The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
HOWEL
Definition of HOWEL
noun
A plane-like tool used by coopers for smoothing and chamfering their work, especially the inside of casks.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From the same source as German Hobel. Related to Danish høvl and Swedish hyvel.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- German
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
8th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.3%
of traced words share this origin (2,761)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, HOWEL · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
HOWEL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 9 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 28, 17 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 168, 4 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 28, 17 June 2026.
Built from these letters
HOWEL starts with H and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read EHLOW - 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 28
Could you have found HOWEL?
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 28 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER