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Super Search One!

Imagine a word-search, but you've got to figure out the words, too! Meet the SUPER SEARCH!

In this hexagonal grid, there are 36 hidden words (forwards, backwards, or diagonally) that fall under SIX categories. Circle the answers as you find them—like with a traditional word-search, letters can be used in multiple words.

When you are finished, there will be 8 letters that aren't used in any words, which, when written in order, will give you your final code.

Your SIX word categories (with six words each): US States that are 75,000 square miles or larger (total land & water area), Animals that are in the names of current MLB teams, Plays by William Shakespeare, Emmy Winners for Best Comedy or Drama from 2010-today, Food that grows on trees, and Slang for Gossip.

All words have at least 3-letters, are not plural (unless a title is plural), and do not use abbreviations. No words are contained entirely within other words.

Learn more about how to solve these puzzles!

Here's a printer-friendly version. OR click on the puzzle BELOW to play a DIGITAL VERSION of the puzzle (including HINTS for individual words!!!!!!!!!!)

If you're really stuck even after clicking through the hints below the digital puzzle, you can email supersearchhelp@aadl.org to get help!

This badge has been awarded to 3424 players

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Looking for help with this badge? INSTEAD of leaving a comment here, fill out the form at Contact Us, choose SUMMER GAME, and describe the issue you are having. You'll get personalized help delivered straight to your INBOX! These comments are for talking about the badge, not getting help!

Comments

Submitted by sydzais on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 12:41pm

So excited that Super Search is back and the new digital version + hints is a huge help! Thanks Summer Game team! :)

Submitted by VickyB77 on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 12:47pm

The digital version is great!! The hints are super helpful when you're stumped, too. Great addition SG Team!!

Submitted by timbresson on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 1:08pm

This is insane how good this is implemented! Clear colors for categories, even on overlaps. On solve, animation + submit. Hints. Intuitive "timer" based submit. And when I reload the page, I can admire my work :) (I'm assuming that also means if I half did it and came back, it would be saved too right?)

Submitted by melliu on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 2:45pm

YESSSS!!!! this is so good! it would be awesome to have previous years' puzzles digitally as well in an archive!!!

Submitted by ooyzzam on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 3:54pm

The talents are put in the right place, kudos to the great work on the puzzle and its digital version!

Submitted by aylinjerkins on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 3:57pm

I cannot contain my excitement! I love this game and now the digital version is the cherry on top! Best Summer Ever!

I think what might be happening is we're seeing some slow server response times that are causing things to be a little glitchy (we have a WILD number of people playing today/this evening). No duplicated hints when I just double checked. Can you try refreshing your browser, click through the hints again (not too fast) and see if that helps? We are looking into things though! Thanks for your patience and for playing! :)

Submitted by cdeislerb on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 5:40pm

I have no idea how/why the digital version isn't working for me. If I click it just drags the whole puzzle.

I could only get that to work if I used my finger on my touch screen computer. (Didn't try my phone) and it did not work if I used my mouse. Even with my finger I had to hold it down until the triangle highlighted and then I could drag for the answer.

Okay, here's a tip to try for those experiencing puzzle drag issues: if you click+hold on your first try to select an answer, it will just drag the puzzle—you have to SELECT A LETTER FIRST with a single click, *then* you'll be able to click+hold to make an answer selection in one go (though clicking each letter also works). I hope that makes sense! It's set up that way so that if you've zoomed in on a puzzle, you can drag it around to view other areas before making your selection.

This is probably an equipment or browser issue. We've only had a couple reports of this and switching to a different device with newer software or a different mouse/trackpad has solved those issues. If you're still having trouble beyond that, please send a Contact Us so we can gather some more details! Thanks for playing and for rolling with the punches as we get this new feature out in the wild! :)

Submitted by Susan C on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 5:50pm

Wow! This digital version is amazing! I love the ending when the puzzel is solved. I'm looking forward to an entire summer of these.

Submitted by ehautman on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 8:19pm

These puzzles were my favorite part of the game last year and whoever figured out the coding to make it digital deserves some serious kudos (and a raise in my opinion!). This was absolutely amazing. Can't wait for next week!

Submitted by Tiffanny on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 9:28pm

Thank you so much for adding the ability to play digitally! I was worried that it would be hard to play without a printer this year, but no we don't need one. Kudos to the team!

Submitted by wendell6 on Fri, 06/13/2025 - 9:38pm

That was great! Cracking me up so many other people are playing right now. Thanks for putting it together!

Submitted by KMLB64 on Sat, 06/14/2025 - 7:36am

I loved the old version. But I was printing the puzzle, gathering colored pencils/a tray, looking up categories, and making lists. The new version is even more spectacular with everything I need right there! (I did look up one Latin clue.) So portable! I even played in between my 2 worksites/jobs! Thank you! You’ve outdone yourselves!

Submitted by embny on Sat, 06/14/2025 - 1:12pm

Yes, the puzzles were already great, and the digital version makes them even more amazing! Thank you!!

Submitted by houser on Sat, 06/14/2025 - 3:41pm

Another YES for the digital version, but please keep the printable available. Somtimes I like to take it with me on the road.

Submitted by purchasingqueen on Sat, 06/14/2025 - 8:05pm

O-M-G! You have OUTDONE yourselves with this new digital version of the puzzle! So many great additions - the colored categories, the click-and-drag tiles, the hints, the final code click-thru - are all GREAT additions to this super fun puzzle. I am OBSESSED and can't wait until the next one! (Is it Friday yet - lol?)

Submitted by SurfGrape on Sun, 06/15/2025 - 2:34pm

Under the "gossip" category, it should be noted that 5 of the words are the noun form of gossip, and 1 is the verb form.

Submitted by rtjarrah on Sun, 06/15/2025 - 5:12pm

i love this digital version it is soo amazing!!!! This is the first time I was able to solve the puzzle alone!!!

Submitted by Family_Coffman on Mon, 06/16/2025 - 11:31pm

The digital version was impressively smooth -- nice launch! My library never cease to amaze me with its awesomeness!

Submitted by Family_Coffman on Mon, 06/16/2025 - 11:31pm

The digital version was impressively smooth -- nice launch! My library never cease to amaze me with its awesomeness!

Submitted by abowles on Tue, 06/17/2025 - 7:38am

I cannot get the digital version to work for me. It just slides around on the page. Tried Chrome and then Edge. Is it better on mobile? Or should I try Safari?

This is probably an equipment issue OR possibly you are trying to click+hold on your first try to select an answer, which will just drag the puzzle—you have to SELECT A LETTER FIRST with a single click, *then* you'll be able to click+hold to make an answer selection in one go (though clicking each letter also works). I hope that makes sense! Please send us a Contact Us email if you are still having issues. Thanks!! :)

Submitted by supriyatewari5 on Tue, 06/17/2025 - 10:29pm

I love this puzzle! Why is there 2 of the same hints under Emmy award winners? Both say "This show won bes comedy in 2020".

It's just the system going slow! Sorry. If you give it a minute and refresh, it should help, or try tomorrow. I promise the hints aren't actually duplicated in the puzzle (it's a loading error thing). Thanks for your patience and for playing! :)

Submitted by denisekim on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 6:40am

Once I have selected a word, how do I “submit” it? It just stays highlighted and nothing else happens

Submitted by achiever.jjlee on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 8:37am

I found all 6 words but I when I try putting the 8 letter code in it says code not recognized someone please help

Hi there! If you are playing the digital version, the game will popup with the correct answer when you've successfully completed the puzzle. If you are playing the paper version, you must not have it entered correctly or there's a mistake somewhere (the code is definitely working!). Please send us an email or https://aadl.org/contactus if you need more help. And thanks for playing! :)

Submitted by achiever.jjlee on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 8:37am

I found all 6 words but I when I try putting the 8 letter code in it says code not recognized someone please help

Submitted by spaceykate on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 1:29pm

Last year the word searches were too daunting for me but very pleased with the user interface for the digital version! Loved it!

Submitted by k8e on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 9:09pm

My absolute favorite badges! I thought I would be nostalgic for doing it with paper and pencil (and 6 highlighters to keep track of the groups) but the digital version is so well done I don’t think I’ll be going back.

Submitted by jmb.mlis on Wed, 06/18/2025 - 10:48pm

You did an amazing job coding this! The colors and hints - way to go PLAY department!

Submitted by ChallngOfTheStrs on Thu, 06/19/2025 - 3:04am

I still love printing out the puzzle and coloring in the words with colored pencils. Thank you for the digital puzzle as well!

Submitted by andrea on Thu, 06/26/2025 - 7:52pm

This is a fantastic upgrade! Last year, I downloaded each puzzle, opened the image in Pixelmator, and used the paint bucket tool to color in each space as I solved the puzzle, with a different color for each category. This year, you did all of that for me, and more! I love seeing which letters are available for my next click and being able to see right on the same page when I have finished a category. The integration of the solution and code at the end is really cool too! Well done, AADL!

Submitted by peggyphsu on Sat, 07/12/2025 - 10:45am

Man this was so fun. This is my first time playing the summer game and it has been such a surprise how many fun ways there are to earn points!

Submitted by avrogers1 on Sat, 07/12/2025 - 9:30pm

OK! I loved this puzzle last year when I had to print them out. They are soo much fun... BUT. This interactive digital version that gives hints and saves your progress... Chefs Kiss! It's amazing! Thank you so much for making this interactive. So much fun! AND IT SAVES PAPER? I am so in!

Submitted by Aevearitt on Sun, 07/13/2025 - 10:51pm

Do you have a puzzle creator on staff making these? This is a really enjoyable challenge! Thanks for making the Summer Game so fun :)

A FAVORITE part of my job is creating these puzzles!!! And what an EXTRA JOY to have one of our developers on staff give it the beautiful DIGITAL treatment this year! So glad you're enjoying the puzzles! THANKS for PLAYING!!!

Submitted by apknapp on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 10:32am

Just piling on with another kudos for the digital version--the highlighting, color-coding, clues, all make these badges SO much more accessible! Thanks a million!

Badge Series
Super Search

Badge Tags
Puzzle

Game
SummerGame2025

Difficulty
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Extremely Tricky 4 of out 4 difficulty

Badge Points
200

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