Reason 1: Not in the official pool
Every Krillion prompt has a fixed official pool. If your answer isn't on that list, it scores zero — no matter how reasonable. Example: "piano" on a keyboard-shortcut prompt = rejected (it's not a shortcut action).
Reason 2: You missed a condition
"Name a country whose name ends in an 'ee' sound (like Italy)" requires BOTH being a country AND ending in that sound. "France" fails condition two. Fix: scan for conditional words — "whose", "that", "contains", "starts with" — and verify each before submitting.
Reason 3: Spelling or phrasing mismatch
The official pool uses specific spellings. "colour" vs "color", "Airbnb" vs "AirBnB" — wrong variant = zero. Fix: use the answer search or the game's autocomplete to check.
Reason 4: Wrong language
Krillion only accepts English answers. "pera" (Spanish for pear) is rejected on a fruit prompt. The valid answer is "pear". Fix: think in your language, translate to simple English. Our multi-language guides have tips.
Reason 5: The game's database has a gap
Sometimes a valid answer genuinely isn't in the pool. r/Krillion discusses these regularly. It's rarer than you think — most "the game is wrong" cases turn out to be Reasons 1-4.
Rejected vs Too Clever — know the difference
| Verdict | In pool? | Points | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rejected | No | 0 | Check spelling, conditions, language |
| Too Clever | Yes | 15 | Too common — think rarer |
| Plankton | Yes | 10 | The obvious answers |
| Deep Cut+ | Yes | 85-100 | Genuinely rare — keep doing this |
Still stuck? Try our Answer Checker
Type any word into our answer search and we'll tell you if it scored 100 points on any past dive.
The 30-second rejection autopsy
When an answer bounces, run the five reasons in order — most autopsies end at step two: 1) Was the word actually in the pool? Check the day sheet's tier tables. 2) Did it meet every condition in the prompt? Re-read the prompt word by word. 3) Was the spelling the exact variant the pool uses? Autocomplete is the referee here. 4) Was it in English? 5) If all four pass, you may have found a genuine pool gap — those exist, they're just the rarest outcome by far.
How to check which tier your word actually landed in
From October 2026 onward, every prompt page on this site carries the full official tier table — every accepted answer grouped from Plankton up to One in a Krillion. Open the prompt's page from the day sheet, expand the tier you think your word belonged to, and look. Older dives show the pool size and the 100-point answer, which covers most disputes. Settling it with the table beats re-arguing it from memory every time.
Preventing the five before the clock starts
The cheapest fix is the one you do before typing: read the prompt twice, underline (mentally) every conditional word, decide your spelling before your answer, and give yourself a two-letter autocomplete probe to confirm membership. Fifteen seconds, once per prompt. It removes Reasons 1 through 4 almost entirely — and the points you stop leaking are the cheapest points on the board.
The answers that "should have counted"
Every player eventually meets one: a perfectly reasonable, verifiably real answer that the pool simply doesn't contain. Maybe the game's list uses the local name and you typed the English one. Maybe it draws the line at a date — "active in the 90s" quietly excludes the artist who went solo in 2000. Maybe the entry just hasn't been added. These edge cases are real, they're the rarest of the five reasons, and they're also unwinnable from inside the clock. The move that keeps your score sane: accept the bounce, log it mentally, and check the tier table after the dive. Half the time you'll find your word was there under a slightly different spelling — which is Reason 3, and fixable. The other half, you get a story.
After the bounce: the next 20 seconds
A rejected answer costs more than its own points if it costs your composure — the clock keeps running whether you're typing or fuming. The routine that protects the rest of the dive: acknowledge the bounce in one breath (rejected, moving on), glance at the remaining time, and give the next prompt a clean read instead of a rushed one. Players who master this recover almost fully within one prompt; players who don't often chain a second mistake out of frustration — the classic rejected-then-rejected spiral. The scoreboard can't see your feelings, but it faithfully records what they did to your next answer.
Where each reason actually lives in the recap
Once you know the five reasons, the recap screen becomes a diagnostic chart. A zero with the word struck through means Reasons 1–4: not in pool, missed condition, spelling, or language — all fixable habits. A 15 with "Too Clever" means the word WAS valid and the problem is the opposite: too many people agreed with you, so the fix is going one layer more specific next time. A 10 is the same message louder. Reading your recap this way — not as a scorecard but as a to-do list — is the single fastest habit upgrade available, and it costs exactly the two minutes you already spend staring at the screen anyway.
Questions people ask
Why was my Krillion answer rejected?
Five reasons: 1) the answer isn't in the official pool, 2) you missed a condition, 3) you spelled it differently, 4) wrong language, or 5) the game's database has a gap.
What's the difference between Rejected and Too Clever?
Too Clever (15 points) means your answer IS in the pool but too many others also thought of it. Rejected (0 points) = not in the pool at all.
Can I report a wrong answer to Krillion?
Report issues on r/Krillion. For our site: [email protected].
Part of the Hints4Today logbook — every guide in one place.
Hints4Today is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with the creators of Krillion. Screenshots of the official game are copyright krillion.io and appear here solely for identification and commentary (fair use). Play the official game at krillion.io.
🐋 Done diving? Whallion — our bonus game where the rarer answer feeds the whale. Hand still warm? Put it to work.