How to Play the LinkedIn Wend Game
Wend is a word-path puzzle where four hidden words snake through a 5x5 grid, bending around gray walls, using every open tile exactly once. These wend game rules apply to both the official LinkedIn version and our wend unlimited practice mode. Here is everything you need to know to solve it.
The Basic Rules
Read the word lengths
At the start of each puzzle you see four dashes indicating the lengths of the hidden words: typically 3, 4, 5, and 6 letters. This tells you how many tiles each word will occupy.
Tap any tile to start
Click or tap any letter tile on the 5x5 grid to begin tracing a word. You can start on any open cell — there is no fixed starting point.
Trace connected neighbors
Extend your path by moving to adjacent tiles horizontally or vertically. Diagonal moves are not allowed. Your path must not cross a gray wall block.
Submit when the length matches
Release your finger or mouse when you have traced the correct number of letters. If your word is correct it locks in. If not, the path clears and you try again.
Reset if you get stuck
Hit Reset to clear all your progress and start the same puzzle from scratch. Your words stay the same — only your placed paths are cleared.
Cover every tile
You win when all four words are found and every open cell on the grid has been used. This is what makes Wend a tiling puzzle as much as a word game — a correct-sounding word built from the wrong tiles still fails.
Hint and Undo
Hint
Reveals the starting tile of one unsolved word, highlighted in yellow for a few seconds. Use it when you are completely stuck rather than as a first resort — the challenge is more satisfying when you earn it.
Undo
Removes the last tile from your current path without clearing everything. Useful when you have traced four tiles and realized the fifth does not connect — just step back one at a time.
Tips and Strategies
Start with the longest word
The six-letter word takes up the most space and its shape is most constrained by the walls. Locking it in first usually reveals how the shorter words must fit around it.
Let the walls guide you
Gray blocks are not random obstacles — they define the exact shapes each word path must follow. Once you identify a plausible starting tile, trace where the wall forces the path to go. Often there is only one valid route.
Count backwards from the wall
If a corner or dead-end has exactly 3 open cells before hitting walls, one word of exactly 3 letters must fill it. Use the tile count to narrow down which word length belongs where.
Try the three-letter word last
Short words have the most possible positions on the grid. Place the longer, more constrained words first, and the three-letter word usually falls naturally into the remaining cells.
Think in shapes, not just letters
Wend rewards spatial thinking as much as vocabulary. Before trying to spell words, sketch the shapes the wall openings create and ask which word lengths could physically fit each corridor.
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Tracing diagonals
Fix: Only horizontal and vertical moves count. If your path feels like it needs a diagonal, you are on the wrong route.
Mistake: Ignoring unused tiles
Fix: Every open cell must be part of a word. If you have found three words but several tiles are still uncovered, at least one word placement is wrong.
Mistake: Forcing a real word into the wrong shape
Fix: Just because a word exists in the dictionary does not mean it fits the grid. Wend requires the right word in the right shape at the right location — all three must align.
How Wend Compares to Other Word Games
| Feature | Wend | Wordle | Strands | Boggle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grid size | 5x5 | 5x1 | 6x8 | 4x4 |
| Letters reused | No | No | Some unused | Yes |
| Walls/obstacles | Yes | No | No | No |
| Words to find | 4 specific | 1 word | Theme words | Any words |
| Tiling constraint | Yes | No | Partial | No |
Wend Rules FAQ
Can paths cross each other?▾
No. Each tile belongs to exactly one word. Two paths cannot share or cross a cell.
Can I start a word from inside a longer word's path?▾
No. Once a word is locked in its tiles are fixed. Your new path must start on an unused cell.
Does the order I find the words matter?▾
No. You can find the four words in any order. The puzzle is complete when all four are correctly placed.
Are the words always common English words?▾
Yes. The official LinkedIn Wend puzzles use everyday vocabulary. Our practice puzzles use a curated list of common English words.
Ready to practice? Try wend unlimited — randomly generated puzzles with no login required. Same wend game rules, no LinkedIn account needed.
Play Wend Free