Blog
Short, specific articles: what the numbers say about word games, where English words came from, and the vocabulary worth knowing.
StrategyBest Wordle Starting Words, Measured Against 1,574 Answers
We scored every opener against a 1,574-word answer pool and counted what's left after one guess. RAISE, IRATE and ARISE lead; CRANE is fine; ADIEU is not.
Learning English30 Commonly Confused English Words, Sorted Out
Their/there/they're, affect/effect, lose/loose and 27 more pairs that trip people up, each with a one-line test you can run in your head.
How it worksHow an Anagram Solver Works (and Why It's Instant)
Sorting letters turns a hard search into a dictionary lookup. A plain explanation of the trick behind anagram solvers, with the maths on why brute force fails.
Word listsThe Longest Words in English, From Scrabble to Dictionaries
The 45-letter lung disease, the longest words people actually use, the longest isogram, and what fits on a Scrabble board. Counted from 168,579 words.
Learning EnglishThe 100 Most Common English Words (and Why They Matter)
The hundred words that make up about half of written English, ranked from our frequency data, with what each group does and how to learn them.
Learning EnglishThere, Their or They're? The 10-Second Test
One quick test for each word, eight examples with answers, a paragraph fixed step by step, the mistakes people still make, and a six-question quiz.
Word listsTwo-Letter Scrabble Words: The List and How to Use Them
Every two-letter word worth knowing, grouped by the tile you're stuck with, plus the parallel plays and hooks that turn them into 30-point turns.
Word origins & cultureWhy English Spelling Is So Strange: A Short History
Knight, colonel, island, debt: English spelling records a thousand years of borrowing, sound changes and printers' habits. The main causes, plainly.
Word origins & cultureWords English Borrowed, and From Where
Pyjamas from Hindi, ketchup from Hokkien, robot from Czech, safari from Swahili: a tour of the languages inside everyday English.