Why We Now Show the Solution When You Tap "I'm Done"
Starting today, players who tap "I'm done — I'll try again tomorrow" on the daily puzzle can reveal the completed grid. Here's the thinking behind the change.
The case against showing it. A daily puzzle is meant to be a challenge, and part of that challenge is sitting with an unsolved grid. Revealing the answer too easily can shortcut the satisfaction of cracking it tomorrow, and it could tempt players to give up early just to peek. There's also a competitive concern: once a grid is visible, it's easier to share around and undermine the puzzle for everyone else.
The case for showing it. When you've spent real time on a puzzle and can't finish, walking away with no closure is frustrating. You don't learn what you missed, you don't see how the words fit together, and you're less likely to come back tomorrow. A reveal turns a dead end into a learning moment — you see which words you almost had, which letters tripped you up, and you build pattern recognition for next time.
How we landed. The reveal only appears after you explicitly tap "I'm done" and confirm — your score is locked first, so there's no leaderboard advantage to peeking. Letters you placed correctly appear in green, revealed letters in amber, and any incorrect guesses in red with a strikethrough — a quick visual debrief of how the round actually went.
The bet is simple: closure beats mystery for players who've already given up, and the guardrails (explicit opt-in, locked score) protect the integrity of the puzzle for everyone still trying. See you tomorrow.