Word jumble puzzles are a kind of puzzle in which the player is required to find words that have been hidden within an array of letters. The letters are arranged in rows and columns, like a grid, all the over all shape of the puzzles does not necessary need to be square or rectangular (squares and rectangles are the most common shape for these puzzles, but puzzles can be other shapes as well).

The hidden words can be placed at any position and orientation within the grid. Words can go left to right, right to left, downwards, upwards, or in a diagonal direction. Additionally, words can overlap or intersect, and just to make the puzzle that bit more difficult, not every letter in the grid is even part of a word. Usually players are given a list of the precise words to look for, but the puzzle can be made more difficult but not providing such a list and instead simply giving the player a hint or clue as to the type of words to search for.

Many adults and most kids enjoy solving word jumble puzzles – they can be a lot of fun! The puzzles can also have educational uses, especially in K-12 or ESL (English as a Second Language) classes – as to solve them, you must pay very close attention to the exact spelling of words.

Word jumbles can be created either by hand or with the help of a computer. I won’t pretend that creating these puzzles by hand is easy – it can in fact be extremely tough to create a worthwhile puzzle, as fitting words together in different directions, complete with overlaps and intersections, can require an awful lot of trial and error (make sure you use a pencil and have an eraser handy!). If you use a computer., the job is much easier: simply enter a list of words into word jumble maker software, click a button, and your word jumble is ready to print.