How to play Ollo
Find the key: one hidden word that joins every clue.
The rules
- Each clue makes a compound word or a common phrase with the key. The key goes before or after the clue word.
- You start with one clue. Every wrong guess opens the next clue. You can also skip, which opens the next clue and uses a try.
- You have six tries. Solve it with as few clues as you can.
The tiles show how many letters the key has. A clue written against the tiles makes one word; a gap between them means two words.
A worked example
This puzzle has a four-letter key.
Clue 1: _case
Plenty of four-letter words fit: BOOKCASE, SUITCASE, SHOWCASE. You guess BOOK. Ollo tells you BOOKCASE works, but BOOK is not the key, and opens the next clue.
Clue 2: talk _
Which word fits both? Not BOOK (talk book), not SUIT (talk suit). TALK SHOW and SHOWCASE: the key must be SHOW.
Solved with 2 of 6 clues. A third clue would have been _room (SHOWROOM).
The example is never used as a real puzzle.
Red herrings
The best wrong turns are deliberate. Some puzzles hide a decoy that fits the first two clues, so the obvious answer is not always the key. When you fall for one, your result card shows a fish.
Scoring and sharing
- Your result is the number of clues you needed, from 1/6 to 6/6, or X/6 if the six tries run out.
- Share your result as a grid of squares. It never gives away the key.
- Your streak counts the days in a row you solved the puzzle.
Circles
Start a circle and invite friends or family. Everyone sees how the others did each day, once they have finished the puzzle themselves, and the circle keeps a weekly table from Monday to Sunday. A solve scores 8 minus the clues used; a miss scores 1. A circle holds up to 20 players.
When does a new puzzle open?
A new Ollo opens every day at midnight, your local time. Past puzzles are in the archive.
Tips
- Think of both directions: the key can come before the clue word (SHOWCASE) or after it (TALK SHOW).
- A wrong guess is not wasted. It opens a clue and often rules out a whole family of words.
- The week gets harder from a gentle Monday to a fiendish Sunday.