New Year's Word Search

About this puzzle

New Year's Eve looks a little different depending on where you stand at midnight. In New York, a ball drops in Times Square. In Spain, people race to eat twelve grapes before the last bell stops ringing. In Scotland, Hogmanay brings the first footer to the door, ideally carrying coal and shortbread. This word list visits all of them, plus Janus, the two-faced Roman god who gave January its name.

It makes a good activity for the first school day back in January, when everyone is talking about resolutions, or for keeping kids busy while the grown-ups wait up for midnight. The notes explain where each custom comes from, including why Auld Lang Syne is sung at midnight at all.

The 29 words in this puzzle

Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.

In every version (12)

Ball Drop

The idea comes from time balls, which dropped at an exact hour so ship captains in port could set their clocks. Greenwich, England, installed one in 1833.

Balloons

Balloons are a favorite New Year's Eve decoration. Some parties hang a net full of balloons from the ceiling and let them all drop right at midnight.

Calendar

January 1 became the start of the year in the Julian calendar, which took effect in 45 BC under Julius Caesar. The word comes from the Latin "kalendae," the first day of a Roman month.

Clock

All eyes are on the clock as midnight gets close. Many people count down the final ten seconds out loud before shouting Happy New Year.

Confetti

In Italian, confetti originally meant sugar-coated sweets, which were thrown during carnival celebrations. Paper pieces later replaced the candy.

Countdown

Counting down the final ten seconds is a fairly modern habit that took off with televised and radio broadcasts of New Year's Eve celebrations in the twentieth century.

Fireworks

Big cities like Sydney, London, and Rio de Janeiro welcome the new year with huge fireworks shows, and Sydney's harbor display is one of the first major ones each year.

Goals

Many people set goals for the new year, like reading more books or learning a new skill. Small, specific goals are usually easier to stick with than big, vague ones.

January

The early Roman calendar began in March. January and February were added later, and over time January took over as the first month of the year.

Midnight

Because of time zones, midnight on January 1 arrives at different moments around the globe, so the new year rolls across the planet over about 26 hours.

Party Hat

Cone-shaped paper hats, often made of shiny cardboard, became a standard New Year's Eve party favor in the twentieth century.

Resolution

Some of the earliest recorded New Year's promises come from ancient Babylon, where people pledged to repay debts and return borrowed objects.

Added in Medium and Hard (8)

Baby New Year

Baby New Year stands for the fresh year, usually drawn as a baby wearing a sash with the new date. Magazine covers in the early 1900s helped make the image famous.

Fresh Start

Psychologists call the new year a temporal landmark, a moment that makes people more likely to set new goals and try to change habits.

Noisemaker

In many cultures, loud noise at the turn of the year was believed to scare away bad luck or evil spirits. Horns, rattles, and pots and pans keep the tradition going.

Sparkler

A sparkler is a handheld firework that throws off bright sparks. Sparklers burn very hot, so use them only with an adult and drop them in a bucket of water when done.

Streamers

Paper streamers are long strips of colored crepe paper that are hung, tossed, or twisted to decorate a room for a celebration.

Time Zone

Because of time zones, the new year arrives at different times around the world. Pacific island nations such as Kiribati, Samoa, and Tonga are among the first to reach midnight.

Times Square

Originally called Longacre Square, it was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters there. The first ball dropped on New Year's Eve 1907.

Toast

Raising a glass to wish everyone well is called a toast. The name comes from an old custom of dropping a piece of spiced toast into a drink to flavor it.

Added in Hard (9)

Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns wrote down this Scottish song in 1788. The title means roughly "old long since," or for the sake of old times.

Father Time

Father Time is an old man with a long beard and an hourglass who stands for the year that is ending. He is often pictured handing things over to Baby New Year.

First Foot

In Scotland, the first person to cross the threshold after midnight is the first footer. Tradition favors a tall, dark-haired guest bearing coal, salt, or shortbread.

Good Luck

Many New Year's customs are meant to bring good luck, from eating twelve grapes in Spain to black-eyed peas in the American South and a first footer's gift in Scotland.

Hogmanay

Hogmanay is the Scottish name for the last day of the year. Scotland celebrates it so heartily that January 2 is also a bank holiday there.

Janus

Janus was the Roman god of doors, gates, and beginnings. He is shown with two faces, one looking back at the past and one looking toward the future.

Polar Plunge

Some people greet New Year's Day with a polar plunge, a quick dip into icy water. Many plunges raise money for charity and have lifeguards standing by.

Rose Parade

Pasadena, California's Rose Parade is held on New Year's Day, or January 2 if the first is a Sunday. Every float surface must be covered in natural materials like flowers, seeds, or bark.

Twelve Grapes

In Spain, people eat one grape for each of the twelve clock chimes at midnight for luck in each month. The custom became widespread in the early 1900s.

A few facts to share while you solve

• Kiribati's Line Islands, in the central Pacific, are among the first inhabited places to reach the new year, while uninhabited Baker Island and Howland Island are among the last.
• In the American South, many families eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for luck, often with collard greens, which stand for money.
• Not everyone starts the year on January 1. The Lunar New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and Nowruz all fall on other dates and come with their own customs.

Four versions of this puzzle

Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.

Hard and large print versions

Hard new year's word search: all 29 words on a 18 × 18 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.

Large print new year's word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 12 × 12 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.

Printing this word search

Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.

How to play online

1. Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
2. Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
3. Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.

Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.