Pattern 1: Add or remove a letter
A common purple trick is words that become new words when you add a letter, or that all contain a smaller hidden word. Scan for short words buried inside longer ones.
If three of your leftover words share a hidden animal, color, or name, the fourth almost certainly does too — even if you haven't spotted it yet.
Pattern 2: ___ + a common word
Purple groups frequently collect words that all precede or follow the same word — like words that can come before 'BALL' (BASE, FOOT, BASKET, MEAT) or after 'FIRE'.
When a set of words feels unrelated by meaning, try appending common words to each: ball, house, light, man, work. A shared completion is the giveaway.
Pattern 3: Homophones and sound-alikes
Sometimes the link is how words sound, not what they mean. Read your leftover words aloud — purple may be hiding a set of homophones for numbers, letters, or names.
Leave purple for last
Because purple is designed to overlap with the other groups, the smartest strategy is to solve yellow, green, and blue first. Whatever remains is purple — and you can confirm the pattern with the eight, then four, words still on the board.