The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
STAVE
Definition of STAVE
noun
One of a number of narrow strips of wood, or narrow iron plates, placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel or structure; especially, one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, barrel, pail, etc.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Back-formation from staves, the plural of staff.
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.
STAVE in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 41 boards so far. 98 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 20, 9 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 109, 6 September 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 20, 9 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
STAVE starts with S and ends with E. Sorted, its letters read AESTV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start STAVE
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 20
Could you have found STAVE?
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 20 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER