Letter sets
Random letter generator sets and their odds
The random letter generator has 4 built-in letter sets plus your own, and every letter in a set has the same chance. The default A–Z wheel gives each letter 1 in 26, about 3.85%.
- 3.85%Each letter, A–Z1 in 26
- 20%Each vowelA, E, I, O and U
- 4.76%Each consonant21 letters, Y included
- 5%Category game set20 letters, 1 in 20
| Set | Letters | Count | Chance of each |
|---|---|---|---|
| A–Z | A to Z | 26 | 3.85% |
| Vowels | A E I O U | 5 | 20% |
| Vowels, with Y as a vowel | A E I O U Y | 6 | 16.67% |
| Consonants | B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Y Z | 21 | 4.76% |
| Consonants, with Y as a vowel | The same 21 without Y | 20 | 5% |
| Category game | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W | 20 | 5% |
| Custom | Any letters or letter groups you type | 1 to 200 | 1 ÷ the count |
Each set loads with one click, and Undo puts the old wheel back. You can still edit the letters in the Entries box, for example to delete X.
Quick start
How to pick a random letter
Choose a letter set and a case, then press Spin. The letter options sit next to the wheel, and the Entries box opens under “Edit entries & settings”.
Choose the letters
Pick A–Z, Vowels, Consonants, Category game or Custom.
Choose the case
ABC for capitals, abc for small letters or Aa for both.
Repeats or not
Tick “No repeats” if each letter should come up only once.
Spin
Press Spin, click the wheel or press Space. The letter shows in a popup and in the Results tab.
Party game
Play a category game with the letter wheel
Give every player the same list of categories, spin one letter on the random letter generator, and start a timer. Each answer must start with the letter spun, and an answer nobody else wrote scores best.
Party games such as Scattergories, a Hasbro trademark, use this format. Wheel Spinning is not connected to Hasbro. Hasbro's Scattergories page describes a 20-sided letter die, and players score for answers no one else wrote down.
The Category game set also holds 20 letters: A to P, then R, S, T and W. That is every letter except Q, U, V, X, Y and Z. Tick “No repeats” so each letter comes up once per game.
The Timer button in the wheel toolbar runs a countdown for each round. “Countdown after each pick” in Customize starts one every time the result popup closes.
| Category | B | M |
|---|---|---|
| An animal | Bear | Moose |
| A food | Bagel | Mango |
| A country or city | Brazil | Madrid |
| A job | Baker | Mechanic |
| A musical instrument | Banjo | Maracas |
| Something in a kitchen | Blender | Microwave |
| A plant | Bamboo | Maple |
| A first name | Bella | Marco |
| Something you wear | Boots | Mittens |
| A sport | Baseball | Motocross |
Our own data
Why the category set leaves out 6 letters
Q, U, V, X, Y and Z start the fewest everyday words, so a round on those letters stalls. We checked this against the 1,552 words in our own random word generator list.
S starts 242 of those words. X starts 1, Q starts 4 and Z starts 6. The 6 letters at the bottom of the count are exactly the 6 the Category game set leaves out.
That is a count of one kid-safe list, not of every English word. Try naming a vegetable that starts with X, and the reason a random letter generator for games skips it is clear.
- S242 words
- C159 words
- P130 words
- X (left out)1 word
- Q (left out)4 words
- Z (left out)6 words
- U (left out)7 words
- Y (left out)9 words
- V (left out)14 words
- J16 words
Repeats
How often a random letter generator repeats
Letters repeat more often than most people expect when every letter stays on the wheel. With the 20-letter set, 5 rounds have a 41.9% chance of at least one repeat. With all 26 letters, 10 spins have an 86.3% chance.
| Letters on the wheel | Spins | Chance of a repeat |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 3 | 14.5% |
| 20 | 5 | 41.9% |
| 20 | 10 | 93.5% |
| 26 | 3 | 11.2% |
| 26 | 5 | 33.6% |
| 26 | 10 | 86.3% |
“No repeats” takes each picked letter off the wheel as soon as the result shows, and lists the used letters. “Put all letters back” starts a new game, and so does choosing a letter set again. Each letter is drawn by crypto.getRandomValues, and earlier spins have no effect on the next one. See how the wheel's fairness is tested.
Options
Case, the Y rule and your own letters
Four options change what the alphabet wheel holds. Each one keeps the odds equal across the letters on it.
ABC, abc or Aa
The case buttons switch every letter between capitals, small letters and pairs such as Aa. Pairs help early readers match each capital to its small letter. Lowercase suits phonics cards and handwriting practice.
Is Y a vowel?
Not here, unless you tick “Count Y as a vowel”. Y is a consonant in “yes” and “yellow” and makes a vowel sound in “gym” and “fly”. The box moves Y between sets, never into both.
Spin your own letters
Press Custom, type the letters and press “Use these letters”. ABCDE makes 5 slices. Commas or spaces keep groups together, so “sh, ch, th, ph” makes 4. Groups can be up to 5 letters, such as “ough”.
Other alphabets
Custom accepts letters such as Ñ, Ü, Ø or Greek α. Repeats are dropped, ignoring case, so “a, A” makes 1 slice. Changing the case works on custom letters too.
In class
Alphabet wheel ideas for phonics, spelling and writing
A random letter generator suits any game or lesson that starts from a letter. Put the wheel on the board and let the class watch it land.
| Activity | How to play | Best set |
|---|---|---|
| Name a thing | Name an animal, a food or a place that starts with the letter. | A–Z or Category game |
| Category game | Fill a list of categories with words that start with the letter before the timer ends. | Category game, No repeats |
| Alphabet practice | Say the letter's name and sound, or find an object that starts with it. | Aa pairs |
| Phonics | Read or write a word with the letter or letter group spun. | Custom, such as sh, ch, th |
| Vowel swaps | Swap the vowel in a short word, such as cat to cot or cut. | Vowels |
| Writing prompts | Write a sentence where every word starts with the letter. | Consonants |
| Spelling warm-ups | Spell a word that starts with the letter, then one that ends with it. | A–Z |
To call on students by name rather than by letter, use the random name picker. For numbered choices, the random number wheel builds a wheel from a range of up to 10,000 whole numbers. For any other list, spin the wheel with your own entries.
Weighted letters
Weight the letter wheel like real English
An equal random letter generator gives Z the same 3.85% as E, while English text is far less even. For word-building games, you can copy real letter frequencies into the wheel's weights.
| Letter | Share of English text | Against 3.85% on the wheel |
|---|---|---|
| E | 12.49% | 3.2× as common |
| T | 9.28% | 2.4× as common |
| A | 8.04% | 2.1× as common |
| O | 7.64% | 2.0× as common |
| I | 7.57% | 2.0× as common |
| N | 7.23% | 1.9× as common |
| X | 0.23% | 17× rarer |
| J | 0.16% | 24× rarer |
| Q | 0.12% | 32× rarer |
| Z | 0.09% | 43× rarer |
How to set it up
Open “Edit entries & settings”, then “Weights, colors & images” in the Entries tab. Type each letter's share as its weight, such as 12.49 for E and 0.09 for Z. Weights run from 0.01 to 1,000, and the chance column shows the result.
The shares come from Peter Norvig's count of 3.56 trillion letters in Google Books. They describe letters anywhere in words, not first letters. For whole words instead of single letters, the random word generator picks nouns, verbs and adjectives by difficulty.
FAQ
Letter wheel: quick answers
How many letters are on the letter wheel?
The default wheel has all 26 letters from A to Z. The vowel set has 5, the consonant set has 21 and the category game set has 20.
Which letters does the category game set leave out?
It leaves out Q, U, V, X, Y and Z. The 20 letters left are A to P, then R, S, T and W.
Can I spin lowercase letters?
Yes. Press abc for small letters, or Aa for capital and small letter pairs.
Can the same letter come up twice?
Yes, unless “No repeats” is ticked. Each spin is independent, so a letter can repeat on the next spin.
Can I add letters from other languages?
Yes. Custom accepts any letters, such as Ñ, Ç and Ø, or Greek and Cyrillic letters.
Can I make common letters come up more often?
Yes. Give each letter a weight in “Weights, colors & images”. A letter with weight 2 comes up twice as often as a letter with weight 1.
Is this the official Scattergories letter die?
No. Wheel Spinning is not connected to Hasbro. The Category game set holds 20 letters: every letter except Q, U, V, X, Y and Z.
How do I time each round?
Press Timer in the wheel toolbar and start the countdown. To start one after every pick, choose a length for “Countdown after each pick” in Customize.
Last updated · Written and tested by Melissa T. Brown