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Every word joins the one before it to make a compound word: SUN → FLOWER → POT makes sunflower and flowerpot. A round is a chain of seven words. You get the first one, and the rest hide under frosted tiles.

• Type the word. It goes in as soon as you type the last letter.
• Right: you score a point for every letter that was still hidden, and you keep going.
• Wrong: you lose a point (more in later rounds). In a Duel the next letter is revealed and your rival takes the turn.
• Pass (Duel): free, but your rival gets the next letter and the turn.
• Runs: solve words in a row without a pass, hint or wrong guess, and each one scores more, up to five times as much.

The full rules are under How to play on the game’s title screen.

• Solo: just you. Beat your best score for each difficulty.
• Duel: two players. Pass and Play on one phone, Head to Head with a friend on their own phone using an invite code, or a Random Match with someone online.
• Zen: endless chains, no score, free reveals.

• Relaxed: everyday words, each starting with its first letter showing.
• Classic: everyday and familiar words, each starting with one letter showing.
• Challenge: every word, no free hints, and in a Duel 30 seconds a turn.
• Custom: choose the words, the starting letter, the hints and the Duel timer yourself.

On the title screen pick Duel, tap Play, then Head to Head and Challenge a friend. You get a six-character code like K7P-Q2M and a link to send.

Your friend can tap the link, or open Cufflinks and enter the code in Duel → Head to Head. Pasting your whole message works too: the game finds the code in it.

• A code works once and lasts 48 hours.
• Making a new code cancels your old one.
• Codes never use 0, O, 1, I or L, so they can’t be mixed up. If it looks like an O, it’s a different letter or a number.

The game tells you why. The usual reasons:

• It expired. Codes last 48 hours.
• It was already used. Each code starts one game.
• It was cancelled. Your friend made a newer code, or cancelled it.
• A typo. Copy and paste the code, or tap the link instead.

In each case, ask your friend for a fresh code.

Online games are turn by turn, and you don’t both need to be playing at the same moment. While the game is open it checks for your opponent’s moves, and you can come back to a game later from Your games in the Duel menu.

Random Match looks for someone playing the same difficulty, rounds and turn timer right now. If nobody turns up within about 10 seconds, you can play the computer instead. The computer is always shown as the computer, never passed off as a person.

Notifications when it’s your turn aren’t available yet.

No. Online play signs you in anonymously, and all you choose is a player name. That also means there’s nothing to restore: if you delete the app or clear your browser’s data, your link to your online games goes with it.

It’s coming soon to the App Store. Until then you can play in your browser on any phone, tablet or computer.

Yes: Solo, Zen and Duel pass-and-play all work without a connection. Head to Head and Random Match need the internet. In the browser, the game needs a connection to load the first time.

Please tell us. Send the chain (or a screenshot), what you expected and what happened, and which device you were on.