The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SPAN
Definition of SPAN
noun
The full width of an open hand from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger used as an informal unit of length.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spannō (“span, handbreadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”). Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ġespan, ġespann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.
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.
SPAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 6 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 33, 22 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 121, 18 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First found by a player on Day 41, 30 June 2026.
Built from these letters
SPAN starts with S and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ANPS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start SPAN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 33
Could you have found SPAN?
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 33 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER