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Word Search stats
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Everyone
- Games played
- 4
- Highest score
- 1,500
- by TidyRobin76
- Players
- 4
- Time played
- 15m
How to play Word Search
Find every word in the list hidden in the grid of letters. Words run in straight lines, and on the harder boards that includes backwards and diagonally.
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Read the word list
The list sits beside or under the grid. Found words get crossed off as you go, so the list doubles as your progress bar.
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Drag across a word
Press on the first letter and drag to the last one, then let go. On a keyboard, move with the arrow keys and press Enter on each end of the word.
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Wrong guesses are free
Nothing is deducted for a selection that is not a word, and there is no mistake limit here. Scan as freely as you like.
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Finish the list
The board is solved when the last word is crossed off. Stopping early still scores in proportion to what you found.
Word Search difficulty levels
Four tiers, switchable on this page at any time. Nothing is locked, and a harder board is worth more when you finish it.
- Easy
- 8x8 grid, 6 words, reading left to right and top to bottom only. Nothing is hidden backwards.
- Medium
- 10x10 grid, 8 words. Diagonals appear, still reading left to right.
- Hard
- 12x12 grid, 10 words, in all eight directions - including backwards and bottom to top.
- Expert
- 14x14 grid, 12 words, all eight directions. The grid is big enough that method beats luck.
Word Search tips
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Hunt the first letter
Pick a word and sweep the grid for its first letter only. Your eye is much better at finding one letter than at reading eight directions at once.
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Go for the odd letters
If a word has a J, Q, X or Z, start there. There are usually only two or three of them in the whole grid, and the word is attached to one.
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Work in rows, not in circles
On a 14x14, drifting around the grid means covering the same squares five times. Read one row at a time, left to right, like a page.
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On hard boards, read everything twice
Once all eight directions are in play, the word you cannot find is usually sitting right where you looked, running the other way.
Word Search questions
Do words ever bend or wrap around?
No. Every word is a straight line, and no word wraps from one edge of the grid to the other.
Can words overlap?
Yes. Two words can share a letter, which is why a letter you have already used may still be part of something else.
Are there backwards words on every board?
Only from hard upward. Easy is forwards and downwards, medium adds diagonals that still read left to right, and hard and expert use all eight directions.
What if I cannot find the last word?
Nothing is lost by stopping - a partly finished board scores for what you found. New game deals a fresh grid whenever you want one.
Scoring, streaks and levels work the same way on every game and are explained on the about page.