Cornerstone

Goal — how to win

You win when you've found every cornerstone word on the grid. The cornerstone list on the right tracks your progress; when the count reaches the total, the puzzle is solved.

You hold 3 stars. Finish the puzzle and you keep every star you haven't traded away — using regular hints costs no stars. Trading stars for extra hint packs (see below) is the only thing that lowers your final rating.

The words

Cornerstones are common English words of four or more letters in their base form — like HOUSE, NORTH, or RIDE. Find them all to win; they sit in the panel as blanks (_ _ _ _) until you uncover them.

Bonus words — variations like RIDES or RIDING, and rarer dictionary words (e.g. OATEN, NORI) — don't count toward winning, but each one earns +1 hint. Find the 12-letter keystone word (the path that uses every cell) for a +5 hint bonus.

How to make a word

• Connect adjacent letters — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
• Words must be at least 4 letters long.
• You can't reuse the same cell in a single word.

Hints — where to find them

You start with 3 hints. On desktop, the hint buttons live at the bottom of the cornerstone panel on the right. On mobile, tap the “Hints” chip (under the grid) to open that panel.

• Reveal a letter (1 hint) — then click any blank in any cornerstone word.
• Show definition (1 hint) — then click a cornerstone word to see its meaning.

Out of hints? Trade a star: the first star buys +5 hints (finish with at most ★★☆), the second +10 more (★☆☆), and the last one unlimited hints (finish with no stars).

Controls

• Mouse: click and drag across letters.
• Touch: tap and drag.
• Keyboard: arrow keys to move, Space to add a letter, Enter to submit, Backspace to undo, Esc to clear.
• Press ? or H any time to reopen this help.