Lexica is a word-grid puzzle that blends the logic of a crossword, the letter-management of Scrabble, and the deductive reasoning of Sudoku. You start with a 5×5 grid that is completely full of letters — but they are scrambled across the whole board. Your task: rearrange the movable tiles so that every row and every column simultaneously spells a valid English word.
The Objective
Arrange the letters so that all five rows read as valid words left-to-right, and all five columns read as valid words top-to-bottom, at the same time.
The Tools You Have
The board begins fully populated with scrambled tiles — a tile sitting in one row may actually belong somewhere else entirely. A few cells are locked (shown as green tiles with a padlock); these hold a correct letter and cannot be moved. Every row is guaranteed at least one locked anchor to get you started. To the left of the board is the Store, a holding area with one slot per row where you can temporarily park tiles while you rearrange. A green bar beside a row (or above a column) means that line is complete and valid; a red bar means it’s full but not a valid word. The Hint button locks one correct cell into place. New Game generates a fresh puzzle at the chosen difficulty.
How to Move Tiles
- Lift a tile to the Store: tap any unlocked board tile and it jumps to the first empty Store slot, leaving that cell empty.
- Place a tile back: tap a tile in the Store to select it (it highlights), then tap any empty board cell to drop it there.
- Because the board starts full, you lift a tile or two into the Store first to open up space, then shuffle letters into their correct cells.
The Rules to Follow
- Every row must be a valid word: when all five cells in a row are filled, the letters must spell a recognised English word from left to right.
- Every column must be a valid word: the five letters in each column (top to bottom) must also form a valid English word.
- Locked tiles can’t move: the green padlocked cells are always correct and stay put.
- All tiles must be placed: the puzzle is solved only when the Store is empty and every cell is filled with all rows and columns valid.
- Tiles can go anywhere: unlike the locked cells, movable tiles are not tied to a row — any tile can be placed in any open cell.
Simple Strategy
Start from the locked anchors — each one fixes a letter in both a row and a column, sharply narrowing what words can fit there. Lift a couple of tiles into the Store to create breathing room, then work the intersections: a column word and a row word that cross at a cell must agree on that letter. Common patterns like the endings -ING, -ED, -ER, -LY or openings ST-, CR-, TR- help you spot a word fast.
Example of Play
Suppose row 3 has a locked A in the middle cell and a locked S at the start. That points to five-letter words shaped S _ A _ _ — such as SHARE, SCARE, SNARE. Now look at the columns those cells belong to: the letters already locked above and below constrain which of those candidates can survive. The point where a row word and a column word cross is where the puzzle resolves — only one letter satisfies both.
Tips for Beginners
- Lean on the locked anchors — every row has at least one, and each one eliminates many word options instantly.
- Use the Store as scratch space — park the tiles you’re unsure about so you can audition arrangements without losing them.
- Columns are the tie-breaker — a row often has several candidate words, but the crossing column words usually pin down exactly one.
- Watch the status bars — a red bar tells you a line is full but wrong, so you know where to keep working.
- Try Hard mode — with only the minimum locked anchors, Lexica becomes a genuine word-logic challenge that cross-references every row and column at once.