How word searches work
The dinosaur list mixes a couple of names people know — Triceratops, the raptors, the sauropods — with the vocabulary around them: fossils, the Jurassic, the Mesozoic, extinction and the crater that ended it. It reads as a science grid as much as an animal one, which suits older solvers.
TRICERATOPS is eleven letters and only just fits the small board. MESOZOIC and JURASSIC both carry rare letters — a Z and a J — which is unusual for one list and makes them fast to find. CLAW and ROAR are the short ones.
The grid regenerates every time you load the page, so the same theme never gives you the same arrangement twice. Words run in all eight directions including backwards and diagonally, and your fastest completion time for each grid size is saved in your browser.
The dinosaur word list
| Word | Letters | Notable letters |
|---|---|---|
| FOSSIL | 6 | common letters only |
| JURASSIC | 8 | J |
| RAPTOR | 6 | common letters only |
| CLAW | 4 | W |
| EXTINCT | 7 | X |
| SKELETON | 8 | K |
| PREDATOR | 8 | common letters only |
| MESOZOIC | 8 | Z |
| HATCHLING | 9 | common letters only |
| TRICERATOPS | 11 | common letters only |
| HERBIVORE | 9 | V |
| CRATER | 6 | common letters only |
| ROAR | 4 | common letters only |
| SAUROPOD | 8 | common letters only |
How to find words faster
- Find the longest dinosaur words first. TRICERATOPS is the longest entry at 11 letters, and long words have far fewer possible placements than short ones. Clearing them early removes a disproportionate share of the grid.
- Target the uncommon letters in this list. The rare letters present here are J, K, V, W, X, Z. Each one appears only a handful of times in the random filler, so finding the letter usually hands you the word.
- Leave CLAW until last. At 4 letters it is the shortest entry, which means it has the most possible positions on the grid and hides best. Short words are always the least efficient thing to hunt first.
- Read every candidate in both directions. Roughly half the placements in any grid are reversed. If an area looks empty, try reading it backwards before moving on.
Frequently asked questions
How many dinosaur words are hidden?
Fourteen, spanning two named dinosaurs, the eras they lived in and the science of how we know about them. On the ten by ten grid the longest name may not fit, and the list shows only what was placed.
Which dinosaur word is hardest?
ROAR. Four letters with a repeated R, which reads as filler. CLAW is nearly as difficult. Long names like TRICERATOPS are the easy ones, not the hard ones.
Is this suitable for children?
The vocabulary is a step up from the animal grids — Mesozoic and herbivore are not everyday words — so it suits older primary and secondary readers best. It is designed for a general audience.