Spy Sudoku for 9/7/2026: DOWEL

Today's keyword is DOWEL.
Drop "O" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "G" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Spy Sudoku is a new word game based on Word Sudoku. Each day, you're given a 5-letter word, and told which letter to take away or add, to solve a 4x4 and 6x6 Word Sudoku puzzle.

Fair warning! These puzzles use more than just the common words you undoubtedly know; they also include rare, obsolete, and archaic words, scientific terms, and even names—of people and places. This is because the rules of Sudoku don't require you to know the word to solve the puzzle. Most of the week, the hidden words are ones you'll probably recognize—common and familiar. Some days, especially Fridays and Sundays, you may encounter unfamiliar words. But the logic of Sudoku will always lead you to the answers, and you might learn some new words!

On Sundays, you'll also be challenged to solve a 5x5 puzzle spelling out an anagram of the 5-letter word.

I'd love your feedback! Please use the blog comment feature to let me know what works for you, and what doesn't.

Today’s hidden words should be familiar to most players.

-O

DOWEL

+G

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: LOWED
4x4 (LOWED - W): DOLE
6x6 (LOWED + H): HOWLED
5x5: DOWEL

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku Puzzles for Monday, 9/7/2026

RT + IX
4x4 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 2x2 square contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells out in the shaded cells

PAIR + SX
6x6 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 2x3 rectangle contains these letters exactly once
The hidden word spells down the diagonal

 

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

(A reminder that weekday puzzles in 2026 are based on words or phrases containing at least two of the letters in SIX, a puzzle form I call Missing Letter, Hidden Word Sudoku. Please see my amazon puzzle page www.bit.ly/WordSudokuBooks for a series of nine puzzle collections of this form that span the entire alphabet.)

 

Solutions to the Sunday [Did You Hear?] Sudoku Puzzles

Yesterday’s Qudoku puzzle set spelled out a Did you hear? joke.a contronym.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT...

New puzzles in a few hours.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/6/2026: LOWED

Today's keyword is LOWED.
Drop "W" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "H" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.
Solve the 5x5 to discover a keyword anagram.

Today’s hidden words may be less familiar; your Sudoku skills will reveal them!

-W

LOWED

+H

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

All puzzles and text contained in this blog are copyright © 2008-2026, David H. Thompson. All rights reserved. Please tell your puzzle-loving friends to follow this blog. Thank you!

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: DOWEL
4x4 (DOWEL - O): LEWD
6x6 (DOWEL + F): WOLFED

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku (Did you hear?) Puzzles for Sunday, 9/6/2026

Did you hear about the Portlander who burned his mouth? He drank his coffee before it was cool.

A Did you hear? joke is really a bad Dad joke in disguise. The badder, the better! Every other Sunday in 2026, I'll challenge you to groan even louder.

FLOWER
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

THUMPS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

BAND
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

ICKY
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid

Did you hear about...

UPLIFT
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

HORN
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once

GAVE
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains these letters exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

(All puzzles and text contained in this blog are copyright © 2008-2026, David H. Thompson. All rights reserved.
Please tell your puzzle-loving friends to follow this blog. Thank you!)

 

Solutions to the Saturday Paraprosdokian Sudoku Puzzles

Yesterday’s Qudoku puzzle sets spelled out wordplay known as a paraprosdokian.

The Sunday Challenge in a few hours.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/5/2026: DOWEL

Today's keyword is DOWEL.
Drop "O" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "F" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words should be familiar to most players.

-O

DOWEL

+F

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to yesterday's Spy Sudoku puzzles

Yesterday's Spy Sudoku keyword: DOWEL
4x4 (DOWEL - W): LODE
6x6 (DOWEL + J): JOWLED

Thanks,
--Dave

 

New Word Sudoku (Paraprosdokian Sudoku!) Puzzles for Saturday, 9/5/2026

Immature love, loving someone for what they do right … mature love, loving someone despite what they do wrong.

A paraprosdokian is wordplay where the latter part of a statement forces you to reinterpret the first part. The phrase intentionally leads you in one direction—misleads you into thinking one way—and then abruptly changes direction, ending with the unexpected twist. The origin of the word is Greek, meaning "against expectation."

Most of the statements in these weekly blog posts are actual paraprosdokians; you might possibly dispute a few. But since they’re still fun plays on words, I’m sharing them anyway.

Because paraprosdokians come in two parts, I present each part as a separate quote, each revealed by solving its own set of word Sudoku puzzles.

DETACH
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

FROWNS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

LIMP
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

SOME
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

VOID
4x4 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x2 square and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

Solutions first thing in the morning.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Solutions to Friday's Word Sudoku Puzzles

Yesterday's 5x5 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in ANO + SX (SAXON) and the 7x7 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle was based on the letters in PANED + SX (SPANDEX).

The Saturday paraprosdokian in a bit.

Thanks,
--Dave

 

Spy Sudoku for 9/4/2026: DOWEL

Today's keyword is DOWEL.
Drop "W" and use the remaining letters to solve the 4x4 puzzle.
Add "J" to the keyword to supply the letters to solve the 6x6 puzzle.

Today’s hidden words may be less familiar; your Sudoku skills will reveal them!

-W

DOWEL

+J

Solutions tomorrow morning.

Thanks,
--Dave