Word search tips and strategies
Some people seem to see words leap out of a grid. Mostly they've just picked up a few habits. Here's a plan that works on any word search, in Spellhunt or on paper.
A five-step plan for any grid
1. Read the whole list first
Before you look at the grid, read every word once. Your brain starts matching shapes as soon as it knows what it's looking for, and you'll often spot a word from the corner of your eye while hunting another. In Spellhunt's Daily this costs you nothing: the clock only starts on your first touch of the grid.
2. Start with the words that are easiest to find
Easiest isn't always the first word on the list. Go for words that are long, or that contain an unusual letter such as Q, Z, X, J or K, or a double letter such as the TT in OTTER. Each find crosses letters off the grid in your head and makes the rest less crowded.
3. Hunt a letter, not a word
Looking for a whole word at once is slow. Instead, pick the rarest letter in the word and look for just that letter. There are usually only a few, and at each one you check the eight neighbors for the word's next letter. The scanning techniques guide covers this and a few other methods.
4. Expect every direction
Most people search left to right without meaning to, and words running backwards or diagonally slip past. Remind yourself that a word can start at any letter and leave it in eight directions. On Easy grids in Spellhunt words never run backwards (right to left or upwards), but from Medium up all eight directions are in play. See diagonal and backwards words.
5. When you're stuck, change something
Staring harder rarely works. Change the method instead: switch to a different word, pick a different letter to hunt, or rotate the grid a quarter turn so every line runs a new way. Then come back to the stubborn word.
Small habits that add up
- Use the theme. The words all belong to it. If the theme is Birds and you're not sure what you're seeing, a bird name is a good bet.
- Say the word in your head. Spelling it out, letter by letter, makes the order stick while you trace it on the grid.
- Keep your place. When sweeping row by row, keep a finger or your eye on the row edge so you don't skip one.
- Watch the word's middle. If a word's first letter is common, look for a rarer letter in its middle and work outwards both ways.
- Notice the leftovers. Near the end, the unused letters are thinner. A word you can't find is often hiding in the part of the grid you've looked at least.
Tools in Spellhunt that help
- Rotate: free, any time. A fresh angle breaks a stuck scan.
- Hints: a ladder from a direction flash to revealing the word. Start with the cheapest. See hints and extra words.
- The otter: in campaign puzzles, after a quiet spell, it points at a letter for free.
- Zoom: on 12×12 grids and bigger, pinch to zoom in on a busy corner.
Go deeper
- Scanning techniques: rare letters, letter pairs and sweeps.
- Diagonal and backwards words: why they hide, and how to see them.
- Long words and short words: different words need different methods.
- Solving the Daily faster: what lowers your time.
Updated 30 September 2026.