You will encounter many symbols while solving puzzles in Lingo 2. Knowing the meanings of these symbols makes solving easier. In this guide you will find the meaning of all the symbols.
All Puzzle Symbols Dictionary in Lingo 2
Here are all the symbols and their meanings for puzzle solutions found in Lingo 2:
The Structure of a Panel
Panels in Lingo 2 have three plus one components.
- The clue. This is a word shown to the player and is meant to be acted upon by the symbols
- The symbols. These are read from right to left and will be the main focus of this guide.
- The answer. This is where the player inputs their answer to the puzzle. The length is shown, and players may additionally press the caps lock button to reveal the first letter.
- The Dot (not pictured). This simply denotes if a puzzle has alternate solutions.
The Sun
The Sun symbol takes the clue word and gives a synonym.
For example, in this puzzle the answer is ‘grin’, as it is a synonym of ‘smile’.
The Square Bracket
The Square Bracket, unlike most other symbols, is a modifier that changes the meaning of a symbol it is applied to. This is usually a reversal of some kind.
For example, in this puzzle the Square Bracket applied to the Sun means that the meaning of the sun is reversed , and so the symbol actually refers to taking an antonym of the clue. Therefore the answer is ‘in’, as this is an antonym of ‘out’.
The Eye
The Eye symbol relates to the sound of the word, it usually gives a homophone or homonym of the clue.
For example, in this puzzle the clue word is ‘eye’, so the answer is a homophone of ‘eye’, such as ‘I’.
This symbol can’t be Square Bracketed.
A Squiggle above this symbol means that the answer only partially sounds like the clue. In other words, the answer and the clue rhyme. If the symbol in the example puzzle was Squiggled, a potential answer could be ‘pie’, as this rhymes with ‘eye’.
The Hexagons
The Hexagon symbol refers to the action of adding letters. More specifically, The symbol on its own refers to adding a single letter anywhere in the clue word to form the answer.
For example, in this puzzle we need to add a letter to ‘curt’, so the answer is ‘court’, which is the result of adding the letter o to ‘curt’.
When the Square Bracket is applied to this symbol, the meaning is flipped to become removing letters.
There may also be dots below the symbol. These dots signify extra letters that are added to the word, so with 3 dots, 4 letters are added to the clue. The dots may be present with the Square Bracket, in which case both rules are applied.
The Box
The Box refers to the relationship of one thing being a component of another. The clue word is a component of the answer.
For example, in this puzzle the clue word is ‘weather’, and so the answer is ‘nature’, as the weather is a component of nature.
When the Square Bracket is applied, the relationship between the clue and answer is flipped, so the answer is a component of the clue.
The Snowflakes
The Snowflakes symbol refers to sub- or super- categories. The clue is a type of the answer.
For example, in this puzzle the clue word is ‘two’, so the answer is ‘digits’ as the number 2 is a digit.
When Square Bracketed, the relation between the clue and the answer is reversed, so the answer is a type of the clue.
One important detail about this symbol is that the notion of ‘type’ can be loose. For example, given the clue word ‘quarter’ may have the answer of ‘coin’ as a quarter is a type of coin, or it may have the answer ‘house’ referring to the word ‘quarter house’.
The Pyramid
The Pyramid symbol refers to [/spoiler]strengthening a word. The answer is a ‘stronger’ form of the clue[/spoiler].
For example, in this puzzle the clue word is ‘walk’, so the answer is ‘run’, as this is a ‘stronger’ word than ‘walk’.
When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is reversed, so the answer is a weakening of the clue.
The Planet
The Planet symbol refers to pluralisation, or multiples of. The answer is a word used when referring to multiple of the clue.
For example, in this puzzle the clue word is ‘corpse’, and so the answer is simply ‘corpses’, as this is the plural form of ‘corpse’.
When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the answer and clue are reversed, so the answer is a singular form of the clue.
It’s worth noting that the meaning of Planet is more general than just singular/plural forms of words. For example, an alternate solve of the ‘corpse’ panel could be ‘graveyard, as this is where multiple corpses gather.
When Squiggled, the answer is literally just adding an s onto the end of the clue like you’re a toddler that just figured out plural words.
The Smiley
The Smiley symbol refers to the action of taking clues from outside the panel as the answer. This is usually in the form of colour codes or answers of other panels.
For example, you can’t see it in this screenshot because I planned out my pictures incorrectly, but there are three colours on the side of this building that correspond to the letters you get from the building, those being b, r, and o. Therefore the answer is ‘bro’.
One important detail about the Smiley is that the clues must be read from left to right relative to the orientation of the panel.
When Square Bracketed, the clues are read from right to left relative to the orientation of the panel.
When Squiggled, the order of the clues is ignored.
The Spiral
The Spiral symbol refers to aging or progressing through time. The answer is the clue but ‘aged’ in some way.
For example, in this puzzle the clue is ‘young’, and so the answer is ‘old’, being an aged version of the word ‘young’.
When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is reversed so the answer is the clue but progressing backwards through time.
For words with specific past/present/future tenses, the Spiral and its Square Bracketed version may send the clue to its future or past tenses respectively.
A Squiggled Spiral gives the present tense or version of a word, e.g. ‘fired’ becomes ‘fire’.
