Tinker’s Wordsearch is a classic word search with the loft’s labels on every drawer. There are twelve packs of ten words each, from the cogs and springs of wind-up toys to the snowflakes and cocoa of a winter night, with detours into a print room, a sweet workroom and a sink full of soap suds. Each pack has its own toy icon in the picker.
On a computer the grid is 11 x 11 and holds all ten words. On a narrow phone it shrinks to 9 x 9 and holds up to eight, dropping the longest first so the grid stays readable. Words run in eight directions, including backwards and diagonally. Drag across the letters and a found word gets a rounded capsule while it is struck off the list.
How to play Tinker’s Wordsearch
- Choose one of the twelve packs from the picker, or open today’s drawer for the daily pack.
- Scan the grid for the words in the list; they can run across, down, diagonally and backwards.
- Press on the first letter of a word and drag to its last letter, then let go to mark it.
- Watch the word gain a coloured capsule in the grid and a line through it in the list.
- Use one of three hints to flash a first letter, and find every word to stop the timer.
Tinker’s Wordsearch controls
Getting better at Tinker’s Wordsearch
- Hunt for rare letters first. A K, a Q or a double Z jumps out of a grid far quicker than an E.
- Read each row backwards once. Words hiding right to left are the ones eyes skip most often.
- Tick off the longest words early; they cross many cells and leave the rest of the grid clearer.
- Save your hints for the last two words. Each one adds a little to your time, so spend them late.
- Try the same pack on a phone and on a laptop; the smaller grid packs words differently and feels fresh.
Writing word lists for a workshop
We wrote every pack ourselves, and we had rules. Words had to be real, everyday English, friendly for a family table and specific enough to feel like they came out of one drawer. Railway words should sound like a railway: siding, buffer, junction, platform. The workbench pack has a bradawl in it because every proper workbench in Britain seems to have one rolling about somewhere.
We also mixed lengths on purpose. A grid full of long words is a slog, and one full of short words feels thin. Each pack has a couple of long finds, such as clockwork or snowflake, alongside short ones like peg, ink and suds. The long ones anchor the grid; the short ones are the sneaky ones you hunt for at the end.
The daily drawer and the gentle clock
Today’s drawer is one of the twelve packs, picked automatically from the date, with its own arrangement of letters. It is a nice reason to pop in each morning, and because it is the same pack all day on your device, you can compare notes with someone at home about how quickly you found the last word.
There is a timer, and your stars reflect how quickly you cleared the grid. Hints are allowed, three per round, and each one adds a small amount to your time rather than ending anything. That keeps the clock honest without making it stressful. If you would rather ignore the timer completely and just hunt, the game is perfectly happy to let you.
Questions about Tinker’s Wordsearch
On narrow screens the grid becomes 9 x 9 so the letters stay large enough to drag across comfortably. It holds up to eight words, leaving out the longest ones first.
You get three hints per round. Each one flashes the first letter of a word you have not found yet, and each adds a little time to your result.
It is one of the twelve packs, chosen from today’s date, with its own fixed grid for the day. Come back tomorrow and a different drawer may open.
