The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PHOTOMASK
Definition of PHOTOMASK
noun
A transparent quartz block marked with many high-resolution images; a series of them are used in the photolithography of integrated circuits, one for each layer.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From photo- + mask.
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.
PHOTOMASK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 47, 6 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 97, 25 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 25 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 95, 23 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PHOTOMASK starts with P and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read AHKMOOPST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O appears more than once.
Words that start PHOTOM
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 47
Could you have found PHOTOMASK?
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 47 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER