The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SMEW
Definition of SMEW
noun
A small compact diving duck, Mergellus albellus, that breeds in the northern taiga of Europe and Asia and winters on sheltered coasts or inland lakes.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Origin unknown. In use since the 17th century.
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.
SMEW in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 21 boards so far. 34 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 35, 24 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 35, 24 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SMEW starts with S and ends with W. Sorted, its letters read EMSW - 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 35
Could you have found SMEW?
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 35 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER