Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what this is

Origins Quiz (originsquiz.com, the “Service”) is a daily word-origin puzzle game operated by Emdash LLC (“Emdash,” “we,” “us”). By visiting or playing Origins Quiz, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

2. Who can use Origins Quiz

Origins Quiz is not directed at children under 13, and you must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If you're under the age of majority where you live, you should have a parent or guardian's permission before creating an account.

3. Playing as a guest vs. with an account

You can play each day's puzzle without creating an account. Guest progress is stored only in your own browser and isn't tied to an identity — it won't sync across devices, and clearing your browser's site data clears it for good. Creating an account lets your scores, streaks, and history persist across devices and appear on the leaderboard under your chosen username.

Older puzzles in the archive may require an account to play — the current day's puzzle, and any puzzle explicitly marked as a free sample, are always playable without one.

4. Your account

• You're responsible for keeping your password confidential and for all activity under your account.
• Choose a username that isn't offensive, impersonating someone else, or infringing on someone else's rights. We may rename or remove a username that violates this, and may suspend or terminate an account for abuse, cheating, or violating these Terms.
• One account per person. Don't create accounts to manipulate the leaderboard, automate puzzle-solving, or otherwise gain an unfair advantage.
• You can request deletion of your account and associated data at any time — see our Privacy Policy for how.

5. Rules for playing

Play fair. Don't use bots, scripts, or automated tools to solve puzzles, submit answers, or interact with the Service. Don't attempt to access puzzle answers before they're published through the app, or scrape, mine, or bulk-download puzzle content, blog content, or leaderboard data. Don't attempt to disrupt the Service — for example, by overwhelming it with requests or probing it for security vulnerabilities without our permission.

Using “Reveal” to see an answer is always allowed — it's a built-in feature — but it will mark that day's puzzle as revealed and won't count toward your streak, exactly as the app tells you before you confirm.

6. Our content

The puzzles, clues, bonus words, blog posts, the Origins Quiz name, and the app's design and branding are owned by Emdash LLC or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may play the game and read the blog for your own personal, non-commercial enjoyment, but you may not republish, redistribute, or create a competing product from our puzzle content without our written permission.

We make a genuine effort to fact-check the historical claims behind each puzzle and blog post, but origin stories are sometimes disputed or based on incomplete historical records. Content is provided for entertainment and casual-trivia purposes, not as a citable historical or academic source.

7. Your content

Anything you submit to us — your username, or messages you send to our support address — should be your own and shouldn't violate anyone else's rights. You retain ownership of anything you submit, but you give us permission to use it (for example, displaying your username on the leaderboard) as part of operating the Service.

8. Third-party services

Running Origins Quiz relies on a small number of outside services — for example, our hosting provider and, if you enable them, your browser's push-notification infrastructure. See our Privacy Policy for details on what's shared with whom.

9. Service availability

Origins Quiz is provided “as is” and “as available.” We do our best to publish a new puzzle every day and keep the Service running smoothly, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted access, that the Service will be error-free, or that any particular puzzle, feature, or piece of content will remain available indefinitely. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time.

10. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Emdash LLC disclaims all warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding the Service, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Emdash LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service, and our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the amount, if any, you paid us to use it in the twelve months before the claim arose.

Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that can't be limited under applicable law.

11. Changes to these terms

If we change these Terms, we'll update the effective date at the top of this page. Continued use of Origins Quiz after a change means you accept the updated Terms. If a change is significant, we'll make a reasonable effort to call it out more visibly in the app.

12. Governing law and dispute resolution

Emdash LLC is formed under the laws of the State of California, and these Terms are governed by California law, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable law requires otherwise.

If a dispute comes up that we can't resolve informally by emailing [email protected], it will be resolved through binding arbitration on an individual basis rather than in court, except that either of us may bring an individual claim in small-claims court instead. You and Emdash LLC each waive any right to a jury trial or to participate in a class action or class arbitration. This doesn't apply to the extent applicable law doesn't allow it.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms: [email protected].