Large print word scramble

The rules

• Each line shows the letters of one word in the wrong order.
• Use every letter once to make a word that fits the theme shown above the puzzle.
• Every answer is a common English word from our own list for that theme. No names and no rare words.
• On screen, type your answer on the line. On paper, write it on the ruled line beside the jumble.

How to unscramble a word

Start from the theme, not from the letters. If the theme is Clothes and the jumble has five letters, run through the five-letter clothes you can think of, shirt, skirt, dress, scarf, glove, and see which one the letters allow. Guessing from the meaning and then checking the letters is nearly always quicker than shuffling letters and hoping a word appears.

If no word comes, look at the letters for pairs that like to sit together. In English, SH, CH, TH and CK are common, a Q is followed by U, and many short words end in E, Y or a double letter. Put a likely pair together and the rest of the word often falls into place. With a four-letter word there are only a few sensible orders once the vowel is placed.

Writing helps more than staring. On paper, copy the letters in a small circle instead of a line, so that no letter looks like the first. A different arrangement breaks the hold of the jumbled order, and the answer may show itself at once.

If a word still will not come, leave it and do the others. Coming back after a minute is often enough. On screen, Reveal one gives the next correct letter of the line you are on, starting from the first letter, and a first letter is usually all that is needed.

Tips for printing and playing

• The first level has four words of four or five letters. The second has five words of five or six letters. Neither uses long words.
• The printed sheet shows each jumble in large capitals with a line to write on, and the theme at the top.
• For a group, read the theme aloud and let people call out answers; the puzzle works well without anyone needing to see the sheet closely.
• Check tells you whether what you have entered so far is right, without giving away the other answers.
• The themes take turns from one puzzle number to the next, so printing several consecutive numbers gives a varied set.

How these puzzles are made and checked

Each scrambled word is compared letter by letter with its answer, must differ from it, and the answer must be the only word in our own list that uses exactly those letters.

The puzzle of the day is chosen by the date on your device: puzzle 1 was the puzzle for 1 January 2026, and the number goes up by one each day. Four words, 4 or 5 letters: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. Five words, 5 or 6 letters: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. Every number stays open in the archive control above the grid. More detail is on the page how the puzzles are made, checked and printed.