How to play Rubric
Rubric is a daily deduction game where the answer is the scoring rule. A hidden rule gives every five-letter word a number, and it is always two rules from a printed catalogue added together. Twelve words sit on a board and you may ask five of them what they score. From those numbers you work out which two rules are running — then you type a thirteenth word of your own and try to make its number as big as you can. The rules are never hidden; which two are running is.
How to play
- Read the catalogue above the board. Every rule states exactly what it gives, so you can evaluate any of them on any word by hand.
- Choose a word to probe. You have five probes and twelve words, so pick the ones whose scores would tell you most.
- Use Points on any word to see what each listed rule would give it. That is free and spends no probe — it only saves you the arithmetic.
- Watch the count of pairs that still fit. It drops as you probe, and when it reaches one you have pinned the rule down.
- Play your word. Any dictionary word of the right length that is not one of the twelve, and you only get one.
- Par is the bar. Beat it and the day counts; the reveal then shows the rule, your word, par, and the best word there was.
Tips & strategy
- Probe an unusual word first. A word with a doubled letter, four vowels or a rare letter fires far more rules than an ordinary one, so its score narrows things down fastest.
- Two probes are usually enough to pin the rule down, and rarely fewer. If a probe would not change what you already believe, do not spend it.
- Compare two words that differ in exactly one way. If they score the same, every rule that separates them is out.
- Do not chase the twelve on the board — they are evidence, not candidates. The best word is almost always one you have to think of yourself.
- Once you know the rule, build a word for it rather than searching for one. Work out what an ideal word would look like, then find the closest real one.
- Being wrong is how you make progress here. A probe that surprises you has taught you more than one that confirmed what you thought.
Accessibility
Rubric is pure text and numbers with no grid, no colours and no timer. The board is a numbered list whose every row states its own score in words, each button names the word it acts on, and the rule catalogue and the end-of-round reveal are lasting definition lists you can walk term by term rather than announcements that pass by. It plays end to end with a keyboard, and the reveal animation is removed when your device asks for reduced motion.