my @grid = (
   [ split( //,     'ABPR' ) ],
   [ split( //,     'CAEL' ) ],
   [ split( //,     'TSRX' ) ],
   [ split( //,     'OILW' ) ]
);
my $h = 4; my $w = 4;

sub find { ... }

my @results = find( \@grid, $w, $h, "PERL" );
# 
# @results can be:
#   ( 2, 0, 4 )  if using 1-8 numbers
#   ( 2, 0, 0, 1 ) if using direction
#   ( 2, 0, 2, 3 ) if using end point
my @results = find( \@grid, $w, $h, "GOLD" );
# @results = ()