Crumble #8 — the solution
The board from October 8, 2026, on the theme “In outer space”: 7 words in thirty-six falling letters — a Tricky day.
The board
A R C N R A T E M A X L N R O T Y A O O V R A S S O M S G A C O S A Q U
At first sight 3 words are in line: COSMOS, CRATER and QUASAR. The rest come together as letters fall.
The words
| # | Word | Where it starts, and how it runs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | COSMOS | row 6, column 1 right, right, up, left, left |
| 2 | CRATER | row 3, column 3 left, left, down, right, down |
| 3 | QUASAR | row 6, column 5 right, up, up, left, left |
| 4 | STAR | row 5, column 4 up, up, right |
| 5 | GALAXY | row 6, column 5 right, up, up, left, down |
| 6 | NOVA | row 5, column 4 left, down, right |
| 7 | MOON | row 6, column 3 left, left, up |
One order that clears it
Rows are counted from the top and columns from the left, on the board as it stands when the word is taken — the letters have fallen by then. Most boards can be cleared in more than one order; this is the first one the board allows, taking the longest word that is ready.
- COSMOS. Start at row 6, column 1 of the board as it stands, then right, right, up, left, left. Nothing new comes together.
- CRATER. Start at row 3, column 3 of the board as it stands, then left, left, down, right, down. Nothing new comes together.
- QUASAR. Start at row 6, column 5 of the board as it stands, then right, up, up, left, left. Its going brings GALAXY and STAR together.
- STAR. Start at row 5, column 4 of the board as it stands, then up, up, right. Its going brings NOVA together.
- GALAXY. Start at row 6, column 5 of the board as it stands, then right, up, up, left, down. Nothing new comes together.
- NOVA. Start at row 5, column 4 of the board as it stands, then left, down, right. That leaves MOON, the last word.
- MOON. Start at row 6, column 3 of the board as it stands, then left, left, up. The board is clear.
The decoys
27 common words can be traced at some point and are off the theme — a mistake each: ACME, ACRE, ALAS, AQUA, ATOM, CATS, GALA, META, MOOR, MORE, MOST, NAME, OATS, ONYX, RATE, RATS, ROAR, ROOM, ROSY, SAGA, SOME, SORE, TAME, TOME, TORE, TORN, TRAY.
Refused, free — a fair player could argue for it: VAST.
Previous: Crumble #7 (Wed, Oct 7)
About Crumble
Crumble is Noggin’s falling-letters word puzzle, on the second shelf: every word fits the day’s theme, a traced word crumbles and the letters above fall, outside the daily line-up. How to play Crumble, or play today’s.