How to play smush

Every round shows one blended word and a clue. Find the two real words that were smushed together to make it.

Daily smush or unlimited

• Daily smush: one blend a day, the same for everyone. A new one starts at midnight, your local time. Share your coloured grid when you finish, without spoiling the answer.
• Unlimited: pick Easy, Medium, Hard or Mixed and play as many blends as you like.

The rules

• Read the blend and the clue. SMOG, "dirty city air", is SMOKE + FOG.
• Type both words and press Enter. Each word has its own row of tiles.
• Green means the right letter in the right spot. Orange means the letter is in that word, but somewhere else. Grey means it isn't in that word.
• You have 6 guesses and 3 hints per word.
• Solve it, press Next word, and keep your streak going.

Tips

• Split the blend in your head. The start of the blend usually comes from the first word, the end from the second: MOTEL starts like MOTOR and ends like HOTEL.
• Use the clue for meaning. The clue never spells out either word, but it tells you the topic.
• Lock in the easy word first. Often one word is obvious. Get it green, then spend your guesses on the other.
• Browse the list of portmanteau words to get a feel for how blends are built.

Questions

What is a portmanteau word?

A word made by blending two words into one, keeping part of each. Smog is smoke + fog, and motel is motor + hotel.

How many guesses do I get?

Six. Each guess is both words at once, and the tiles show which letters are in the right place.

How do hints work?

You get 3 hints per word. Each one reveals a letter in its correct spot.

Is there a daily limit?

The daily smush is once a day. Unlimited play has no limit: solve a word and press Next word for another. Your streak keeps going until you miss one.

Can I make my own puzzle?

Yes. Tap Make your own on the start screen, enter a blend, its two words and a clue, and you get a link to send to a friend.

What do the difficulty levels change?

Easy uses well-known blends like brunch and spork. Hard uses rarer ones. Mixed serves all of them.