Christmas Word Search QR Mug - 1,000 Hidden Words

A Christmas word search mug that loads a different holiday puzzle on every scan, so everyone at the table gets their own. 1,000 hidden words, no app needed.

How this Christmas mug works

1. Scan the QR code on the mug with any phone camera.
2. Pick a difficulty: easy (8x8 grid, 6 words), medium (10x10, 10 words and diagonals) or hard (12x12, all eight directions including backwards).
3. Drag a finger across the letters to mark each word, then scan again for a different Christmas word search.

Everyone at the table gets a different grid

Pass the mug round after Christmas dinner and each person who scans it gets their own puzzle rather than reading over a shoulder at the same one. That is the part a printed puzzle on a festive mug cannot do, and it is why the holiday word search is drawn at random on every scan instead of once a day. It turns one mug into a family Christmas game without anyone having to set up a board.

What is hidden in this holiday word search

One hundred sets of ten words - 1,000 in total - covering the whole season rather than just the 25th: reindeer and gingerbread, carols and wrapping paper, sledging and the Christmas market, then New Year's Eve, snowy walks and the quiet part of January. A chocolate advent calendar is empty by the sixth. This Christmas mug still has something to do when the tree has gone out, which makes it a winter gift rather than a two-week one.

Written for each language, not translated into it

The puzzle follows the phone's language across English, German, French, Polish and Spanish, and each one is built from what that country actually does at Christmas. The Polish sets hide the Christmas Eve carp and the twelve dishes, the Spanish ones turron and the twelve grapes at midnight, the French ones the reveillon. A guest whose phone is in another language does not get a worse version.

Three levels, so grandparents and children play the same mug

Easy uses large letters on an 8x8 grid with words running only across and down, which suits grandparents and children at the same table. Hard puts ten words into a 12x12 grid in all eight directions, backwards included, for the relative who insists they are good at these. Everyone scans the same code and plays at their own level.

Who this Christmas gift is for

A secret santa gift or white elephant gift for the office party, where the brief is usually "something that is not another candle" and the budget is fixed. A stocking stuffer that survives Boxing Day. A Christmas gift for mom, dad or grandma who will use it every morning of December rather than once. An xmas gift for him or her that does not need a size or a guess about taste. And a small Christmas Eve gift for whoever is hosting and needs the children occupied for ten minutes between courses.

The mug itself

• 11 oz ceramic mug, dishwasher and microwave safe
• The QR code is fired into the glaze, so it survives the dishwasher and will not wear off
• Printed to order and shipped worldwide
• No app, no account, no subscription - any phone camera opens it

Common questions

Does it stop working after Christmas? No. The sets run through New Year's Eve and into January, and nothing expires - it reads as a winter mug once the holidays are over.

Will two people scanning at once get the same puzzle? Each scan draws its own, so almost certainly not.

Is it suitable for children? The easy level is, and the vocabulary is festive rather than religious, so it sits comfortably in a mixed household.

Is it a safe Secret Santa gift for a colleague? Yes - there is no joke at anyone's expense, and it is something people actually use at their desk in December.