How word searches work
The New Year list is built around the last minute of the old year and the first of the new: the countdown, midnight, confetti and a toast. It is one of the longer-worded themes on the site, with four entries of nine letters or more, which makes it a fast grid for anyone who hunts long words first.
RESOLUTION and CHAMPAGNE are both awkward to place and both easy to find once you look for them. RESOLUTION has a run of common letters but its length leaves it almost nowhere to sit; CHAMPAGNE contains both a G and a P next to each other, which is a rare pairing in the filler.
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 New Year word list
| Word | Letters | Notable letters |
|---|---|---|
| MIDNIGHT | 8 | common letters only |
| COUNTDOWN | 9 | W |
| CONFETTI | 8 | common letters only |
| CHAMPAGNE | 9 | common letters only |
| FIREWORKS | 9 | K, W |
| RESOLUTION | 10 | common letters only |
| CALENDAR | 8 | common letters only |
| CELEBRATE | 9 | common letters only |
| TOAST | 5 | common letters only |
| BALLOON | 7 | common letters only |
| JANUARY | 7 | J, Y |
| KISS | 4 | K |
| PARTY | 5 | Y |
| FRESH | 5 | common letters only |
How to find words faster
- Find the longest New Year words first. RESOLUTION is the longest entry at 10 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, W, Y. Each one appears only a handful of times in the random filler, so finding the letter usually hands you the word.
- Leave KISS 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 words are in the New Year puzzle?
Fourteen, spanning the party and the fresh start afterwards. Because several are long, the ten by ten grid may leave one out, and the list reflects what actually fits.
Which word is hardest to find?
KISS. Four letters with a double S, which reads as random filler at a glance. Short words with repeated letters are consistently the last ones found on any theme.
Is this good for a party?
It works well as a quick group puzzle because the words are familiar and the small grid is fast. Several people can race the same theme on their own devices, since each load produces a different arrangement.