Word Search Puzzles
Hunt for hidden words across, down, diagonally and even backwards in themed letter grids.
How to use: Drag across a word, or tap its first and last letter. Find every word in the list as fast as you can.
How to play Word Search
Word Search hides a list of themed words inside a square grid of letters. Words can run left to right or top to bottom on the easy level, and on the hard level they can also run diagonally and backwards. Every new puzzle is generated fresh, so you will never see the same grid twice.
To mark a word, press on its first letter and drag to its last letter; the selection snaps to straight lines. If dragging is awkward on your phone, simply tap the first letter and then tap the last letter. You can also play with a keyboard: click the grid, move with the arrow keys, and press Enter on the first and last letters. Found words are highlighted and crossed off the list.
Pick a theme such as Animals, Food, Space, Sports or Nature, and choose Easy for a ten-by-ten grid or Hard for twelve-by-twelve with all eight directions. The timer starts with your first selection and stops when the last word is found, so your score is your time in seconds. Lower is better.
A good strategy is to scan for unusual letters such as Z, Q, X or K, or for double letters, then check the words that contain them. Word searches are relaxing and build spelling and pattern recognition for every age.
Frequently asked questions
Can words be backwards?
Only on the Hard level, where words can run in all eight directions, including diagonally and backwards.
How do I select a word on a phone?
Drag your finger from the first letter to the last, or tap the first letter and then the last letter.
How is my score calculated?
It is the number of seconds from your first selection until every word is found. Lower scores are better.