New Years word search
Thirteen New Years words are hiding in this 12x12 grid, from a five letter toast to a ten letter resolution. All eight directions are in play, so check the diagonals and read backwards too.
Curated by 
Esme Rook
·
Updated October 2026
Play it right here
Drag across the letters to select a word. Words hide across, down and diagonally, forwards and backwards. Works with mouse and touch.
What words are hidden in this New Years word search?
Thirteen: midnight, fireworks, countdown, resolution, calendar, champagne, sparkler, toast, January, noisemaker, glitter, cheers and festive. They hide in all eight directions, diagonally and backwards as well as across and down. RESOLUTION is the ten letter anchor and the easiest first find; TOAST is usually the last one standing.
Midnight words, not December decorations
Every word on this board belongs to the last hour of the year and the first minute of the next one. There is no tree, no reindeer and no snow here, so nothing repeats the Christmas word search or the winter word search, and the three sheets can go out together on the same table. That is the point of the pair: December is decorated, the New Year is counted down.
Print it or play it
Play the 12x12 right on this page or print the free PDF; the separate solution sheet marks all thirteen words on the same grid, so the puzzle can go around the room while the answers stay in your pocket. The playable board, the PDF and the solution come from one generated puzzle, so they always match. It prints clean in black and white on ordinary paper, for the classroom on the last day of term and for the table on the thirty first.
Seven New Years word searches to print, one for each part of the night
The board on this page is the general one. Six more print from here: four that each take a single piece of the night, the resolutions, the superstitions, the fireworks and the calendar the whole thing is counting, and then the same subject once easier and once harder. Every sheet has its own word list, its own grid size and its own solution page, and no word appears on two of them. Nothing here repeats the Christmas word search or the winter word search, so all three can go out on the same table. Two word terms run together on the board: leap year is LEAPYEAR, first footing is FIRSTFOOTING, dry January is DRYJANUARY.
The 12x12 board on this page
Thirteen midnight words in a 12x12 grid, the same board you can play at the top of this page, with a marked solution sheet in case the party turns competitive.
The resolutions: the list itself, not the word
RESOLUTION is one word on the board above; this 13x13 grid is the twelve resolutions people actually make, from dry January and quitting smoking to walking more, reading more, cooking ahead and spending an hour a day less on a screen.
The hard one, 14x14: what people do for luck
The hardest sheet on the page, twelve words in a 14x14 grid using all eight directions: the Scottish first footing, the red underwear, the lentils eaten in Italy, the black eyed peas eaten in the American south, the round fruit and the twelve grapes at the twelve chimes.
The fireworks: the parts of the display
A 12x12 grid that takes FIREWORKS apart: the fuse, the gunpowder, the launch, the burst of sparks, the roman candle, the fountain, the embers coming down and the finale that empties the box all at once.
The calendar: the year being counted
The one board here that is about the other three hundred and sixty four days, on a 13x13 grid: the leap year, the fortnight, the quarter, the semester, the new moon, the wall chart in the kitchen and the February that only ever gets twenty eight.
10x10 for the early sleepers
Eight easy words on a 10x10 grid for the children who never make it to the countdown: nothing hides diagonally and nothing is written backwards.
15x15 for the ones still awake
Eighteen long words, from hogmanay to pyrotechnics, buried in a 15x15 grid for whoever is still at the table at one in the morning.
