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The Linotype Machine Changes Printing Forever

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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

TRIBUNE
The New York Tribune was the very first newspaper to run the Linotype in commercial production, on September 1, 1886, its pages that day were a quiet landmark in publishing history.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
MATRIX
Each key on the Linotype keyboard released a brass matrix, a small mold for a single letter, that the machine assembled, cast into metal, and then sorted back automatically, ready to be used again.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
SLUG
The finished product of one Linotype line was a solid bar of type metal called a slug; compositors arranged these slugs into columns and locked them into the press frame.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
LEAD
Linotype slugs were cast from a hot alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, a mixture chosen because it melted easily and reproduced fine letterforms with crisp, reliable edges.Find this word in the grid to read its note.

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Linotype machine word search

The Linotype Machine Changes Printing Forever: a free online word search

Linotype machine word search, playable online right now, marking the September 1, 1886 debut that put the whole world into type.

About The Linotype Machine Changes Printing Forever

On September 1, 1886, the composing room of the New York Tribune hummed with something new: Ottmar Mergenthaler's Linotype machine, casting an entire line of type in one gleaming slug of hot metal at a time. Before that day, skilled compositors hand-set every individual letter, a slow, exhausting craft, and a single newspaper page could take hours to build. The Linotype shattered that bottleneck, letting presses run longer, papers grow thicker, and the written word travel farther and faster than ever before.

How to play

  1. 1
    Find 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.
  2. 2
    Words run in straight lines.Across and down, and on the harder difficulties diagonally and backwards.
  3. 3
    It marks itself.Each word you find takes on its own soft colour on the grid and is crossed off the list.
  4. 4
    Choose 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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