Word Solitaire
Spelling practice, minus the school bell
Search for spelling practice and you will mostly find games for children: bright quizzes, grade levels and cheerful voices telling you to try again. If you are forty or seventy and just want to feel surer of your spelling, that is not what you came for.
Word Solitaire comes at it from the other side. It is a game of patience played with letter cards. Nobody reads you a word, nobody marks your answers, and there is no class to fall behind. You look at the table, think of a word, and spell it. If you happen to spend twenty minutes practicing your spelling along the way, that stays between you and the cards.
Why grown-ups get rusty
Most adults spell less than they used to, even if they write all day. Phones finish words for us and spell-checkers underline slips before we have noticed them. That is useful at work, but it also means we rarely have to get to the end of a tricky word on our own.
At this table you do. There is no autocorrect and no suggestion bar. You pick each letter yourself, in order, and the word either stands up or it doesn’t.
The words adults second-guess
These are the kinds of word that make people stop and check. They won’t appear on demand, since what you can spell depends on the cards in front of you, but they show what spelling from memory feels like.
| Word | The usual doubt |
|---|---|
| RECEIVE | Is it E before I here? |
| SEPARATE | There is an A in the middle, not an E |
| CALENDAR | It ends in AR, not ER |
| DEFINITE | It ends in ITE, not ATE |
| RHYTHM | There is hardly a vowel to hold on to |
| BELIEVE | Here the I comes before the E |
Longer words like these need a lot of cards showing at the same moment. Your two set-aside slots can help, because a card in a slot stays playable until the rest of the word appears.
A routine that fits an adult day
You don’t need a study plan. Something this small is enough:
- Open one deal with your morning coffee, or at the end of the day.
- Before tapping, spell your word in your head.
- Pick the longest word you trust, then one you are less sure of.
- Stop when the table is clear, or when you feel like stopping.
Without a timer, you can spell slowly and check yourself as you go. If you would like a fixed appointment, the daily deal gives you one puzzle per calendar day. On a computer you can also type the letters, which is closer to how you spell at work.
5 spelling games for adults
We make the first game on this list, so read it with that in mind. The others are general types of game, not found on this site, and they may suit you better depending on what you want.
- Word Solitaire. You spell words from letter cards to clear a table, at your own pace. It works well if you want spelling practice inside a real game. It won’t give you particular words to learn.
- Crosswords. A strong choice for adults, since a wrong letter ruins the crossing answer and exposes your mistake. They lean on general knowledge, so you can get stuck on a clue that has nothing to do with spelling.
- Spelling practice apps. These are the most direct way to work on the exact words you get wrong. Many are designed for school use, so look for one with an adult tone.
- Word ladders. You change one letter at a time to turn one word into another. They train close attention to letters, though mostly with short words.
- Hangman. Simple and sociable with a partner. You spend more time guessing letters than spelling, so it is more of a pastime than practice.
Where to go from here
You can play Word Solitaire on the website with no account and no ads, with progress saved in your browser. Those who want a longer run can find 200 deals and more in the iOS app.
If it is vocabulary you care about more than spelling, try our page on word games for adults. If you came here mostly to unwind, you may prefer our notes on relaxing word games.