Our free daily · new every day Findish A word search with a new theme every day Play Penny Dell has been printing puzzle magazines for decades, and their word searches are bigger than the ones you meet in a newspaper.
This one arrives every Sunday. That weekly rhythm suits the size: a large grid with a long word list is not a five minute puzzle, and treating it as a weekend fixture rather than a daily habit is the right way to use it.
Two things stop the size becoming a problem. Progress saves, so a grid left half done is still half done later. And words can be revealed when one refuses to appear, which means a puzzle never ends as a dead end you abandon.
How to play Penny Dell Word Search
- A new grid is published each Sunday.
- The words to find are listed beside the letters.
- Drag from a word's first letter to its last. The line has to be straight.
- Words run across, down and diagonally, in both directions.
- Reveal will show a word that will not come, and your progress is saved automatically.
Working a large grid
On a small word search you can sweep the whole board looking for anything. On a large one that fails, because by the time your eye reaches the far corner it has forgotten what it was hunting.
The method that scales is to work a region at a time. Take a quarter of the grid, scan it against the whole word list, then move on. It feels slower and it finishes considerably faster.
Saved progress
Because the grid persists, the correct response to a stall is to stop rather than to grind. A word search read again with fresh eyes gives up answers that were invisible twenty minutes earlier, and there is no cost to coming back.
Tips and strategy
Finding words
- Hunt anchor letters rather than words. The rarest letter in a target word, a J, Q, X, Z or K, is one distinctive shape to sweep for.
- Scan one direction at a time across a region. Constantly switching between horizontal, vertical and diagonal is what makes a large grid feel endless.
- Double letters stand out more than any single character. If a target word has one, start there.
Managing the list
- Read the entire word list before you begin. On a themed grid this tells you what kind of vocabulary your eye should expect.
- Cross off as you go. Rescanning for found words is the single largest waste of time in a big puzzle.
- Leave the longest answers until the grid is half cleared. They cross the most other words and tend to surface on their own.
Mistakes worth naming
- Sweeping the whole grid repeatedly instead of working region by region.
- Using reveal early. It is worth most on the last two or three words, when the rest of the grid is no longer helping you.
- Trying to finish it in one sitting. It is a Sunday puzzle and it is designed to be put down.
There is a daily version at Daily Word Search, and the themed grids are on the word search page.
More games like this
Play our free daily puzzles See all →
Made by us. One a day, the same for everyone, no sign up.
Last updated
Frequently asked questions
How often is a new Penny Dell Word Search published?
Every Sunday, which suits the size. These grids are larger than a typical newspaper word search.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. A grid left half finished stays that way, so you can come back to it later.
Can I reveal a word I cannot find?
Yes. Reveal is there so a puzzle never becomes a dead end, and it is worth saving for the last few words.
Do words run backwards?
Yes. Answers run across, down and diagonally, and in each direction they can also run in reverse.
Is it free?
Yes. Nothing to download, no account and no payment.