Word Search

How to play word search

A word search puzzle hides a list of words inside a grid of random letters. The words run in straight lines — across, down or diagonally — and your job is to spot each one and circle it. Found words get crossed off the list below the grid until every last one is found.

To circle a word, drag across it from the first letter to the last. On a phone you can also tap the first letter, then tap the last. Every puzzle is generated fresh in your browser, so you will never run out of grids to solve.

Pick your theme

Use the theme switcher above the grid to change what the words are about: Animals (from CAT to ANTELOPE), Food (PIZZA to CHOCOLATE), Nature, Sports, or the mixed Everything pool. Each theme has a pool of dozens of words, and every puzzle draws a different handful.

Tips for finding words faster

• Scan for rare letters. Words with uncommon letters like Q, Z, J or X are the fastest to find — scan the grid for the letter, then check the lines through it.
• Work from the word list, not the grid. Pick the longest word on the list first: it has the most letters to chain together and is often spotted in a single pass.
• Read in all eight directions. On Medium and Hard, train your eyes to slide diagonally and backwards — most missed words are simply ones you didn't think to read that way.
• Systematically sweep rows. Read each row left-to-right, then right-to-left, then move to columns. It feels slow but beats random skimming on Hard.
• Watch for shared letters. Words sometimes overlap on a letter — if a found word's line passes through an odd letter, a second word may pass through the same cell.

FAQ