Big Print Word Search

Big Print Word Search is the first game from Big Print Games, a small independent site that makes classic puzzles larger and easier to read. It is aimed at people who hold puzzle books at arm's length, including older players and people with low vision, and at activity leaders who print copies for a group at a library, senior center or care home.

Each day the home page features one puzzle for everyone. A regular puzzle has twelve words hidden in a 12 by 12 grid, all on one theme, with a short scene that sets it up: an attic with rafter beams and a forgotten box, a wash day on the laundry line, a game of dominoes. On Mondays there is also a gentle puzzle with eight words on a 10 by 10 grid. Words run across in either direction, down, and on diagonals, and many answers are two words run together, such as SAFETY PINS or RUBBER NOSE. The featured puzzles follow the calendar too: in late October the home page offers The Costume Box and other Halloween grids.

The page is built for comfort first. Letters are large by default, and buttons above the grid make them larger still; there is a high contrast display and an optional timer. You can take a word by dragging across it, by tapping its first and last letter, or with the keyboard, and the grid works with a screen reader. Progress is kept on your own device, so a half-finished grid waits for you.

Nothing expires. More than 400 puzzles sit in an archive grouped by theme, such as Home and Comfort, Hobbies, and Outdoors and Nature. Any of them can be printed as a two-page PDF in US Letter or A4, and the site says copies are free to photocopy for a group. Everything is free and needs no account, no app and no email address.