Dad Baffled by Nine-Letter Answer in Kid's Candy-Themed Word Search Puzzle - Newsweek

A seemingly straightforward children's word search toy has left internet users scratching their heads as they attempt to find one elusive word.

Dan (u/F1Hybrid), 35, who preferred not to reveal his full name, shared an image of the completed word search on the subreddit "mildly infuriating," where his post garnered 12,000 upvotes. He expressed his frustration at the puzzling omission of "chocolate" from the word list, despite an image of a chocolate bar in the puzzle.

"I got the toy for long car rides with my 7-year-old daughter at a local discounter for cheap," Dan told Newsweek. "I know how fast these toys can break. The infuriating part was that we're both German, and she asked me to translate the words to her, but I couldn't because the chocolate bar thing just wasn't there."

The puzzle seemed simple enough: each word corresponded with a picture symbol in the word list. However, Dan found himself stumped, as "chocolate" was nowhere to be found. It wasn't the only issue, either— "Lollipop" was missing its final "P" in the puzzle.

"I thought this would be perfect for /r/mildlyinfuriating because I spent maybe 30 minutes looking for it," Dan shared.

"I never thought this would gain so much traction and kind of hoped someone would call me out for being dumb and 'it's right there,' but no. Some have said that it's probably that way on purpose to keep children occupied for longer; others blame AI or pointed out how the rows are not properly aligned. We even found another version of the toy which spelled 'CANDY' right, but not 'LOLLIPOP.'"

Redditors were equally irritated as they tried—and failed—to solve the unsolvable puzzle. Many pointed out the oddities in the word placement.

"Five of the five words are just straight left to right," commented one user.

"There's also 'Snacdk' if you read around corners—maybe it's not even supposed to be chocolate?" speculated another.

One determined puzzler admitted, "It's funny how you specifically described the problem, yet something in me still spent an extra 15 minutes determined I'd find it."

Another perceptive user noted, "Chocolate has nine letters, and it's an 8x8 puzzle. I don't know why you would scan for it."

Despite the design flaws, Dan was glad to have sparked a bit of fun and discussion online.

"The deep dive on such a small everyday thing was very enjoyable to me. Perfect distraction, and now I'm glad I bought it. I teach elementary; I work with puzzles like this a lot," he said.

Lydia Patrick is a Newsweek Life and Trends Reporter based in London, focusing on emerging trends, human interest stories, and women's issues. She previously uncovered a growing pattern of knife crime against women in the UK and worked on stories focusing on the dark side of medical tourism. She joined Newsweek in 2024, having previously worked at the Independent and South West News Service. Lydia holds a degree from the University of Bristol and a master's in journalism from Sheffield University. Languages: English and Spanish.

You can contact her via email: [email protected]

Lydia Patrick is a Newsweek Life and Trends Reporter based in London, focusing on emerging trends, human interest stories, and ...Read more