Griddle

Nine letters, a three-by-three grid, and a single nine-letter word to reconstruct using each cell once and only once. The difficulty doesn't come from vocabulary but from a placement rule: two consecutive letters of the word cannot occupy adjacent cells, and cells that become forbidden fade out on the screen. The timer starts as soon as you launch the grid, with a warning displayed just under the button.

1. Press Start. The screen warns that the timer starts immediately.
2. Type on the keyboard or tap the tiles to compose the word. Cells forbidden by the adjacency rule appear greyed out.
3. Correct with Backspace, which removes the last letter, or Reset, which clears everything.
4. Fill the nine dashes shown below the grid, which represent the word currently being constructed.

A nine-letter word rarely fits into such a small space, and that's exactly what makes it enjoyable: the grid fits under a thumb, the timer runs, and the non-adjacency constraint is enough to turn nine visible letters into a puzzle. A quick format, with a countdown until the next grid.

The game doesn't judge letter by letter; it constrains. The greyed-out cells indicate in real time where the next letter cannot go, serving as much as a hint as a prohibition. The rest of the information is temporal: a timer runs at the top left during the round, and a countdown at the bottom of the page announces the arrival of the next grid.

Core play

The site presents a single default puzzle: a three-by-three grid in which you must place a nine-letter word once and only once under the non-adjacency placement rule. The page shows the daily grid launched at start, a timer that begins when you press Start, and a countdown to the next grid.

• Each placed letter disables its neighbors for the next letter, and the center cell touches the most others. It's therefore the most costly to use early.
• The timer starts before the first move. It's best to look at the nine letters and get an idea of the word before pressing Start.