Word Search

 

   While doing some organizing a few weeks ago I found a couple word search puzzle books. I bought them a long time ago. There were a few puzzles that I had completed, but most of the puzzles were unsolved.

   I had completely forgotten that I like puzzles. Word searches are my favourite. I'm not a fan of crosswords because most of the time I can't figure out one word and that bothers me. I'm not good at math so sudoku is out. Word searches are perfect.

   The books I found were actually variety word search puzzle books. This means that there are angle finds, square finds and word twists. In these special puzzles the words are not all in one straight line. Some of the words are in a square, some words are in a right angle and some words zig zag across the puzzle. The zig zag ones are the most challenging. 

   The puzzles have a theme. For instance one puzzle I did was all about Chad, the country in Africa. There are puzzles about food, travel, advertising terms, wildflowers and colours. One of the puzzles I did was about famous actors and what they did before they became famous. It was interesting.

  There are two puzzles in the book that I don't like to do. One of them is a number find. It's just like a word find except that it is all numbers. I tend to get a little dyslexic when it comes it numbers. If I look at them long enough them blend into each other. Also the numbers don't have any meaning for me like words do. The other puzzle is the one where you get the theme, an explanation and a few words to start out with. You have to look at the puzzle and find the words. There is not list of words to find. They do tell you how many words you should have when you finish. I tried one. I kept looking at the list key in the back because I just couldn't find all of them. That's cheating though and I don't like to cheat.

   The only challenge is that once I get started on a puzzle, I don't like to stop. I like to keep working on it until I've finished it. That's frustrating for C who wants me to do something and I tell him that I just need to find more word. The puzzles get a bit addicting. Once I finish one, I want to start on another. I probably should be doing something else like cleaning or practicing my instruments. I tell myself that by doing these puzzles I'm keeping my brain fit and active.

  I have developed a strategy for solving word searches. The first thing I do is look for any words that I can see right away. After I've found all of those then I go down the list in alphabetical order and look for the words. The easiest way for me is to pick one letter in the word and look for that letter in the puzzle. Consonants are the easiest to find. If the word has a double letter in it like the word 'full', I look for the double letter. If I run across a word I'm not searching for, I go ahead and circle it. I'm not that fussy about order.

   When I'm doing special puzzles like word twists. I draw a line though the letters. It's easier then trying to circle them. In word twists, the words don't overlap so it helps me to know what letters have been used. 

   I prefer to use a nice sharp pencil. I like to be able to erase if I make a mistake. Also I like the clean look of a circled word. I'm constantly sharpening my pencil. Dull pencils make messy lines. 

  Hopefully I'll be able to find more puzzle books once I finish these.