The New York Times has expanded its popular puzzle lineup with a new weekly release of bonus games, giving subscribers fresh challenges built around familiar favorites like Wordle, Connections, and Strands.
Starting this week, the newspaper’s puzzle constructors and editors are rolling out five to six new puzzles every Wednesday. Unlike the daily games many players already enjoy, these arrive as a weekly batch rather than one at a time. The offerings are exclusive to those who pay for a New York Times Games or All Access subscription, and the mix of bonus puzzles may change from week to week.
Existing games remain unaffected. Wordle, Connections, Strands, Pips, and Connections: Sports Edition continue to be free to play, while certain other puzzles sit behind a paywall.
Wordle in 1 Reimagines the Classic Format
The standout addition appears to be Wordle in 1, a twist on the guessing game that has become a daily habit for millions. Traditional Wordle gives players six attempts to identify a five-letter word, using colors to signal correct letters and correct placements.
Wordle in 1 changes the approach. It presents five separate five-letter grids, each containing a different word, and pre-fills them with a combination of correct and incorrect letters. Players use those supplied letters to work out each answer. Colored tiles indicate which letters are placed correctly, which need to be moved, and which do not belong at all.
Connections 3×3, Colorful Strands, and More
Several other new puzzles riff on the paper’s current titles. Connections 3×3 is a compact version of the standard Connections game, presenting nine words or phrases that must be sorted into three groups instead of the usual four.
Colorful Strands mirrors the regular Strands puzzle, but its answers always appear in color, an effect the standard version uses only occasionally. Mystery Mini offers another take on the Mini Crossword with a creative wrinkle. The debut edition, for example, repeats two answers with different clues, while other answers connect thematically.
Rounding out the collection, Easy Mode Crossword takes the standard Friday crossword and simplifies its clues. There is also a monthly Special Crossword that may be created with a celebrity collaborator or built around a specific theme. Comedian Rachel Dratch, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, co-constructed a puzzle released this week.
The bonus puzzles join an already deep catalog of daily games. For those looking to solve the pictured Wordle in 1 example, the answer is TRUST.
