Diagonal and backwards words

If there's one word left on your list, it's probably running backwards, diagonally, or both. Here's why those hide so well, and how to catch them.

Why they're hard to see

Years of reading train your eyes to move left to right along a line and to recognize words in that shape. A word running right to left doesn't look like a word at all: OTTER reads RETTO. Diagonals are harder still, because there's no row or column to guide your eye, so it drifts off the line after a letter or two.

That's not a failing. It just means backwards and diagonal words need a deliberate method instead of hoping they'll jump out.

Finding backwards words

Search for the last letter

A backwards word starts, from your point of view, with its last letter. So flip the word before you look: for GARLIC, look for a C with an I next to it. Words ending in an unusual letter are the easiest to catch this way.

Spell it in reverse first

Say the reversed word to yourself, CILRAG, before you scan. It sounds silly, and it works: you're now looking for the shape that's actually on the grid.

Use the middle

A word's middle letters are in the same order whichever way you read them, just flipped. Double letters don't change at all: the LL in BALLAD is LL backwards too. Find the pair, then check which way the rest of the word runs.

Finding diagonal words

Anchor, then check the corners

Find the word's rarest letter, then look only at its four diagonal neighbors: up-left, up-right, down-left, down-right. If the next letter of the word is there, you've found your line. Following one diagonal step at a time is much easier than scanning a whole diagonal line.

Trace the line

Once you have two letters on a diagonal, keep your eye on the path by stepping one row and one column each time. On a phone, laying a fingertip just beside the line, without touching the grid, helps you stay on it.

Rotate the grid

In Spellhunt, the rotate button turns the grid a quarter turn. It won't make a diagonal straight, but it changes which way the word leans, and a word you've looked past from one angle often shows up from another.

Backwards and diagonal at once

The hardest word is one that runs backwards along a diagonal, up and to the left. Combine the two methods: flip the word, find its last letter, and check only the diagonal neighbors. Checking a letter's neighbors in the same order every time, like going around a clock, makes sure this direction gets its turn.

Where you'll meet them in Spellhunt

• Easy grids never hide a word backwards. Words run left to right, straight down, or diagonally downward.
• Medium, Hard and boss grids use all eight directions, and the generator makes sure at least five of them are used in each puzzle. The Daily is Medium.
• Mirror puzzles, from chapter 8 of the campaign, hide every word backwards.
• The Expert grid, unlocked at level 20, is a 13×13 grid where every word runs backwards.

And if backwards words aren't your idea of fun, there's a setting for that: turn on Relax mode and then "No backwards words", and every word reads forward. More in puzzle modes.

Updated September 30, 2026.