Searching by Letters and Patterns

Start with the fact you know, then choose the narrowest matching constraint. The query engine combines active constraints with AND: a result must satisfy every length, spelling, sound, tier, and source condition you keep enabled.

Translate the clue into constraints

Use an exact-word query when you are checking one spelling. Use a positional pattern when you know where letters sit, and starts-with, ends-with, or contains when position is only partly known. Use an exact anagram when every supplied letter must be consumed. Use a rack query when a result may consume only some letters or a declared blank tile.

Avoid adding a constraint merely because it looks compatible. If the clue says “contains E”, that does not establish a length or a position. A narrower but unsupported query can hide the answer just as effectively as a broad query can bury it.

Pattern syntax has positional meaning

A letter fixes that position. An underscore (_) means exactly one unknown position. A character class such as [ae] means either A or E in that one position. For example, c_t is three positions long, while c[ae]t permits only CAT or CET-shaped spellings present in the selected source scope. A character class does not add another position.

The interface accepts familiar wildcard spellings such as ?, ., and *, but normalises each one-position wildcard to _. It also sorts and deduplicates the members of a character class. Those aliases are input conveniences, not different searches.

Repeated letters are quantities, not hints

Letter counts are significant. Asking for the unordered letters eel requires at least two Es and one L; one E cannot satisfy both copies. An exact anagram requires the complete multiset: listen and silent match because their six letter counts are identical. A rack query never reuses a tile, and a blank can cover only the number of missing letters explicitly allowed by the query.

This distinction is useful when a puzzle’s rules differ. “Make a word from these tiles” is usually a rack query. “Rearrange all these letters” is an exact anagram. “Must include two Es” is a minimum-count constraint. The product keeps those meanings separate rather than hiding them behind one “letters” box.

Read the scope before treating a result as an answer

Tier and source controls affect which compiled records may appear. A source badge means the normalised spelling occurred in that pinned artifact; it does not establish universal English status or acceptance in a current game. The default usefulness order is a product ranking, while alphabetical order changes presentation only.

Shared interactive states remain noindex and outside sitemaps. Sharing a search gives another person the same normalised tool state; it does not create an approved editorial page.