Spooky Search

About Spooky Search

Spooky Search is an original Halloween word search made by SailToWorld, with its own word lists, puzzle maker and pumpkin artwork. It runs in the browser on phones and computers and needs no account, payment or app.

Every day the site builds a Daily Halloween puzzle from the UTC date, so friends who open it on the same day see the same letters. You pick a level: easy hides 6 short words in an 8 by 8 grid, running forward across or down; medium hides 10 words in a 12 by 12 grid and adds diagonals; hard hides 14 words in a 14 by 14 grid with backward words too. Each level is its own puzzle. The word list sits beside the grid, with words like PUMPKIN, GHOST, WITCH, CAULDRON and SKELETON, and a counter and timer track your progress.

Beyond the daily grid, a New puzzle button makes a fresh board with its own link, and a copied link holds the seed and difficulty so someone else can play the exact grid you had. A hint marks the first letter of one word you have not found, and revealing the answers is there for practice but does not count as a finished game.

The print button sends two sheets to your printer, the puzzle and a matching answer key, in Letter or A4, which makes it handy for a classroom or a Halloween party table. It suits anyone who likes a short, relaxed word search in October, and the easy level is gentle enough for children.

How to play Spooky Search

1. Open the site; the Daily Halloween puzzle for today's UTC date loads first.
2. Choose easy, medium or hard from the Difficulty menu; each level is a different grid.
3. Find a word from the list and drag from its first letter to its last, or tap the two ends; with a keyboard, Tab to a letter and press Enter or Space.
4. Words run in straight lines: across or down on easy, with diagonals on medium and backward words on hard.
5. Find every listed word to finish the puzzle; the counter and timer show how you are doing.

Screenshots

Tips

• Look for rare letters such as V, K or W first: they narrow down where VAMPIRE, SKELETON or WITCH can sit.
• On hard, read each line backward as well as forward, since some words are hidden in reverse.
• Use a hint only when stuck: it marks the first letter of one unfound word, while revealing answers means the game is not recorded as completed.
• To play together with a group, print the puzzle and keep the matching answer key aside for checking.

Questions