The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
STICKLER
Definition of STICKLER
noun
A referee or adjudicator at a fight, wrestling match, duel, etc. who ensures fair play.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English stighteler, stytelere, equivalent to stickle + -er. The judges at Cornish wrestling matches do indeed carry sticks which serve for signalling and as a badge of their office. This practice has evolved from holding swords and then swordsticks.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Middle English
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
4th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
6.2%
of traced words share this origin (4,849)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
STICKLER in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 38 boards so far. 98 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 31, 20 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 155, 22 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 4 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 31, 20 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
STICKLER starts with S and ends with R. Sorted, its letters read CEIKLRST - 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 STICKL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 31
Could you have found STICKLER?
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 31 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER