Word Grid Search — Find Hidden Words
Find all hidden words in the letter grid. Words run left-to-right or top-to-bottom.
How to play
- Look for the listed words hidden in the letter grid.
- Click each letter of a word in order (left-to-right or top-to-bottom).
- When you complete a word, it highlights green in the grid and is crossed off the list.
- Find all 6 words to win. Click 'New Puzzle' for a fresh grid.
Find all 6 hidden words in the letter grid by clicking the letters in order. Words go left-to-right or top-to-bottom. Click to select, click again to deselect.
How it works
Word Grid Search is a word search puzzle where a list of hidden words is concealed inside a grid of letters. Your task is to locate and select each word. In this implementation, words are placed either left-to-right horizontally or top-to-bottom vertically, eliminating diagonal and reverse directions to keep the puzzle accessible.
A reliable solving strategy is to pick a word from the list and scan the grid for its first letter. Once you find a candidate starting letter, check right along the row and down the column to see if the remaining letters follow. Because directions are limited to horizontal and vertical forward placements, false starts are easier to dismiss quickly.
For longer words, the first and last letters together narrow the search significantly. Find all instances of the first letter, then check only those that have the last letter at the correct distance in the allowed direction.
Word searches are widely used in educational settings to reinforce vocabulary and spelling in a low-pressure context. They also provide a calming, meditative focus activity when you want mental engagement without competitive pressure.
Worked example
Finding a five-letter word efficiently
- Select the word CRANE from the word list to hunt for.
- Scan every row left-to-right looking for the letter C.
- When you find a C, check the next four letters to the right for R-A-N-E.
- If the row match fails, check downward from that C for R-A-N-E in the column.
- Highlight the word once found and move to the next word on the list.
CRANE located in the grid and marked, reducing the remaining word count by one.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Scanning the entire grid randomly instead of searching systematically for the first letter of a specific target word.
- Overlooking vertical placements by only scanning rows, missing words hidden in columns.
- Skipping short two- or three-letter words assuming they are easy to find last, then struggling because filler letters create many false partial matches.
Key terms
- Word list
- The set of words you need to find within the grid, displayed beside or below the puzzle.
- Grid
- The rectangular array of letters in which words are hidden among filler characters.
- Filler letters
- Random letters placed in cells not occupied by any hidden word, used to disguise word positions and fill the grid.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I select a word?
- Click letters in order — left-to-right or top-to-bottom. If the letters spell a hidden word, it's found automatically.
- Can words go diagonally?
- No — words only go left-to-right or top-to-bottom to keep selection simple.