The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
QUICKSAND
Definition of QUICKSAND
noun
Wet sand that appears firm but in which things readily sink, often found near rivers or coasts.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English quyksande, from Old English cwecesand (“quicksand”), equivalent to quick (“living”) + sand. Cognate with Swedish kvicksand (“quicksand”), Icelandic kviksandur, kviksyndi (“quicksand”). More at quick, sand.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
4.1%
of traced words share this origin (1,218)
branch · 22.3% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names Icelandic, 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.
QUICKSAND in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 140 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 23, 12 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 126, 23 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 22 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 23, 12 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
QUICKSAND starts with Q and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ACDIKNQSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses Q - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start QUICKS
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 23
Could you have found QUICKSAND?
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 23 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER