There is one secret word, and every guess comes back with a rank showing how semantically close it is — letters and length tell you nothing.
Publisher
Contexto
Cost
Free
How often
One puzzle a day, plus previous days
Time
5 minutes to an hour — the variance is the game
The rules
Guess any word; the game returns its rank against the secret word.
Rank 1 is the answer. Lower numbers mean closer in meaning.
There is no limit on guesses.
Feedback is based on meaning from a language model, not spelling or length.
Tips and hints are available if you stall.
What works
Completely different feedback loop from every letter-based game
Unlimited guesses means you are never eliminated, only stuck
Watching a rank fall from 40,000 to 300 is genuinely compelling
Free, no account, and past puzzles stay playable
What doesn’t
The similarity model has its own logic, and it is sometimes baffling
Can swallow an hour with no natural stopping point
Progress is not linear — you can guess for ten minutes and get nowhere
Nothing to share; a rank history means little to anyone else
Skip Contexto if: Anyone who wants a bounded puzzle with a clear finish, or who finds open-ended guessing maddening rather than absorbing
Questions about Contexto
How does Contexto work?
It compares your guess to the secret word by meaning, using a language model, and returns a rank. Rank 1 is the answer; a rank of 300 means only 299 words in its list are closer in meaning than yours.
Is there a guess limit in Contexto?
No. You can guess as many times as you like, which is why it is a game about narrowing in rather than about surviving.
Why is my Contexto guess ranked so badly when it seems related?
The ranking comes from how words are used in context, not from category membership. Two words you consider related can sit far apart if they rarely appear in similar sentences.
Is Contexto free?
Yes, free with no account, and previous days' puzzles remain available.
Meldle is a different daily puzzle — four words sharing one missing pair of letters. Try today’s → It’s free, needs no account, and here is what it does badly.