Knotwords+ (2023) [+]
Apr 13 2026
Knotwords+ is an Apple Arcade word game Zach Gage who's done several excellent word/puzzle games.
Take a crossword puzzle. Remove the clues. Split up the puzzle into two to a dozen or so letter sections, not necessarily in a line. In each section you know the letters to put in. Now fill in the letters and make sure every horizontal and vertical line has a valid word.
As you do these puzzles patterns become second-hand. SP is often in that order unless at the end of a word (SH is similar). Similarly many words in ING or ED (and Knotwords has a propensity of pluralizing words so lots of words ending with S). H and M seemed to be used a lot in two-letter words especially when they're adjacent so you often might see EH as a word with the H making a second word like HO or HI.
Each month there are 60 puzzles, 30 normal and 30 tricky. You have hints which I think start at three. A solved puzzle gives you another hint up to a maximum of 6. Using a hint on a line gives you the dictionary definition of the word in the solved puzzle (note that for the most part you can solve puzzles with any words that fit).
Some puzzles are variations. Themed puzzles have several words that fit the theme (themes like weather, animals, plants, good qualities, bad qualities) and you can't get hints for those words. Twist puzzles have numbers on the left and top sides and the numbers tell you how many vowels are in that whole line. Vowels-start puzzles start out with all vowels set.
Besides the monthly puzzles there are three daily puzzles. They start out easy at the beginning of the week and get fairly large at the end of the week. Similarly the monthly puzzles start out easy and get bigger and a littler harder later on.
I found this to be a fairly addictive game.
Take a crossword puzzle. Remove the clues. Split up the puzzle into two to a dozen or so letter sections, not necessarily in a line. In each section you know the letters to put in. Now fill in the letters and make sure every horizontal and vertical line has a valid word.
As you do these puzzles patterns become second-hand. SP is often in that order unless at the end of a word (SH is similar). Similarly many words in ING or ED (and Knotwords has a propensity of pluralizing words so lots of words ending with S). H and M seemed to be used a lot in two-letter words especially when they're adjacent so you often might see EH as a word with the H making a second word like HO or HI.
Each month there are 60 puzzles, 30 normal and 30 tricky. You have hints which I think start at three. A solved puzzle gives you another hint up to a maximum of 6. Using a hint on a line gives you the dictionary definition of the word in the solved puzzle (note that for the most part you can solve puzzles with any words that fit).
Some puzzles are variations. Themed puzzles have several words that fit the theme (themes like weather, animals, plants, good qualities, bad qualities) and you can't get hints for those words. Twist puzzles have numbers on the left and top sides and the numbers tell you how many vowels are in that whole line. Vowels-start puzzles start out with all vowels set.
Besides the monthly puzzles there are three daily puzzles. They start out easy at the beginning of the week and get fairly large at the end of the week. Similarly the monthly puzzles start out easy and get bigger and a littler harder later on.
I found this to be a fairly addictive game.