The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SAMBUCA
Definition of SAMBUCA
noun
An Italian liqueur made from elderberries and flavoured with licorice, traditionally served with 3 coffee beans that represent health, wealth and fortune (or past, present and future).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Italian sambuca, from Latin sambūcus (“elder tree”), due to a similar 19th century liquor flavored with elderflower. Modern sambuca, which doesn't necessarily have elderberry, started being marketed in 1971.
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.
SAMBUCA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 13 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 41, 30 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 119, 16 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 41, 30 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SAMBUCA starts with S and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read AABCMSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
Words that start SAMBUC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 41
Could you have found SAMBUCA?
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 41 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER