One Word Search

About One Word Search

One Word Search turns the newspaper word search inside out. Instead of a long list of words to tick off in a big grid, you get a small square of 25 letters and no list at all: just the knowledge that one five-letter word is hidden there. It might run across, down or diagonally, and it might run backwards.

Because you do not know what you are looking for, the puzzle becomes a scan for anything that reads as a word, and the decoy letters are chosen to tempt you with near misses. When you find the word, the game lets you carry on hunting for another one in the same grid.

There is one numbered puzzle a day, the same for every player, and earlier days can be played from the archive. The game now lives on Puzzlist, a small site of daily puzzles, and is still reachable at onewordsearch.com.

It suits anyone who wants a calm minute: there is no timer pressure and no guess limit, which is why it bills itself as a zen word search.

How to play One Word Search

1. Look over the 5x5 grid of letters.
2. Find the hidden five-letter word; it may run across, down or diagonally, forwards or backwards.
3. Select its letters in a line to mark it.
4. Once it is found, look for the bonus word hidden in the same grid.
5. Come back tomorrow for a new grid, or play past days in the archive.

Tips

• Scan each row, column and diagonal both ways rather than hunting for a particular word.
• Look for common endings such as -ER, -ED and -ES and read outwards from them.
• Rare letters like Z, V or W are often decoys placed to tempt you.

Questions