Panels in Lingo 2 have three plus one components.

1. The clue. This is a word shown to the player and is meant to be acted upon by the symbols

2. The symbols. These are read from right to left and will be the main focus of this guide.

3. 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.

4. The Dot (not pictured). This simply denotes if a puzzle has alternate solutions.

Panels may have different colours, but >95% of all panels in the game are gray. Panels will have a different colour to indicate that their answer is special or solving the panel does something special. There are so little coloured panels that any description of their mechanics would constitute a spoiler.

When panels form an n*n grid, they obey special rules.

That is, the panels will share answers in groups of n. These groups do not have to occupy each column or row exactly once.

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, 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'.

There are cases where the square bracket appears on its own. In this case the clue word is meant to be reversed, e.g. taking 'on' to 'no'..

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 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.

When Squiggled, the meaning is changed to adding lines to specific parts of a letter (thanks icely!), e.g. changing an N to an M. This can easily be confused with just replacing letters. A Square Bracket and a Squiggle together means that lines is removed from a letter.

There may also be dots below the symbol. These dots signify extra letters that are added or removed, so with 3 dots you add or remove 4 letters in the clue..

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 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 word that is a type of the other generally won't include the category word. So instead of 'quarterstaff' for 'staff', the type will be 'quarter'.

The Pyramid symbol refers to strengthening a word. The answer is a 'stronger' form of the clue.

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.

When Squiggled, the answer is the clue but with a suffix or prefix added relating to intensifiing. For example, one use could be to add 'er' to the end of a word, like fast to faster.

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. A combination of the Squiggle and the Square Bracket means removing the s on the end of the clue irregardless of whether or not the clue word is plural or the answer is an actual word.

The Smiley symbol refers to the action of taking clues from outside the panel as the answer. This is often 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'.

The clue word will give specific directions on where to find the answer. Sometimes the answer may not be a literal word found from the clue, e.g. 'sky' to 'blue'.

One important detail about the Smiley is that in cases where the clue is blank, the environmental clues are read from left to right relative to the orientation of the panel where applicable, and will usually be to the left of the panel.

When Square Bracketed, the clues are read from right to left relative to the orientation of the panel, and will be to the right of the panel.

When Squiggled, the idea is to search for missing data, so if you have two Squiggled Smileys with a bar between, and a panel whose answer is 'bookcase', the answer should be 'casebook'. This interpretation may be wrong, but I can only find two examples of Squiggled Smileys in the game.

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.

When Squiggled, the Spiral changes the tense of the clue between past, present and future. The Squiggled Spiral can also change archaic words to their modern forms.

The Kerplunk symbol represents gender. In its default state, the answer is a masculine form of the clue.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'wife', and so the answer is 'husband' which is a masculine form of 'wife'.

When Square Bracketed, the answer is a feminine form of the clue.

When Squiggled, the answer is a gender-neutral or androgynous form of the clue.

The Dot is as simple as it gets. It corresponds to duplicating the clue word, with more dots meaning more copies.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'ha', and so the answer is 'haha', as this is two copies of 'ha' joined together.

When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is reversed, so the clue is some repetition and the answer is just a single instance.

There are no cases where this duplication is conceptual, e.g. going from 'child' to 'twins', as this role is already filled by Planet.

The Bar is a special symbol that modifies the application of other symbols to the clue word. The clue word is split into two with the left symbol applied to the left part of the word and the right symbol applied to the right part of the word.

For example, in this puzzle the clue word is 'queendoom'. We split this clue into 'queen' and 'doom', apply each symbol separately to get 'king' and 'dom' then combine to get 'kingdom'.

As shown in the example, the parts of the word don't necessarily have to solve into an actual word before they are recombined.

Sometimes one side of the Bar will be blank, in which case that part of the clue does not change. In cases where there are multiple Bars, the clue is split into more parts. Multiple symbols may be used on each side of the Bar.

The Jackhammer symbol corresponds to rearranging the letters in a word, the answer will be an anagram of the clue.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'slot', so the answer is an anagram of 'slot', in this case 'lost'.

The Speaker symbol corresponds to (who would've guessed?) sound.The answer is a sound the clue makes.

When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is reversed, so the clue is a sound the answer makes.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'hiss' and so the answer is 'snake', as snakes make hissing noises.

The Cross symbol signifies adding energy. The answer will be the clue but with energy added in some way. This energy can take the form of charge, heat or kinetic energy.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'sand', so the answer is 'glass' as this is the result of sand being heated at high temperatures.

When Square Bracketed, the Cross signifies removing energy. In most cases this just flips the relationship between the clue and answer, but not always.

I wonder if, like with Rollercoaster, literally adding the word 'energy' or 'heat' to the clue word is a valid interpretation of Cross? I haven't seen any puzzle in Lingo 2 that does this.

The Rollercoaster symbol represents sweetening or adding sugar. The answer is a result of adding 'sweet' to the clue in some way.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'bread'. The answer is 'cake', as this is a 'sweet' version of bread.

The adding of 'sweet' to the clue may be literal, so 'meat' to 'sweetmeat' is a valid interpretation.

When Square Bracketed, the Rollercoaster represents removing sweetness. In most contexts this just reverses the relationship between the clue and answer, though there may be exceptions.

The Stethoscope symbol represents actions. The answer is an action taken by the clue.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'pilot'. The answer is 'fly', as pilots fly as part of their jobs.

The answer may also be something the clue acts on, or does.

When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is flipped, so the clue is an action taken by the answer.

The Stars symbol represents containment. The answer is something that 'contains' the clue in some way.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'bird'. The answer is 'nest', as birds live in nests.

When Square Bracketed, the relationship between the clue and answer is flipped, so the clue 'contains' the answer.

The Empty Set symbol represents change. The answer is a word for or way in which the clue changes.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'plant'. The answer is 'growth', as plants grow.

I can't recall any examples of a Square Bracketed Empty Set in game, but I'm sure it would involve reversing the relationship between the clue and answer, so the clue changes the answer.

The Salmon is one of the most complicated symbols in the game. The idea is that you interpret a word inside the clue as a keyword that acts on the rest of the clue. Sort of like a cryptic crossword clue.

For example, in this puzzle the clue is 'typewriting'. The word 'type' is interpreted to mean telling you to type the rest of the word, so the answer is 'writing'.

Writing every possible keyword the Salmon can use is impossible. For some examples you can check The Symbolic, which tutorialises the Salmon.

When the Square Bracket is applied, the opposite clue of the cryptic crossword is applied. So if the cryptic crossword clue asks for a synonym, the answer is actually an antonym. Inversion rules should follow the rules for the corresponding symbol.

The ? is sort of a wildcard symbol. It could represent any of the other symbols found in the game in any state.

For example, in this puzzle the ? is interpreted as Hexagons with 2 dots. We add 3 letters to 'eel' to get 'beetle'.

The amount of possibilities for ? make me worried there's some second meaning to it. There are a lot of cases where a ? panel has the player take hints from the environment, but I'm not sure if substituting the Smiley would work.

I'll be honest, the more cases of ? I look at the more ? seems to have no consistent set of rules governing the relationship between clue and answer. ? puzzles may just have to be solved on a case by case basis.

I'm adding the O for completeness, but I think it's just a joke. This is the only panel with this symbol.

Definitions will be tweaked in the future. Feel free to provide feedback below.

The definition of Squiggle Smiley currently isn't up to my standards, but I can only find two examples of the symbol appearing in game.