Red Herring Answers
3,529 dated boards since January 2017, with the red herrings kept separate from the groups they were built to imitate. 7,794 words carry a note explaining why they belong.
Red Herring Answers
Sixteen words, three hidden groups, four decoys. Every board since January 2017 is archived here, with the red herrings kept separate from the groups they were designed to imitate. Start with the newest board, browse the full daily archive, or read the recurring categories that come back year after year.
Red Herring Archive by Year
Recent Red Herring Boards
Categories That Come Back
Three Habits That Crack a Red Herring Board
Count to sixteen before you group anything
Every board is three groups of four plus four red herrings. Four words are meant to be left over, and players who forget that spend their time forcing a fourth group that was never there.
Solve the narrowest theme first
One group is always more specific than the others — a named set like "Mouse, Characters" rather than a loose one like "Strong Words". Lock that group first: each correct group removes four candidates from everything else on the board.
A word that fits two groups is usually a decoy
The herrings are chosen to look plausible in more than one place. When a word could sit in two themes, that ambiguity is the tell — set it aside rather than committing it to the group it fits slightly better. Any board in the archive is practice for it.
How to Solve a Red Herring Board
The order that clears a board fastest.
Count to sixteen first
Three groups of four, plus four red herrings. Knowing four words are meant to be left over stops you forcing a fourth group that does not exist.
Lock the tightest theme
One group is always more specific than the others. Solve that one first: each correct group removes four candidates from everything else.
Distrust the near-miss
A word that almost fits two groups is usually a decoy. The board is built so the herrings look plausible — plausibility is the warning, not the evidence. Practise on any board in the archive.
Verified Answers, Not Guesses
How we verify every dated board, group by group, with the red herrings listed separately
Each board is taken from the published puzzle for its date and re-checked against the source before going live; the notes explaining a link are kept as written. The routine is in our methodology and the standards in our editorial policy.
Reviewed by Priya Raghunathan, Word Games Editor at Puzzle Solved. The full checking routine is in the methodology, and the standards every page is held to are in the editorial policy.
Last checked — Aug 24, 2026