Comfortable Puzzle Formats After a Stroke

A practical note, kindly meant

Recovery after a stroke is individual, and your occupational therapist is the right person to advise on activities for you — many actually suggest puzzles as pleasant practice, and if yours has, this page is about making them comfortable. It is accessibility advice, not rehabilitation advice.

Which puzzles can I play one-handed?

All of ours — everything on this site works with single taps from one finger: tap-tap word selection in the word search, a tap-the-square-then-tap-the-number pad in sudoku and the crossword, single taps in memory match and Yesteryear. On-screen beats pen and paper here, because nothing needs holding flat while you write.

• On-screen beats pen and paper: no holding a book flat while writing
• Our word search needs only single taps — first letter, last letter; there is no dragging or holding
• Sudoku uses a tap-the-square, tap-the-number pad — one finger does everything
• A tablet propped on a stand or cushion frees the working hand entirely

How can I make puzzles easier to see after a stroke?

Start with the three 'A' buttons in our header — the largest setting makes letters enormous — then rely on high contrast and, if part of the visual field is affected, angle the device so the whole grid sits in the comfortable side.

• Use the three 'A' buttons in our header — the largest setting makes letters enormous
• High-contrast grids matter: black on cream reads far better than the grey-on-grey of many puzzle apps
• If part of the visual field is affected, try turning the device slightly so the whole grid sits in the comfortable side
• The printables are deliberately stark black-on-white for maximum contrast

What if I tire quickly?

Then our puzzles are already your size: a mini crossword is five clues, trivia is five questions, and every game saves itself as you go — close the page mid-sudoku and it will be exactly as you left it when you return, today or this evening. Little and often is the whole design; there is no session to 'complete' and nothing is ever lost by stopping.