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May 3, 2014

Vintage word search fun!


Recently my maternal grandma and I were chatting about our favourite board games during a telephone conversation and she shared with me that Clue was her all-time favourite. I replied that it was my second fave and she then asked what game took top billing in my books. "Scrabble", I said with a big smile (even though she couldn't, of course, see me through a landline call, but even the mere mention of this game is enough to put me in an extra good mood, I adore it that much).

"Aww, yes," she said, "You've always loved anything to do with words, so that makes perfect sense." She was spot on there, let me tell you. I'm a self-professed logophile and absolutely adore anything to do with the history of words, the English language, writing, and games (such as Scrabble, Boogle, Upwords, and Balderdash) that are centered around words.

This passion also spills over to crosswords, though I've actually always been a bigger fan of word searches and blazed through more word search books as a youngster than I can remember. To this day, I rarely travel, stay overnight in the hospital, or head anywhere I know I'll need to be pass a lengthy chunk of time without a good, old-fashioned paper word search book with me.

I was thinking about this point a few days ago while enjoying a lovely soak in the tub and it struck me that I should go see if there are word search generators online that let you create your own puzzle. Would you know it, there are! Some of which, such as those from Puzzlefast and Word Search Maker, even allow you to embed the puzzles you create on your own site (as well as print them off - just think of how cool a themed word search would be for a paper crafting project like a scrapbook page or handmade card).

Naturally, once I knew this, I had to make an interactive (you can solve the puzzle right here, if you like, or alternatively, print it out and do it on paper) vintage fashion themed word search and share it here with all of you.




Whether you share my unending love of words and word games, are partial to word searches, or just love the idea of creating your own, let me warn you, once you start wiping these delightful puzzles up with whatever set of words your heart desires, doing so becomes rather addictive. If you create a vintage related one for your own site, be sure to let me know in the comments here, I’d love to solve it as well – one can never have too many word searches to enjoy doing in my books!

27 comments:

  1. I enjoy Scrabble, and word searches too. I will have to come back to this one when I am wearing my glasses!

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  2. 5 days offline and i missed a lot here!
    so this evening is C.V.-evening - reading, enjoying the loveliest internet glamour mag!!
    kisses and hugs!
    b.

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  3. I like Boggle too, but my husband is a pain to play with because he literally read (and remembered) the OED as a kid. So he comes up with these random 18th century words that no one has heard of: ret (to soak flax); leet (an 18th century court). But, as a funny aside, we played Boggle while I was in labor with Birdie--way toward the end. We took it to the hospital with us and played it in between contractions in the PETU. The nurses thought we were nuts. Ha!

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  4. So fun! We are BIG TIME Scrabble lovers in my family. I never win, but it so much fun, plus it's a great game to linger over with coffee.
    My son is into word searches lately. I'll have to create one for him about Legos and Minecraft.

    Cheers,
    L A
    .Ravishing-Ruby.blogspot.com.

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  5. I spent the past 15 mins doing your puzzle, Jessica! It was super fun. Growing up, my grandma would have a lot of puzzle books, and I'd sit and do as many as I could. Then she'd employ me as her puzzle scout as I was quick to find words.

    I think next time I'm at a drugstore, I'll pick up a puzzle book or two =D

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  6. What a fun idea, Jessica! I'll have to come back and print it out for myself. Thanks for the fun puzzle. :)

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  7. I love wordsearches! Thank you for posting this one, I had great fun completing - there were some well hidden answers in there x

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  8. I LOVE word puzzles! I've always loved puzzles in general, and have been doing crosswords since I was a kid. I've recently gotten into cryptograms, which are more challenging but I find them a lot of fun. I may have to make some puzzles for my next blog post :)

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  9. What an adorable and fun idea! I used to love a good word search when I was younger too, I used to pride myself at being rather good at them so I'll definitely have to see how I go with this one, it's been a while!

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  10. I'm printing this off and taking it to bed with me, doing it the way a vintage word search should be done...with a pen or pencil. ;)

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  11. Oh thats good ! Thats really good !
    I completely agree With you on this point here.
    Even if I did it more often in French I, in opposition With my sister, cousins or Friends always wanted to play Words games. It was so much more fun to me !
    They all préfèred réal games , "moving" games... But I was good With Words games as pastime haha
    Little nerdy of me :)

    I cannot play yours today's cause Im viewing it From à really tiny screen bit Ill make sûre to Print it for my holidays!
    Hihi

    Xxx
    Have à lovely Day,
    Lorna
    Http://lornasharp.blogspot.com

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  12. Oh I do love words too! Scrabble is my fave but I get so competitive (which isn't great when I have to try and beat my son or the elderly people I work with). A great fun post idea! XXX

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  13. This is awesome! What a good idea! I am a word nerd too, scrabble is a favourite board game and I LOVE crosswords. I do them every day. Taboo takes my favourite game though!

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  14. Ahh, Clue and Scrabble - both stellar games. I always enjoying playing Scrabble with my mum (and sometimes my dad) when I stay with them. And I used to make my own word searches when I was a child... The problem being you then knew the answers. I tried making a few crossword puzzles too, which are really hard to do!

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  15. Hello doll!
    A vintage puzzle, cool! I like it! Gonna share this with my friends! =)

    Have a nice week!!
    XoXo
    vintagepri.blogspot.com

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  16. oh my...this is no skim over! Gonna have to put some real effort in! LOL

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  17. oh wow this is so clever...and I can do it on the page!

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  18. Oh, my... my favorite word game!
    Over here, we call it "8 ways game", because you can do your word search in 8 different directions. And (I'd like to say "as a kid", but I still enjoy it nowadays) I hop over to my newspaper stand on the corner and get me one of those specialized "word" magazines - and in there there's a glorious amount of crosswords, 8 ways games, puzzle-word games..
    Let me tell you: on a rainy day like yesterday was; that is a good way to stay sane indoors. Words were and are my friends. I truly admit to loving words. Not only due to having my mom as a language teacher, who gave me her affectionate feeling toward words, when she told me "Words are there to be used: wisely, in a wide range and properly". Mom had that "big words" vocabulary, and I often used it just to learn new words.. and nowadays I stand shocked to hear that kids of today are using less than 100 words in their daily talk. They no longer cherish the art of conversation, they fail to see the might of words and I fear that this is the way for many words to die off.
    But, as long as there are people who use those "big", "long" and "archaic" words in their daily talk (myself included), I believe there's still hope for words.
    Whoa.. long comment.
    ..just to say "thank you" for this marvelous post, dear Jessica.

    P.S.
    Today, I found your letter and your card in the mail! Rest assured, I'm already planning what to write back; since my reply must consist of answering every single little question (and some witty story, naturally). :)

    P.S.2
    LAST DAY of waiting.. hope you are not nervous!

    Many hugs!
    Marija

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  19. I love word searches! I started yours and I'm a bit humbled. I'm used to the ones on children's menus! Ha ha. Thanks for making this fun game!!

    Sarah

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    Replies
    1. UPDATE- Jessica, I finished your word search with the help of my 10 year old. Fun! :)

      Thanks for making and posting it.

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  20. Loved this! I do enjoy a wordsearch and I had fun doing yours. Great idea! I like Scrabble but am not very good at it. Every word I have ever known seems to leave my head when it is my go!

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  21. What a fabulously cute idea, I didn't know such thing existed. I will print and solve it in one my breaks, where I sit in my own chair, legs up, in my "library" and usually read vintage magazines from the fifties, the ones I also scan from every second months (look forward to next Thursday where a huge issue is posted). :)

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  22. How much fun!!! I'm going to have to print this out and do this. I'm not much good at doing it on the computer. Word searches are so relaxing and so much fun. This is very cool.

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  23. What a great idea! I've always been partial to word searches, finding Sudoku much too confusing! I can't wait to print this out and solve it! And I think I may have to devise one for my own blog. A classic movie version perhaps? Also, I absolutely love Clue! I've never been very good at it, but I'm a huge fan of classic mystery novels and movies, so Clue is one of my favorite games! I'll always remember in high school how I and a couple of my close friends started referring to each other by our Clue monikers. I was Miss Scarlet, and two of my closest friends were Mr. Green and Professor Plum! We also had a Mrs. Peacock, but Col. Mustard moved away. :-)

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  24. I love Word Searches, or as we call them in Australia "Find-a-word". I am really bad at crossword puzzles but give me a find-a-word and I'm happy for hours! I usually save my puzzling for Christmas time when I spend a week or so at the beach each year and then just laze around reading books and doing find-a-words - bliss! I'll be giving your vintage theme puzzle a go after work today though :)

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    Replies
    1. Love the Australian name for them! :) I too am fond of saving my puzzle books for the beach - which we're spoiled for choice with around these parts, so there's always ample opportunity to get my "find-a-word" fix each summer.

      ♥ Jessica

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  25. Somehow my fascination with Word Search Puzzles turned into a full blown website. Please enjoy the existing puzzles and make your own at http://www.hideaword.com/.

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