Counterweight

How to play Counterweight

Counterweight is a word puzzle about balance. A word sits on the left pan with its total, and you have to make the right pan match it exactly. Find a word that balances and belongs to the category, and the pan locks.

The rules

1. Every letter weighs its place in the alphabet: A is 1, B is 2, and so on up to Z at 26.
2. The left pan holds a word and its total. The prompt names a category, such as “Balance it with a fruit”.
3. Type letters to place them on the right pan. The scale tilts live as you type.
4. A word that balances and is on the category’s list locks at once. There is no submit button.
5. A word that balances but isn’t on the list leaves the scale level and says so. A plural that balances gets “Level, but try the singular.”

A worked pan

The left pan says FORK, which weighs 6 + 15 + 18 + 11 = 50. The prompt is “Balance it with a fruit”.

Type PEAR: 16 + 5 + 1 + 18 = 40. That is 10 too light. Taking PEAR off the pan costs 4, one takeback for each letter, so you start again from an empty right pan.

Type APPLE instead: 1 + 16 + 16 + 12 + 5 = 50. The scale is level, APPLE is on the fruit list, and the pan locks.

MANGO = 13 + 1 + 14 + 7 + 15 = 50 would have balanced too. Any word that totals 50 and is a fruit will do.

Takebacks and your score

Every letter that comes off the pan costs one takeback. Backspace takes off the last letter, and Escape takes them all off. Your score for the day is the total of your takebacks across all five pans. Zero is a perfect day, and lower is better.

Hints cost takebacks too. A letter count costs 4. A first letter costs 8. “Show me an answer” costs 15, and a day where you use it counts as not solved, so your streak resets.

Five pans a day

Each day brings five pans. The wider categories come first and the narrower ones after. Everyone gets the same five pans on a given date, and the day resets at local midnight.

Grades

Each finished day gets a grade from its score:

• Perfectly level: 0 takebacks.
• Steady hand: up to 10.
• Light touch: up to 25.
• Got there: above 25.
• Tipped: any pan you gave up.

Endless

Endless is a run with a budget of 40 takebacks. Each balanced pan refunds 5, so a steady run can keep going. Hints and giving up spend from the same budget. Your score is the number of pans you balanced, and the run ends when the budget runs out.

Each Endless run has a code like E-7KQ2M9. Type a code in to replay that exact run.

Playing offline

Visit Counterweight once, and it works offline after that. Your progress is saved on the device, so a reload picks up the current pan with its letters and your score so far.

Counterweight strategy

The best Counterweight players spend very few takebacks, and they do it by thinking before they type. The live scale is honest, so you can lean on it, but every letter you take back costs you one point.

Do the sum before you type

Add the letters in your head first. A word that totals the target needs no trial and error. If you can see that a word is 4 short, you know which letters to reach for before you touch a key.

Know your light and heavy letters

Vowels are light: A is 1, E is 5, I is 9 and O is 15. U is the exception at 21. W, X, Y and Z are heavy, at 23, 24, 25 and 26. A word with a few heavy letters swings the scale fast, so use them when you need to close a big gap.

Watch the running total

The total tells you when to bail. If the pan passes the target after the third letter, stop there. Taking off three letters costs three takebacks, not five.

Long words suit big targets

A long word has more weight to play with, so it suits a big target. For a small target, a short word keeps the total easy to steer.

Buy the letter count before a blind try

A blind try often costs more than a hint. Trying fruit after fruit until one balances can cost you a handful of takebacks. A letter count costs 4, so if you’re not sure of the length, buy the count before you guess.

Hints

Use a hint only when the sum has stopped helping you. A letter count costs 4, and a first letter costs 8. Save “Show me an answer” for the day you truly need it, since it costs 15 and the day counts as not solved.

Counterweight FAQ

How are letters weighed?

Each letter weighs its place in the alphabet, from A at 1 to Z at 26. A word’s total is the sum of its letters. So FORK is 6 + 15 + 18 + 11 = 50, and PEAR is 16 + 5 + 1 + 18 = 40.

What is a takeback?

A takeback is one letter taken off the right pan. Every takeback costs one point. Your score for the day is the total of them, and zero is a perfect day. Lower is better.

Why wasn’t my word accepted?

If the scale is level and the message says “Level, but that’s not a fruit on our list” (or whichever category the prompt named), the word balances but isn’t in the category’s list. Try another word for the same category. If it says “Level, but try the singular,” the word is a plural and only the singular counts.

Why don’t plurals count?

Each category lists the singular form of its words, so a plural such as APPLES balances without locking. Type the singular instead. A few words exist only as plurals, and those are on the list in that form.

Does everyone get the same pans?

Yes. Everyone gets the same five pans on a given date, and the day resets at local midnight. Wider categories come first, and narrower ones follow.

What is Endless?

Endless is a run with a budget of 40 takebacks. Each balanced pan refunds 5, and hints or giving up spend from the same budget. Your score is the number of pans you balanced. Each run has a code like E-7KQ2M9, which you can share or type in to replay the run.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once you’ve visited it at least once. After that, the daily and Endless both work with no connection.

Is there a hard mode?

Not yet. Every player gets the same five pans and the same live scale.