Chainle FAQ answers
Is Chainle.me the chainle.io game?
No. Chainle.me is an independent fan-made game with its own puzzle bank — not the official chainle.io product. The sites are not affiliated, endorsed, or connected.
How many rounds are in a daily Chainle puzzle?
Five. Rounds 1 to 3 are two-word bridges, round 4 is a three-word bridge, and round 5 is a closest connection. Each round is worth up to 1,000 points, so a day is worth up to 5,000.
When does the Chainle puzzle change?
A new puzzle is published at 00:00 UTC. Chainle.me does not use Eastern Time. The countdown on the home page is the time left until the next 00:00 UTC.
Do I need an account to play Chainle?
No. There is no signup, no login, and no payment. Progress and streaks stay in this browser. Clearing site data, or switching browsers, clears them. Nothing is synced to another device.
Where can I practice after the daily Chainle puzzle?
Open Chainle Unlimited. Those puzzles are drawn from a separate practice pool. They do not change the daily score or the daily streak.
Is the puzzle bank independent?
Yes. Every clue, strongest connection, accepted alternative, and explanation was written for Chainle.me and checked before it was scheduled. We do not publish chainle.io puzzles, and we do not run a hints or solver page for that game.
Is there a single answer?
No. There is no single official answer. Each round has a strongest listed connection worth 1,000 points and several accepted alternatives with preset floors. Another real English word can still be submitted. If it is not on the list, it scores by how close it is in meaning to every clue, from 0 to 1,000. That limit is described on the scoring page.
I am stuck. What should I do without spoiling today?
Name the kind of link you are hunting. A two-word bridge wants one word that honestly meets both clues, not a word that only fits the easier clue. A three-word bridge is stricter. The closest connection wants a near synonym. Then open how to play Chainle for worked examples that are not today's puzzle, or play Chainle Unlimited until the shape feels familiar. This FAQ does not print today's answers.
Where is progress stored, and what if I clear it?
Progress lives in local storage on this device. The keys are chainle.progress.v1, chainle.history.v1, chainle.streak.v1, chainle.theme.v1, chainle.archive.v1, and chainle.practice.v1. There is no account and no cross-device sync. Clearing site data, cookies, or the browser profile deletes the streak.
Why does the share card hide the words?
The copied text shows the date or practice label, the total out of 5,000, five color blocks for the score bands, and the Chainle.me URL. It does not include clues, guesses, or listed connections. Friends can compare a result without receiving the puzzle.
Does Chainle Unlimited affect my streak?
No. Practice rounds are stored under chainle.practice.v1 only. Finishing a practice puzzle does not mark today complete and does not change the current or longest streak.
What happens if I replay an archive date?
The replay is stored under chainle.archive.v1 for that date. It is not treated as today's completion, so it cannot extend a streak. A streak grows only when the puzzle dated today, in UTC, is finished for the first time.
What does a low score mean?
A score of 40 means the word is in our common-English list but not on this round's list. A preset score between that and 1,000 means we listed the word as a narrower link. A guess that is not a recognized word, or that repeats a clue, is rejected and does not use the round.
A longer note on being stuck
The Chainle FAQ answer above is the whole policy: this page will not reveal the daily connections. The longer version is a way of looking. On a two-word bridge, say each clue out loud with a candidate and reject the candidate if one of the phrases sounds like a stretch you invented for the puzzle. On a three-word bridge, do that three times. On the closest connection, ask which word you would accept as a definition, not which word shares a scene. Then leave the daily board alone and open Chainle Unlimited for a set that is allowed to be messy. Come back when the shape is in your hands. The Chainle scoring rules explain the 40-point floor if you already submitted a word and the number felt insulting. Often the number means "unlisted," not "nonsense."
The home page is still the place to play Chainle for today's five rounds. The Chainle archive is the place for a date that has already been released. This Chainle FAQ keeps progress in local storage on this device: chainle.progress.v1, chainle.history.v1, chainle.streak.v1, chainle.theme.v1, chainle.archive.v1, and chainle.practice.v1. Nothing on this page can undo a cleared browser.
The countdown is always aimed at 00:00 UTC. If the page you loaded was built yesterday and the clock has passed midnight, the board says so and waits for the next build. It does not fetch an unreleased puzzle from a hidden file. That restraint is also why a request for "tomorrow's words" cannot be answered from the public site. Write to hello@chainle.me if a released page is broken. Do not expect a reply that contains an unreleased clue.
Share cards, word lists, and devices
The share card is four lines: a heading with Chainle.me and either a daily number or the word Unlimited, a total out of 5,000, five colored blocks, and a URL. Strong scores are green, good scores are yellow, partial scores are orange, and unlisted scores are pale. None of those blocks is an initial. Copying the card does not upload it. If the browser refuses clipboard access, the text is still on the page for you to select. Friends who have not played learn your total, not your words.
A guess is checked against a few thousand common English words plus a short extra list for classroom words the frequency file missed. Gold answers and accepted alternatives match before the meaning score is consulted, so a listed connection never falls below its preset. A string outside the list does not spend the round. A recognized word that we did not write down scores by how close it is in meaning to every clue, from 0 to 1,000, and does spend the round. Plurals with a simple trailing s can match a listed singular. The scorer does not chop -ing or -ed. Details and the worked piano example live on the Chainle scoring rules page.
Use one browser if you care about the streak. A phone and a laptop are two clean slates. Private windows are a third. Nothing in the game repairs that, because nothing in the game collects an identity to repair it with. Theme choice is the only preference stored beside the scores, under chainle.theme.v1, and it is just as local.