Word Search guide
Word search tips: how to find hidden words faster
Look for a word's rarest letter, not its first one: a J, Q, X, Z, K or a double letter is far easier to spot in a grid than an E. Scan in strips, one row at a time, then column by column, and when you find the letter, check its eight neighbours for the next one. Save long words for early and short words for last.
Start with the rarest letter
Most people look for a word's first letter. That is the slow way, because first letters are often common ones. A grid of 16×16 has 256 letters, and E is the commonest letter in English, so hunting for the E in ELEPHANT gives you dozens of false starts.
Instead, pick the letter in the word that is hardest to find in the grid, find every copy of it, and check around each one. The rarer the letter, the fewer places to check.
| Word | Hunt for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GIRAFFE | FF | A double letter stands out as a pair. |
| JAGUAR | J | J is one of the rarest letters in English. |
| PUZZLE | ZZ | Rare and doubled: two Z's side by side are hard to miss. |
| KOALA | K | Far rarer than its O, A or L. |
| WALRUS | W | W has a distinctive shape and turns up much less than A, L, R or S. |
Shape helps too. Letters with unusual outlines (W, M, Q, X, Y) jump out of a block of letters; round letters like O, C and G blur together.
Scan in strips, not at random
Eyes wandering over a grid miss things. A system finds them:
- Row by row. Run your eye (or a finger) along each row, top to bottom, looking only for your target letter.
- Then column by column. A second pass the other way catches what you skipped, because the letter sits in a different neighbourhood.
- Hunt for two letters at once. Once you are quick, look for a pair, such as the J and the following A of JAGUAR, so you only stop when both sit together.
Check all eight neighbours
When you find a candidate letter, look at the eight squares around it: left, right, up, down and the four diagonals. If the second letter of the word is in one of them, follow that line for the third letter. If not, move on straight away; do not stare.
Starting from the middle of a word can be quicker still. For GIRAFFE, find the FF, then check whether the letters before it read A, R, I, G in a straight line.
Which words to look for first
- Long words first. A ten-letter word is a long line of letters, easier to spot than a short one, and finding it early clears space in the grid.
- Words with rare letters next. Anything with J, Q, X, Z, K, V or a double letter.
- Short, common words last. CAT or TEA can hide anywhere and even appear by accident in the filler. By the end, most of the grid is marked, so there are fewer places left.
Yuzool's Word Search promises that every listed word appears exactly once in the grid, in any of the eight directions, so if you find a short word, it is the right one.
Backwards and diagonal words
Bigger puzzles hide words in more directions, which is what makes them harder. In Yuzool's Word Search the size sets the rules:
| Grid | Words | Directions |
|---|---|---|
| 8×8 | 8 | Across and down |
| 10×10 | 10 | Across, down and one diagonal |
| 12×12, 14×14 | 14, 18 | Across, down and both forward diagonals |
| 16×16 and up | 22 to 30 | Every direction, backwards too |
For backwards words, flip your search: look for the last letter followed by the second-to-last. For diagonals, tilt your head or run a finger at 45 degrees; it sounds daft but it makes diagonal lines read like rows.
Finding the last word
Everyone knows the feeling: one word left and it refuses to appear. Try these in order:
- Spell it backwards. In grids with every direction, the last word is very often reversed. Read the word end first and hunt again.
- Look in the unmarked letters. Most of the grid is highlighted by now. The word must cross the letters still clear or share one with a found word.
- Hunt for its rarest letter again, this time checking every copy, including those inside words you have already found. Words may cross on a shared letter.
- Check the spelling. Multi-word entries like ICE CREAM are hidden without the space, as ICECREAM.
- Take a hint. In the app a hint rings the first letter of a word you have not found yet. It is counted beside your time, but it ends the frustration.
Tips for playing on a phone
- Drag from the first letter to the last, and the highlighter snaps to the nearest straight line, so you do not need to be exact. You can also tap a word's two ends.
- Turn on the magnifier in Settings for big grids. A bubble above your finger shows the letters under it while you drag.
- Use a bigger screen for big grids. The 16×16 and larger puzzles are most comfortable on a tablet or computer.
- Start small. An 8×8 with words only across and down is a good warm-up before the Daily, which runs from 10×10 on Mondays to 16×16 at the weekend.
Making a puzzle rather than solving one? See the printable word search maker guide. For children, our guide to word searches for kids covers sizes and topics by age.
Questions
What is the best strategy for a word search?
Hunt for each word's rarest letter (such as J, K, X, Z or a double letter) rather than its first letter, scan the grid row by row and then column by column, and check the eight squares around each match for the next letter.
Why can I never find the last word?
It is often hidden backwards or diagonally, or it crosses letters you have already highlighted. Spell it backwards, look for its rarest letter everywhere including inside found words, and check that you are not looking for a space in a two-word answer.
Are word searches good for your brain?
They give you practice at visual scanning, sustained attention and spelling, and they are a relaxing way to focus. Like any puzzle, they are best enjoyed for themselves rather than as a medical treatment.
Can a word appear twice in a word search?
Not in Yuzool's Word Search: each listed word appears exactly once in the grid, counting all eight directions, so the first copy you find is the right one.