How to solve word squares

A symmetric word square is a 5×5 grid where row i reads identically to column i. There are 5 hidden words, 25 cells, and 15 unique letters once you account for the diagonal symmetry. This is a step-by-step guide to solving one in 6 to 8 guesses, with a fully worked example.

The 7-step method

1. Pick a high-information opener
   Play a 5-letter word with 5 distinct letters, hitting high-frequency letters. CRANE, SLATE, RAISE, and STARE are the standard choices. Play it as row 1.
2. Read every green twice
   Each green letter you find in row 1 column N also locks the first letter of column N. Because the grid is symmetric, that first letter of column N is also the first letter of row N. Write down what you know about every row whose first letter you just locked.
3. Triangulate with guess 2
   Pick a row to attack next based on which columns you have locked. If you have greens in row 1 columns 1 and 4, try a row 4 word starting with the letter from row 1 position 4. Greens you find in row 4 will lock the column 4 cells, which constrain row 1 from the other direction.
4. Solve the most-constrained row first
   After 2-3 guesses, identify the row with the most locked cells. Finish it. Locking that whole row gives you all 5 column constraints for the cells it spans, which often unlocks 1-2 other rows for free via symmetry.
5. Use the symmetric diagonal
   The grid's main diagonal (row 1 col 1, row 2 col 2, ... row 5 col 5) is fully self-determined: each diagonal cell is both row i position i and column i position i, which is the same cell. The center cell (row 3 col 3) is the most central constraint — finding it usually solves 2-3 other cells.
6. Don't guess a row blind
   A 5-letter word with no constraints has thousands of possibilities. Don't guess a row until at least 2 of its cells are locked. Spend a guess on a more-constrained row first.
7. Endgame: lock, don't explore
   When you have 1-2 guesses left, stop probing for information and lock a row you can finish. The remaining rows often solve themselves via column symmetry once any one row closes out.

Worked example: solving a real puzzle

Let's walk through a sample. The hidden grid is:

S T A R E
T R A I N
A A R O N
R I O T S
E N N I S

(This is illustrative — for the sake of demonstration. The actual LexSweep daily uses a different word set.)

Guess 1: CRANE (row 1)

Result: C(gray) R(yellow) A(green at pos 3) N(yellow) E(green at pos 5).

Reading the symmetric implications: row 1 is _ _ A _ E. By symmetry, column 1 is also _ _ A _ E, which means row 3 starts with A and row 5 starts with E. R appears somewhere in row 1 (not position 2) and somewhere in column 1 (not position 2). N appears somewhere in row 1 (not position 4) and column 1 (not position 4).

Guess 2: SHARE (row 1)

A targeted second guess on row 1 to find R's correct position. Result: S(green at pos 1) H(gray) A(green at pos 3) R(green at pos 4) E(green at pos 5).

Now row 1 is S _ A R E. By symmetry, column 1 is S _ A R E, which means row 4 starts with R. Combined with what we know about N: row 1 position 2 is likely T or N (the only common 5-letter words matching S?ARE are STARE and SNARE).

Guess 3: STARE (row 1) — committing

Result: all green. Row 1 is solved. By symmetry, column 1 is now fully known: S T A R E. That means row 2 starts with T, row 3 starts with A, row 4 starts with R, row 5 starts with E. We have just locked 5 cells across the rest of the grid with one guess.

Guess 4: TRAIN (row 2)

Row 2 starts with T (we just locked that). TRAIN is a good T-starter to try. Result: all green. Row 2 = TRAIN. By symmetry, column 2 = TRAIN, which means row 2 position 2 = R (yes), row 3 position 2 = A, row 4 position 2 = I, row 5 position 2 = N.

Guess 5: AARON (row 3)

Row 3 starts with A (locked), position 2 = A (locked), position 3 = R (from row 1 symmetry: column 3 = A R, and row 3 position 3 = column 3 position 3 = R). AARON fits. Result: all green.

Guess 6: RIOTS (row 4)

Row 4 starts with R, position 2 = I, position 3 = O, position 4 = T (from column-symmetry inferences). RIOTS fits. Result: all green.

Guess 7: ENNIS (row 5)

By column-symmetry from the other 4 solved rows, row 5 is fully determined: E N N I S. One final guess to commit. Solved in 7 of 8 guesses.

The pattern to notice

Notice the shape of the solve: 3 guesses to lock row 1 (which gives us all of column 1 for free), then 4 guesses to commit the remaining 4 rows. The symmetric grid means each committed row gives you all 5 column constraints, which dramatically reduces the search space for subsequent rows. The mental move is: solve top to bottom, and let column symmetry do the rest of the work.

Where players go wrong

• Spreading guesses across rows too early. Solving row 1 first (or any single row first) and using its symmetry payout is faster than gathering letters across all 5 rows in parallel.
• Ignoring the diagonal. The diagonal cells are double-constrained (row N position N = column N position N = same cell). Greens you find on the diagonal propagate the fastest.
• Forgetting symmetry on yellows. A yellow in row 1 position 3 means the letter is in row 1 (not at position 3) AND in column 3 (not at position 1, which is the same cell from column 3's perspective). The yellow constraint applies in both directions.

Try the method on today’s LexSweep →

See also: LexSweep strategy guide and symmetric word square explained.

New? Read the rules first.