Actual Word Search browser gameplay, before the checked example
READY WHEN YOU AREWord Search

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Word Search / ORIGINAL MANYPLAY GAME

Word Search

The classic newspaper word search: easy, medium and hard grids, a daily puzzle, kids and large print, your own words and printing with answers.

How to play ↗
THE IDEA

What you do in Word Search

Word Search is the classic newspaper puzzle, laid out like a morning paper: a grid of letters and a list of words on one theme. Find every word hidden in the grid — across, down and diagonally, and in hard puzzles backwards too. Play free on phone or computer, with no download and no registration. A new puzzle comes out every day, you can make your own from your words, and any puzzle prints with an answer key.

A word search rewards a plan: start where the grid gives itself away, and on hard grids read every line both ways.

New to word search? The list on the page names every hidden word. Draw a line from the first letter of a word to its last, or tap both ends, and the word is circled in ink and struck off the list.

Before your next move

  • Reading only from left to right on a hard grid misses the words that run backwards or upwards.
  • A line one letter too long or too short does not count: start and end exactly on the word.

Browser edition

Play in your browser. No app download is needed.

Questions about Word Search

Can words cross in a word search?

Yes. Words may cross and share a letter, so one letter can belong to two words.

What is the bonus word?

One more word of the theme hides in the grid but not on the list. You do not need it to win; it is there for sharp eyes.

Does the game keep score?

No. The top bar shows your time, which starts with your first move, and how many words you have found. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Original ManyPlay game. Controls and examples were checked against the browser edition; cover illustrations are labelled separately from gameplay captures. Report a changed rule or control.