The Player

Search for a footballer and select a result to make a guess. Each row compares that player with the mystery answer using nation, position, birth year and shirt number. Green means an exact match for that attribute, not necessarily the right player. Each miss also adds a clue to the dossier. Read it before spending your next guess.

The Born column shows a year. An up arrow beside 1994 means the answer was born after 1994, so is younger; a down arrow means an earlier birth year, so is older. Shirt-number arrows work the same way: up from 8 means a number greater than 8. A dash means that information is unknown and should not eliminate a candidate.

Positions follow GK, DF, MF, FW. Amber means one step away in that order. An amber MF therefore leaves DF or FW; it does not mean a similar role at the same club. Nation is an exact comparison, with no nearby-country clue.

Imagine your guess has a green nation, an amber MF, Born 1994 with an up arrow, and shirt 8 with a down arrow. Your next candidate should share that nation, be a defender or forward, have a birth year after 1994 and a shirt number below 8. Combine those conditions with the dossier instead of following only one green tile.

The regular daily answer pool features players born from 1970 onwards. Use the game’s recorded details: transfers and shirt numbers can change, and a player’s most memorable number may differ from the one in the puzzle. A solve in fewer guesses is better; after six misses the answer is revealed.