New York Times Word Game Review

November 24, 2024


The New York Times is probably more well known among young people for their word games than their news. That's good actually. Now they need to make a comic app.

Anyways, most of the word games are daily games that you play. They can be completed usually in under 5 minutes, and then you share your score online with your friends. So I thought it would be fun to give my thoughts on them.

The Crossword

I don't pay for the app, so I don't play this one.

Spelling Bee

This one is fun, but also frustrating. I don't like how it pretends to be free, but kicks you out of the game after you play a few words.

Wordle

Not the original word game, but definitely the most well known. Wordle is so much fun. I'm not that good at it (or any of the other games), but it's the one I play the most.

My only complaint is frequently you will end with all but one letter being correct, and it becomes a guessing game. Not fun.

Connections

Probably the best word game. You have to group 16 words into 4 categories without knowing what the categories are. It's round 3 of the game show Only Connect, but on your device. This one makes me feel actually smart, and I love it for that.

With that being said, the difficulty is either super easy or super hard. Also, I don't like how you only get 4 tries. I would like to be able to keep on guessing for fun. Please.

Strands

Like a word search, but a little different. I like the concept of having to find the category and the theme words based on a hint, and I also like how the words aren't in a straight line. The biggest thing is that I usually need to use a hint, but once I find one word I can get it done.

Sudoku

Not a word game.

Mini Crossword

Quite fun honestly. I wish there were more board shapes than just a square, because it would be fun to see some slightly longer words. Come on, give us a rectangle.

Letter Boxed

I don't play this one often. It's fun, but you have to be in a certain mood to want to play it.

Tiles

Not a word game. I can excuse sudoku, but tiles is extremely out of place. Why was this included? Do people actually play tiles? Why is there a zen mode if the normal mode is so easy?