How it works
The words of the list hide in the grid in straight lines: across, down, diagonally, and in harder puzzles backwards too. Find one and mark it from its first letter to its last. Letters can be shared by two words that cross.
Look for the rare letters
Pick the least common letter of a word, like the Q, Z, X, J or K, and find it in the grid. There are few of them, and each is a short list of places to check. Then look around it, in all eight directions, for the next letter.
Spot double letters and shapes
Double letters, like the LL of BALLOON or the OO of BOOK, stand out in a grid. So do pairs that rarely sit together, such as QU or a W next to an H.
Scan one direction at a time
Instead of jumping around, run your eye along every row looking for one word's first two letters, then down every column, then along the diagonals. A steady sweep misses less than a hunt.
Do not forget backwards
In hard puzzles a word can run right to left or bottom to top. Look for the word's last letter followed by its second-to-last: for CAT, look for a T next to an A.
Make your own
Our printable word search makes a new grid in one tap, from common words or your own list, with an answer key. Good practice, and good for a class or a party.
Questions
- Can letters be used twice?
- Yes, two words may cross and share a letter.
- What is the fastest way to find words?
- Start from the rarest letter of each word and check its eight neighbours for the next letter.
- Are word searches good for the brain?
- They train pattern spotting, attention and spelling, which is why teachers use them.
