Wordchute strategy: how to plan a full clear
A good word scores points. A well-chosen word also leaves a useful board. Learn to look ahead, predict each drop and plan a route through all 32 letters.
Start with the goal: clear all 32 letters
Wordchute is a daily word strategy game with a visible letter queue. The lower 16 letters form the active 4×4 board; another 16 wait above it. Connect at least three touching letters, including diagonals, without using a tile twice in one word. Accepted words disappear and the remaining letters fall straight down in their columns.
If you know Boggle, the touching-letter paths will feel familiar. The added challenge is that playing a word removes those letters and changes the grid. Think of the queue as a Tetris-style preview for planning your next move, with the entire remaining letter supply visible rather than just the next piece.
Your first priority is tiles cleared, then score. A full clear earns a 900-point bonus. That makes keeping a route to the finish more valuable than taking a longer word that leaves you stuck. Every daily starting board has multiple verified full-clear routes, but a move can take you away from all of them.
New to the game? Read the complete Wordchute rules. The examples below are invented teaching positions, independent of today’s puzzle.
1. Read the next drop before playing a word
For each column your word touches, track the tiles you remove. Each remaining letter falls one space for every removed tile beneath it. Letters below the removals stay where they are, as do untouched columns. Look for words that will become connected after that change.
Position and paths
This invented chute reads AMRN, LIOE, EDAC, USHP, LIAD, BTET, OANL, REIF from top to bottom. RATE starts at the bottom-left R, moves diagonally up-right to A, up to T, then right to E. After the drop, SAT reads left to right across the second row from the top of the playable board.
RATE removes one tile from the first column, two from the second, one from the third and none from the fourth. Count those removals before playing: they bring the queued S into play at exactly the height needed to join A and T. You can plan RATE, then SAT, using only letters already in view.
Same score, different consequences
Position and paths
From the same starting position, TARE runs down the second column from T to A, diagonally down-left to R, then right to the bottom E. The first column loses one tile, the second loses three and the other two lose none. S lands in the second row from the bottom; A stays in the top playable row, two rows away.
RATE and TARE both earn 160 points, but TARE drops S too far while leaving A at its original height. It may lead to other words; it loses this particular follow-up. Compare where the letters land, not just the word length. Finding SAT next is a useful local plan, not proof that the rest of the chute will clear.
2. Plan the last words before you take the longest one
With seven letters left, you might finish with a three-letter word and a four-letter word. Taking four letters first leaves three, but those three still need to touch and spell an accepted word. The number of letters alone does not prove a finish exists.
Position and paths
Only seven tiles remain: CAT sits directly above the first three letters of the bottom row SAND; the other cells are empty. CANT follows C above S, A above A, N on the bottom, then T above N. Removing it leaves S and A in the first two bottom cells and D in the fourth.
CANT is a valid four-letter word worth 160 points. But after it disappears, the remaining S, A and D cannot form a connected word. Letters fall vertically; D cannot slide sideways across the empty column. This run ends without a full clear.
Position and paths
From the same seven-tile position, take CAT left to right across the upper occupied row. SAND stays connected across the bottom row. Take SAND left to right next to empty the board.
CAT earns 90 points and SAND earns 160. Together they clear the position and earn the full-clear bonus. The shorter first word preserves a better finish. This is a specific checked example, not a rule that shorter words are always better.
3. Compare what each word leaves behind
Before committing, check three things:
- The incoming letters. Which queued tiles will enter the active board, and where?
- The remaining connections. Does removing a tile separate letters you still need together? Watch columns that may empty before their neighbors.
- The finish. Can you picture a valid next word or a final pair of words? As the board shrinks, inspect every remaining tile.
A long word can be excellent when it clears awkward tiles and leaves useful connections. A short word can be excellent when it aligns a future word. Compare the resulting positions rather than choosing by length alone.
Also consider the path, not just the spelling. If a word can use different copies of a letter, each path removes different tiles and may produce a different drop. The same word is not always the same move.
4. Practice by tracing the decision that changed the board
When you get stuck, ask which earlier move separated a useful pair of letters or emptied a column too soon. Undo lets you restore an earlier position in a new run; Restart lets you try the board from the beginning. Compare the alternatives and their drops.
A hint reveals a valid next move, not a promise that your current position can still be fully cleared. Taking a hint or showing a solution makes that run and later runs on the board assisted and excludes them from rankings; earlier unassisted results still count. Use help when learning matters more to you than that board’s ranking.
Past boards give you more positions to practice on, with their own rankings. They do not repair a missed daily streak. For the daily ritual, a new board arrives at 5 a.m. New York time.
Want to follow one board all the way to zero? Try the full-clear walkthrough, using an illustrative board and everyday words.
Common Wordchute strategy questions
Does Wordchute use a Scrabble dictionary?
Wordchute’s dictionary is inspired by Scrabble-style word play, but uses its own curated American-English word list. Words accepted in Scrabble may differ from those accepted in Wordchute.
Is every Wordchute board fully clearable?
Every published starting board has multiple verified full-clear routes. That does not mean every move preserves a route, or that every position you reach can still be cleared.
Should I always play the longest word?
No. Longer words score more, but rankings prioritize tiles cleared. Check the drop and the remaining connections before taking the points.
Can I clear one or two leftover letters?
No. Words need at least three letters. Avoid leaving one or two tiles as your entire remaining board, and remember that even three or more tiles can be stranded.
Are the next letters random?
No. All 32 letters are visible from the start. Their columns stay fixed; your word choices determine when they fall into play.
More about Wordchute
Practice on past boards. Today and three recent past boards are free. Older boards are available in the app.
Browse all 14 Wordchute articles
- Daily word games
- Why I built Wordchute
- How to plan a full clear
- Wordchute vs Wordle
- Building Wordchute’s puzzles
- A full-clear walkthrough
- Games like Boggle
- SpellTower and Wordchute
- Wordchute vs Squaredle
- Wordchute vs Typeshift
- WordBrain and Wordchute
- Word Wipe and Wordchute
- Bookworm and Wordchute
- Wordchute vs Letterpress