The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BACKSWING
Definition of BACKSWING
noun
The preparatory stroke preceding that which produces contact with the target. Normally associated with sports using an implement such as a bat, club, racket or stick.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From back + swing.
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.
BACKSWING in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 14, 3 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 89, 17 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First found by a player on Day 14, 3 June 2026.
Built from these letters
BACKSWING starts with B and ends with G. Sorted, its letters read ABCGIKNSW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start BACKSW
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 14
Could you have found BACKSWING?
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 14 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER