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How to play Cluster
Cluster is Puzzle Pact’s daily word-grouping game. Find four connections among sixteen words, playing solo without an account or comparing mistakes with friends in a private competition.
Select four words with a shared connection and submit the group. Find all four groups before making four mistakes. A one-away message means three of your selected words belong together.
Play Cluster →Example: check all four words against one connection
A fictional example, independent of today’s puzzle.
1. On a fictional board, OAK, ELM, PINE and BIRCH share a clear connection: they are trees.
2. Give your proposed category a specific name before submitting. “Trees” explains all four words more precisely than “things found outdoors”.
3. A word may suggest more than one meaning. PINE can also mean to long for something, so look at the remaining words before deciding where it belongs.
4. If a submission is one away, three selected words belong to one group. The message does not identify which word to replace: reconsider each candidate instead of swapping at random.
Solving tips
Read the whole board first
Look for a complete set of four before submitting a tempting pair or trio. A convincing connection still needs to account for every word in the proposed group.
Try another meaning
Words can connect through meanings, expressions or the roles they play. If a category stalls at three words, reread the others with a different interpretation in mind.
Spend mistakes carefully
You have fewer chances than possible combinations. After an incorrect submission, name what changed in your reasoning before trying another group. Four mistakes end the run.
Scoring
Competition scoring: fewest mistakes. Compare individual performances in your group’s results page, separately from medal standings.
A new puzzle every day
A new daily puzzle becomes available at midnight in America/New_York (Eastern Time, including daylight saving time). Everyone plays the same dated puzzle; refreshing or a website update does not create another set for that day.
Play without an account on this device, or sign in to sync completed-game checkmarks and join private competitions.