- Ristikkotupa
- Games
- Word Search
A square of letters and a short list of words that belong together — birds, the kitchen, the weather. Every word is in the grid exactly once. Your job is to find them all and mark each one with a drag of the finger.
How Word Search works
Each puzzle has a theme and a list of words shown next to the grid. The words run in straight lines. On Easy they only go across and down, in an 8×8 grid with six or seven words. Medium uses a 10×10 grid with nine or ten words and adds the two diagonals that lean to the right. Hard is a 12×12 grid with twelve to fourteen words, and words can run in all eight directions, including backwards.
To mark a word, press on its first letter and drag to its last; the line snaps to the nearest straight direction, so a slightly shaky finger is fine. You can also tap the first letter and then the last. Dragging the other way round, from the last letter to the first, counts too. A found word gets its own coloured band and is crossed off the list.
Every listed word appears exactly once, and no listed word is hidden inside another one, so there is never a second place where a word could be. The letters that belong to no word are filler, drawn from the same letters as the theme so they do not give themselves away.
Ways to find words faster
- Hunt for rare letters first. A word with a Z, a Y or a double letter is easier to spot than one made of common letters. In Finnish grids look for Ä and Ö; in Hungarian ones for Ő and Ű.
- Start with the longest words. On an 8×8 grid a seven-letter word has very few places where it can fit, and finding it early clears a whole line.
- Scan one direction at a time. Read every row for the first two letters of a word, then every column. On Hard add the diagonals and then read everything backwards; trying all eight directions at once is slower than it sounds.
- Use the crossings. Words often share a letter. Once one word is marked, check whether a word from the list could run through one of its letters.
- Leave the last word for a fresh look. If one word refuses to show itself, press Hint: a letter of a missing word lights up in the grid.
Questions about Word Search
Can a word be hidden twice?
No. Every word on the list appears in the grid exactly once, in one of the allowed directions, so the first place you find is the right one.
Do the words run backwards?
Only on Hard. Easy keeps to across and down, Medium adds the two diagonals that point to the right, and Hard allows all eight directions.
What does Hint do?
It lights up one letter of a word you have not found yet. Hints are counted in the result, but they never stop you from finishing.
Is my game saved if I close the page?
Yes. The grid, the words you have found and the timer are kept in this browser, and the puzzle carries on where you stopped.
Are the themes the same in every language?
The themes are shared — animals, the kitchen, travel and so on — but every language has its own word list, so an Italian grid is not a translation of an English one.