Part III: Moving On to Complex Puzzles

435 Pages·2009·43.57 MB·English

Spine: 0.86
Games/Word & Word Search
Making Everything Easier!™
Become a word search
whiz — and boost your
brain power to boot!
Open the book and find: W
Are you wild about word searches? This fun, go-anywhere (cid:127) 250 brand-new, handcrafted Wo r d S e a r c h e s
puzzles o
guide is packed with puzzles to stretch your skills and
strengthen your mind. Inside you’ll find eight different (cid:127) The brain-boosting benefits of r
kinds of word searches — including one invented by the doing word searches
d
author! — as well as extensive tips and tricks to improve
(cid:127) A chapter with hints for every
your puzzle-solving abilities. You’ll have a great time puzzle
S
mastering increasingly difficult searches while you reap the
(cid:127) Ten letter-pattern tips
brain-boosting benefits. e
(cid:127) Extra or “Ultra” challenging
a
(cid:127) Working with word searches — get familiar with the eight word puzzles
search varieties in the book and the strategies for solving each
r
collection (cid:127) Secrets to designing your own
word searches c
(cid:127) Start with straightforward puzzles — try simple and story word
h
searches, find hidden words, and solve secret-shape puzzles (cid:127) Web addresses for online
resources
(cid:127) Conquer more complex searches — gather your wits for e
scrambles, quiz questions, and secret-list and winding word (cid:127) Fascinating word puzzle facts
searches s
K I E U C J Z O B O Q U S Z E B U J U H J
(cid:127) Play like a pro with bonus puzzles — tackle anagrams and other
Q U H I Z U C C H I N I N J Z I U Q O I D
word games that are guaranteed to make your brain hurt! P U Y Z A M R E V I U Q A Z L B O B M U J
K C A B R E T R A U Q S E O I I Z U Q Q F
Learn to: Z J Y D E M Q T J J M T J L D J T V U U Y
(cid:127) Try not to peek — the answers to all puzzles feature full grids, so
QW A T R U L E Z I D R A P O E J A A T J
you can see where each word is placed U S I I Q I Z U N O E N C J T E L Z G T E
Go to dummies.com® (cid:127) Solve challenging word searches at various A Z U E U U L E U O T N E R A I Y J M S Z
G H Z Q BW A L Q Z I E A I F D U Q I I A
for more! difficulty levels J A C K D A W R E Z A U N I B D E A R L R
Y T Z I Q U C Y T U Q Z C I G M Z C E A B
LL EE JJ GG AA ZZ RR KK RR ZZ UU AA D E T U O Z K N E
(cid:127) Master shape, story, and winding word TT KK AA QQ KII EE DD QQ UU II TT EE MM Z J N Q Z A R Z
EE CCAYY EE KK ZZ EE SS QQ II ZZ EE E S O P A T X U J
searches X II AA CC CC JJ UU II UU OO EE NN AA TT J Y J G R L O Z
E UU JJ AA TT MMCQQ FF NN JJ TT LL UU QQ O O P Q T A J A
R QQ UU ZZF II LL LL II OO NN OO JJ KK U K U C P U Z U N
(cid:127) Improve your problem-solving skills UQQ ZZ EE OO LL II TT EE TT OO GG QQ E Z Q Q K I I Q Q
A KK TT QQ UU AA JJ SSASS PP EE CC II R D A U Q E Z P H
E UU JJ AA TTDAA RR UU GG GG II ZZ SS S E N L U F Y O J
MHH CC LL II ZZ II JJ PPWW UU QQ ZZ DD JJ JJ II UU QQ AA SS ZZ
$14.99 US / $17.99 CN / £7.99 UK (cid:127) Keep your brain active and healthy B I H E B D A
ISBN 978-0-470-45366-7 Y U L V E
Denise Sutherland is a syndicated Australian puzzle author. Her O
crosswords, word searches, and other puzzles appear in a wide range N S H S
of Australian and international publications, and she has written five
themed puzzle books. Sutherland runs her own graphic design business,
Denise Sutherland
Sutherland Studios, where she concentrates on creating handcrafted
puzzles. Sutherland Syndicated puzzle author

Word Searches
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Denise Sutherland
Word Searches For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009924575
ISBN: 978-0-470-45366-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Denise Sutherland is an Australian syndicated puzzle author. She has a back-
ground in science and graphic design and is a professional member of the
Australian Society of Authors. She is also an established artist and classically
trained musician.
Denise has always been interested in mysteries and puzzles. As a child she
was captivated by the Encyclopedia Brown books, which lead inevitably on to
the works of Joan Aiken, Georges Simenon, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, P.D.
James, and many others; murder mysteries are still her favorite genre, along
with anything by Terry Pratchett.
There is no offi cial training to become a puzzle writer. It’s an unusual mix
of skills: a fascination with words, numbers, puzzles, logic, and patterns; an
ability to deconstruct and then reconstruct puzzles; and years of practice.
Denise started writing puzzles for her younger sisters and brothers when she
was young but got serious about teaching herself to write crosswords and
other puzzles when her own children were little, in the late 1980s.
Denise has run her own graphic design business, Sutherland Studios, since
1997; however, she now concentrates almost solely on puzzles.
She has written puzzles for many groups, from home schooling groups,
regional Slow Food organizations, and the Australian Science Archives
Project to the Australian sugarcane industry and Capital BlueCross (USA).
She has several syndicated puzzle series, including her unique Secret Shape
word search puzzles. Her puzzles are published in a wide variety of newspa-
pers and magazines in Australia and around the world.
Denise has researched, written, and illustrated three themed puzzle books
for several organizations (the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the
Alice Springs School of the Air, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals), and two books on the history and heritage of her home-
town, Canberra (the national capital of Australia).
Denise has lived in the States at various times in her life, in New Haven,
Connecticut; Tucson, Arizona; and Boulder, Colorado, and currently lives in
Canberra with her astrophysicist husband Dr. Ralph and their kids Rodger and
Jenny. She is a completely obsessed knitter, and also enjoys BookCrossing,
cryptic crosswords, Middle Eastern dancing, and watercolor painting.
You can visit her Web site for free puzzles and knitting patterns, and to see
her paintings (sutherland-studios.com.au).
Dedication
To be cut in half and shared equally:
For my husband Ralph, whose support, silliness, programming skills, and
love I rely on utterly. Yours forever.
For my dad Barry, who got me on this puzzling path in the fi rst place. You
can blame him.
Author’s Acknowledgments
First of all, a special thank-you to Natalie Harris at Wiley for making this book
happen for me in the fi rst place.
I have loved every minute of working with my Wiley team in Indianapolis. A
heartfelt thank-you to Sarah Faulkner, Erin Calligan Mooney, and Megan Knoll
for making this such an enjoyable experience. Their collective intelligence,
enthusiasm, and professionalism are matched only by their warmth and
senses of humor.
Writing a book with an author half a world away is no easy task, but these
women made it seem effortless. My early morning e-mail chats with Sarah
(4 p.m. for her was 7 a.m. for me the next day) kept things moving along and
were great fun.
I couldn’t have asked for a better Technical Editor in Raymond Hamel — his
meticulous eye was invaluable.
A true blue Aussie “thanks mate” to Rachel “MadMad” Wohanka for her
American insights.
I couldn’t have written the puzzles in this book without Project X, one-of-a-kind
software written by my husband Ralph that helps with the construction process.
He refi nes and expands it when I ask nicely. I am in awe of his remarkable skills
and eternally grateful for the time he has taken off from his day job (theoretical
astrophysics) to write code for me.
To end with the most important, my endless love and thanks to my dear
family — Ralph, Rodger, and Jenny — for all the cups of tea, words of encour-
agement, making sure I took breaks, and keeping me laughing while writing
this book.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form
located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Composition Services
Development
Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees
Project Editor: Sarah Faulkner
Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice,
Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier Christine Williams, Erin Zeltner
Copy Editor: Megan Knoll Proofreaders: Melissa Cossell, Betty Kish
Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney Special Help Elizabeth Staton
Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen
Technical Editor: Raymond Hamel
Editorial Manager: Christine Meloy Beck
Editorial Assistants: Jennette ElNaggar,
David Lutton
Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2
What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................3
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................3
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................3
Part I: Working with Word Searches ...................................................4
Part II: Starting with Straightforward Puzzles ....................................4
Part III: Moving On to Complex Puzzles ..............................................4
Part IV: Hints and Answers ...................................................................4
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................................................4
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................5
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................5
Part I: Working with Word Searches .............................. 7
Chapter 1: Hunting through the World of Word Searches . . . . . . . . . . .9
Word Searches at a Glance .............................................................................9
Using Word Searches to Keep Your Mind Sharp .......................................11
Understanding dementia.....................................................................11
Considering the importance of mind puzzles and games ...............13
A Fun Romp through Word Search History ...............................................14
Chapter 2: Perfecting Your Puzzle-Solving Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Solving Word Searches .................................................................................17
Gathering your equipment .................................................................18
Marking the words ...............................................................................18
Tackling the grid ..................................................................................20
Moving Past Word Searches: Anagrams and Other Word Games ...........22
Understanding anagrams ....................................................................23
Anagramming tricks ............................................................................23
Rearranging letters for tile games .....................................................24
Baffl ing letter squares .........................................................................25
Staying alive in Hangman ....................................................................26
vii
Table of Contents
Part II: Starting with Straightforward Puzzles .............. 27
Chapter 3: Trying Your Hand at Simple Word Searches. . . . . . . . . . . .29
Chapter 4: Reading up on Story Word Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Chapter 5: Finding Hidden Words in Your Puzzles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Chapter 6: Solving Secret Shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Part III: Moving On to Complex Puzzles ...................... 155
Chapter 7: Gathering Your Wits for Scrambled Searches . . . . . . . . .157
Chapter 8: Are You Ready for Some Quiz Words? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Taking the Quiz ............................................................................................187
Turning to the Grid ......................................................................................188
Chapter 9: Solving Secret List Word Searches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Chapter 10: Weaving Your Way through Winder Words. . . . . . . . . . .261
Chapter 11: Discovering Anagrams and Other Word Games. . . . . . .281
Part IV: Hints and Answers ....................................... 291
Chapter 12: Helpful Hints to Keep You Going . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293
Understanding the Grid Coordinate System ............................................293
Chapter 1 Hint ..............................................................................................294
Chapter 3 Hints ............................................................................................294
Chapter 4 Hints ............................................................................................296
Chapter 5 Hints ............................................................................................296
Chapter 6 Hints ............................................................................................298
Chapter 7 Hints ............................................................................................299
Chapter 8 Hints ............................................................................................301
Chapter 9 Hints ............................................................................................302
Chapter 10 Hints ..........................................................................................304
Chapter 11 Hints ..........................................................................................305
Chapter 13: The Answers You Seek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
viii
Word Searches For Dummies
Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................ 403
Chapter 14: Ten Letter-Pattern Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405
Letters by Frequency ..................................................................................406
Common First Letters .................................................................................407
Common Last Letters ..................................................................................408
Follow Me: Common Letter Sequences .....................................................408
Two’s Company: Digraphs ..........................................................................408
Make That Three: Trigraphs ......................................................................409
Double the Fun: Double Letters .................................................................409
Common Prefi xes .........................................................................................409
Common Suffi xes .........................................................................................410
Common Consonant Patterns at the Beginnings of Words ....................410
Chapter 15: Ten Benefi ts of Doing Word Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411
They’re Portable Boredom-Busters ..........................................................411
They Keep Your Brain Active .....................................................................411
They Increase Your Vocabulary ................................................................411
They Help You Learn New Languages ......................................................412
They Help You Gather Knowledge in a Way
that Makes Sense to You .........................................................................412
They Let You Relax and Have Fun .............................................................412
They Sharpen Your Spelling Skills .............................................................413
They Train Your Brain to Recognize Patterns .........................................413
They Help You Overcome Insomnia .........................................................414
They’re a Way to Spend Quality Time with the Family ..........................414
Chapter 16: Ten Steps to Help You Design
Your Own Word Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415
Step 1: Choose a Theme ..............................................................................415
Step 2: Gather Your Words .........................................................................416
Step 3: Make the Big Grid Decisions ..........................................................417
Step 4: Assemble the Tools of the Trade ..................................................417
Step 5: Just Add Words ...............................................................................418
Step 6: Ponder the Punctuation .................................................................420
Step 7: Erase and Change as Needed ........................................................421
Step 8: Fill in the Grid ..................................................................................421
Step 9: Check and Recheck the Puzzle ......................................................422
Step 10: Make It Pretty ................................................................................422
Using a computer ...............................................................................422
Writing it out by hand .......................................................................423