Word Search

Every word in the list is hidden in the grid of letters. To find one, click its first letter and then its last — the line between them is checked, and a found word is struck off the list and shaded in the grid. You can start from either end, so a word read backwards counts too. Clicking the same letter twice cancels a selection. The grid is made of ordinary buttons, so it also works with a keyboard (Tab to a letter, Enter to pick it) and is read out by screen readers letter by letter with its row and column.

Easy puzzles are 10 × 10 with eight words running only across and down. Medium puzzles are 12 × 12 with twelve words that may also run diagonally. Hard puzzles are 15 × 15 with fifteen words in all eight directions, including backwards and up. Pick a theme — animals, fruit, space, the ocean, sports or weather — or choose My own words and type a list, one per line or separated by commas: spelling words, names, vocabulary for a lesson. Spaces and punctuation are dropped, so "ice cream" is hidden as ICECREAM, and words shorter than three letters or longer than the grid are left out with a note.

Each puzzle comes from a random seed, so Copy puzzle link gives a link that opens exactly the same grid for someone else — handy for a class or a race against a friend. Print produces a clean black-and-white sheet with just the grid and the word list, ready for a classroom, a waiting room or a rainy afternoon. Nothing you type is uploaded.