Word searches17 × 17
Hard word search
A 17 × 17 letter grid hiding 22 words in every direction, including backwards and up diagonals. It is for experienced solvers, older students and anyone who wants a longer puzzle.
- Type your details or print blank
- Answer key on its own page
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
On this page
The difficulty here comes from three things at once: a bigger grid, more words and no rule about direction. The page opens on the Science Words theme, which mixes short terms like atom with long ones like condensation.
What prints
You get a title ("Science Words Word Search" by default), an instruction line saying to find the hidden words in any direction including backwards, a 17 × 17 grid and an alphabetical word bank with a box beside each word. The word bank sits in columns below the grid. Page two holds the solution, drawn as a ring round every word.
With 289 cells and 22 words, the grid is dense. Words overlap where letters agree, which makes some paths share cells. The generator prefers positions that overlap with existing letters, so expect crossings. The filler alphabet leaves out Q, V, X and Z.
The settings
- Title (optional) takes up to 40 characters.
- Theme has 30 subjects plus "My own words". Long-word themes such as Science Words, Countries and Math Words suit this size.
- Difficulty is set to the 17 × 17 level, where words may run backwards.
- Large print drops the grid to 12 × 12 and 12 words, though words still run in all eight directions.
- Lowercase letters changes how the eye picks out shapes.
Strategy for solving
Experienced solvers scan for rare letter pairs rather than reading every row. Pick a long word, find a distinctive letter in it, and check the eight directions out from each instance. Cross words off as you find them; shrinking the bank speeds up the rest. Search backwards too, since reversed words are the ones most people miss on a first pass.
Worked example: a long bus ride
Priya coaches a middle school science team and has a three-hour trip to a regional event. She selects Hard, keeps the Science theme, and presses "New puzzle" until the list includes words her students have been studying, such as electron, ecosystem and hypothesis. She prints one for each student plus a spare, then staples the answer keys together and keeps them in her bag. During the ride, students race to find the longest word first, then compare how many each person found in twenty minutes.
When it is too much
If the group finds 22 words overwhelming, step down to Medium on the printable word search, which has 16 words in 14 × 14. For adults who want less clutter, the word search for adults page uses the same grid with country names. Hard puzzles also work well beside a crossword in the same theme.
Sources
- Reading Rockets: reading and writing resources for teachers and parents readingrockets.org