Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of this page is to provide answers to general questions about the Euler's day off website. Please use the following links to see the Rules and Help on how to submit a solution.

Table of Contents

• What is Euler's day off?
• Is there an entry fee or a prize?
• Do I need to register?
• Why should I submit my solution?
• What do the difficulty figures mean?
• Why does my solution appear to change when it is checked?
• Why won't the website accept a valid word?
• Why is my score too low?
• So who was Euler?

What is Euler's day off?

Euler's day off is a web-based word puzzle that is designed to stretch your mind and test your knowledge of the English language. If you enjoy solving crosswords and anagrams, we hope you will enjoy the challenge of Euler's day off.

Before the days of television, video games and, err... the Internet, people played parlour games to pass the time. A game that I used to play with my mother and grandmother involved each player drawing a five-by-five square. We would then take it turns to propose a letter, which each player would have to write in one of their twenty-five squares. The objective of the game was to create as many horizontal and vertical words as possible.

This parlour game, which my family still plays, is the basis for Euler's day off, the only difference being that we supply all twenty-five letters at the start of the game.

A new puzzle is set every day at 9pm UK time. Entry is entirely free, and there is no requirement to register. There is no winner as such, but we print a summary of the solutions that we received and an example of one of the highest scoring solutions.

In addition you hone your skills by playing practice games. Solutions to practice games cannot be submitted.

Is there an entry fee or a prize?

No - Euler's day off is only for fun, so there is no entry fee. Unfortunately this also means that there isn't a prize either - sorry!

Do I need to register?

No - there is no need to register. The only information we ask for is a name and (optionally) a location when you submit a solution. Something along the lines of "John W. from London" is fine, or you can use a pseudonym if you prefer. This website does not use cookies.

Why should I submit my solution?

Firstly, if people do not submit their solutions, we cannot produce an accurate assessment of each puzzle's difficulty. Remember, Euler's day off provides you with an opportunity to pit your wits against the rest of the world, so please help us to produce an accurate assessment of each puzzle's difficulty by submitting your solution.

Secondly, if your solution is one of those achieving the highest score for a particular puzzle, then your solution may be selected to be printed on the solution page.

What do the difficulty figures mean?

The difficulty figures on the Yesterday's Solution page indicate what percentage of solutions scored a particular score or better.

Why does my solution appear to change when it is checked?

When you enter your solution, the website will check to see if a valid solution can be constructed based on the words you have claimed. You may find that the alignment of the words in the solution printed by the website is different from your own solution. (The website will tend to position words to the top and left of columns and rows, respectively.) Do not worry if this happens, the solution shown will produce the same score as your own solution.

Why won't the website accept a valid word?

Euler's day off uses an extensive dictionary, but it is not perfect. If the website is refusing to accept a word that you think is valid, first of all, please check our guide to the dictionary in the Rules. If you still think your word is valid, please feel free to Contact us and suggest the word for future use. If you plan to do this, you must provide a dictionary reference and three URLs with examples of the word in use.

Please remember that Euler's day off is only for fun. We do not enter into correspondence regarding specific solutions, and any requests to add a particular word will be not be processed prior to the expiry of the current puzzle; nor do we guarantee to include suggested words in our dictionary.

Why is my score too low?

Occasionally you may find that the score shown on the solution preview page is less than the sum of the letters in the words displayed. This will happen if the words you have entered have formed a new word in the square that you have not claimed. To add this word to your score, press the Back button, and enter the unclaimed word.

So who was Euler?

Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1707. Arguably, one of the greatest mathematicians to ever live, Euler made substantial contributions to the fields of geometry, calculus and number theory. What does he have to do with word puzzles? Well, nothing really, but we just couldn't resist the reference to a certain 1986 Mathew Broderick movie... However, we genuinely would encourage you to check out this link, and learn more about this extraordinary man.