Use the arrow keys to move between letters. Press Enter or Space on the first letter of a word, then again on the last letter. Press Escape to cancel.
A few of the words
- JITTERBUG
- Brought to British dance floors by American GIs from around 1942, the jitterbug caused such a stir that some halls banned it outright, then quietly lifted the ban when the crowds demanded it back.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- LINDYHOP
- Named in 1927 after Charles Lindbergh's celebrated transatlantic flight, the Lindy Hop was the athletic, improvisational ancestor of every fast swing dance that followed.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- PALAIS
- The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, which opened in 1919, became the most famous dance hall in Britain, its sprung floor and glittering lights the gold standard every local palais aspired to match.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- CREPE
- Wartime rationing made fabric precious, and many a dance dress was run up from whatever crepe could be found, dyed, re-cut and worn with pride on a Saturday night.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
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1940s dance hall word search
Dance Hall Days: a free large-print word search
1940s dance hall word search, free and large-print. Powder your nose, find your partner, and step back onto a wartime palais floor.
About Dance Hall Days
On any given Friday in wartime Britain, the dance hall was the brightest place in a blacked-out town, a swirl of crepe dresses, Brylcreemed hair and a big band working through its paces on the bandstand. The jitterbug had crossed the Atlantic with American GIs, its energy scandalising some and thrilling everyone else, while the foxtrot and quickstep held their own at the more decorous end of the floor. For a few shillings and a pair of well-polished heels, an evening at the palais was escape, romance and community all at once.
How to play
- 1Find a word.Tap its first letter, then tap along to its last — the trail fills in and finishes itself when it spells a word. Or press the first letter and drag.
- 2Words run in straight lines.Across and down, and on the harder difficulties diagonally and backwards.
- 3It marks itself.Each word you find takes on its own soft colour on the grid and is crossed off the list.
- 4Choose a difficulty.Relaxed, Classic or Challenging set those directions and how much the word list helps — never the grid size. Tap the A buttons at the top to enlarge the letters, or pinch the grid.
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