NEAR: a daily word game
NEAR is a daily word-association puzzle. There is one secret word, and every guess you make is given a rank: how close its meaning is to the secret, out of more than 35,000 words.
Rank 1 is the secret word itself. Rank 2 is its nearest neighbour in meaning, and the numbers climb as the words drift further away. There is no limit on guesses, so the game is about homing in.
Closeness is about how words are used together, not how they are spelt. "Doctor" is near "hospital"; it is nowhere near "doctrine".
How to play NEAR
- There is a secret word. Guess any word and you are told its rank: how close its meaning is to the secret, out of every word we know.
- Rank 1 is the secret word itself. Rank 2 is its closest neighbour, and so on down.
- You have as many guesses as you like. Plurals count as their singular.
- Three "warmer" hints are available. Each gives you a word halfway between your best guess and the answer, and costs points.
- When you finish you are shown the ten closest words.
Tips
- Start wide. Try a handful of very different words (a place, an animal, a feeling, an object) and see which lands lowest.
- When a guess ranks in the low hundreds, stay in that area and try its relatives: things found with it, things made of it, people who use it.
- Opposites are often close. If "hot" ranks well, try "cold".
- Plurals count as the singular, so do not spend guesses on both.
- A hint gives you a word halfway between your best guess and the answer. It is most valuable when you are stuck in the thousands.
Common questions
How many guesses do I get?
As many as you like. Fewer guesses score more.
How do the hints work?
You have three. Each shows a word about halfway between your best rank and the answer, and each takes 80 points off your score.
Why is my word not accepted?
NEAR knows about 35,000 ordinary English words. Names, very rare words and misspellings are not in its list.
What do I see at the end?
The ten words closest to the secret, so you can see how near you were.
How is the ranking worked out?
From a published set of word vectors, which place words that appear in similar contexts close together. The credits are on the attributions page.
A new puzzle every day
NEAR has one puzzle a day, released at midnight UK time and the same for everyone. It is free, and you can play without an account. Finish it to keep your streak going and to see where you stand on the leaderboards.