Tusmo in 30 seconds
Every day, Tusmo sets one mystery word, the same for every player. It is a French word game: the grid tells you two things from the start, the length of the word (5 to 8 letters) and its first letter, already sitting in the first square.
You have 6 tries to find the word. After each guess, the game colours every letter to show whether it is in the right spot, elsewhere in the word or missing. The word changes at midnight and plays in your browser, with nothing to download.
What do the colours mean?
The three colours follow one simple rule:
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | The letter is in the word, in this exact spot. |
| Orange | The letter is in the word, but in another spot. |
| Grey | The letter is not in the word (or not one more time). |
The note in brackets matters for double letters. A letter is only coloured as many times as it appears in the word: green squares are assigned first, then orange ones, from left to right. If you guess two Es and the word has only one, one of them stays grey.
The on-screen keyboard picks up the same colours, so you can see at a glance which letters are already ruled out.
A first game, explained
Here is a made-up example. Today's word has 6 letters and starts with C. We open with a word packed with common French letters.
First takeaway: the word has an R and a T, but not in 3rd or 4th place. A, E and S are out, which rules out many common French endings (-ES, -ER, -TE). So we look for a C word with no A or E, with R and T moved, and try some new vowels along the way.
The second try tells us a lot: I is confirmed in 2nd place, and N, T and R are in the word but misplaced. E had already been ruled out, so playing it again was a small waste, worth avoiding next time.
Now think in positions. T has been tried twice in 4th place, so it goes elsewhere. R has been tried in 3rd and 5th, so it sits in 4th or 6th. N, tried in 3rd, sits further along. One more letter is still unknown, and it is not A, E or S. A word comes to mind quickly: CITRON (French for lemon), with T 3rd, R 4th, N last and an O to fill the gap. It fits every clue.
Three tries, and a method you can reuse: open wide, eliminate, then place letters one by one by ruling out the spots you have already tested.
The joker: a free letter, for a price
Below the grid, the Joker button reveals one letter of the word in a position you don't know yet. It never reveals the first letter, which is already given, and the revealed letter stays in place for the rest of the game.
You can use a joker at any time, as often as you like, but each joker takes 60 points off the score of a winning game (out of 1,000). It is best kept for the endgame, when a single square is holding you back.
What if you don't find it in 6 tries?
The game doesn't just stop. After a sixth missed try, you get two options:
- keep going in free play: you can enter more words, with the same colour clues, but without scoring;
- reveal the answer: the word is shown and the game ends.
A word found in free play counts as a loss on the leaderboard, with a capped score, but extra guesses never push that score any lower.
How is the score calculated?
Your score, out of 1,000, mostly depends on how many tries you use: the fewer, the higher. Time also counts, with a bonus for being quick and a penalty if the game drags on, and each joker costs points. A win also earns you 1 to 3 stars.
To go further, our Tusmo tips cover the strategies regular players use, and our guide to the best Tusmo starting words helps you pick a strong first guess.
Tusmo, Wordle and Motus: what's the difference?
Tusmo follows in the footsteps of Wordle and the French TV game show Motus: the same colour clues, but in French, with a word length that varies from 5 to 8 letters and the first letter given. If you enjoy the format, our list of games like Wordle has more daily deduction games.