The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BACKHOE
Definition of BACKHOE
noun
A piece of excavating equipment, either an integral subassembly or an attachment, consisting of a digging bucket or scoop on the end of an articulated arm, drawn backwards to move earth; used in excavator/digger and backhoe tractors.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From back + hoe.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
BACKHOE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 4 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 68, 27 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 110, 7 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 68, 27 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
BACKHOE starts with B and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read ABCEHKO - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start BACKHO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found BACKHOE?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 68 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER