The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CAPSTAN
Definition of CAPSTAN
noun
A vertical cylindrical machine that revolves on a spindle, typically surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for levers for turning it; used to apply force to cables, ropes, etc.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed into Middle English from either Old French cabestan, from Old Occitan cabestan, from cabestre (“pulley cord”) or from Spanish cabestran, both of which derive from Latin capistrum (“halter”), from capiō (“take hold of”).
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.
CAPSTAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 12 boards so far. 30 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 38, 27 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 95, 23 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 38, 27 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CAPSTAN starts with C and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AACNPST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start CAPSTA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 38
Could you have found CAPSTAN?
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 38 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER