Wend tips: solve word path puzzles faster

The word slots always add up to the number of open cells. On level 1 that is 4 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 23, which is the 25 cells of the grid minus its two walls. When only one word is left, you already know its length and exactly which cells it uses.

A path that passes through a cell needs two open neighbors: one to enter and one to leave. A cell with only one open neighbor, such as a corner hemmed in by a wall, must therefore be the first or last letter of a word. Look at these cells before anything else.

A four-letter word has far fewer ways to bend than a seven-letter one. Fixing the short words early pins down where the long ones can go.

Walls are short bars of two or three cells placed apart from each other, so they split the board into corridors. Words tend to run straight along those corridors and turn at their ends.

Rows and columns often spell real words by accident. On level 1, TWICE reads straight across the fourth row, yet none of the answers is TWICE. If a word does not match a slot length, or would cut another word in half, it is a decoy.

Hint marks where the shortest unfinished word begins, which is often enough to unlock the rest of the board. Save Solve Word, which fills in a whole word, for the long word that will not come.