Ranked is a free daily ranking puzzle from Witsday. Each day you get five things—the tallest, the oldest, the fastest, the priciest—and three tries to put them in the correct order. The key mechanic is simple: when a card lands in the right spot, it locks green. Once you see that green lock, the card’s position is fixed, and your job changes from “guess all five” to “work around the anchors you’ve already earned.”
Read the green locks as anchors
After you submit a try, any card in the correct spot locks green. That means it is no longer a question. You should not move it, even if you’re tempted to “improve” the overall order. A green card is confirmed information.
Every move after the first try should focus only on the unconfirmed cards. The more green locks you collect on the first guess, the smaller the remaining problem becomes. A five-card puzzle with two green locks is really just a three-card puzzle hiding inside.
Tip: If a card locks green, leave it. The fastest way to waste a try is to rearrange a card that’s already correct.
Make your first guess count
The first guess is the only try where all five cards are still open, so it’s your best chance to lock in strong positions. Before you submit anything, look at the category and do a rough mental ranking.
Which item is most clearly the extreme? If the prompt is “tallest,” that’s your strongest anchor. Place your most confident card in its exact spot, then arrange the rest by your best judgment. You don’t need to get everything right on the first try. You just need to create as many green locks as possible—or at least learn which positions are wrong.
A first guess with zero green locks isn’t a dead end. If no card locks, you’ve learned that every one of your five positions was incorrect. That lets you eliminate those exact placements on the second try.
A three-try approach that works
Here’s a practical method for turning three tries into a controlled process:
- Read the category and identify the most extreme item first. This is your anchor candidate.
- Place that item in its likely correct position, then fill the rest with your best guess. Submit.
- Look for green locks. Leave any green card exactly where it is.
- Take the unconfirmed cards and move each one to a spot it hasn’t been in before. If you know a card was wrong in one slot, don’t repeat that mistake.
- Submit your second try. Again, freeze the green locks and reorder only what’s left.
- Use your third try to place the final unconfirmed cards.
This method is effective because it treats each try as a sharper version of the last one. The green locks narrow the puzzle, and the remaining moves get easier to reason about.
Tip: No green locks on your first guess is useful information. It tells you not to reuse any of those positions on try two.
What to do when no green locks appear
If the first try gives you zero green locks, don’t panic. That result tells you all five cards are sitting in wrong spots. On your second guess, rotate the cards into completely different positions. This is one of the most valuable moves in Ranked: a “wrong” first guess can still eliminate five wrong placements.
The same logic applies after any try. Any card that doesn’t lock green has a confirmed wrong position. Move it somewhere new. This is the fastest way to narrow the options while protecting your green anchors.
FAQ
How many tries do I get?
Three. The first try is your widest guess, and the next two should be informed by the green locks you earn.
What does a green lock mean?
It means the card is in the correct position. Leave it there and focus on the remaining unconfirmed cards.
Is a first try with no green locks a waste?
No. It shows you which positions are wrong for every card, which makes the second try much more targeted.
Ranked rewards clean, careful thinking more than perfect first guesses. Use each try to lock in what you know, move the unconfirmed cards, and let the greens guide you to the final order.
