BALLOONS, CAKE, CANDLES and a good surprise. Every word belongs at the party table, which makes this a lovely puzzle to keep on hand for a birthday gathering, a senior center celebration or a rainy-day party game.
Each puzzle uses some of them: 6 on Easy, 8 on Medium and 10 on Hard. 28 of the words are short enough (8 letters or fewer) for the Easy grid; the longest, INVITATION, has 10 letters and needs Medium or Hard, and the shortest, JOY, has 3.
Which level to choose
Easy: an 8 by 8 grid, 6 words, across and down only.
Medium: a 10 by 10 grid, 8 words, including slants.
Hard: a 12 by 12 grid, 10 words that can run any way, even backwards.
Press Play this puzzle to open exactly this puzzle in the game, with big letters and a hint button, or print it to do with a pencil. The letters print bold and large, and each puzzle fits on one page with its answer key on the next.
Printing tips
In the print window, choose Letter or A4 paper. Both are set up to fit, and each puzzle always fits on one page.
Leave the scale at 100% (“Default” or “Actual size”), and turn Headers and footers off, so the page is clean.
Black and white is fine. The answer key uses bold type rather than color, so it still reads clearly on a plain printer.
The answer key is always the second page. Ask the printer for page 1 only if you want to keep it back.