Where a path can start
On a 3 by 3 grid, a path through all nine squares always starts and ends on a corner or on the middle square. It can never start or end on the four squares between the corners.
A corner has only two neighbours. So a corner letter is either the first or last letter of the word, or the word runs through it from one neighbour to the other, and those three letters sit together in the word.
Look for a letter with only one neighbour it can go on to. That is often where the word starts.
Read it from the corner
N is in a corner, between O and D. If the word does not end at N, it has OND or DNO in it, and OND is in plenty of words.
W is in a corner too, next to O. Start there: W, O, N, D. From D, going on to L would read WONDL, and no word starts that way, so the path goes to the blank in the middle, then R, F, U, L.
That reads W O N D, blank, R F U L. The blank is E, and the word is WONDERFUL.
A new grid
This grid hides a nine letter word, with the middle square blank.
Before you read any letters, decide which squares the word can start on. Then choose the start below.
Try it
Where does the word start?
- At R, in the middle of the left column
- At B, in the bottom left corner
Show the answer
At B, in the bottom left corner
Yes. B is in a corner, so it can be an end. From B the path goes up to R and E, then A, the blank K, F, A, S and T: BREAKFAST.
Enable JavaScript to answer interactively and save your place.
Practice Letter path