The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HOCKEY
Definition of HOCKEY
noun
Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
16th century, of unknown origin. Possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, akin to hock (“hook”) + -ey, or from Middle French hoquet (“shepherd's staff, crook”), which resembles a hockey stick, via a diminutive form of Old French hoc from Middle Dutch hoec (“hook”), a cognate of Old English hōc.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
How it is built
Same root, HOCKEY · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Middle Dutch, Middle French, Old English, Old French.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HOCKEY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 25 boards so far. 61 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 2, 23 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 160, 27 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 2, 23 May 2026.
Built from these letters
HOCKEY starts with H and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read CEHKOY - 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.
Also seen on Day 2
Could you have found HOCKEY?
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 2 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER