Newspaper jumble
Five scrambled words, and the shaded letters in their answers unscramble once more into the punchline of a riddle.
When to use it
The games page of a news site or app, next to the crossword. The puzzle corner of a weekly newsletter, with a new riddle in every issue. A summer puzzle series, with the week's theme in the five words.
What makes it this
Built on the Word scramble generator with these changed. Everything else is the default.
- Hidden solution
Marked cells spell out a word or phrase that players enter to finish the puzzle.
In the builder: How it plays › Hidden solution
- Shuffle the solution letters
Players see the letters they have found in random order and unscramble them.
In the builder: How it plays › Hidden solution
Preview
View only — copy it to play.Newspaper jumble: the reporter and the ice cream
Why did the reporter go to the ice cream shop? Unscramble the five words first. The shaded squares in your answers collect letters under the grid; rearrange those letters and press "Solve it" to answer the riddle.
5 words
Why the example is built this way
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The riddle goes in the instructions.
Hidden solution holds the punchline, and players never see it, so ask the riddle in the instructions. Turn on Show the name and instructions to players, and keep the answer out of the instructions and the finish message.
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Shuffled letters make it a jumble.
With Shuffle the solution letters on, the shaded letters arrive in no particular order and players press Solve it to type the punchline. With it off, the letters are numbered and spell the answer by themselves.
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Pick words that hold the punchline.
The shaded squares go wherever the punchline's letters occur in your answers. Make sure every letter is in at least one word, and a doubled letter in two places, or the row under the grid shows a gap.
Build it yourself
- 1 Open the Word scramble builder and fill in the first tab, Words.
- 2 Change the settings under What makes it this. Each one says where it is in the builder.
- 3 Share the link with your players, or embed the activity in your own site.
Or skip the building: copy this example and swap in your own content.