The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.

ZONAL

/ˈzəʊnəl/5 letters

Definition of ZONAL

adjective

Divided into zones.

Wiktionary · CC BY-SA

Where it comes from

First attested 1865–70, from zone + -al.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

Rarity score
Withheld
Revealed only in play
Tier
Withheld
Find it yourself

OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.

ZONAL in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 6 boards so far. 22 players have found it across Outlier's history.

Day 1Day 102
Its 6 boards, across 102 finished boards · taller bars are busier boards
6
Boards found on
29
First board
69
Latest board
19
Longest gap, days

It first turned up on Day 29, 18 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 69, 28 July 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 33 days.

First found by a player on Day 29, 18 June 2026.

Built from these letters

ZONAL
5
Letters
2
Vowels
3
Consonants
5
Different letters
1
Longest consonant run
1
Longest vowel run

ZONAL starts with Z and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ALNOZ - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses Z - among the least common letters in written English.

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 ZONAL

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

ZONALLY

Could you have found ZONAL?

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 29 - and most players walked straight past it.

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