The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CONTRAIL
Definition of CONTRAIL
noun
An artificial cloud made by the exhaust of jet aircraft or wingtip vortices that precipitate a stream of tiny ice crystals in moist, frigid upper air.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Blend of condensation + trail.
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.
CONTRAIL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 97, 25 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
CONTRAIL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ACILNORT - 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 CONTRA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found CONTRAIL?
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 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER