Word Search Words Overlapping

We are making a code for a word search and do not want the words to overlap one another (unless the letters overlapping are similar). I have attached our code to see if anyone can help us. We have already managed so that the first letter of the words don't overlap but do not want the rest of the word to overlap with another. Thank you.

clear all
clc 
close all
 
%Creates the grid
xlim([0 10]);
ylim([0 10]);
grid('on');
 
% creates alphabet array
alpha26 = {'A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H','I','J','K','L',...
    'M','N','O','P','Q','R','S','T','U','V','W','X','Y','Z'};
 
%First Word
word1 = {'A','L','P','A','C','A'};
%Second Word
word2 = {'A','R','M','A','D','I','L','L','O'};
%Third Word
word3 = {'B','A','B','O','O','N'};
%Fourth Word
word4 = {'S','N','A','K','E'};
 
%For word 1
lo = randi(10)-0.5;
po = randi(5) - 0.5;
%For word 2
lo1 = randi(10) - 0.5;
po1 = randi(2) - 0.5;
%So word 2 does not overlap with word 1
if lo1 == lo
    lo1 = randi(10) - 0.5;
elseif po1 == po
    po1 = randi(2) - 0.5;
end
 
%For word 3
lo2 = randi(10) - 0.5;
po2 = randi(5) - 0.5;
 
%For Word 4
lo3 = randi(10)-0.5;
po3 = randi(5) - 0.5; 
 
%Test to get word 3 not to overlap (Needs to be fixed)
if lo2 == lo1 || lo
    lo2 = randi(10) - 0.5;
elseif po2 == po1 || po
    po2 = randi(5) - 0.5;
end 
chance= randi(2);
chance1 = chance;
chance2 = chance;
for i = 1:10
   for j = 1:10
    ws{i,j} = alpha26{randi([1,26],1)};
    if chance==1
        %Word 1
    for mo=po+0.5:po + length(word1)   
    ws{(lo+0.5),mo}=('');
    %word 2
    for mo1=po1+0.5:po1 + length(word2)
    ws{(lo1+0.5),mo1}=('');
    % Word 3
    for mo2 = po2+0.5: po2 + length(word3)
        ws{mo2,(lo2+0.5)} = ('');
        %Word 4
        for mo3 = po3+0.5: po3 + length(word4)
        ws{mo3,(lo3+0.5)} = ('');
        end
    end
    end
    end
    
    elseif chance==2
        %Word 1
    for mo=po+0.5:po + length(word1)
    ws{mo,(lo+0.5)}=('');
    %Word 2
    for mo1=po1+0.5:po1 + length(word2)
    ws{mo1,(lo1+0.5)}=('');
    %Word 3
    for mo2 = po2 + 0.5: po2 + length(word3)
        ws{(lo2 + 0.5),mo2} = ('');
         %Word 4
    for mo3 = po3 + 0.5: po3 + length(word4)
        ws{(lo3 + 0.5),mo3} = ('');
    end
    end
    end
    end
       
    end
    end
end
search = 10;
% puts random letters in the grid
for p=1:search
    for n = 1:search
        
    te1 = text(p-0.5, n-0.5 , ws{p,n}, ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
    end 
end
search = 10;
 
 
% puts letters of first word in the grid
for p=1:search
    for n = 1:search
te1 = text(p-0.5, n-0.5 , ws{p,n}, ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
    end 
end
 
 
search = 10;
% puts letters of first word in the grid
 
for p = 1:1 %1 row
for n = 1:length(word1) % 6
        if chance==1
    te1 = text(lo,po,word1(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
   elseif chance==2
    te1 = text(po,lo,word1(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        end 
po = po + 1;
end
end
 
%Placing word 2 into the grid
for p = 1:1 %1 row
for n = 1:length(word2) %9 
        if chance1==1
    te1 = text(lo1,po1,word2(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
     set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        elseif chance1==2
    te1 = text(po1,lo1,word2(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        end 
po1 = po1 + 1;
end
end
 
%Placing word 3 into the grid
for p = 1:1 %1 row
for n = 1:length(word3) %6 
        if chance1==2
    te1 = text(lo2,po2,word3(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        elseif chance1==1
    te1 = text(po2,lo2,word3(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        end 
po2 = po2 + 1;
end
end
 
 
 for p = 1:1 %1 row
for n = 1:length(word4) %5 
        if chance1==2
    te1 = text(lo3,po3,word4(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        elseif chance1==1
    te1 = text(po3,lo3,word4(p,n), ...
        'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        end 
po3 = po3 + 1;
end
end

Answer 1

[Are Mjaavatten]

I was fascinated by your problem, so I wrote my own version. This gave me some insights:

I recommend that you first create an array of random characters, for instance by

ws = char(randi(26,side)+64);

Next, fill in your words by overwriting pre-existing characters in this array. Finally display ws. This way there is only one character per square.

Note that if you write

words = {'ARMADILLO','ALPACCA','SNAKE','BABOON'}

you may use a loop instead of separate sections for each word.

My version is a function that takes the side length and a word list as inputs. Sample calls:

wordsearch(10,{'ARMADILLO','ALPACCA','SNAKE','BABOON'})
wordsearch(6,{'LUCKY','UGLY','SCREAM','MAYBE','SAD','PLAIN','YUCK'})

The challenge in the general case is to find a valid solution, where words do not overlap unless the overlapping characters are equal. I used a dumb brute force approach, where i tried with random positions and orientations until I found a valid one. To save execution time, trap any unlawful overlaps as early as possible.

Good luck!