The New York Times Just Dropped a Brand-New Wordle Spinoff – CNET

Wordle fans, start marking your calendars for hump day.

On Wednesday, the New York Times introduced a weekly drop of five to six new puzzles created by the newspaper’s puzzle constructors and editors. The new puzzles aren’t daily but will be released every Wednesday in a group and will include twists on current puzzles. They’re only available to people who pay for a New York Times Games or All Access subscription.

The types of bonus puzzles offered may vary from week to week. Other puzzles, including Wordle, Connections, Strands, Pips, and Connections: Sports Edition, remain free, while some others are behind a paywall.

CNET offers daily hints and answers for Wordle, Connections, Strands, Connections: Sports Edition and the Mini Crossword.

Wordle in 1

I played the new batch of games, and I think the most popular game will be Wordle in 1. Regular Wordle gives you six tries to guess a five-letter word, uses specific colors to indicate if you’ve guessed a letter that’s included, and also notes if you put it in the right spot. Wordle in 1 sets up five five-letter grids, each with a different word, and fills them in with some correct and some incorrect letters. You use the letters provided to figure out the answers.

In the example above, the colored letters indicate that the U and T are in the right spaces, that there’s no N at all, and the S and the other T needs to be relocated. (Answer at the bottom of this post if you want a spoiler.)

More games: Connections 3×3, Colorful Strands

Other games in the weekly drop also play off the current New York Times puzzles.

Connections 3×3 is a smaller version of the regular Connections puzzle, offering just nine words or phrases that you have to separate into three groups.

Colorful Strands is exactly the same as regular Strands, but the answers show up in color, which is something the regular puzzle does from time to time.

Mystery Mini is another Mini Crossword, with a creative twist. The first one, for example, uses two answers twice, with different clues, and other answers are also related.

Easy Mode Crossword simply takes the standard Friday crossword and just makes the clues easier. There’s also a monthly Special Crossword, which might be written in collaboration with a famous person or feature a theme. Comedian Rachel Dratch, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, co-constructed a puzzle released Tuesday.

That promised spoiler

Spoiler for the pictured Wordle in 1 puzzle above: The answer is TRUST.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

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