The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
KOAN
Definition of KOAN
noun
A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable or parable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Japanese 公案 (kōan), derived from Chinese 公案 (gōng'àn, “official business”).
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.
KOAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 23 boards so far. 111 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 22, 11 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 102, 30 August 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 22, 11 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
KOAN starts with K and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AKNO - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Also seen on Day 22
Could you have found KOAN?
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 22 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER