Replace All

How to play Replace All

Replace All has one tool: find and replace. The board shows a few words, and each one has a target word it must become. On Easy the target letters are shown on the tiles. On Medium, Hard and the daily, the targets are hidden, and you find them by watching which tiles lock in. Your job is to make every board word match its target, in as few moves as you can.

The rules

1. A move reads “Replace X with Y”. Pick a letter on the board, then the letter it should become.
2. The change happens everywhere at once. Every X in every word turns into a Y, so one move can rewrite several words.
3. Every resulting word must be in our word list. If one of them isn’t, the move is refused and nothing changes.
4. Solve the puzzle by making every board word match its target. A tile locks in, tinted and marked with a ✓, when its letter is right for that position.
5. Your score is the number of moves you made. A move you undo still counts, and a refused move never does.
6. Par is the fewest moves that can solve the puzzle. The search that finds it is exhaustive, so nobody can beat par.

Your grade follows from that score: 🟩 is par, 🟨 is one move over par, 🟥 is two or more over, and ⬛ means you gave up. Undo and Restart are free beyond that. The moves you already made still count, but nothing extra is charged.

A worked example

This one is framed as Easy, where the targets are shown. The board reads pan and pen, and the targets are pen and pin.

Replace e with i first. Every e becomes an i, so the board reads pan and pin. Both are real words, so the move stands. Next, replace a with e. The first word becomes pen, and the board reads pen and pin, which matches the target. Solved in two moves, which is par.

Now try the other order. Replace a with e first, and both words become pen. Both are real words, so the move is accepted, but the two words are now identical. The target needs pen and pin, which means the two es have to become different letters. Nothing in the game can tell them apart again, so the game says the puzzle is a dead end, names the merged es, and offers Undo. Undo takes that move back, and you can try the other order.

Hidden, the same puzzle feels different. You don’t see pen and pin ahead of time. You make a move, watch which tiles lock in, and the dead-end alert after the wrong order tells you the two es must stay apart. That alert is a clue as well as a warning.

Making moves

On a keyboard, type the letter to replace, then the letter to replace it with, and press Enter. Backspace clears the last letter you typed, and Esc clears both. Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on a Mac) undoes the last move.

On a touchscreen or with a mouse, tap a tile to pick its letter. Every copy of that letter lights up, so you can see everything the move will touch. Tap the tile again to deselect it. Then tap a key to pick the new letter, and press the “Replace all” button to apply the move.

Playing free

The daily puzzle is the same for everyone. Free play lets you choose Easy, Medium or Hard. Easy shows the targets; Medium and Hard hide them and play as many puzzles as you like. For more on the levels, see the FAQ.

Replace All strategy

Most of the skill in Replace All is knowing which moves you can take back. A rename can be undone by renaming the letter back. A merge can’t. Almost every good plan starts from that difference.

Merges are forever

A merge happens when you replace a letter with one that is already on the board, because the two letters are now one. Before each move, look at the letter you’re about to replace it with. If it’s already on the board, you’re merging, so check that every word that contains both letters needs them to become the same letter in the target. If any word needs them apart, that move is a trap.

Find the letters the words share

A letter that sits in more than one board word is a shortcut. One move can fix it everywhere at once. Look for letters that need the same change in several words, and start there. A move that fixes two words at a time usually beats a move that fixes one.

Swap two letters with a spare

You can’t swap two letters directly, because the first replacement would merge them. Use a spare letter that isn’t on the board. Say a word needs its a and e swapped, and x isn’t on the board anywhere. Replace a with x, then replace e with a, then replace x with e. Each step is a rename, so nothing merges, as long as every word stays real along the way. The swap costs three moves, which is more than the number of letters that changed, so it’s a detour. Hard puzzles often need one.

Read every word before you commit

A move that fixes one word can break another, or merge two letters you needed apart. Before you apply a move, work out what every word will read after it, not only the word you’re looking at. The board updates all of them at once, so it’s easy to miss one.

Start with letters that live in one word

A letter that appears in only one board word changes only that word, so it’s a safe move to make early. Moves that touch several words are harder to predict, so save them until you can see how they’ll play out.

When the targets are hidden

On Medium, Hard and the daily you don’t see the targets, so let the board teach you.

• After each move, watch which tiles lock in. A tile that locks has the right letter for its position, and one that stays loose does not. Locked letters are worth leaving alone.
• A dead-end alert means two letters must stay apart in the target. Undo, then rename one of them somewhere safe before touching the other.
• When you’re unsure, prefer a rename to a merge. A rename can be undone by renaming back, and a merge can’t.

Use the matched-letter marks

A ✓ and an underline mark every letter that already sits in its target position. The marks are there so you don’t need to rely on colour. Changing a matched letter isn’t forbidden, but it’s the usual way a word that was right ends up wrong. If you do change one, make sure the move helps more words than it breaks.

Replace All FAQ

Which words count?

Every word in the puzzle comes from the English Speller Database (ESDB), a free, carefully curated list of English words that is graded by how common each word is. Words on the board and in the targets come from its common words, the ones most people know. Your moves are checked against a wider list of valid words that includes British spellings, so a less common word or a British spelling can still be a legal stepping stone, even though it never appears on a board. Proper nouns, abbreviations and offensive words are left out of both lists.

Why was my move rejected?

A move is refused when one of the words it would produce isn’t in our word list. The message names that word, for example “That would make PXN, which isn’t in our word list.” A refused move changes nothing and never counts toward your score. You’ll also see a refusal if you pick a letter that isn’t on the board.

What is par?

Par is the fewest moves that can solve that exact puzzle. The game works it out with a complete search, so the number is exact and nobody can beat it. Par is a target, not a limit: finishing in par gets 🟩, one move over gets 🟨, and two or more over gets 🟥.

Does undo cost anything?

No. Undo and Restart don’t add any moves to your score. The move you undid still counts, though, because you did make it. Undoing is the right way to escape a dead end.

Does everyone get the same daily?

Yes. Everyone gets the same puzzle on a given date, because the puzzle is built from the date itself, so nobody needs to download anything. A new daily appears at local midnight, and earlier dailies stay in the archive.

What are the difficulties and free play?

Free play lets you pick Easy, Medium or Hard and gives you a new puzzle whenever you like. Easy has two words of three to five letters and a par of 3 to 5. Medium has three or four words and a par of 6 to 8, and it is always the level of the daily. Hard has three to five words and a par of 8 to 12, with longer routes to par. Easy shows the target words; Medium and Hard hide them. Every puzzle has a code made of its level’s first letter, a dash and six characters. Use the copy button to share a code, or paste one into “Play a code” to load that exact puzzle again.

Why can’t I see the target words?

On Easy the target letters sit in the corner of each tile. On Medium, Hard and the daily they are hidden on purpose, which makes the puzzle more of a search. You still get clues: a tile locks in with a ✓ when its letter is right, a refused move names the word that isn’t in our word list, and a dead-end alert tells you two letters must stay apart. If you give up, the reveal shows the target words along with one way through. Par is the fewest moves for someone who knows the targets, so hidden puzzles are harder to match.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once you’ve visited it at least once. After that, Replace All works with no connection, including the daily and free play.

Is my progress saved?

Yes, on this device. Close the tab mid-puzzle and you’ll pick up where you left off, including your moves and the time you’ve spent.