How the rarity scoring works

Two ingredients

1. How obvious is it for this prompt? For each prompt we estimate how likely a person is to say a given answer first. For “Name a fruit”, nearly everyone says apple or banana, so those are very obvious. This estimate carries about three quarters of the score. Answers that are well known but not first-to-mind sit in the middle.
2. How rare is the word in general? We also look at how often the word appears in everyday writing, using the open-source wordfreq project. A very uncommon word scores a little higher. This is about a quarter of the score. Some prompts, such as everyday situations, leave this part out because word rarity says nothing useful about them.

The two are blended and then curved so that the very top of the scale is hard to reach: a pretty good answer lands in the middle, and only genuinely rare ones reach the 90s.

The summit

Each prompt has one chosen summit, an answer that is real, correct and almost nobody says. It is worth exactly 100. Every other answer is capped at 90, so the only way to hit 700 is to find all seven summits.

Altitude and verdicts

Total points convert to an altitude: 700 points is 100 km, the edge of space. The climb is curved, so the last stretch takes the most. Each answer also gets a verdict:

• TarmacWhat everyone says. Still on the runway.0 to 14
• UpdraftA little lift. Not many said it.15 to 34
• Cloud breakA fresher pick. Clear air ahead.35 to 54
• Jet streamRare air. Few reach for this.55 to 74
• ContrailYou left a line. Few do.75 to 89
• VacuumAlmost nobody says this. Top of the chart.90 and up
• GroundedThe clock won this one. Scores zero.timed out

What counts as an answer

Answers come from lists built from Wikidata (CC0), then trimmed and corrected with AI assistance and players’ reports. Common spellings, plurals and alternative names are matched to the same answer. Anything not on the list is not accepted, even if you think it ought to be, and an inappropriate word is never accepted.

What we do not do

• We do not use other players’ answers. Your answers never leave your device.
• We do not change a prompt’s scores from day to day.

The ratings are our best estimate, and they are sometimes wrong. If a score looks off, please tell us.