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Wordchute walkthrough: a full clear with everyday words

Follow all 32 letters from the visible queue to an empty board. This worked example uses familiar three- and four-letter words, with each move chosen for the connections it leaves behind.

By , creator of Wordchute. Published . Updated .
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A practice example made for this guide

This illustrative board was made for the guide, so it won’t spoil today’s puzzle. It follows the same 4×4 rules as the daily game: all 32 letters are visible, touching letters form words, and remaining tiles fall straight down in their own columns.

Our route is CUP → DOG → SUN → BOOK → TREE → HOME → FISH → CAT → SAND. Every word has three or four letters. Follow how each word prepares the next one.

For the complete rules, start with How to play. For more ways to compare moves, see the Wordchute strategy guide.

Follow each move and its drop

The numbers show the order to trace. Compare the board before and after each word, including the waiting tiles above it.

1 / 9

Move 1: CUP

Take C, U and P across the lower board. The first three columns each lose one tile; the fourth stays put. G drops onto the same height as O, with D diagonally below it: DOG is ready next.
Read this board and path as text

Rows count upward from the bottom: rows 1–4 are playable; rows 5–8 are waiting.

Before: Column 1, bottom to top: E C G T O O S C; Column 2, bottom to top: U R O B K E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: D P I M N H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: S U E O H S F D.

Path: column 1, row 2 → column 2, row 1 → column 3, row 2.

After: Column 1, bottom to top: E G T O O S C; Column 2, bottom to top: R O B K E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: D I M N H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: S U E O H S F D.

Read the waiting letters by column

Only the lower four rows are playable. On the starting board, the next waiting letters are O in column 1, K in column 2 and N in column 3. Removing one tile from each of those columns brings those letters into play. Column 4 will stay as it is until we use a tile there.

Look at the letters near each possible landing place. A vowel elsewhere in the chute cannot help a consonant it never touches. Here, preserving nearby O tiles makes BOOK possible, and the two E tiles on the left later connect through T and R for TREE. Their positions matter more than a target vowel ratio across the whole board.

The complete nine-word route

Read the decisions in order below. Each move also includes its exact path and resulting columns. Column numbers run left to right; row 1 is the bottom row.

  1. CUP · 29 tiles left

    Take C, U and P across the lower board. The first three columns each lose one tile; the fourth stays put. G drops onto the same height as O, with D diagonally below it: DOG is ready next.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 1, row 2 → column 2, row 1 → column 3, row 2.

    Column 1, bottom to top: E G T O O S C; Column 2, bottom to top: R O B K E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: D I M N H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: S U E O H S F D.

  2. DOG · 26 tiles left

    Read DOG from right to left. Each of the first three columns loses one more tile. N, originally waiting in column 3, is now playable and diagonally beside U in column 4. That makes SUN available.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 3, row 1 → column 2, row 2 → column 1, row 2.

    Column 1, bottom to top: E T O O S C; Column 2, bottom to top: R B K E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: I M N H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: S U E O H S F D.

  3. SUN · 23 tiles left

    SUN takes two low tiles from column 4 and N from column 3. Column 4 drops by two, bringing H into the active board. The B, O, O and K on the left stay connected for the next word.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 4, row 1 → column 4, row 2 → column 3, row 3.

    Column 1, bottom to top: E T O O S C; Column 2, bottom to top: R B K E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: I M H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: E O H S F D.

  4. BOOK · 19 tiles left

    BOOK removes two tiles from each of the left columns. The two O tiles are one above the other. E falls beside R, while the other E stays at the bottom of column 1. Those nearby vowels give TREE its route.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 2, row 2 → column 1, row 3 → column 1, row 4 → column 2, row 3.

    Column 1, bottom to top: E T S C; Column 2, bottom to top: R E A A; Column 3, bottom to top: I M H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: E O H S F D.

  5. TREE · 15 tiles left

    Trace T, R, E, E around the lower-left square. The left columns now hold just SC and AA, read bottom to top. Keep those four letters for the finish; HOME and FISH can use the right side first.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 1, row 2 → column 2, row 1 → column 2, row 2 → column 1, row 1.

    Column 1, bottom to top: S C; Column 2, bottom to top: A A; Column 3, bottom to top: I M H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: E O H S F D.

  6. HOME · 11 tiles left

    HOME removes H, O and E from column 4, and M from column 3. S and F fall into the bottom two spaces of column 4. They connect diagonally with I and H in column 3, making FISH.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 4, row 3 → column 4, row 2 → column 3, row 2 → column 4, row 1.

    Column 1, bottom to top: S C; Column 2, bottom to top: A A; Column 3, bottom to top: I H N T; Column 4, bottom to top: S F D.

  7. FISH · 7 tiles left

    FISH clears two tiles from each right column. Seven tiles remain: CAT above the first three letters of SAND. All four columns still contribute to the finish.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 4, row 2 → column 3, row 1 → column 4, row 1 → column 3, row 2.

    Column 1, bottom to top: S C; Column 2, bottom to top: A A; Column 3, bottom to top: N T; Column 4, bottom to top: D.

  8. CAT · 4 tiles left

    Take CAT across the upper occupied row. SAND stays untouched along the bottom. This three-letter move preserves a complete final word.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 1, row 2 → column 2, row 2 → column 3, row 2.

    Column 1, bottom to top: S; Column 2, bottom to top: A; Column 3, bottom to top: N; Column 4, bottom to top: D.

  9. SAND · 0 tiles left

    Read SAND left to right to remove the final four tiles. All 32 letters are gone, using only three- and four-letter words.

    Exact path and resulting board

    Path: column 1, row 1 → column 2, row 1 → column 3, row 1 → column 4, row 1.

    Column 1, bottom to top: empty; Column 2, bottom to top: empty; Column 3, bottom to top: empty; Column 4, bottom to top: empty.

A tempting move that strands the finish

After FISH, TAN is also a valid word. Like CAT, it takes three tiles, but leaves S, C and A on the left and D alone on the right. The empty third column breaks the connection. D cannot slide sideways to join them.

TAN is accepted, but leaves D isolated beyond an empty column. CAT followed by SAND clears all seven tiles instead.
Position and paths

Seven tiles remain: CAT above the first three letters of SAND. TAN takes T and A from the upper occupied row, then N from the bottom of column 3. C remains above S in column 1. The remaining bottom row is S, A, an empty column, D.

Counting the tiles is a useful first check: one or two remaining tiles cannot form a word. But having four tiles left is no guarantee either: here, D is stranded beyond a column with no waiting letters to refill it. Plan the final words together and check that their letters will still touch.

What to carry into your next board

Before playing, count the removals in each column and picture the new neighbors. Keep an eye on columns that are getting short: emptying a middle column can cut horizontal and diagonal routes between the two sides. That is a reason to inspect the result, not a rule to avoid the middle. SUN and FISH use central tiles here while preserving the connections the route needs.

Look for a connected next word, preserve useful local vowel connections, and revisit the finish as the chute shrinks. A longer word can be the right choice too. Use these questions to plan your own route, one drop at a time.

Ready to try planning your own drops? Play today’s Wordchute, or choose a board from Past boards.

Play today’s boardGet the app for iOS & Android
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Practice on past boards. Today and three recent past boards are free. Older boards are available in the app.

Browse all 14 Wordchute articles