Phase 1: Run per-word search on the grid.

Run the search. Word by word.

You have a 4×4 grid and 1000 words to find. Using your B6 approach: 1000 full grid scans, tens of thousands of DFS calls. Before we fix it — look at the list. What's repeated?

We'll start small: 5 words on this board. Run each one in turn and watch the counter climb.

oaanetaeihkriflv
Word list
oathpending
oatpending
peapending
eatpending
rainpending
B6 DFS calls
0
Target: 0 @ 1×