One thing about me is that I LOVE a good routine. There’s something about having a sense of consistency throughout my day that helps to reduce some of my stress, especially as finals season approaches. The second thing you should know about me is that I am incredibly competitive and will stop at nothing to win. And the third thing? I’m a bit of a nerd. All this is to say that I am the biggest fan of the New York Times’ daily word games and playing them one by one makes my day feel complete.
With all that being said, here is my definitive ranking of the New York Times games:
- Connections
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I am simultaneously Connections’ biggest fan and its biggest hater. If you’re unfamiliar, you have to put words together in groups of four by figuring out what they all have in common. If you think this sounds easy, you are so so wrong. Connections is sometimes so absurdly hard that it’s upsetting — how am I supposed to get “Birds Minus Last Letter”?? I know I sound like a massive hater but I really do love playing Connections, and nothing brings me more satisfaction than completing it with no mistakes.
- Daily Mini
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She’s a classic! I had a HUGE crossword phase my senior year of high school and have been in love with the Daily Mini ever since. There’s just something so fun about racing against the clock trying to get it done as fast as I can. The different clues mean it never gets old, and I always save the Daily Mini for last because it’s just so fun. My subtle flex is that one time I completed it in nine seconds (and I will never shut up about this).
- Strands
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Is this recency bias? Probably. Strands is so new you may not have even heard of it yet — they haven’t even added it to the app, so you have to look it up on a browser to play. It’s kind of like Connections mixed with Spelling Bee, where you’re given a hint to an overarching theme and you have to find all the words that fit that theme, kind of like a word search. Anyways, I think it’s super fun and exciting and I’ve had a really good time playing the first few levels.
- Wordle
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Hot take: I am a little bit sick of Wordle. I confess that it had me in a chokehold just like everybody else when it first came to popularity, but there’s something about it now that’s just missing a spark. This might be because I’m just not as good at it anymore and I seem to always get the word in 4, but that’s besides the point. I will always remember Wordle’s cultural impact, though.
- Tiles
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We never talk about Tiles!! It’s admittedly not on the same level as the other word games but I still think it’s super fun and kind of relaxing. All you have to do is pick two tiles that have the same pattern on them, which sounds easy but can sometimes get tricky! The tiles are intricately designed and I love how it’s usually a different theme everyday to keep things from getting boring.
- Spelling Bee
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I do the Spelling Bee everyday, but it’s just so THERE. You’re given a set of letters with one in the middle and you have to create words that all contain the center letter in some way. While sometimes I have fun, I also give up on the Spelling Bee a lot of the time because I’m bored. The fact that you have to pay in order to truly “win” everyday is also kind of a huge bummer.
- Sudoku
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Don’t take this as a Sudoku diss, because it’s not! I genuinely really enjoy Sudoku and I used to do it everyday. HOWEVER, the NYT Games version of Sudoku does not hit. Something about it just doesn’t appeal to me, and if I’m going to play sudoku, I would much rather play it on Sudoku.com.
- letter Boxed
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Letter Boxed is the only NYT Game that I will say I openly dislike. Something about it just doesn’t do it for me. It’s pretty difficult and I don’t feel like the struggle of playing is equal with the satisfaction you receive at the end. Also, no one else is playing Letter Boxed, and it’s much more fun to play these games when you can discuss them with your friends!
I’m not saying these rankings are set in stone or anything, but this is pretty indicative of how I feel after lots of time spent playing these games. At the end of the day, I guess what matters is that you’re having fun! And that you’re getting a good Daily Mini completion time. That actually matters most to me, if we’re being honest.