The Origin and History Of Word Finding Puzzles – All You Should Know

Like many other things in life, the origin story surrounding word search puzzles is shrouded in mystery. Even though these word retrieval games have been around since you were a kid, they are still known to be quite new historically.

You might think that word searches have been around for hundreds of years because of how simple and traditional they are, but they are only around 50 years old.

The Origins of Word Finding Puzzles

Word finding puzzles can be attributed to Norman E. Gibat. Norman was an American that resided in Oklahoma. In around 1968, he was researching methods on how to get readers to interact more with his publication known as Selenby Digest. This was the beginning of word search puzzles.

Gibat wanted to make his publication stand out from its competitors. He wanted to make a word finding problem simple and straightforward enough to be able to be quickly played while people were sitting in a waiting room or standing in line at a grocery store.

The word finding puzzles that Gibat created turned out to be very successful. Teachers quickly realized how much educational potential was behind these word retrieval puzzles and began figuring out ways on how to adopt them in the classroom.

News of these word retrieval problems spread like wildfire, and teachers from different states began inquiring about using the word finding puzzles that Gibat created. While the Selenby Digest publication ended in 1970, the word finding puzzles went on to stand the test of time.

Conflicts In the Origin Story

Pedro Ocón de Oro was another person that was given credit for creating word puzzles in Spanish throughout the 1960s, and this has raised some conflict surrounding the origin story of who really was the first one to invent them.

Pedro Ocón de Oro invented Sopa De Letras, which means “letter soup,” and this was basically just a word finding puzzle. When historians look back, they run into confusion when they try to figure out the exact dates that Pedro Ocón de Oro invented his word finding puzzles, but they do agree that they were invented during the 1960s.

Because of this confusion, a lot of historians started to favor the origin story of Gibat.

The Various Names of Word Finding Puzzles

Ever since word finding puzzles were invented, the name of the game has changed many times, depending on where you reside in the world. Because of that, there were a number of different variations of the name of the game.

The most popular names used are Word Search and Word Find, but you’ll also hear people refer to the game as:

• Seek and Circle
• Search a Word
• Circle Circle
• Word Seek
• Mystery Word
• Word Sleuth

Variations Of Word Search

The original Word Search created by Gibat revolved around a bunch of words that centered around a common theme. The player had to then find each specific word in a varying-sized grid of different letters. Sometimes you’d see a large grid for more difficult puzzles, and others would be smaller, reflecting the easier ones.

Throughout the many years since Word Search puzzles were invented, many different variations of the game started to arise. While most variations still hold true to the original style and structure of gameplay, there might be little tweaks here and there that throw a curveball into the mix.

Three Variations of The Game

There are three common variations of Word Search puzzles.

No Word List

One variation is when there isn’t a word list that’s provided for the words inside the puzzle. The only thing that the puzzle comes with is the number of words in the puzzle. This makes things a little more challenging because the player doesn’t have a clue what words they are looking for.

Clues

Another variation is when there is a list provided that contains clues to each correct word in the puzzles. This variation is much like a crossword puzzle, in that there are little hints involved in order to assist the player. After a word from the list is used, you simply just cross it out.

Snake Search

Snake search adds another level of difficulty into Word Search by making the words follow each and every different direction. Players can sometimes get confused with this one because they might be used to only looking one way. In addition, sometimes the next letter in the word will be skewed at a 45-degree angle while allowing you to reuse a letter over and over again.

Sometimes the letters will be in random positions and shapes, making it more and more difficult to find words.

Foreign Languages

Word Search Puzzles have been a good way to teach people languages in and out of the classroom. Teachers who teach English as a second language like to use Word Search puzzles when they are trying to increase the vocabulary of their students and improve communication proficiency. Sometimes people like to use these puzzles as April Fool’s Day jokes, with the puzzle not containing any words.

Initial Complexities of Word Search Puzzles

Making Word Search puzzles was initially a task that took a lot of time and work to get right. Once the internet started to roll around, things started to become easier and easier. Now, there are dozens of programs that assist people in making their own Word Search puzzles in no time at all.

Because of how easy it has gotten to make Word Search puzzles, the difficulty level can be easily adjusted to suit children and adults of all ages. You can make the puzzle as easy or as difficult as you want with a few clicks here and there.

Many people like to get very creative with word search puzzles by including mysterious messages to their loved ones or comedic inside jokes that only a close friend or relative would understand. Word Search puzzles have come a long way in the past 50 years, and there are communities of players all over the world that are very involved with these puzzles.

Online Word Searches

Word Search puzzles are available in dozens of different formats. You’ll see them in:

• Newspapers
• Children’s publications
• Elementary school assignments
• Books
• Online

The puzzles can get very complicated and tedious to do because of how much flexibility is involved. Some like to include the rule that no words are allowed to overlap one another. This means that a letter can only be used a single time during the puzzle, or not at all.

Because of the rise of the internet, Word Search puzzles are a breeze to make. Creators can simply come up with a list of words that they want to include in the puzzle, set how large they want the board to be, and voila, they’ll have a full Word Search puzzle ready to go at their fingertips.

Back then, it took a lot more creativity and finesse to make a good puzzle.

Word Search Puzzles have long been an appealing game for children. Some of the benefits of these games are:

• They keep your mind engaged
• They teach you new words
• They teach you to think differently
• They help pass the time in a relaxing way

Mysterious Messages Within Word Searches

In one variation of the Word Search game, there is a secret message that is compiled from all of the different words in the puzzle that are written in reverse. In yet another variation, a mysterious message is compiled by all of the different letters in the puzzle that aren’t used. This adds a measure of complexity to the game that many people find challenging.

Strategies For Word Search Puzzles

There are a variety of strategies for approaching Word Search puzzles, but the majority of people will work in a left-to-right fashion. They will start with the first letter of the word on the list, if the list is provided, and then work their way to each subsequent letter in the word. The player gradually moves along in this fashion until they eventually circle the entire word.

Another method that people like to use is to find the words containing the double letters first. It’s usually easier to spot words that have two letters before spotting words that only contain one letter, and with the process of elimination, more and more words on the list will be scratched off as you move along.

In the more difficult Word Search puzzles, where a word list isn’t included, going through each row one at a time is a good way to slowly work your way through words that you might notice along the way. Start off by browsing through all of the horizontal rows in a forward and backward motion. After that, begin browsing the rows vertically.

A lot of the puzzles that are spewed out by a computer will use certain patterns. In many cases, the bigger that a word is in a puzzle, the easier it will be to find. The smaller words in larger puzzles can take a long time to find because there simply aren’t as many letters included in them.

No matter how old people are, most of them can recall doing a Word Search puzzle at some point in their lives. They are a useful way to teach words to people that don’t have a firm grasp of the English language and make for an effective way to pass time for children that can’t sit still.

Many restaurants provide Word Search puzzles to children that are waiting for their meals to be served, and this is an indirect method of educating them at the same time. Teachers like to create Word Search puzzles revolving around a certain subject.

For example, if a teacher is trying to teach their students about the variety of different species in the ocean, they can conveniently use a Word Search puzzle to include species like a:

• Sea otter
• Great white shark
• Octopus
• Walrus
• Giant clam
• Vaquita
• Sea turtle

Making a Word Search puzzle such as this is a fun and entertaining way to educate students in a way that will keep their minds working.

There are tons and tons of Word Search puzzles available to try out. You can choose from:

• Random topics
• Movies
• Culture
• Vocabulary
• Animals

The nice thing about Word Search puzzles is that they educate you at the same time that you’re doing them. If you feel like doing a simple one, you can choose a small one with a couple of words. If you’re in the mood for a complex one, you can also just select one with tons of words, word directions, and letters.