FLAIL

Meaning

A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.

• verbTo beat using a flail or similar implement.

FLAIL as a word-puzzle answer

FLAIL is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (A, I) and 3 consonants (F, L, L). It repeats 1 letter, which is a classic trap — guessers who assume five distinct letters get stuck.

It leans on high-frequency letters (A, I), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. There are no rare letters here, so it is a fair, mid-difficulty answer for the daily Classic puzzle.

FLAIL by the numbers

Across the 1,734 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, A appears in 40% of answers (the 2nd most common letter), I appears in 29% of answers (the 6th most common letter), L appears in 26% of answers (the 8th most common letter). 29 other answers share the opening “FL-”, so two green tiles up front still leave real guessing to do.

Difficulty: 3/5 — moderate, because the repeated letter hides one position.

Near misses

One letter away in the answer bank: FRAIL, FLAIR. Each of these turns four tiles green against FLAIL — the classic endgame squeeze where spending a guess on the differing letter beats burning attempts on hope.

Put it to use

Words like FLAIL are exactly what the daily puzzles throw at you. Warm up in Practice, race the clock in the Daily Challenge, or study the best starting words before your next run. New to the multi-board modes? The mode guides cover all nine.