How To Phuzzl

What is a phuzzl?

A phuzzl is a phonetic puzzle in the form of a short story where readers are challenged to find well-known titles of movies, books, TV shows, names of sports teams, songs etc. hidden in the text…but there’s twist!

Answers are hidden phonetically which means even if they occasionally do not look like the words or phrases you are searching for, they will always sound like them if you listen to the words – either saying them in your mind or out loud.

Put simply, read it, say it, find it!

What am I searching for?

Hidden within each phuzzl is a themed set of answers for you to find and tick off. For example, it may be a list of famous Abba songs, or names of popular TV soaps, common breeds of dog, or even Bond movie titles.

What are the stories about?

Each phuzzl is a different, yet complete, short story packed with tongue-in-cheek humour that you can enjoy as an entertaining read, even while you try to identify answers off the search list.

How hard is it to find the answers?

Answers appear in a standard Phuzzl story in the same order as the search list, so you can narrow down the area to search provided you spot the previous and following answers. Some are very easy to spot yet others fiendishly difficult. The challenge is to find as many as you can.

Can you show me some examples?

Bond’s Back is a Phuzzl story containing hidden Bond movie titles. We’ll use snippets from this, but with the answers highlighted, so you can see how titles have been hidden.

The easiest to find are those where the original words from the titles are weaved into the story as part of a sentence:

His father leaned back in the chair. ‘Your mother was prepared to overlook my infidelity for your sake. But not after you left. If you’d given her even a quantum of solace that you were safe somewhere then she wouldn’t have done what she did that evening.'

 Things become slightly harder when answers form parts of words or span sentences:

His eyes took on a faraway look. 'We were staying in the town house that week. Day after day your mother stared out of the window as if waiting for your return. It was just a view to a Kilburn high street but she kept saying, “He'll call tomorrow.” Never dies you know – a mother’s hope.'

Some answers may have replacement words or word fragments in the text but remember they will always sound the same as the original:

'Your mother always said your future was golden. Aye, she had faith in you, right up to the end. Poor decision if you ask me.'

Okay, I think I’ve got it. What now?

Click on the Bond's Back story link below to give it a go. When you spot an answer, select it on the accompanying search list so you can track your progress. If you get stuck, the full list of answers are always accessible at the end of each story.