I’m a fiend for routine. As soon as I turn off my alarm every morning, I immediately open up the New York Times and play my favorites of their games — Strands, The Mini, Connections, and Wordle. In that order. Every. Single. Day. Though this might seem obscure to some, I am not alone in this obsession. Last year alone, the New York Times Games were played over eight billion times.
Not only do I play the same games every day and in the same order, but I also consistently use the same techniques. With Strands, I try to find any words possible, even if they have nothing to do with the theme, just hoping to gather up hints. With The Mini, my competitive self strives for a quick finish rather than accuracy. This usually doesn’t work in my favor and I don’t recommend this method. With Connections, I couldn’t care less how many tries it takes me. As long as I eventually reach the correct categories, I don’t mind using up a few of my attempts on obscure connection guesses. With Wordle, I always start with the word “arise.” Sometimes I’ll spice things up with “adieu” or “audio.” If I’m feeling spontaneous, I’ll use a word that has to do with current events.
As Bronx Science students, each of us has access to the basic New York Times subscription thanks to our generous Parents’ Association, which, in terms of games, includes The Mini, Sudoku, Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee up to the “Solid” level, the Beta version of Strands, and a limited amount of Vertex and Tiles. Bronx Science students strive for ways to engage their minds, so there is a great chance you will catch more than a few people playing these games throughout your school day.
“[The New York Times Games] make me think and form deeper connections between words and concepts. In a world of instant gratification, people’s attention spans are shortening, so the New York Times Games, which require at least five minutes out of your day, challenge that,” said Jordana Franklin ’25.
In addition to the academic improvement the games might provide, they also serve as a wonderful conversation starter. “I love playing the games because it makes for talking points with class friends and makes me feel smarter. I love the NYT community,” said Maysha Chowdhury ’25.
Although the New York Times Games can be a great source of entertainment, they can also help exercise your brain. As you more frequently play the games, you may develop sophisticated techniques for how to approach each game. If you need inspiration for your newest game strategies, here are a few from your Bronx Science peers.
Strands is the newest of the New York Times games. Its beta version was only just released this past March. Strands is similar to a word search, except you are not given the words you are meant to find. Instead, you are given a theme, and you must find words that go along with this topic as well as the “spanagram,”which is a word that describes the theme. Additionally, if you find multiple words that do not have to do with the given theme, you can get hints for the correct words.
Despite the short time we’ve had with this game so far, a few students have found success with their strategies of choice.
“I try to figure out the theme, but I typically give up very quickly because I get stumped. Then I just find as many random words as I can to get hints, use the hints to figure out the theme, then I actually try to guess the words on my own,” said Zoe Levitt ’25.
Similar to Levitt, Chowdhury goes for the same hints approach, with a small twist. “I start looking for words in corners and guess as many words as I can see and hope for hints,” she said.
While some games, like the Wordle, use a motivating tactic to get players to strive to complete the game in as few attempts as possible, Strands allows players to get as many tries as they need to reach the finish line.
The Mini is probably the New York Times’ most straightforward game. This game is simply a smaller version (5 by 5) of the New York Times’ daily crossword puzzle (15 by 15), hence the name. Most dedicated Games players can complete The Mini in under 30 seconds.
From my experience, the best way to approach The Mini is by treating it like you would a timed exam. If you don’t know the answer to a question, skip it and go back to it later. Unlike an exam, the answers to the other questions are hints to the one you are stuck on. If I need more than a couple of seconds to decode the clue on my first guess, I immediately go on to the next row or column.
After all of my first guesses are in and I’ve gone back once, or maybe even twice, to the ones I am stuck on, I resort to guessing. Just by looking at what is missing, I can usually tell whether I am needing a vowel or consonant. From this point forward, the guessing game begins.
Unlike the other games, The Mini does not provide you with hints. Instead, you have to figure out the entire game on your own. Typically, hints are unnecessary because it’s a shorter game, but if you cannot figure out at least a few of the rows or columns, you might be out of luck. To deter you from being discouraged, I can confidently say that practice makes perfect, and the more you try completing crossword puzzles, the easier The Mini will be. Personally, I recommend the Daily Themed Crossword app, but there are certainly other apps or websites out there that can build up your Mini skills.
“I’ve found that the more often I play The Mini, the better I get. One reason is that I think there are some clues they recycle often. For example they ask, ‘a poet’s before’ a lot, and it’s always the word ‘ere,’” said Georgie Barth ’26.
In my opinion, Connections would definitely be the most infuriating game of the bunch. Connections gives you sixteen random words in no particular order and you have to try to group them into four categories. You are only allotted four incorrect guesses, which can make solving the puzzle difficult. On the plus side, if three of the four words you guessed to be in the same group are actually meant to go together, then the strike is paired with a message reading “ONE AWAY.” The only caveat is that you do not know which of the four you guessed are the three that belong together.
The categories are color-coded based on difficulty. In order from easiest to hardest is yellow, green, blue, and purple. Although the game is designed specifically for the yellow category to be decoded first, this category might not end up being as obvious as the others.
“If I see a grouping and know the category, I try to play the rest out and make sure I at least have vague groupings. I do this so I don’t make silly mistakes,” said Chowdhury.
Even if you end up using a few of your guesses on desperate category attempts, it is always worth a shot since you might end up getting the “ONE AWAY” message, or even better, a category that makes close to zero sense and would be difficult to discover without guessing.
The New York Times bought Wordle back in January of 2022 from Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn. Wardle initially intended for the game to entertain his game-loving partner, but now has reached millions of others. The objective of Wordle is to guess a five-letter word in six guesses or less. With each word you guess, the letters you imputed will turn one of three colors: gray, yellow, or green. If a letter turns gray, then that letter is not part of the five-letter word. If a letter turns yellow, then you guessed the correct letter, but it is not in the right spot. Green is what you are aiming for: if a letter turns green, then it is the correct letter in the correct spot.
The gateway to guessing the correct word is all with your starting word. I recommend using a word filled with vowels and refraining from using double letters. Other than those suggestions, you have ultimate freedom in the word you start out with.
“[I] knock out major consonants first, start with STRIP then CLEAN and if it’s still not clear, DOUGH,” said Franklin.
Similarly, “I always start with Irate and I know from experience the best words to use after in every case. After that I sort of just guess, but I usually get it on my third guess…I like Wordle the best. Last year I started with pride every day during pride month and I got it in 2 guesses three days in a row,” said Levitt.
Alternatively, some choose to approach The Mini in a more creative route. “I always start off with a fun word that resonates with the vibes of the day. If it’s a holiday like Christmas, I’d do Santa. When yellows or greens come up, I test out words with the known letters in place and X’s as placeholders for the unknown to help me visualize possible words,” said Chowdhury.
The brain stimulating experience of the New York Times Games creates a community of discussion and collaboration. Being both engaging and relaxing, this community has expanded worldwide. Overall, with a little bit of practice and patience, you too can master all that these games have to offer.
“[The New York Times Games] make me think and form deeper connections between words and concepts. In a world of instant gratification, people’s attention spans are shortening, so the New York Times Games, which require at least five minutes out of your day, challenge that,” said Jordana Franklin ’25.