Gearbox

How to play Gearbox

Five gears sit side by side, each with six letters round its rim. The letter at the top of each gear shows in its window, and the five windows spell a word. Somewhere in the gears an everyday word is hidden: one letter from each gear, in order. Find it, then turn the gears until the windows spell it.

The catch: each gear has a clutch. Turn one and it slides in to catch its two neighbours, turning them the other way, then slides back. Tap ↻ to turn a gear clockwise or ↺ to turn it anticlockwise (or tap the gear itself to turn it clockwise). Only the gears next door move: the ones beyond aren't touched.

Every turn counts. Par is the fewest turns it can possibly be done in, so matching it is perfect. Stuck on the word? A hint shows its first and last letters, and a second hint shows the whole word.

Tips

• Find the word first: read round each rim and look for one letter from each gear that makes an everyday word.
• The two end gears only have one neighbour each, so they're the easiest to set.
• Every turn moves three gears (two at the ends), so think a turn or two ahead before you start.

Questions

Is Gearbox free?

Yes. It's free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to download and no sign-up.

When is there a new gearbox?

Every day at midnight, your time. Everyone gets the same gears, so you can compare turns with friends.

Can I play more than once a day?

The daily gearbox is one go each. Once you're done, you can practise on earlier days' gearboxes.

Do you keep any of my data?

No. Your games and stats are saved only on your own device, in your browser, and there's no account. It's free because it shows adverts from Google; see privacy and cookies for how those work.

More daily puzzles from Hypergeek Games: Lockword, Latchword, Dialword, Floodfill, Safecracker and Braid.