can have a path that is entirely green and entirely wrong. The penalty, however, applies to attempts: each word has only one correct answer and incorrect guesses cost points.

Daily Loop

One path per day, numbered, dated and signed by its author.

• A green connector is not a validation. It only certifies that your two words are correctly related by the announced action, so a coherent but off-topic pair will still show green.
• The same clue opens and closes the path, with different lengths: when one end resists, the other end is working on the same definition and often provides the hint.
• The number of letters is shown next to each clue, and actions add or remove one letter at a time: the sequence of lengths can therefore be deduced in advance, before you look for any word.