Guides · 5 min read
Linkbrew tips: how to find the four groups and dodge the traps
Practical strategies for Linkbrew, the daily puzzle where you sort 16 words into four hidden groups of four.
Linkbrew gives you sixteen words that hide four groups of four. Each group shares something: a category like "Trees", a phrase pattern like "___apple", or a hidden word. You can make four mistakes. The puzzle is designed so that some words seem to fit more than one group, and only one way of sorting them works.
1. Look for the trap words first
Before you submit anything, scan for words that could belong to two groups. In a puzzle with OAK, MAPLE, BANYAN, TEAK, PALM and PINE on the board, there are six tree-like words for a four-word group. That is your clue: two of them belong somewhere else (here, PALM is a body part and PINE goes before "apple").
2. Start with the group you are most sure of
Solving an easy group removes four words from the board and makes the rest clearer. Groups are colour-coded from easiest (mint) to trickiest (periwinkle) once found, so the first one you spot is often the most straightforward.
3. Think beyond the obvious meaning
Many groups are about how a word is used rather than what it means:
- Words that go before or after another word: FIRE, NUT, SAFE and CHRISTMAS can all go before "cracker".
- Words hiding smaller words: SCATTER hides CAT and BOWLING hides OWL.
- Different meanings of one word: things that have "keys" include a piano, a map and a laptop.
4. Use "One away" wisely
If three of your four words are right, you will see "One away…". Don’t swap words at random: work out which of your four is the odd one out, and which word on the board could replace it. Each wrong guess costs a mistake.
5. Shuffle when you are stuck
The Shuffle button rearranges the remaining words. A fresh layout often helps you notice a connection you had been reading past.
6. Use a hint as a last resort
A hint reveals the name of one remaining group and one of its words, for 15 points. That is often cheaper than losing two mistakes and the bonus that comes with them.
How points work
Each group found is worth 20 points. Find all four and you earn another 10 points for every mistake you didn’t use, up to 120 in total. Solving with no mistakes also earns the Perfect links achievement.