After losing my job of 6 years back in September of 2020 and only finding two months of other work since then, I put my programming skills to work for myself in an attempt to find an income. I’d accumulated numerous ideas for creative projects over the years with not enough time to devote to them, but I’ve had lots of time for them while unemployed, and so I’ve been busy. There are many projects on queue in my head, but the latest one I’ve chosen to work on is a book of puzzles that combine features of word searches and mazes.
My idea was to lay out an entire phrase within a grid, with the objective being to draw a line from the first letter of the phrase to the next to the next to the next and so on in one continuous long line until a line had been drawn to connect all of the letters of the phrase in order. It’s like doing word search, but instead of circling the individual words in a list, you have to find them all in order. Where one word of the phrase ends, the next word begins right next to it.
The puzzle grid is set up to contain some branches representing only a part of the phrase, occasionally even going all the way to the end of the phrase except for the last letter. I’m sadistic that way. This gives rise to dead ends like one might expect when solving a maze. So then one must backtrack until finding another branch to follow, hoping it will lead all the way to the end of the phrase.
I put together a booklet of free samples. Eight phrase word search puzzles and their solutions. Download the free sampler and share it with any friends who might find it interesting. If you discover you enjoy this type of puzzle, there are 200 more waiting for you in my latest publication, Phrase Word Search, Volume I, 200 Puzzles for Teens and Adults, Large Print.
Volume II is in the works now, with my wife pitching in to come up with phrases for it. I also have other types of puzzle books in my mental queue, waiting to be brought to life eventually. Subscribe to this blog to be notified when I have more to share about my creative endeavors. Thanks for your support.