Throughout the past few years, the New York Times Games section has skyrocketed in popularity. We can all probably relate to hearing the familiar ding-a-ling-ling that sings out of  (unmuted) chromebooks after a fellow classmate has completed the Mini Crossword. While I wouldn’t go as far to endorse playing these games during class time, they offer a varied collection of puzzling and sometimes challenging activities to exercise the brain, and have fun while doing so. Now the question is, however, which New York Times game is the best?

The aforementioned Mini Crossword is clearly very well-known and liked amongst SDA students, and for good reason. It offers enough variation in size and clues to be engaging every day and teaches new words and clever meanings. Also, the timer feature allows for players to set goals for themselves and try to beat their past times. Overall, this game is quick but challenging at times and its measurable aspect ups its appeal, especially for fierce competitors. Mini Crossword: 9/10 

Although the Spelling Bee does have a paywall once you’ve achieved a certain number of points, I always find the challenge of getting the pangram (a word using all seven letters) thrilling. This game is a great one for your vocabulary but sometimes the puzzles lead to frustration and require a greater deal of time to undertake. Spelling Bee: 4/10 (But if there wasn’t a paywall, it would be higher). 

Connections debuted in June 2023, and its overwhelming popularity has remained constant. While I am partial to the beautiful purple/magenta in the logo, I often find the Connections categories frustrating, especially when the game takes a while. Also, the fact that you only have to actually understand three quarters of the categories given makes for less of a challenge overall, but that’s if you manage to get three categories in the first place. I always find the difficulty level of Connections to be inconsistent, and on those days where all 16 are two letter words ending in “i” I find myself selecting a different puzzle to solve instead. Connections: 5/10 (sometimes annoying, sometimes not) 

My family often reminisces about our beloved Digits game, which sadly was only available in Beta from April to August 2023. The perfect game for math lovers, Digits contrasted the heavily word and linguistics based games already available on the NYT site. Similar to the game Math 24, Digits employed simple arithmetic skills to combine six numbers to reach a target number. I, for one, was sad to see it go. Digits: 8/10 (A nifty numbers puzzle with both consistency and variety)

Vertex was also removed from the site in late August 2024. It was a logic puzzle that produced an image as the final result. In my opinion, however, this game was much less memorable than Digits. Vertex: 2/10

Strands, a newer game to the site, is definitely a favorite. Even though some of its so-called “spangrams” are decently easy to guess, despite some of the themes being very misleading, finding the remaining words is a task of perfect difficulty (except for some days when I end up resorting to using 8 hints).  I find it very satisfying to complete Strands, and the wiggly spangram and bouncy other words add to the excitement. Strands: 8/10

While I’m not an avid player of Letter Boxed, I have friends who enjoy it daily. I personally don’t like that there isn’t a set solution to the puzzle, and this style means there is no set play time, so the game lasts as long as you want it to (or don’t want it to). It’s pretty similar to Strands and Spelling Bee, but inferior to both. Letter Boxed: 2/10. 

Tiles involves finding common patterns between 30 squares, all designed slightly differently. It certainly is the most mesmerizing on the site but doesn’t appear to be the most popular amongst SDA students. However, its calm and simple nature (especially while playing in zen mode) offers a contrasting alternative to games such as the Mini. For one thing, the tiles are colorful and exude happiness, but all in all the game is a bit too simplistic to attract many players. Tiles: 3/10

Sudoku, which for some reason, its pronunciation is a common debate, is a classic. Having the ability to select your difficulty level is a definite benefit, and like the Mini Crossword, the Sudoku timer provides a measure of your success in the game. Sudoku: 6/10 (Fun, but overdone)

For those who don’t like the number aspect of Sudoku, Online Star Battle by KrazyDad (also called Two No Touch) offers a slightly similar option that uses dots and stars within grid boxes instead. This isn’t a daily puzzle like the New York Times Games, but offers a large stock of volumes and books of puzzles, as well as including three different sizes. Online Star Battle by KrazyDad: 10/10

Wordle is undoubtedly superior to all the rest. It’s a quick game that requires strategy, critical thinking, and a strong vocabulary. Wordle’s “hard mode” offers an added challenge if wanted. Also, I can’t not mention the satisfying flipping of the letter tiles to reach the long-awaited reveal of how your guess fared. Wordle also offers “Colorblind Mode,” a higher contrast version of the game that uses blue and orange tiles instead of yellow and green, heightening its accessibility. Wordle: 10/10 (No explanation needed)

A recent strike by the New York Times Tech Guild serves as a testament to the collective popularity of the New York Times Games. This guild consists of 600 plus workers who serve as software developers and data analysts. On November 4th, the New York Times stated, “The sticking points in recent days were whether the workers could get a ‘just cause’ provision in their contract, which means they can be terminated only for misconduct or another such reason; pay increases and pay equity; and return-to-office policies.” These Tech Guild workers are pivotal in the production of the Games section. Knowing the immense popularity of the Games, strikers rallied for support by asking the public to boycott the Games and break their beloved Wordle streaks. The Games are a main attraction for the New York Times, and having a decrease in player numbers during the strike would be detrimental for the company and help the workers to achieve their goals. 

In the meantime, the guild created their own page, titled “Guild Builds” with strike-themed versions of usual popular New York Times Games, such as the Mini Crossword: Strike Edition, Connections: Strike Edition, and Strikle (a version of Wordle). They’ve also added new games to the mix, featuring a word search, trivia and jokes, and a matching game. The site also features strike-themed recipes such as “Solidarity Soup.” 

No matter which New York Times Game you enjoy the most, this recent attempt at boycotting the Games speaks to their profound popularity, and we can all bond over them as a puzzle loving community and school.