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How to play word search

A word search hides a list of real words inside a grid of decoy letters — your job is to find every one. The full find list sits beside the board from the start, so nothing is a guessing game: pick a word, hunt its letters, and cross it off. To select a word, drag from its first letter to its last; on a phone you can also tap the first letter and then the last, and the selection snaps to a straight line either way.

Difficulty changes which directions words can run. Easy boards keep every word reading left-to-right or top-to-bottom on a 10 × 10 grid. Medium boards move to 14 × 14 and add diagonal and reversed words, and hard boards use all eight directions on 16 × 16 — including backwards along the diagonals — with decoy letters tuned to resemble the hidden words.

When a word refuses to appear, a hint flashes its starting letter on the grid for a few seconds — hints are counted in your recap, never punished, so use them before frustration sets in. The quick-start steps and answers to common questions follow below; when you're ready, today's puzzle is waiting, or pick a themed grid from the puzzle library.

How to Play

  1. 1.

    Every puzzle hides a list of words in the letter grid — the list is shown beside the board.

  2. 2.

    Drag from a word's first letter to its last to select it; on a phone, you can also tap the first letter and then the last.

  3. 3.

    Words read in straight lines. Easy puzzles use only left-to-right and top-to-bottom; harder tiers add diagonals and reversed words.

  4. 4.

    Found words get crossed off the list automatically. Find every word to finish the puzzle — your time and streak are saved on your device.

FAQ

A new daily word search is published every day at midnight (US Eastern) — the same themed board for everyone. Every past daily stays playable in the archive, and the curated library adds over a hundred more puzzles you can play any time.

Yes. Every curated puzzle has a print view that puts the grid and word list on one page and the answer key on its own page. Use your browser's print dialog to print it or save it as a PDF — it's free.

It depends on difficulty. Easy and large print puzzles hide words left-to-right and top-to-bottom only. Medium adds diagonals and reversed words, and hard puzzles use all eight directions.

Yes — the free word search maker turns your word list into a playable, printable puzzle. You get a private share link; puzzles you create are never listed publicly or indexed by search engines.

Yes, and it's a real mode, not a relabel: large print puzzles cap at 10 × 10 with shorter forward-only lists, render with bigger high-contrast letters on screen, and print in extra-large type. There are also large-print and high-contrast toggles on every board.

No. Everything runs in your browser on phone, tablet, or desktop. Progress, streaks, and best times are saved on your device.

Use the hint button — it reveals the starting letter and location of one unfound word without giving the whole answer away. Hints are counted but never cost anything.