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.

If one hand is doing all the work

• 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

If vision has changed

• 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

If stamina is the limit

Our puzzles are sized for short sittings: 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.