Fall word scramble

By SharpDaily team · Reviewed by Noam · Published October 17, 2026

Apple picking, a raked lawn, a fire pit on a cool night: the 16 words in this fall word scramble come from the season itself rather than the holidays in it. Each has a short clue, and the longest has 9 letters. Try five in the free round, or print all sixteen in large type. The answers wait at the end of the page and on page 3 of the PDF.

Each round deals a different five, one from each stretch of the list from short to long, so it's worth a second go before you print.

The puzzle

Each clue has its word's letters beside it, mixed up, shortest word first.

1. A long-handled yard tool with teeth K R E A
2. The nut of an oak tree N A C O R
3. They fly south in a V E S G E E
4. Butternut is one kind A U S S H Q
5. A bit cold, like a fall morning H L C Y I L
6. They turn red and gold, then drop A L E S V E
7. Where you go apple picking R H O R C D A
8. A soft plaid shirt fabric L N N E F L A
9. A big outdoor blaze on a cool night O B I R F E N
10. Autumn color on the hillside trees G E I L O A F
11. A slow wagon trip on bales R D A E H I Y
12. Melted over apples on a stick A M E R C L A
13. Buries nuts to eat in winter U R R E L S I Q
14. A shiny brown nut, good for roasting H E N C S T T U
15. A warm spice that comes in sticks N A M I C N N O
16. A tall dry stem tied to a porch post N S O K C A L T R

Print it

Print the large-print PDF (3 pages)

Three letter-size pages: eight clues on page 1, eight on page 2 and the answer key on page 3. For the one-a-day idea below, print pages 1 and 2 and cut between the rows, one clue to a strip.

Ways to use it this fall

• On a drive to see the leaves. The passenger reads the clues out loud and the whole car calls out answers. No pencil needed.
• One clue a day. Keep the strips by the coffee maker and solve one with your morning cup. Sixteen words last more than two weeks.
• At the garden club or a fall supper. Put one sheet on each table before the meal. The first table to fill in every line reads its answers out, and the host checks them against page 3.
• After a day at the orchard with the grandkids. Let them play the free round on your phone while you work on the paper copy, then compare.

None of these words is in the Halloween word scramble or the scramble on the Thanksgiving puzzles page, so you can hand out all three this season without repeats.

Answers

For a word scramble with everyday words instead of autumn ones, play Hidden Word, the game the free round uses. All the themed puzzles are listed on the puzzles page.