How to play
Each puzzle hands you a square of letters and a list of words to find in it. All the words share a theme, shown at the top: Animals, Fruits, Ocean, Space, Sports, Kitchen, Weather, Music, Garden or Colors. A new puzzle draws its theme at random and picks a fresh selection of words from that theme’s list.
Marking a word. Drag your finger or mouse from the first letter to the last, or tap the first letter and then the last. The selection snaps to a straight line. You can start from either end of the word. If the letters match a word on the list, it’s highlighted in colour on the grid and crossed off below; if not, nothing changes and nothing is counted against you.
Directions depend on the size you choose:
| Size | Grid | Words | Directions used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 10 × 10 | 8 | right, down, diagonal down-right |
| Medium | 12 × 12 | 12 | those three, plus left, up and diagonal up-right |
| Large | 15 × 15 | 16 | all eight, including both reverse diagonals |
So on Small, every word reads forwards the way you’d normally read. Medium introduces words spelled right to left and bottom to top. Large adds the two remaining diagonals, which are the hardest to spot.
Progress and time. The Found counter shows how many words you’ve got out of the total, and a clock runs while you play. Your puzzle is saved as you go.
Hint. If you’re stuck, Hint marks the first letter of a word you haven’t found yet. It’s offered after an optional short ad.
How the puzzles are built
A few rules make these grids fair:
- Every word on the list appears exactly once. You won’t find a second copy that also counts.
- No word sits inside another word, forwards or backwards, so a find is always a real find.
- Words may cross and share a letter where they meet.
- The filler letters are checked so they don’t accidentally spell unwanted words, and the theme lists contain only everyday, family-friendly vocabulary.
Words run from three to ten letters, all in capitals, with no spaces or punctuation.
Strategy
Hunt the rare letters. Q, X, Z, J and K stand out in a grid. QUASAR in Space, ZEBRA in Animals or QUINCE in Fruits give you an anchor you can find in seconds. Once you’ve found the rare letter, check its eight neighbours for the next one.
Look for doubles. Words with a doubled letter, like GIRAFFE, SQUIRREL or APPLE, show up as a pair of identical letters side by side, which is easier to spot than a single letter.
Search for two letters, not one. Scanning for every T is slow. Scanning for “TI” when you want TIGER cuts the false leads to a handful.
On Medium and Large, think backwards. If a word won’t turn up, look for it written in reverse: REGIT instead of TIGER. Searching from the last letter often reveals it.
Sweep in order on big grids. On Large, pick one word and go row by row, then column by column, then along the diagonals. A systematic sweep beats darting around.
Leave short words for last. Three- and four-letter words like FIG or SEAL hide easily. Once the long words are coloured in, there are fewer unclaimed letters for them to hide among.
Use the crossings. A found word’s letters may belong to another word too. When you’re down to one or two words, check the letters of highlighted words; the last word often shares one.
If you like letter puzzles, try something with numbers next: Sudoku. For a deduction game with coloured pegs instead of letters, there’s Color Code.
If you enjoy Word Search, try Archer Duel or Bobble Hoops next.
