Wildcards, Blanks, and the Power of the ? Key

On Unscramble Words, the ? and * characters act as wildcards — one blank tile each. You can mix them with real letters anywhere in the input, and we will find every word that matches.

Try typing AEIOU?? — you will see words you never knew existed. Adding two blanks is the difference between a casual search and a deep dive.

When you are modeling a Scrabble rack, blanks are worth zero points but are priceless on the board. A blank + six real letters often produces a bingo; without the blank, the same six letters max out at a five-letter play. Use Unscramble Words to test what your real rack could become if a blank joins it, so you know whether to hang on or play fast.

For crosswords, blanks shine when you have partial letters from crossings but not enough to guess the word. SC?A??LE finds SCRABBLE immediately. That is the kind of problem wildcards were made for.