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
- GUTTA
- Gutta-percha, a natural latex from Southeast Asian trees, was the only known material of the era that could insulate copper wire against miles of cold seawater, and it was used on every deep-sea cable of the 19th century.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- VALENTIA
- Valentia Island, off the southwest coast of Ireland, served as the European terminal of the 1866 cable, chosen partly for its westward reach into the Atlantic and its sheltered harbor.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- SPLICE
- When the cable snapped during earlier attempts and had to be recovered from the ocean floor, the crew spliced it back together mid-ocean, a delicate operation thousands of feet above the seabed.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
- CONTENT
- Heart's Content, a small fishing village on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, became the North American landing point; its cable station building still stands today as a historic site.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
armchairpuzzles.com · free large-print word searches
transatlantic telegraph cable word search
The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable: a free large-print word search
Transatlantic telegraph cable word search, free and large-print, tracing the wire, the ocean, and the signal that crossed the Atlantic on July 27, 1866.
About The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
On July 27, 1866, the SS Great Eastern sailed into Heart's Content harbor in Newfoundland, having paid out the last of nearly 2,000 miles of cable to the shore at Valentia Island, Ireland, completing the first permanent electrical link between Europe and North America. Before that moment, news between continents traveled no faster than a ship; after it, a message could cross the Atlantic in minutes. The cable itself was a marvel of layered engineering: a copper core wrapped in gutta-percha insulation, armored in iron wire, and coiled in the hold of the largest ship then afloat.
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.
Prefer pen and paper?
A clean, large-print sheet. Free, and no sign-up.