ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Word square

A word square is a special type of puzzle made up of words that can be arranged in a square shape like this:

M E O W

E A T S

O A F S

W S T E

Each row (side-to-side) and column (top-to-bottom) has a word in it, and if you read them in any direction, they are all valid words that can be found in the dictionary. It's like having several crossword puzzles stacked on top of each other!

The cool thing about word squares is that they can be challenging to create because the words have to fit with each other in many different ways. It's like putting together a big puzzle, except with words instead of pictures. People have been making word squares for hundreds of years, and they continue to be a popular puzzle today.
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