Discussion and bug reports for the... uh... update released 4/1/2025. (Available to download from Other_Versions.zip)
You meta-fooled me! I'm quite a sore loser, so I took the opportunity to replay it in landscape and I found a number of inconsistencies between that version and the portrait version (which I used). I assume spoilers are allowed, but still SPOILER WARNING to anyone reading:
| Portrait v2.1 | Landscape v2.1 | Mostly nitpicks |
 |  | o3 isn't blotted on portrait u10 is completely visible on landscape with s8 partly obscured, u10 is partly obscured and s8 completely obscured on portrait |
 |  | The only real hiccup in gameplay, portrait has e5, landscape has a blotted e6 0 is excluded in landscape, m22 is missing from portrait |
 |  | a4 is unblotted on portrait Landscape has a blotted "J" on its ninth word, though it's already evident from the hint list Gingerbread's challenge is missing from portrait :( |
There are more nitpicks though:
1. Puzzle 2 on portrait has an unblotted title compared to landscape
2. Puzzle 10 shows the rest of the link from page 12 on landscape, on portrait it doesn't
3. Puzzle 0 on portrait has an unblotted "Hints"
I do wonder if all these nitpicks are already fixed, the latest version lying somewhere on your hard drive, and you mistakenly included an outdated one.
Since you mentioned The Witness in the landscape version, I just have to say that I consider 12 Word Searches to be leagues better, no joke. The density in design, the wit, sophistication despite simplicity, and that ending! Much, much better than The Witness. Out of all the games I've played, yours is the second to get a 6/5 in terms of gameplay. The first is Outer Wilds, of course. Anyway, thanks very much for developing these two, we had a great time marvelling and exclaiming several synonyms of eureka.
Oh right, I completely screwed up puzzle 4's word list -- like you said, I've made a fix already and will upload it shortly. The other differences were mostly intentional -- I wanted less ink usage and fewer videogame references for pencil-and-paper solvers. I'll add the blot to o3 though, thanks! And glad you enjoyed!
Fooled! The listed word is indeed e6 (last year it was e5 Earth). The blot intentionally makes the 6 look like a 5.