For the adults in my family, the world revolves around New York Times games. Since 2020, when COVID closed schools, hospitalized millions, but also introduced the popular game Wordle to thousands of people, NYT games have become revolutionary aspects of everyday life. My mom will never miss a day of doing the Spelling Bee first thing in the morning while she drinks her coffee, and I’m pretty much convinced that my grandpa runs purely on Connections. For those of you that aren’t familiar with these, sit back, relax, and read this article; and be prepared to enter the world of New York Times games.
1. The Mini
I love The Mini. All it is, is the New York Times’ tiny version of a crossword puzzle, but it’s definitely a fun one! Like any crossword works, the goal is to guess words correctly based off of the clues provided for each column/row. I think that the clues are usually pretty easy and suitable for the average middle schooler and most other age groups (which honestly is part of the reason that I like it). The Mini changes daily, as do all of the NYT games, and is free without a subscription or account. Another thing I like about this game is that it’s timed, but there is no limit, and it's fun to compete with friends to see who can finish the puzzle in the shortest time. Another fun aspect about it is that it’s perfectly sized; you can say you completed a crossword without giving up halfway through because the clues don’t make any sense and it’s too boring! Not like that’s ever happened to me or anything… Anyways, even though it’s arguably the simplest NYT game, The Mini is definitely my favorite.
2. Wordle
Wordle is by far the most popular NYT game, with millions of people playing each day (according to the New York Times website). Its massive amount of admiration from millions of fans across the word might contribute to why I’m placing it as my second favorite, but I also think that Wordle is just a really fun game in general. This is a simple and easy game, where you have six chances to try and guess a five-letter word which changes daily. If one of the letters is in the right spot, it turns green. If one of the letters is in the word but incorrectly placed, it turns yellow. If one of the letters isn’t in the word, it will turn gray. If you use the same letter twice but only one is in the word, one of those letters will turn green or yellow and the other will turn gray.
For example, if the word were “Tiger” and I guessed “Meter”, the T would turn yellow, the second E and the R would turn green, and the rest of the letters gray. Wordle is a very fun and pretty easy game (though it varies depending on the word) and I would definitely give it a try if you haven’t already.
3. Connections
My mom’s side of the family absolutely loves Connections. This NYT game is free on the app or website and features sixteen words; the object of the game being to group them into four categories with four words each. The only thing is, you don’t know the categories beforehand and have to guess them yourself, which makes the game increasingly difficult. You get four guesses to figure out all four categories correctly, and they alternate every day. The categories are also grouped into colors of yellow, green, blue, and purple; yellow being the easiest and purple being the hardest. The one thing that can be annoying about Connections, however, is that sometimes the categories are specific to certain interests or age groups, and might not make sense to those who aren’t associated with these types of people. All in all though, Connections is a super fun game, and nothing on the NYT app compares to the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve correctly guessed a category (trust me, I’d know).
4. Spelling Bee
The Spelling Bee game is a fun word game perfect for word game loving nerds like my mom. Featuring seven letters arranged in a honeycomb-ish shape, the goal of this game is to try and make as many words as possible using the letters provided. Each word is worth a different amount of points, the best word being the pangram, which uses all seven letters. As you gain more points, you move up a rank, and the highest rank you can achieve is called “genius.” There is one letter in the middle of the honeycomb that you have to use in every word. If you form a word that does not have this letter, it doesn’t count. This game does require a subscription in order to play, though, but it does let people without subscriptions play up to a certain amount of points each day. If you’re subscribed, or even if you aren’t, check this game out.
5. Strands
To me, Strands is one of the more complex NYT games. Once you figure it out, it’s pretty simple, but it’s quite hard to explain. I’ll try and do my best, but if this explanation isn’t satisfying, you might have to go check it out yourself!
Strands features a grid with several random letters scattered across. The way you play this game is by connecting letters to form words, which fit with the cryptic category that it shows on top of the grid. If you get a word correct, it becomes highlighted in blue, showing you that there will be no other words using the same letters as that word. However, what you can do is create other words not related to the category (they have to be three letters or more) to earn points. If you get three of these points, you earn a hint that will help you figure out one of the theme words.
Unsurprisingly, there’s more! In every Strands game, there is a spangram, one long synonym for the theme that either reaches across the board horizontally or vertically. Once you find the spangram, it will become highlighted in yellow. As you can see, Strands is definitely one of the more complex New York Times games, but once you get the hang of it, it can be really fun.
As this article has hopefully proven, the New York Times offers several witty, entertaining games that you can play anytime, anywhere. If you’re suffering from boredom, visit nytimes.com/crosswords and browse around! Whether you choose one of the five I recommended or one of the others I didn’t mention (those you’ll have to check out for yourself), you’re guaranteed to be in for a fun time. Happy gaming!
(Also, my best score on The Mini is 18 seconds. Let me know if you beat it!)
I play Wordle every morning when I wake up. Though it is my favorite game I do enjoy the other 4 as well! (Especially Connections)