NYT Games is the New York Times' daily puzzle hub — one page, a fresh set of puzzles every morning, and millions of people playing the same ones you are. Wordle started it all back in 2022, and the lineup has grown into a full roster: Connections, Strands, Spelling Bee, the Crossword, Sudoku, Letter Boxed, Tiles, Pips, and the Mini. This guide walks through every game, how each one works, which are free, and how to get better at them.
You play them all at the Times' games section or in the NYT Games app for iOS and Android. Some games are completely free. Others need a Games subscription. We'll get into exactly which is which below, because the rules changed in 2025 and a lot of the advice floating around online is out of date.
The lineup, game by game
Wordle
The one that started everything. You get six tries to guess a five-letter word. Type a guess and the tiles tell you what you learned: green means the letter is right and in the right spot, yellow means the letter is in the word but somewhere else, gray means it's not in the word at all. Everyone in the world gets the same word each day, which is why your group chat lights up with those little colored squares every morning.
Wordle was created by Josh Wardle, blew up in late 2021, and the Times bought it in January 2022. It's still free. A good opener with common letters — adieu, stare, crane — gives you the most information per guess.
Connections
Sixteen words on a grid. Your job is to sort them into four groups of four, where each group shares something in common. The groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the most straightforward, then green, then blue, with purple hiding the trickiest connection. You get four mistakes before the game ends.
Connections launched in June 2023 and quickly became the second-biggest game on the platform — it was played 3.3 billion times in 2024 alone. The purple group is where people lose. It loves wordplay: words that come before or after a common word, or categories with a sneaky twist. Solve yellow and green first and give yourself room to think about the last eight.
Strands
A word search with a twist. You get a 6-by-8 grid of letters and a theme clue, like "Off the books" or "It's in the cards." Your job is to find every word tied to that theme, plus one special word called the spangram that describes the theme itself and touches two opposite sides of the board. Words snake through the grid — letters just need to touch, in any direction — and every letter gets used exactly once.
Strands entered beta in March 2024 and became a full game that summer. Found theme words turn blue; the spangram turns yellow. Stuck? Every three non-theme words you find (four letters or longer) earns a hint that reveals letters of a theme word. Start with the spangram if you can spot it — it usually unlocks the rest of the board.
Spelling Bee
Seven letters in a honeycomb, one in the center. Make as many words as you can — four letters or longer — and every single word must include the center letter. Letters can repeat. Find the pangram (a word using all seven letters) and you get a 7-point bonus on top of the usual one point per letter. No points lost for wrong guesses, so there's no penalty for throwing ideas at it.
Spelling Bee is a Times classic that predates Wordle by years. These days the free version only lets you play a few words before asking for a subscription. The full daily puzzle — with ranks from "Solid" up to "Genius" and "Queen Bee" for finding every word — needs the Games subscription.
The Crossword, the Mini, and the Midi
The daily Crossword is the granddaddy of them all. New puzzle every day, and the difficulty climbs through the week — Monday is the gentlest, Saturday is the hardest, and Sunday is big but fair. The Mini is the same idea shrunk to a 5-by-5 grid (sometimes 6-by-6) you can finish in a couple of minutes. The Midi, which launched as a daily digital puzzle in February 2026, sits right between the two.
All three need a subscription now. The Mini used to be free, but it moved behind the paywall in August 2025. If you're new to crosswords, start with Monday and the Mini — the cluing style takes a week or two to click, and then it becomes one of the most satisfying habits you'll have.
Sudoku
The classic 9-by-9 number grid. Every row, column, and 3-by-3 box has to contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. The Times version gives you a fresh puzzle every day in easy, medium, and hard. It's free, it's calm, and it's the perfect palate cleanser between word games.
Letter Boxed
A square with three letters on each side. You build words by hopping from letter to letter, with two rules: you can't use two letters from the same side in a row, and each new word has to start with the last letter of the previous one. The goal is to use up every letter in as few words as possible — the puzzle is really designed around a two-word solution.
Letter Boxed moved behind the subscription in August 2025. It's a slow-burn puzzle that rewards staring at the square until the answer clicks.
Tiles and Pips
Tiles is a calm pattern-matching game about keeping a chain going — match elements consecutively and see how long it lasts. Pips is the newest logic game: place dominoes on a board so each region satisfies its rule, with three fresh puzzles a day in easy, medium, and hard. Pips is free; Tiles moved behind the subscription in August 2025.
What's free and what needs a subscription
Here's the current state of things, since it changed in 2025. Free, no subscription: Wordle, Connections, Strands, Sudoku, and Pips. Subscription required: the Crossword, the Mini, the Midi, Letter Boxed, and Tiles. Spelling Bee sits in the middle — a few words free, the full puzzle needs a subscription.
The Games subscription is separate from a news subscription and runs about $50 a year. It also unlocks archives of old puzzles, plus the bots that analyze your Wordle and Connections play.
Streaks, stats, and sharing
Most of the games track your streak — how many days in a row you've played or solved. Wordle's streak is the famous one, and losing a long one hurts in a way that's hard to explain to non-players. Sign in with a free Times account and your stats sync between your phone and computer, so a streak survives a device switch.
Sharing is half the fun. Every game gives you a spoiler-free results graphic — the colored squares for Wordle, the colored line for Connections, the emoji path for Strands — that you can paste into a group chat without ruining the puzzle for anyone who hasn't played yet.
Beginner tips that actually help
Start with the free games and build a routine. Wordle first with a strong opener, then Connections while your brain is fresh, then Strands or Spelling Bee to wind down. Don't guess wildly in Connections — you only get four mistakes, and the purple group is almost never what it looks like at first glance. In Wordle, never reuse gray letters; in Spelling Bee, hunt the pangram early for the bonus points.
And give yourself a week. The Times' cluing style — especially in the Crossword and Connections — has its own personality. Once it clicks, you'll start seeing the tricks before they get you.
FAQ
Where do you play NYT Games?
On the Times' games section of their website or in the NYT Games app for iOS and Android. Your progress syncs if you sign in.
Is Wordle free?
Yes. Wordle, Connections, Strands, Sudoku, and Pips are all free. The Crossword, Mini, Midi, Letter Boxed, and Tiles need a Games subscription, and Spelling Bee's full puzzle does too.
Do you need an account?
You can play without one, but a free account saves your streaks and stats across devices.
What time do the new puzzles come out?
New puzzles drop daily, and some — like the Crossword — unlock the evening before, so night owls can get a head start.
What happened to Vertex?
Vertex, the picture-connecting game, was discontinued at the end of August 2024.
That's the full tour. Pick a game, build the habit, and enjoy the little daily win. If you want to know more about this site itself, the about page explains what we're doing here, and you can get in touch through the contact page.
Zahra Ahmadi
Original Post
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