Hiding the word bank
A word search with the list printed under it is a lookup exercise. A word search without the list is a recall exercise, and it is a completely different puzzle. Switch the bank off and all you get is a theme, which is how the hard version is meant to be played.
If that is too much, print the bank on the answer sheet instead. Players then have the option of turning it over when they get stuck, which works well for a group where people want different levels of challenge.
Overlaps and long words
The hard preset allows words to cross and share letters, which breaks the usual scanning habit of looking for an unusual first letter in isolation. It also uses longer vocabulary: frankincense, poinsettia, wassail, nutcracker, clementine, chestnut.
Filler letters are weighted towards the letters already used by the word list rather than being uniformly random. That removes the easy giveaway of a stray Z or X sitting next to the one Z word.
Settings worth trying
Twenty-five words in a 20 by 20 grid without a bank is harder than thirty-five words with one. Low word density is the real difficulty lever, because there is more filler to read per word found.
For a competitive group, print the same grid for everybody rather than regenerating. Different grids are fine for a class but useless if people want to compare times.
Questions
- What makes this word search hard?
- Thirty-five words in a 20 by 20 grid, all eight directions including backwards, overlapping words sharing letters, longer vocabulary, and the option to print with no word bank at all.
- Can I print it without the word list?
- Yes. Switching the word bank off is the main difficulty setting. You can also move the bank onto the answer sheet so players can check only when they give up.
- How long does it take?
- Thirty minutes to an hour for most adults with the bank hidden, and about fifteen minutes with the bank showing. Reducing the word count while keeping the grid size makes it harder, not easier.
- Are the filler letters random?
- Not uniformly. Filler is weighted towards letters already used in the word list, which removes the giveaway of a lone unusual letter sitting next to the only word that uses it.