Word Golf

Get the AI to say the word

Each round gives you a target word. Your job is simple: write the shortest prompt you can that makes the AI answer with exactly that word.

The target is already on the screen, so you’re not trying to guess it. You’re trying to figure out the shortest way to make the model say it.

And no — you can’t just type the answer.

Two rounds every day

There are two new challenges each day.

Round 1 — Words. Common words like moon, anchor, or umbrella.

Round 2 — Names. People, places, movies, bands, and other names like New York, Marie Curie, or Jurassic Park.

Both rounds are free and reset every day at midnight UTC.

Lowest score wins

Your score is the number of characters in your prompt. Fewer characters, better score — a 10-character solve beats a 20-character solve.

Spaces are free, so “night planet” and “nightplanet” have the same score.

You can keep trying after you solve it. Only your best score counts, so a worse attempt can never hurt you.

What can I type?

You can’t use:

• The target word
• A word containing the target
• Near-spellings, abbreviations, reversals, or shortened versions of it
• Certain very close synonyms
• Numbers, symbols, or emoji
• Foreign-language versions or transliterations of the answer

Prompts must use English letters and apostrophes only.

But associations are fair game — and usually the key to a great score. If the target is pig, something like bacon is completely legal.

Rejected prompts don’t cost a swing.

Par

Every hole has a par. Par is based on the middle score from players who solved the hole while it was live. Score below par and you’re under par; score above it and you’re over par.

New holes start with an estimated par. Once enough people have played, the final par is locked in and won’t change.

Swings

You get 15 swings while a hole is live. Once it moves to the archive, you get 15 additional archive swings that never expire.

Every new prompt costs one swing. If you send the exact same prompt again, it’s free and you’ll get the same response.

Changing the spacing still counts as a new prompt, even though spaces don’t affect your score.

Leaderboards

Every hole has two leaderboards.

Today. Scores from players who solved the hole while it was live. This board locks when the day ends.

All Time. The best scores ever recorded on that hole. You can keep improving your score from the archive.

You won’t see the leaderboard until you solve the hole yourself. That’s intentional — knowing somebody solved it in six characters can be a pretty big hint.

Only usernames and scores are shown. Your prompts stay private.

Routes

A route is a solve that shares no words with one you’ve already found. You can keep solving a hole different ways, and each genuinely different way counts.

Say your first solve is tall metal and your second is river bird. That’s two routes. A third solve of tall stone isn’t — it reuses tall.

Words you’ve used are spent. A shorter solve still counts for your score, but only a fresh angle counts as a new route. Tap Routes on the hole screen to see what you’ve spent so far.

Routes break ties. If you and another player finish a hole on the same score, whoever found more routes places higher. If that’s level too, whoever got there first wins.

Small words like the, of and is never count as reuse. Plurals count as the same word, so clocks is spent once clock is — and respacing a prompt you’ve already sent is the same prompt, not a new route.

Missed a day?

The Archive holds the last 8 days. With today’s two rounds, that’s 18 holes open at any moment — a full round of golf.

Play anything you missed, or go back and try to beat an old score. When a day drops off the far end, those two holes close for good.

Archive scores can improve your All-Time ranking, but they won’t change the original Today leaderboard.

Keep your scores

Your progress is saved on the browser or device you’re using. Sign in with Google in Settings to keep your scores synced across devices.

Without an account, your phone and computer are treated as separate players.

One last tip

Don’t always try to define the word. Go sideways.

If the target is moon, “orbits earth” might work. But there’s probably a shorter route. Find it.