Best Puzzle Books (2026): Crossword, Sudoku, Word Search and More
"Puzzle books" is a giant category — crosswords, sudoku, word search, logic puzzles, brain teasers, kids and adult formats. We sort our picks by puzzle type and by user age band so you can find the right one without wading through five hundred Amazon listings. We make kids activity books ourselves, so our recommendations for the kids side of the category come from direct experience. The adult picks are what we'd buy on our own time.
The short answer
Free printable starter pack
17 pages · Shapes 4–6 · 4×4 ages 5–7 · 6×6 ages 7–10
How we chose
Reputable publisher
Penny Press, Dell, NYT/Will Shortz, Klutz, Highlights, and Usborne all consistently produce quality. "Print on demand" puzzle books from anonymous Amazon sellers are recycled puzzle-generator output.
Hand-edited puzzles
Auto-generated puzzles are noticeably worse than hand-edited ones. The named publishers above hand-edit; budget brands don't.
Single-format vs. variety
Single-format books (just sudoku, just crossword) work for hobbyists. Variety books (mixed puzzle types) work for casual users and travel.
Difficulty range
Good puzzle books include easy warm-ups and hard finales. Skip books that lock to a single difficulty level.
Our top picks by puzzle type
- #1
Will Shortz / NYT crossword compilations
Best in the crossword category. Quality is unmatched, difficulty graduated, themes inventive. Worth the $10–14 premium over budget compilations. Weakness: difficult for newer solvers — start with the Monday/Tuesday editions or Light & Easy compilations.
- #2
Dover / Sterling sudoku compilations
1,000+ puzzles in tiered difficulty, pocket-sized. Best price-per-puzzle in the category. The right pick for daily-sudoku habit people. Weakness: utilitarian production; not a gift book.
- #3
Highlights Hidden Pictures + puzzle compilations
Best kids puzzle compilations. Hidden Pictures (their flagship), plus mazes, riddles, and logic puzzles. Ages 4–10. Same quality across every edition for the last 70 years. Weakness: heavy on hidden-pictures format. Less variety than the title suggests.
- #4
Penny Press / Dell variety puzzle magazines
Compilation of newsstand-style puzzle magazines — sudoku, crossword, word search, logic, brain teasers. Cheap, portable, perfect for travel and waiting rooms. Weakness: paper quality is poor. Pencil only.
- #5
Sunlight Puzzle Book for Kids: Easy, Medium & Hard
Ages 6–12
Ours, for the kids on the list. 100 sudoku, crosswords and word searches for ages 6–12 in one volume, easy through hard, with step-by-step instructions for each puzzle type and every answer in the back. It's the kids version of the variety books above — the right call when you don't know which puzzle a child will like yet. Weakness: a confident 11-year-old will race through the easy third. Buy the Hard edition of a single puzzle type instead if they already know what they love.
Paperback$10.99In a rush? Download the PDF now and print it at home.
- #6
Sunlight Puzzle Book for Adults: Easy, Medium & Hard
Adults
Also ours, and the adult end of the same shelf. 100 sudoku, crosswords and word searches in one 8 x 10 volume, climbing from easy to hard, one puzzle per page (a large print edition is also available), with instructions for each puzzle type up front so a first-time solver is not expected to already know. The variety format is the right default when you are buying for someone whose puzzle preference you do not know — a very common situation when you are buying for a parent. Weakness: a variety book holds a third as many of each type, so a committed sudoku solver will clear the sudoku and leave the rest.
Paperback$10.99In a rush? Download the PDF now and print it at home.
Puzzle books for kids
For kids, pick the puzzle type first and the level second. Crosswords suit readers who like words, sudoku suits kids who like rules, and mazes work before a child can read at all. Our kids puzzle books come in Easy (ages 6–9), Medium (8–11) and Hard (9–12), 100 puzzles each, one per page.
Crossword Puzzles for Kids: Easy — 100 puzzles, one per page — themed grids · fair clues
Sudoku for Kids: Easy — 100 puzzles, one per page — 4x4 · 6x6 · 9x9 grids
Mazes for Kids: Easy — 100 puzzles, one per page — twists · dead ends · one way out
Secret codes, brain games and mixed puzzle books for kids
For a child who has done word searches to death: secret code books (symbol ciphers with a key on every page) and brain games (number patterns and sum pyramids) are the next step. Mixed puzzle books cover all the classics in one volume, easy to hard.
Holiday puzzle books for kids
Seasonal editions of the kids puzzle book — sudoku, crosswords and word searches with holiday themes, ages 6–12. Stocking stuffers, Easter baskets and school breaks sorted.
Puzzle books for teens
Teens want hard puzzles without a kids cover. Our teens line covers sudoku, crosswords, word search, cryptograms and a mixed volume, ages 12–18.
Large print puzzle books for seniors
Large print puzzle books trade puzzle count for legibility: 30 pt type, heavy grid lines, and answer keys at full size. A mixed book is the safest gift; a single-format book suits someone who already has a favourite.
Large Print Puzzle Book for Seniors: Easy, Medium & Hard — 66 puzzles, one per page — 30 pt type · extra-heavy grid lines
Large Print Word Search for Seniors: Hard — 90 puzzles, one per page — 30 pt type · extra-heavy grid lines
Puzzle books for adults
Standard-print adult puzzle books fit more puzzles per page and travel lighter. Word search is the easiest to pick up and put down; hard word search, with words in all eight directions and backwards, is the one that actually holds a strong solver.
Hard Word Search for Adults — 100 puzzles, one per page — 8 directions · backwards words
Sudoku and mixed puzzle books for adults
Sudoku for Adults comes in Easy, Medium and Hard plus a combined volume; the mixed puzzle book puts sudoku, crosswords and word searches together at each level.
What to look for in a puzzle book
Match the puzzle type to the person
Crossword people are different from sudoku people are different from word-search people. Don't gift a sudoku book to someone who's never solved one — start with variety editions.
Pocket size for travel
If the book is for a flight, get the pocket edition. Large-format compilations are for the couch.
Avoid "1,000 puzzles" books unless you have the format figured out
Mega-compilations are great for hobbyists and bad for casual users. Casual buyers should start with a 200-puzzle variety edition.
Skip the cheap unbranded paperbacks
If the listing doesn't name an editor or publisher, the puzzles are auto-generated. Solving auto-generated puzzles isn't satisfying.
DIY vs buy
Free printable puzzle packs (we have a sudoku pack and a kids crossword pack on this site) are great for sampling. For sustained use, a paid book is the right move — quality of editing and book ergonomics both matter once you're solving regularly.
Our kids activity book on Amazon
Ages 2–5 · 4–7 · 7+ · Adults
Frequently asked questions
- What's the best type of puzzle book to start with?
- If you've never been a puzzle person, start with a variety edition (Penny Press, Dell). It samples five formats — sudoku, word search, crossword, logic puzzles, brain teasers — and lets you find what you actually like.
- Are puzzle books good for kids?
- Yes — they build sustained attention, pattern recognition, and (for crosswords) vocabulary. Match the difficulty to the kid: Highlights for 4–10, our pack and Sunlight Kids for 2–5.
- How do you tell if a puzzle book is good?
- Three signals: named publisher, named editor, and tiered difficulty. If all three are present you're getting hand-edited quality. If none are, you're getting auto-generated puzzles.
- What's the best puzzle book for a flight?
- Pocket-sized variety editions. Penny Press and Dell both make travel-friendly versions; NYT Light & Easy works if you're a crossword person.
Sunlight Kids activity books — for every age.
Ages 2–5 · 4–7 · 7+ · Adults