Dingbats (Whatzit) Puzzles
Hi! I am Ollie. Welcome to Rebus Town!
Inside you will find a whole town of rebus puzzles, all kinds, waiting to be cracked. Good luck, and have fun!
Dingbats, also called whatzits, hide a familiar phrase in the way words are printed. Unlike classic rebus puzzles, which swap words for pictures and symbols, dingbats play with position, spacing, spelling, and repetition. Work through these dingbats puzzles with answers, then flip on quiz mode to score yourself.
Print these dingbats (whatzit) puzzles
Grab the whole set as a printable PDF. Puzzles first, full answer key on the last pages.
Download the printable PDF (with answers)Browse all the puzzles on this page ▾
Visual dingbats drawn as word pictures
The first dozen are drawn puzzles where the layout is the clue. A phrase hides in how the letters sit on the card, and you decode it by looking, not reading.
Classic text dingbats with answers
Next come the old favorites: CYCLE CYCLE CYCLE, NOON GOOD, and the legendary YY U R. Every answer is one tap away when you need it.
Dingbats quiz questions to test yourself
The last stretch switches to multiple choice and type-in puzzles, ending with a question about how dingbats and rebus puzzles differ. Perfect for quiz night.
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1. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
One word is sitting inside the other; say where it landed.
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The man in the moon. MAN is written inside MOON, giving man IN the moon.
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2. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the bottom word first, then say where it sits.
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Swept under the rug. SWEPT is written under THE RUG: swept under the rug.
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3. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The word is printed far larger than normal, and that is the first half of the answer.
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Big time. TIME printed in giant letters reads as BIG TIME.
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4. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Notice how tiny the print is, the size itself is the first word.
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Small change. CHANGE printed in tiny letters reads as SMALL CHANGE.
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5. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Say the fruit, but first say what the huge lettering tells you about it.
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The Big Apple. APPLE printed in giant letters reads as BIG APPLE, the nickname for New York City.
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6. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The shrunken print is the clue, its size is the first word of the phrase.
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Small world. WORLD printed in tiny letters reads as SMALL WORLD, the phrase for a surprising coincidence.
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7. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Say where the inner word sits relative to the outer word.
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Hole in one. The word HOLE sits inside the word ONE — hole in one.
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8. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Count the copies, then say that number the fancier way.
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Double take. TAKE appears twice, so you read it as a double TAKE.
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9. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Count how many times the word appears, then read it as a plural.
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Three wishes. WISH is written three times, giving you three wishes.
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10. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Count the copies and put that number in front of the plural word.
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Five stars. STAR is written five times, the perfect rating of five stars.
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11. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Which way is the word climbing? Say the direction first, then the word.
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Uprising. RISING is rotated so it reads upward: UP plus RISING makes uprising.
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12. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the bottom word's position first: where is it compared to the top word?
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Undercover agent. AGENT sits under COVER — an undercover agent.
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13. Say what you see.
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The word is heading toward the floor; say the direction before the word itself.
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Download. LOAD is rotated so it reads downward: DOWN plus LOAD makes download.
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14. Say what you see.
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One word is tilted skyward; read its direction before the word itself, then add the second word.
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Uphill battle. HILL is rotated to read upward, giving UPHILL, followed by BATTLE: uphill battle.
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15. Say what you see.
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The letters are printed in reverse; say the word, then say which way it faces.
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Throwback. THROW is mirrored, so it reads backwards: THROW plus BACK makes throwback.
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16. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The word faces the wrong way; the word plus that direction gives the answer.
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Flashback. FLASH is mirrored, so it reads backwards: FLASH plus BACK makes flashback.
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17. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
One word has been dropped inside another. Read the inner word first, then say where it sits, then read the outer word.
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Nothing in common. The word NOTHING sits inside the word COMMON: nothing in common.
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18. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The reversed printing supplies the first half of the answer, not the second.
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Backstage. STAGE is mirrored, so BACK comes before STAGE: backstage.
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19. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Say the font size first, then read the word.
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The big picture. The word PICTURE is written extra large: the big picture.
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20. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
One copy of the word is not there. Name that fact, then read the word once.
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The missing link. A chain of LINKs has one gap where a LINK should be: the missing link.
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21. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The empty space describes what kind of paper this is. Say the emptiness, then the word.
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Blank check. An empty space next to CHECK gives a blank check.
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22. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Split the long word back apart; the tiny vertical word also points the way it reads.
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Up in arms. The word UP, printed reading upward, sits inside ARMS: up in arms.
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23. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The ink color is the clue: say the shade, then read the word.
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A gray area. The word AREA is printed in gray ink: a gray area.
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24. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Start with the bottom word, then say where it sits relative to the top pair.
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Right under your nose. RIGHT is printed directly under YOUR NOSE: right under your nose.
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25. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Pull the short word out of the long one and note where it was sitting.
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Once in a lifetime. ONCE is tucked inside LIFETIME, so it is once IN A lifetime.
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26. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Say the ink color out loud before the printed word.
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Red tape. The word TAPE printed in red ink reads color first: red tape, the idiom for bureaucracy.
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27. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
The ink color is the first word of the answer, and it clashes with what the word usually looks like.
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Blue blood. BLOOD is printed in blue instead of its natural color, reading blue blood, a person of noble birth.
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28. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Two small words are trapped inside a bigger one; their location is the third word.
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A match made in heaven. MATCH MADE sits inside HEAVEN, so you read a match made IN heaven.
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29. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Start with the bottom word, then say what the top word uses it for.
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A shoulder to cry on. CRY is resting on SHOULDER, so the shoulder is something to cry on: a shoulder to cry on.
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30. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Start with the bottom word, then describe where it sits relative to the top one.
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Water under the bridge. WATER is printed under BRIDGE — water under the bridge.
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31. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the small inner word, then say where it sits within the outer word.
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A storm in a teacup. STORM is written inside the word TEACUP, a storm in a teacup.
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32. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the left word, then state where it stands relative to the right word.
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The calm before the storm. CALM stands just ahead of STORM, the calm before the storm.
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33. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the small inner word, then say where it sits within the outer word.
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A fork in the road. FORK is written inside the word ROAD, a fork in the road.
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34. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Read the trapped word first, say where it is sitting, then read the rest.
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The ball is in your court. BALL is written in the middle of YOUR COURT, so the ball is in your court.
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35. Say what you see.
Need a hint?
Say where the top word sits relative to the bottom one, as a direction.
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An ace up your sleeve. ACE sits up above SLEEVE: an ace up your sleeve.
Your score
FAQ about Dingbats (Whatzit) Puzzles
What is the difference between a dingbat and a rebus?
A rebus swaps words for pictures and symbols, so you read images. A dingbat keeps the words but twists their position, spacing, spelling, or repetition. CYCLE printed three times means tricycle, and that layout trick is the whole game.
How do you solve a dingbat puzzle?
Read the layout, not only the words. Size, color, position, repetition and missing letters all carry meaning. WATER printed below BRIDGE reads as water under the bridge. AREA printed in gray ink reads as a gray area. TIME printed huge reads as big time.
Are dingbats good for parties and team games?
They are a pub quiz staple for a reason. Put one on screen, give the room thirty seconds, and award a point per phrase. The visual ones at the top of this page work especially well projected.
If these dingbats have you hooked, try the modern twist in our emoji rebus puzzles, where pictures and symbols hide everyday phrases. Ready for more brain-bending fun? Jump into the full collection of rebus puzzles to play and keep the streak going.