diff --git a/src/state/game-state.js b/src/state/game-state.js
index 303fe93..c17a6f6 100644
--- a/src/state/game-state.js
+++ b/src/state/game-state.js
@@ -63,7 +63,12 @@ class GameStateManager {
     }));
 
     // Restore saved state from LocalStorage if available
-    this.restoreProgress();
+    const hasSavedTileOrder = this.restoreProgress();
+
+    // If fresh puzzle without saved order, scramble the board so target words are not formed!
+    if (!hasSavedTileOrder) {
+      this.scrambleBoard(puzzle.id || String(Date.now()));
+    }
 
     // Organize board tiles according to lock state
     this.reorganizeBoard();
@@ -71,6 +76,28 @@ class GameStateManager {
     this.notify();
   }
 
+  // Seeded Fisher-Yates scramble for initial board dealing
+  scrambleBoard(seed = '') {
+    let h = 0x811c9dc5;
+    for (let i = 0; i < seed.length; i++) {
+      h ^= seed.charCodeAt(i);
+      h = Math.imul(h, 0x01000193);
+    }
+    let s = (h >>> 0) || 123456789;
+    const nextRandom = () => {
+      s = (Math.imul(1664525, s) + 1013904223) >>> 0;
+      return s / 4294967296;
+    };
+
+    const shuffled = [...this.boardTiles];
+    for (let i = shuffled.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
+      const j = Math.floor(nextRandom() * (i + 1));
+      [shuffled[i], shuffled[j]] = [shuffled[j], shuffled[i]];
+    }
+    this.boardTiles = shuffled;
+    this.saveProgress();
+  }
+
   // Get current date string in YYYY-MM-DD
   getTodayDateString() {
     const today = new Date();
@@ -99,7 +126,7 @@ class GameStateManager {
 
   // Restore puzzle progress
   restoreProgress() {
-    if (!this.currentPuzzle) return;
+    if (!this.currentPuzzle) return false;
     const saveKey = `quartiles_save_${this.currentPuzzle.id}`;
     try {
       const saved = localStorage.getItem(saveKey);
@@ -115,10 +142,17 @@ class GameStateManager {
 
           // Restore tile order if saved
           if (Array.isArray(parsed.tileOrder) && parsed.tileOrder.length === 20) {
+            // Check if saved order was the trivial unscrambled [0..19] order
+            const isSequential = parsed.tileOrder.every((id, idx) => id === idx);
+            if (isSequential && this.foundWords.size === 0) {
+              return false;
+            }
+
             const tileMap = new Map(this.boardTiles.map(t => [t.id, t]));
             const reordered = parsed.tileOrder.map(id => tileMap.get(id)).filter(Boolean);
             if (reordered.length === 20) {
               this.boardTiles = reordered;
+              return true;
             }
           }
         }
@@ -126,6 +160,7 @@ class GameStateManager {
     } catch (err) {
       console.warn('Failed to restore progress:', err);
     }
+    return false;
   }
 
   // Check if a tile belongs to an already found Quartile