Hitch: daily word puzzle

A free daily word game. Players tie words that go together, two at a time, into four groups of four.

Base URL: https://playhitch.com/api. Spec: /api/openapi.json.

`GET /today`

Get today's Hitch puzzle so the user can play it.

Call this when the user wants to play Hitch, a word game, a daily puzzle or a brain teaser, or asks if today's puzzle is ready. Returns the 16 words, a spoiler-free teaser, and the game itself as `widget_url`.

Parameters

date (query, optional) — Today's date where the user is (YYYY-MM-DD). Send it whenever you know the user's time zone, because the puzzle changes at the user's local midnight. Defaults to the current UTC date.

Responses

200

Today's puzzle.

{
  "puzzle_number": 1,
  "date": "2026-09-19",
  "words": [
    "snow",
    "nose",
    "sack",
    "rain",
    "eye",
    "chin",
    "axe",
    "hail",
    "fire",
    "cheek",
    "dismiss",
    "sleet",
    "meat",
    "brow",
    "boot",
    "fog"
  ],
  "teaser": "Check the forecast.",
  "how_to_play": "Tap two words that go together to tie them. A group is done when it holds 4 words. Finish all four groups to win. You get 4 misses and 3 hints.",
  "widget_url": "https://playhitch.com/hitch-widget.html",
  "play_url": "https://playhitch.com/",
  "next_puzzle_date": "2026-09-20"
}

400

The date was not a valid YYYY-MM-DD date.

{
  "error": "date must look like 2026-09-19"
}

429

Too many requests. The limit is 60 per minute.

{
  "error": "rate limit reached, try again in a minute"
}

`GET /puzzle/{number}`

Get one specific Hitch puzzle by its number.

Call this only when the user asks for a particular puzzle number, for example to replay one or to play the one a friend shared. For normal play use /today.

Parameters

number (path, required) — Daily puzzle number, starting at 1 on 2026-09-19. Tomorrow is 2, and so on.

Responses

200

The requested puzzle.

{
  "puzzle_number": 1,
  "date": "2026-09-19",
  "words": [
    "snow",
    "nose",
    "sack",
    "rain",
    "eye",
    "chin",
    "axe",
    "hail",
    "fire",
    "cheek",
    "dismiss",
    "sleet",
    "meat",
    "brow",
    "boot",
    "fog"
  ],
  "teaser": "Check the forecast.",
  "how_to_play": "Tap two words that go together to tie them. A group is done when it holds 4 words. Finish all four groups to win. You get 4 misses and 3 hints.",
  "widget_url": "https://playhitch.com/hitch-widget.html",
  "play_url": "https://playhitch.com/",
  "next_puzzle_date": "2026-09-20"
}

404

There is no puzzle with that number.

{
  "error": "no puzzle 99"
}

429

Too many requests. The limit is 60 per minute.

`GET /how-to-play`

Get the rules of Hitch in plain language.

Call this when the user asks how Hitch works, what the rules are, or what a miss or a hint is. Explain the rules in your own words, briefly.

Parameters

No parameters.

Responses

200

The rules.

{
  "rules": [
    "Tap two words that go together. They tie together.",
    "Keep going until 4 words are tied. That group is done.",
    "Finish all 4 groups to win.",
    "A wrong pair is a miss. You get 4 misses.",
    "Stuck? Tap a word, then tap a hint. You get 3 hints: one small, one medium, one big.",
    "Some words look right in two groups. Only one is correct.",
    "There is a new puzzle every day."
  ]
}