How to Solve the Daily Jumble Faster

The Jumble has been a newspaper staple since the 1950s. Each puzzle gives you four scrambled words and a cartoon with a punning caption. Unscramble the words, collect the letters in the circled squares, and rearrange those to complete the pun. It looks simple, and the first two words usually are. The last word and the final answer are where people get stuck. Here's a method that makes both easier.

How the puzzle works

Four jumbled words. Typically two five-letter words and two six-letter words, though it varies.
Circled squares. Some letters in each solved word are circled.
The cartoon and caption. The circled letters, unscrambled, form the answer to a pun in the caption. Blanks in the caption show how many words and letters the answer has.

Step 1: Solve the easy words first

Don't go in order. Glance at all four words and start with whichever looks most obvious. Early wins give you circled letters, which help with the final answer and sometimes with the harder words too.

Step 2: Use the chunk method

For each word, look for common letter groups:

Consonant pairs: TH, CH, SH, ST, TR, BR, CK, NG
Endings: -ER, -LE, -LY, -ED, -ING, -Y
Vowel pairs: EA, OU, AI, OO

Take the jumble LEDDA. Spot -LE as a common ending. That leaves D, D, A. Try them in front: A-D-D-LE gives ADDLE. Or try -ED: L, D, A + ED gives LADED. Two possible words; the circled-letter positions and the caption usually tell you which the puzzle wants. Jumble puzzles generally have a single intended answer, so if two words fit, the other three answers and the cartoon will settle it.

Step 3: Watch out for doubled letters

Jumble designers love words with double letters (like BALLOT or GIGGLE) because they're harder to see when scrambled. If you see two of the same letter, try putting them side by side: LL, SS, TT, EE, OO and PP are all common.

Step 4: Move the vowels

When stuck, fix the consonants in a plausible order and slide the vowels between them. Take NOREHT:

Consonants: N, R, H, T
Vowels: O, E

TH and HR are common pairs, so try TH-R together: TH-R-O-N-E gives THRONE. Now try a different consonant order. H-O-R-N then E-T gives HORNET. Both are everyday words using the same six letters, which is exactly the sort of ambiguity the circled letters help resolve.

If you've tried every sensible arrangement and nothing works, recheck your letters. Jumble always uses everyday words, so a jumble that seems to have no answer usually means a letter was copied wrongly. For a final check, an anagram solver will list every word those letters can make.

Step 5: Collect the circled letters

Once you have three or four words solved, write out all the circled letters in a row. Then read the caption carefully:

How many words is the answer?
Are there any letters already given?
Is the answer in quotes? That often means a well-known phrase.

Step 6: Think like the pun

The final answer is almost always a pun on the cartoon. Look at what's happening in the picture and think of phrases related to it. If the cartoon shows a baker and the caption says the bread came out "______," try words related to baking: RISEN, KNEADED (a pun on "needed"), LOAFING. Then check whether your circled letters can spell them.

Common pun techniques in Jumble answers include:

Homophones: words that sound alike (KNEAD / NEED, FLOUR / FLOWER).
Double meanings: words with two senses (a "sharp" knife and a "sharp" student).
Split phrases: "HE'S A LIFESAVER" or "OUT OF ORDER."

Step 7: Use the blank count

If the answer is two words of four and five letters, try splitting your circled letters into those lengths. Common short words like THE, AND, HIS, HER, OUT, OFF and ALL appear often in answers. Pull them out first if your letters allow.

Practising

Time yourself on each puzzle. Most regular solvers get from several minutes down to under two.
After solving, review any word that took you longest. Was it a double letter? An unusual ending? Note the pattern.
Use our word unscrambler to practise five- and six-letter jumbles away from the newspaper.

Is using a solver cheating?

For a personal puzzle, it's up to you. Many people solve as much as they can, then use a tool for the one word that's blocking them, so they can still enjoy cracking the pun. That's a reasonable way to keep the puzzle fun without getting stuck for a day.