Large print travel word search

The rules

• Twelve words from one travel list are printed under the grid. All twelve are hidden in it.
• On the level Across and down, a word reads left to right or top to bottom.
• On the level With diagonals, a word may also slant down to the right or up to the right. It still reads from left to right.
• Nothing is written backwards on either level. Words may cross, and each appears exactly once.

Working through twelve words

Twelve words is a longer sitting than the other word searches here, so it helps to have a plan. Begin with the longest words on the list. LIGHTHOUSE and SANDCASTLE are ten letters long in a grid twelve wide, so across they can only start in the first three columns, and down only in the first three rows. Check those starting cells for the first letter and the word has very few places left to hide.

Next take the words with a letter that stands out. Place names are generous with them: the Z in BRAZIL, the X in MEXICO, the K in KENYA, TOKYO and HELSINKI, the W in WARSAW, OTTAWA and NORWAY, the J in JAPAN and JOURNEY. Find the letter, then read around it.

On the level with diagonals there are two slanting lines to consider. Both are read from left to right, the way you read a sentence: one goes downhill and one goes uphill. From any starting letter that makes four neighbours to check, the one to the right, the one below, the one down-right and the one up-right. It sounds like a lot, but because nothing is backwards you never need to look to the left of a first letter.

This is a good puzzle for two. One person reads out a word and the place it brings to mind, the other hunts for it. Capital cities and countries tend to start conversations about where people have been, which is half the point.

Tips for printing and playing

• Choose the level with the buttons above the grid. Your choice is remembered on this device.
• Five lists take turns: rail and road, the seaside, capital cities, countries, and holidays. The name is shown above the grid.
• Place names are printed in capitals in the grid like every other word, so LIMA and ROME look no different from ordinary words. Read the list carefully first.
• If you print for a group with mixed sight, print Across and down for everyone: it is the same size of lettering and the kinder search.
• Print with solution gives a second sheet with all twelve words marked, useful for whoever is running the session.

How these puzzles are made and checked

A separate scan reads the finished grid from every cell in all eight directions. Every listed word must be found exactly once, at the stored position, and the grid must not spell a word from our deny list outside the listed words.

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. Across and down: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. With diagonals: 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.