How to play word search
- Pick a theme and a level, or keep the puzzle that’s ready. The words to find are listed beside the grid.
- Drag across a word from its first letter to its last, or tap the first letter and then the last. Found words get circled and crossed off the list.
- Find every word to finish. Stuck? Hint shows where one of the words starts, though a puzzle solved with a hint doesn’t set a best time.
Tips for finding words faster
- Look for the rare letters. Scan for the letters that don’t come up often in English, like J, Q, X, Z, K and V. If a word has one, that’s the quickest way in.
- Search for the first two letters. Find the first letter, then check the eight squares around it for the second. That’s quicker than reading every line.
- Long words first. Long words are easier to spot and they use up letters, which makes the short ones stand out.
- On Hard, read backwards. Words can run right to left and bottom to top, so look for the last letters too.
- Sweep the grid in strips. Run your eye along each row, then each column, then the diagonals, instead of jumping around.
About the puzzles
Each puzzle picks words from one of seven themes (animals, food, around the house, nature, places, jobs and sports) or mixes them all, hides them in the grid, and fills the gaps with random letters. A new puzzle is different every time. Your puzzle in progress is saved, so you can close the page and finish it later, and the best time for each level, solved without hints, is kept on this device.