The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
TARPAULIN
Definition of TARPAULIN
noun
A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth or plastic sheet, used as a cover or blanket (often as weatherproofing, or to keep loose cargo from blowing off a lorry).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From tar + pall (“heavy canvas”) + -ing. The sailor sense reflects that sailors of centuries past often wore garments made of tarred cloth (for weatherproofing).
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.
TARPAULIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 16 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 42, 1 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 95, 23 August 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 42, 1 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
TARPAULIN starts with T and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AAILNPRTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. A appears more than once.
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 TARPAU
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 42
Could you have found TARPAULIN?
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 42 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER