Fernhawk GamesA word search hides a list of everyday words inside a square of letters. Your job is to spot each one and mark it. Every puzzle has a theme, such as a garden or a kitchen, and the theme is shown above the grid so you know what kind of words to look for.
How to play
The list of hidden words sits beside or below the grid. Each word runs in a straight line, never bending around a corner.
- On a phone or tablet: press your finger on the first letter of a word and slide to its last letter, then lift. If sliding feels fiddly, tap the first letter and then tap the last one instead.
- On a computer: click and drag from the first letter to the last, or click the first letter and then click the last.
When you are right, the word is circled in a color and crossed off the list. When the selection is not a word on the list, it simply clears and you can try again. Nothing is taken away for a wrong try.
The Hint button circles the first letter of a word you have not found yet. You have 3 hints in each puzzle. A timer runs while you play, so you can see how long a puzzle took.
The levels
- Easy: an 8 by 8 grid with 6 words. Words run only across and down, and only forward.
- Medium: a 10 by 10 grid with 8 words. Two diagonal directions join in. The filler letters are partly taken from the hidden words, so you will meet false starts.
- Hard: a 12 by 12 grid with 10 words. Words can now also be spelled backwards, from right to left or from bottom to top.
- Expert: a 12 by 12 grid with 14 words, running in all eight directions. Four words also have a look-alike start planted somewhere else, so a promising first few letters can lead nowhere.
The filler letters never spell a second copy of a listed word, so a word you find on the list is always the real one.
Today's game
Each day there is one Medium puzzle that is the same for everyone. Open it from the "Today's puzzle" button on the new game card. If you leave and come back the same day, it picks up where you stopped.
Tips
- Read the whole list first and choose the word with the most unusual letter, such as a Q, Z, X or J. Scan the grid for that letter and you will usually find the word fast.
- Look for the first letter of a word, then check all the neighbors around it for the second letter. Words can begin anywhere, including the middle of a row.
- Longer words are easier to see than short ones because they give you more letters to match. Take them early.
- On Hard and Expert, read a row from right to left in your mind as well. Backwards words hide best in plain sight.
- If one word has been stubborn for a minute, move on. Crossing off the easy ones leaves fewer places for it to hide.
- On Expert, do not trust the first three letters. A decoy start can look perfect and still be wrong, so check the whole word before you mark it.
- Hints are best kept for the very end, when a single word remains and you are tired of looking.
A bit of history
Word search puzzles became a regular feature of newspapers and puzzle books during the twentieth century, and they are still a favorite for relaxed afternoons.
Questions
Can I tap instead of dragging? Yes. Tap the first letter, then tap the last letter of the word.
Are the words ever bent or scattered? No. Each word is a straight line in one of the directions your level allows.
Is a hint counted against me? You get 3 hints per puzzle. Using them does not end the game, but they are limited, so spend them wisely.
What if I close the page in the middle? Your unfinished puzzle is saved on this device and opens again where you left it.