Word search

How to play word search

Every word in the list is hidden in the grid once, in a straight line. Drag across a word, or tap its first letter and then its last. Find every word to finish the puzzle.

A daily word search that gets harder

Most daily word searches are the same size every day. The Owlpuzzles word search starts the week small, with words running across and down only. By the weekend the grid is bigger and words run every way, even backwards.

A hard word search for the weekend

Friday and Saturday boards are a hard word search. The letters around the words come from the words themselves, and near misses sit in the grid, so nothing stands out.

Picture boards on Sundays

Sunday’s word search is a picture in the day’s theme, such as a jack-o’-lantern at Halloween. Words never cross the gaps.

A mystery word

From midweek, one theme word is hidden without being in the list. Only its number of letters shows, so the theme is your clue, and Hint shows where it starts.

A theme every day

Every word search has a theme, from baking to outer space. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter get their own.

Levels and printable sheets

Word search also has levels from easy to hard, unlimited play, and printable sheets in large print and for the holidays, with the answers.

Tips for word search

Hunt for the rarest letter

Pick the least common letter in a word, such as the K in BEAK or the Z in PIZZA, and look for that. There are far fewer of them than of E or A.

Check the whole word

Harder boards place the start of a word a second time. Read all the way to the last letter before you mark it.

Look backwards too

From midweek some words run right to left or bottom to top. Look for a word’s last letter as well as its first.

Use the theme

The theme names the mystery word’s world. A Halloween board with five question marks might be hiding GHOST or WITCH.

Questions about word search

Is this word search free?

Yes. It plays in your browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to download and no sign-up. A free account only keeps your streak and stars on every device.

Is there a new word search every day?

Yes. A new daily word search comes out at midnight where you are, and the archive keeps every past day.

Where can I play a hard word search?

The Friday, Saturday and Sunday boards are the hardest, and the hard levels go further.

Can I print a word search?

Yes. The printable word searches come easy to hard, in large print and for holidays such as Halloween and Christmas, with the answers on the second page.

What is the mystery word?

It’s one more word on the day’s theme, hidden in the grid but not in the list. Its question marks show how many letters it has. Hint shows where it starts.

Can words go backwards or diagonally?

On Monday and Tuesday words run across and down only. From Wednesday they also run diagonally, and some backwards.

Who invented the word search?

Norman E. Gibat published the first known word search in 1968, in a small newspaper in Oklahoma.

More puzzles to try

Sudoku is the classic number puzzle, and connect the dots and nonograms are picture puzzles with one answer.