The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CRANKS
Definition of CRANKS
noun
plural of crank
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Word DNA
CRANKS inherits its ancestry from its root, CRANK.
Line of descent
- Proto-Germanic
- Dutch
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (981)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CRANK · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Scots.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CRANKS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 12 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 149, 16 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 7, 28 May 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CRANKS starts with C and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read ACKNRS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start CRANKS
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found CRANKS?
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