The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
NOVA
Definition of NOVA
noun
Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Feminine nominative singular of Latin novus (“new”). The feminine is used since stella (“star”) is feminine; thus nova is a shortening of nova stella (“new star”), first used in this sense in 1573 by Tycho Brahe.
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.
NOVA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 24 boards so far. 34 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 20, 9 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 20, 9 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
NOVA starts with N and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read ANOV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start NOVA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 20
Could you have found NOVA?
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 20 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER