The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
JOYSTICK
Definition of JOYSTICK
noun
A mechanical control device consisting of a handgrip mounted on a base or pedestal and typically having one or more buttons, used to control an aircraft, computer, or other equipment.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From joy + stick. First attested around 1910 (as joy-stick) as the control stick on an airplane. Its relation to the word joy is unclear.
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.
JOYSTICK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 51, 10 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 121, 18 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 51, 10 July 2026.
Built from these letters
JOYSTICK starts with J and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read CIJKOSTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses J - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start JOYSTI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 51
Could you have found JOYSTICK?
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 51 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER