Word Searchletter grid in French

Goal of the game

Find every word of the list in the grid. A word you find is crossed off the list; the game ends when the list is empty.

Words read in a straight line, in eight directions: horizontally left to right or right to left, vertically top to bottom or bottom to top, and along the four diagonals.

What counts and what does not

• A word is always in a straight line: it never turns and never makes an angle.
• The letters of a word are adjacent, with no gaps.
• The same letter in the grid can belong to several words: crossings are normal.
• French accents are not shown in the grid: look for ÉCOLE written as ECOLE.
• Spaces and hyphens in compound words disappear too.

The method that works

• Look for the rare letter, not the first letter. To find KAYAK, scan the grid for Ks, not for common consonants. W, K, Z, X, J, Q and Y are your best entry points.
• Scan row by row, systematically. Row 1 left to right, row 2, row 3… An orderly sweep always beats eyes jumping all over the place.
• Handle the diagonals separately. They are the favourite hiding place of hard grids, and the eye does not follow them naturally. A dedicated pass at the end almost always unlocks the last words.
• Spot double letters. A word with RR, LL or SS creates a very recognisable pattern in a grid.
• Read backwards too. Words written right to left are the ones most often missed, because the eye instinctively refuses to read that way.

The last words

• When only two or three words remain, change strategy: search from the grid, no longer from the list.
• Unused letters stand out: in a well-filled grid, the remaining words are almost always hiding among them.
• Leave the longest word for last: the longer it is, the easier it is to spot once you have the right direction.

The mistakes that cost the most

• Searching one word at a time. You then reread the whole grid as many times as there are words. Instead, memorise three or four rare initials and do a single sweep.
• Forgetting the rising diagonals. Of all the directions, it is the one the eye neglects most.
• Looking for accents. The grid has none.
• Sticking with a word that resists. Move on to the next one: the crossings you discover in the meantime will give it to you for free.

Controls

Keyboard and mouse

• Click the first letter, drag to the last one, release.
• A confirmed word stays highlighted; the list crosses it off automatically.
• A rejected stroke disappears with no penalty — trying costs nothing.

Touch screen

• Put your finger on the first letter and slide to the last one.
• The stroke snaps to the nearest direction automatically: no need to aim perfectly.
• Pinch to enlarge the grid on small screens.

Frequently asked questions

Are the words in English?

No, the grids use French words, with accents removed. You do not need to speak French to play: the list shows exactly which letters to find, and it is a good way to pick up vocabulary.

Can words read backwards?

Yes. All eight directions are allowed, including right to left and bottom to top. They are actually the words most often missed.

Can a word bend in the grid?

No, never. Every word is in a straight line. If your stroke turns, it is not the right word.

Can two words share letters?

Yes, and it happens often. The same cell can serve several words, in different directions.

How do you really improve?

By looking for rare letters rather than initials, and by keeping a whole pass for the diagonals. Those two habits cut solving time in half.

More classics, free as well

• Nonograms — numbers on the edge, a picture to reveal
• Game of the Goose — the 63-square spiral, its traps and its geese
• Othello — eight by eight, flip the discs, count at the end