Name: NYT Games: Word Games & Sudoku
Rating: 4.8568 (186972 reviews)

User Reviews for NYT Games: Word Games & Sudoku

4.86 out of 5

187K Ratings

5 years ago, ToneDeafRabbitt

Good, but plenty to improve

I am a daily player of this app. I feel like NYTimes did a great job with a simple interface that outcompetes, imho, doing crosswords on paper. I like how the puzzles are released. It is more important to have it work well than to have too many bells and whistles. For this I am grateful. However, as a heavy player, I find myself regularly frustrated by an unfulfilling game-play relative to gaming standards today. I would like to see more accomplishment possibilities. I like rewards, badges, rankings and levels. I enjoy the puzzle talk where I can see explanations and chatter about the puzzles but this is apparently not available when a puzzle ages out to archives. The paid packages are nothing special. I would pay extra for themed puzzles that actually stick to enjoyable themes. I would like the ability to leave and see ratings for puzzles! Someday, maybe even a social aspect to the app could be attempted. I love the puzzles. I wish I was better at them! Thank you NYTimes.

4 months ago, Henri Pascal

DON’T BITE

I used to subscribe to the NYT, I enjoyed playing all of the games they offered. No doubt that the quality of the game app is great. I have a problem with transparency in the sales of the app. I reviewed all the qualifiers which appear in the App Store, I dug deeper into the NYT developer qualifiers as well. They mentioned no amount to download and play the app. In fact they go so far as to state that should they decide to charge for the app they will give notice of any pricing changes in advance. They sure make you feel like you’re getting an app which you can play for free. Having read everything that was up front as well as the purchase agreement I felt that it wasn’t a pay to play app. As soon as I downloaded the app the first screen I got was an invitation to a one week free trial and then a monthly payment for subscription. I don’t have a problem with the app being a payment subscription. This is the NYT and if you’re going to charge me to use the app then say it before the download. I get how some sites lead you along then you see get the money message, normally I would just roll my eyes and say “fool me once” and bailout. This seems like a breach of good faith by a trusted institution. Practices like these as misleading. If you’re selling something for money, then say so upfront. It’s the NYT, I have lost track of what they have become.

3 days ago, Dawgpwnd

Good but has a ways to go

Overall this app is pretty good, and the games within are fun, but there are a handful of annoyances that I really wish they would address, mostly boiling down to how every game feels like a completely isolated/separate experience. 1️⃣ Why is Vertex still not added? It's really annoying having to do all but 1 game in the app, then switch to the browser just to do Vertex. 2️⃣ Why is the friends list/leaderboard only for the Mini crossword? It would be great to see how my friends did in Wordle, the regular crossword, Connections, Strands, etc without having to hit Share and text everyone individually. 3️⃣ Why does every game have their own settings? For example, I can change Wordle to use Dark Mode and High Contrast mode, but not other games like Connections or Strands. Those settings should be app-wide! 4️⃣ I wish they would add an optional setting to make more games timed. Wordle, Connections, Strands, etc. This would be much more fun to share with my competitive friends than whether or not we had to use a hint or got a guess wrong since that doesn't happen often. 5️⃣Subscribers should be able to access the full archive of Spelling Bee. It doesn't really make sense to only have the past week only.

2 years ago, frenchiepb

Good app; wish I could access all games

Good app that is best for crossword (which I understand is the primary purpose of said app). I play the Bee a lot and find small glitches. There’s a slight delay in syncing across devices. I usually have to close and re open the app for the bee to reset for the new game the next day. Regarding crosswords, functionality works great. My biggest critique is that when clicking the info button, the app will re route to an in-app page of information and will also re route to a browser page outside of the app. When I go switch back to the app, sometimes for some reason I can’t get back to the game because the game app isn’t built for browsing the nyt app. Lastly, I wish the crossword app would contain all the games instead of just the crossword and the Bee. I have a separate game account from my digital subscription so I have to log out of the main nyt app app when I want to access other games. The games are buried in the main digital app and it’s cumbersome to find. It would be easier if they were accessible separately.

3 years ago, OneManFreakShow

Good puzzles and app, subscription terms are a bold-faced lie

I bought a subscription for the puzzles in the app, under the impression that the subscription works on the website as well for use on my MacBook. Where did I get that impression? Directly on the sign-up page in the app, where it states that this is possible. There is even a step-by-step guide on the NYT website on how to access your iTunes subscription by linking your account. When I did this, however, I discovered that it does not transfer any information at all to the web. I talked to a NYT customer service rep and was told that this is not possible, and the website just hasn’t been “updated” to remove the false information. So you pay 4 cents more a month for the iTunes subscription to get LESS access across your devices, and when you ask NYT about it, they tell you that it was never possible and claim that it’s Apple’s fault that the instructions it provides on its website are completely false. Needless to say, I will be getting a refund on my subscription and I doubt I will ever give it any more time or money. A real shame, as I love the daily puzzles and think the app has one of the better faces among the many crossword apps available. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE WITHIN THE APP IF YOU WANT TO USE THIS ON OTHER DEVICES.

2 weeks ago, SaxGuyMode

No access 3 weeks after Buying Subscription

Apparently on their latest drive to celebrate the big savings I could be getting, their system glitched and they no longer realize I paid for a full year game subscription 3 weeks ago. So they want me to pay 25 dollars to revalidate my yearlong subscription. When I go to the website or app all archives etc and subscription benefits are blocked, yet when I access billing it clearly states I am paid for content through June 2025. It’s truly annoying . I will post another review once I see how they handle this on Monday (for now I’m locked out for the weekend.) ***update*** apparently the issue I was having was very unusual - the person on the phone was able to ascertain that it was NOT user error, but in fact a glitch on their end - and rather than make me wait while they trouble shoot, he refunded me my original purchase and gave me a 20% discount for the remainder of the year and future years. Very satisfied.

7 years ago, drmin73

NY Times online crossword puzzle app

For $2 or $3, you get access to the archive of the daily puzzle in addition to all the Monday through Sunday puzzles as they come out. A gold star is available for each new puzzle that you complete on the day of its issue. It’s an addictive feature that has kept me completing the puzzles each day now for the past two months and counting. Other collections of themed puzzles are available for nominal fees. The included archive alone looks to be enough to keep me occupied for several years to come, at least. These are fun puzzles to experiment with, since the technology allows for rapid, easy letter replacement. I frequently go with my gut on difficult and obscure answers, sometimes finding them surprisingly correct, sometimes transforming entire puzzle quadrants from one set of answers to a largely different set. The letter replacement feature makes this app a clear favorite over the old pen and paper technique. I use the app each day and highly recommend it.

7 years ago, Seekonk MA

Love the app - would like a remote collaboration feature

My wife and I love to solve the NYT crossword together each and every weekend night using this app. However, I travel during the week and I wish there was a remote collaboration feature where we can solve together when she is home and I am in my hotel room. I want to be able to see what she is typing (real-time) and be able to also type at the same time. (Note, we usually have a FaceTime call going while we are solving separately now--but the experience is not the same as when we are sitting next to each other). The current version of the app allows us to work separately, and then it occasionally, but unexpectedly, synchs--with her typing replacing mine and vice-versa. If you cannot support real-time collaboration (I think you can), can you at least add a manual synch control so we can both choose when to merge the other's player's typing--possibly with color-coding so we can see the other's additions/changes?

3 years ago, Enderisnotmyrealname

great puzzles, mediocre app

I’ve been subscribed to the NYT crossword for several years now and the app experience has barely changed. Given the amount of available data, there’s a huge opportunity for interesting player stats but there’s nearly nothing available - no way to track your improvement over time, no way to access any trends, no access to comparative data older than the last week, etc. The biggest issue for me is the homepage: a full row advertising “other games” that is just one other game (spelling bee, which i’m not interested in but can’t dismiss), THREE different links to the same “archives” page (four if you count the one in the menu) but no list of all the puzzles you’ve worked on (so: good luck finding one you’ve not finished if you’ve been picking from the archives and are mysteriously stuck at 99.9 completion percentage- you’ll have to just page back, one month at a time for multiple years), leaderboards that are only applicable for the mini, and of course, plentiful in-app purchase opportunities. Don’t get me wrong, I love the crossword, but the app feels essentially like abandonware.

6 months ago, Tasdiq Ahmed

A new UI change lessens the experience features-wise.

The new UI update follows the modern trend of improving aesthetic but ignoring the end user. Interest in a shiny toy fast wears thin. A revamp of app design is sometimes very welcome (possibly even necessary in the interest of security), and would’ve been in this case if some features weren’t removed. The previous UI (of which the screenshots currently on the App Store show) had two excellent features to keep me engaged with the app well beyond the daily crossword. The first was a random selection of past puzzles I could complete in my spare time, which would renew with a fresh set every week. The second was a row of crosswords I recently worked on but had not yet finished. It does not make sense to me for the new UI to remove these; it would only mean I spend less leisure time on the app. I might not agree with the new looks, and it’s actually meaningless to focus on that, but at least keep all the features! 1/5 for the devs who missed a few things and should try to get them back ASAP. Customization would be nice to have, as for example I don’t play anything other than the crossword and Wordle; but this isn’t my biggest concern here.

6 years ago, Bercosad

Great app, but version 2.14 is buggy

Love the app and my subscription to the online crossword. Am having lots of problems with version 2.14 on the iPad though - it keeps failing to accept input from my Bluetooth keyboard (Anker folio cover) while at the same time all other apps on my iPad keep working fine with it. And then at the same time it won't even bring up the on-screen keyboard when I turn off Bluetooth. Have to restart the program, more than once sometimes, to get it to work again. Have tried deleting and re-installing the app from the store. No joy. Sure wish I had kept a cache of the previous version... Update: it fails in a similar way on my iPhone - the keyboard just disappears and you have to kill and restart the app to get it to reappear. I don't use any Bluetooth keyboard on my phone so this seems that all of this might be a case of the app just forgetting at times to reactivate the keyboard when it's needed. Annoying bug.

2 years ago, UsherMocha

Good UI, missing puzzles

I download this app once in a while to see if they’ve incorporated any more of their games besides spelling bee and crosswords. Would like to see sudoku, vertex, and now the chess game on it. Until then, I prefer to print the crosswords and do the other games in a browser. That said… The crosswords alone make the subscription worth the price if you’re a fan of the genre. I’ve used Crossword Classics for years and it’s a great app (superior to this one in terms of user experience) but there’s something about the NYT puzzles that gives them an edge over most others. As for the user experience, it’s pretty good. There are a couple of little things I can’t help comparing to the other app: the annoying pop up that comes when you finish a puzzle but not correctly, the ability to jump to a referenced clue, an option to put the controls along the bottom, and just showing the current time. But in general, it’s easy to navigate and as I said, the puzzles are great.

2 years ago, sizzlemd

not working. again!

this app though simplistic, is good enough. i would probably give it a 3, they could do way better. also, considering there are so few letters, it would be faster and more entertaining to be able to swipe across letters to “type” words. and instead of deleting when i submit a word, leave the rejected word with the error message in place so i know what was wrong with the word. instead, add a “clear” button so i can clear it myself. some words are kind of ridiculous, and some very obvious valid words are missing. i should not have to email the New York Times which words are missing, they should have a dictionary or two… am I wrong? lately, for more than the past week, i just get a yellow screen and the starburst which insinuates loading. if i did not pay for the app, i could not say anything, but i do. and it is an incredibly expensive subscription considering you are expected to pay forever. if the writer is on vacation, either set up some in advance, have backups, or extend memberships. this is not the first time spelling bee goes on break with no notice and no info as to when it will be back. reevaluating my renewal.

5 years ago, Set12345

Other puzzles?

I have a subscription to the crosswords at half price due to subscribing to the digital NYTimes as well. I complete the crosswords solely through the app on my phone. I wish the app would also incorporate the other puzzles the NYTimes provides, like the Spelling Bee, Soduku, Set, acrostics, bonus crosswords, and other puzzles. These can be accessed through the help menu in the crosswords app, but I wish they could have their own apps or be accessed on the main page of the crossword app. If only the app could be set to display the main puzzle page (puzzle homepage) of the NYTimes, it would be very easy to access all the available puzzles through the app. As it is, you need to go to the help menu, click on one of the additional puzzle links, and get to the homepage through the menu bar of the puzzle. It’s a pain, and it doesn’t need to be. Please, NYTimes, provide easy access to the puzzle homepage on the Play page! Alternatively, give the app a new tab just for accessing other puzzles. It would make the app so much better!

5 years ago, Ken Calvert

Buggy

The puzzles are of course great, but twice now my streaks have been interrupted when I completed a puzzle in time, but was not connected to the Internet. Yesterday I finished the Saturday puzzle, was greeted with the gold "Congratulations!" screen, and then moved on. This morning it told me I had a zero day streak, and when I looked at the puzzle, the last three squares were blank! I was in an area of spotty connectivity when I finished the puzzle, and did not open the app again until this morning. The other time this happened was when I was on an overnight flight and finished while in airplane mode. The only thing I can imagine is that the app is calling home pretty frequently to send data back to NYT. The fact that iPhone says the app's cellular data usage is an absurd 1.1GB suggests it may be sending all kinds of other info besides where I am in the puzzle. That is NOT REASONABLE.

4 years ago, inuwali

Great—with one small exception.

I love the app and use it all the time. The UI is easy to use and smooth, and being able to browse (and download) past puzzles means I never lack for activities. The one thing that keeps this app from a five-star review, for me, is that I use a hardware keyboard with my iPad, and there’s a bug that’s persisted in this app for several years now. When you type a repeated letter (for example to solve a clue with the word “book”), the second letter is not entered into the puzzle. The keystroke is just dropped somehow. You have to wait probably a good ½ second before you type the same letter again. This only happens with a hardware keyboard (in my case, the smart folio), not the software one. It’s a small issue in the scheme of things, but it’s just annoying enough that I can’t give a full five stars—especially since the bug has existed for so long. Hope the dev team will consider digging into this, even though it’s probably not a quick one to solve.

2 years ago, bobby.shhhh

Love the app, missing some functionality

In most ways, this app is wonderful. The NYT puzzle is the gold standard, so no complaints there. Text entry is usually quite smooth and consistent, especially compared to other crossword apps I’ve tried. Rebuses work well. There are a couple other varieties of puzzles besides your standard crosswords. However, there are a few components that I think are sorely missed. Why only have a mini leaderboard and not a daily puzzle leaderboard? I compete with my friends on a daily basis and we would greatly appreciate this. Additionally, it would be great to expand the functionality of the Stats screen to include minis. There are also a bunch of weirder stats that could be fun to include. Edit: since last August, my mini leaderboard has been broken. It now only shows a blank white page. Additionally, for the last few weeks my stats page has stopped showing my daily times. This app needs TLC.

5 years ago, M. Lucero

Unfair and illogical subscription policy

The app and the puzzles are awesome, but fair warning about the subscription policy. If you subscribe but don't do all the puzzles that are released during your subscription period, and then unsubscribe or don't renew, then you would think the app would still give you access to all the puzzles from during the period your subscription was active. That just seems fair and logical, since if you subscribed to the physical NYT for only a year or whatever, you could do the puzzles at whatever point you felt like it. However, it doesn't work this way. If you miss the puzzles, you're out of luck once your subscription runs out, even if you paid for a whole year and only did a few puzzles. In other words, the only way to get your entire money's worth is to do an average of one puzzle every single day for the entirety of your subscription period. This may seem fine for some people, but for those of us who want to just do the puzzles at leisure, just whenever we have time for them, a subscription is a terrible way to go.

7 months ago, OLandrey

Streak Ruined with Updates?

I love the NYT games app and enjoy all of the games. I love that they have added new brain teasers like Tiles and Connections over the years. I love that the app keeps my records for the crossword and Wordle puzzles. All of this said, though it sounds nitpicky and petty, I have had my Wordle streak interrupted by the update recently which seems like a glitch that should be easy to avoid. I played the game this morning (got it in three no less!) and when it went to show my score an error message popped up saying it couldn’t save or something, so sure enough when I quit and opened the app again Wordle was blank. I repeated the solve, but this time it said my streak was at 1 instead of 112, meaning it had somehow reset my streak. Strange. I’d hope it doesn’t happen again, but I have encountered other players for whom this issue, or one similar, has occurred. Please treat these silly streaks with care when updating.

2 years ago, hooligan49!

Great app, but wish it included all games and more statistics

This app is great for doing the regular/mini daily crosswords and for the spelling bee! I do wish it also included the entire New York Times games collection, including the bonus/acrostic/variety crossword puzzles, Wordle, Tiles, Vertex, Sudoku, and Letter Boxed (which are currently only available through a web browser). Also, it would be great to be able to keep track of completions/streaks and statistics for daily puzzles other than the crosswords and Wordle! The ability to see which days’ crossword puzzles have been completed in the calendar archive, in addition to viewing streaks and other statistics, is super motivating — a similar feature for Spelling Bee (and the other daily puzzles) would be amazing! Thank you to everyone who works hard on this app and the puzzles that appear on it!

2 months ago, Marvel_lover_forever

Old version

Okay, yes I have the old version, but the app is still fun.. for a while. So 1. The easy level sudoku is NOT easy. Now, I’m not saying that sudoku’s should be easy, but this sudoku was at the least a medium level. 2. You can not play any of the past games. On the other hand, you can play this present day game, but this brings me into my final issue. 3. Okay, so I’m giving this app another chance, I won a couple games, but then I start playing ‘Spelling bee 🐝’ so I’m getting happy because this is the farthest I’ve ever gotten. (Solid) So I’m ready to continue but then I see: “You are 18 points away from the next rank. Subscribe to keep going.” Sorry to the developer but after these experiences I felt I had to write this review. But I’ll give you 1 thing, I do have the older version because my phone is not the right size. But still, I feel these issues should be fixed. If you can, please write back if you have any suggestions for me.

4 years ago, Pat Devlin

Casting to apple tv

We love using this with our apple tv. We run the app on my iphone and then airplay it to the apple tv. This gives us a lovely interface where everybody in the family can see all the clues for the crossword (a fantastic improvement over crowding around the same small phone screen). It’s a really a great feature which is literally the reason we got our apple tv. But lately we’ve been having trouble airplaying the app to our apple tv from my iphone 6s+. When we’ve been doing this, it doesn’t display in the nice fullscreen format, and instead it merely shows the narrow copy of what the phone screen looks like. Sometimes restarting stuff helps, but now we’re having consistent trouble with it (and what better day for family help than a Saturday?). Any insight would be great. [Love the app]

3 years ago, icharbs

Spelling Bee issue

I play the Crossword a few times a week but mostly use the app for Spelling Bee, which I try to play every day. Overall it’s great, but I’ve noticed an issue where I’ll check answers the following day to find a word (or words) included among them that I know I tried the previous day and wasn’t given points for because it was “Not in word list.” For example, I tried to enter “woody” several times on the April 12, 2021 game but it told me it wasn’t on the list. This was odd because woody means covered in trees, but I just figured the game thought it was a proper pronoun and wouldn’t accept it. Fine. The next day it showed up among the game’s answer list. I’m guessing either answers are added throughout the day as the editor gets emails from players, or that the editor accidentally adds a space after a word when inputting the answers, or something, but either way, it’s frustrating to encounter at least once a week.

6 years ago, CatLucente

A Mini Lover

I’ve been a crossword puzzle fan for years. The NYT crossword is legendary; if you can solve it, you’re a pro! I was excited about this app because of its “minis,” quick puzzles you can complete in minutes. You can get a bundle of 30 for $3 to $5. Each time I’d buy a bundle, a window appeared offering the opportunity to get a “subscription,” for $40. So, I thought this would include these mini bundles in the price. But when I purchased the subscription, I realized that I still have to pay for these bundles! WTH?! What a rip-off! It would help if they made it clear that all you’re buying is the puzzle that appears in their paper.😤 UPDATE: Now that the NYT Crossword Team has responded to my issue, and they’ve pointed me in the direction of hundreds of FREE Mini Puzzles, I am extremely happy with this app! It is SO much fun! I’ve alerted all my friends on FB to the enjoyment this app offers. And since most all of my friends are far more brainy, with much better vocabularies, and they possess quicker mental acuity than I do, I have no doubt they’ll be subscribing to this app. While it’s important for each of us to exercise our bodies, it’s equally as important to exercise our brains. And crosswords are a great way to do that. I highly recommend this app! (FYI, I use it on my iPhone 7.)

1 year ago, Rose Beef Au Jus

Doesn’t have all the games

I don’t know who is working as the UX designer or product designer at NYT but you should be fired. Not only is it impossible to navigate any of the apps they design but this specific app “NYT Games” doesn’t even have all the games they offer that I play regularly through the normal NYT site/app. And that app (the NYT App) has all EXCEPT Sudoku, which is in this app… Tiles, Letter Boxed, Vertex… all not in the NYT Games app but are games they have and ONLY offer through a subscription. What gives? I only want to switch to letter boxes from Spelling bee… and so in one app it says to use the games app to play the games! But only half of them! To access all of the games, you can go back to the normal app which is doing a perfectly good job giving access to the games. Like someone needs to be let go. That disorganization as well as the terrribly interaction and navigation patterns of the apps and NYT site itself is truly shocking for such a big company.

1 year ago, Safety Spence

Worth every penny.

If you like crossword puzzles, you will not be disappointed in your purchase of the NYT app. The world’s best puzzles every day are there for your solving! Seriously, I’ve had this app for 5+ years, and in that time I've been told by many girlfriends that crosswords take priority over my relationships. And they were never wrong. These crosswords are there for me, ya know!? In a way that no human ever can be. Instead of trying to “fix” me, the NYT crossword puzzle app takes me as I am. All it wants is it’s boxes filled. It doesn’t want to talk about our days. It doesn’t mind that I’m messy and keep strange hours. It doesn’t mind when I come home from the bar with the smell of tequila and other women on my breath. It’s there for me, always, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for richer or poorer.

5 years ago, leprkonpi

Great, but can be improved

I have been using the app and doing the puzzles nearly every day since May 2017. It works great most of the time, but i have some complaints: 1. TWICE now I’ve encountered a glitch where I finish the puzzle and get the completion notification, but the timer continues running. This marks the puzzle as “incomplete” and ends my 500-day streak, putting me back at square one. Why even bother keeping up a streak if it can be yanked away from you at any moment?!? Is my perfect puzzle streak kind of a silly thing to be upset over? Maybe. Is this setback still absolutely, violently rage-inducing? YES. I KNOW it’s just a game though. I am a grown adult woman with a sane mind. I am ok. I am ok. I am ok. No, no, I am fine... 2. The friend/leaderboard feature is sooo lame. It only applies to the minis and doesn’t allow you to share your stats for the full size puzzles!!! Lame lame lame. 3. The app doesn’t allow you to access the other types of games and puzzles that you can find on the nyt website. I would love to be able to play spelling bee or do the acrostic from the app! All that said, this app has changed my life. Doing the puzzle every day brings me a peace and satisfaction that I can’t get anywhere else, and I plan to continue paying for it until my dying breath.

2 weeks ago, Lady.CF

Provide Archives for ALL games!

Now that you’ve provided us the Wordle archive as of July 10, 2024, next up should be the archive for Spelling Bee. After that, or simultaneously, the archives for Connections and Strands. I understand that not every feature can be implemented at once. However, the engineers of the NYT Games app should be thinking one step ahead, without paid subscribers—your bread and butter, having to recommend and pester you for the simplest of app features. For example: Dark mode has been asked for for YEARS, yet still no dark mode for the entire app; just Wordle only. Mind you, dark mode has been a feature in smart phones for many years. If there is a NYT Game that desperately needs dark mode, it is Spelling Bee, with all that blinding white color all over the game. I find myself having to dim my iPhone’s brightness to a minimal level in order to play the Spelling Bee game at night. Lastly, the “community” for the Spelling Bee game should be accessible within the app, rather than be an outside link. I would like the ability to view the spelling bee, while simultaneously viewing the clues provided by the “community” for the occasional word I may miss on my own. The app is better than it was, and I like all the new games added within the last two years. However, there is room for improvement. We also need more games added.

2 years ago, SrgeyT

Terrible start

As soon as I opened it I was asked to make an account. Why would I make an account?? I came here to play wordle, nothing else. Then it tells me I have 7 days left to play it… terrible. Personally I planned to play this every so often when I have downtime and it expiring so quickly is terrible. I don’t care what remains free, it’s a bad user experience to have the impression that what I came here to do is now going to cost me money, especially for something so simple. It’s honestly ridiculous to charge money for anything in this game, from what I’ve even seen. Also I opened the app and the home page didn’t load at all. It made no sense at first but once I reloaded it worked. With that, it makes me not want to pay, even more. If I have to constantly restart the app that I’m paying for that’s not a good look. I’m going to delete this and play on a website instead. This is just my impression in 1 minute and it may be harsh but I have played wordle before on a different app or something and it wasn’t like this.

5 years ago, leighop

No puzzling over why this app rules.

I start every morning with tea and the NYT crossword — delivered seamlessly to my phone. It wakes my brain up to solve these witty and sometimes challenging clues. With it comes an archive of past puzzles, many of which have made waiting in lines, or for the oil change (thanks but no thanks to your TV tuned to Fox) or even being put on hold by a robot actually fun. It gives you stats about your solve time and let’s you compete against friends who use it (though I don’t know anyone personally who does). There is also the commentary, which I try not to read until after I’ve completed the puzzle because it does have spoilers, but is immensely enjoyable to read. In short, before I plunge into a day filled with scary news, deadlines and political rancor I spend some times with the Times puzzle. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

7 years ago, Yet another guy named Phil

Tons of fun; nav is good, not great

Most importantly: Nothing's my I'm about to say should impact your purchasing decision. If you like doing crosswords and you're okay with buying add-ons (either puzzle collections or the NYT puzzle subscription) you should pick this up. The navigation is more than good enough. I, however, will quibble. It's nice to move quickly from one clue to the next with the arrows provided, but there are a few more common navigations that I wish the app provided directly: - Better navigation within the local grid. The words directly adjacent to each other in a cluster aren't always the next/previous ones numerically. - Better "non-manipulating" navigation within the word. Sometimes I misclick the square I want, and would like to adjust one or two squares left/right/up/down, but one can only go backward destructively (by deleting letters) and forward by entering letters into the box. One affordance that would address both problems is a set of four-arrow "cursor keys" that would move the cursor up/down/left/right without modifying the contents of the box under the cursor. I doubt that's the only solution, however. Anyway, great content for crossword fans, my navigation quibbles notwithstanding. - going back and forth within the

2 years ago, GrumpyDavid

Gone downhill

The App used to work great but recent upgrades have degraded it to where the software team are clearly “Testing in the Field” with the latest software. This is not good for something as professional as the NYT App. I suspect (as a software manager of old) that they are getting the platform ready for, perhaps, Wordle integration but as of right now (mid 2022) their is no viable record of your results in either Spelling Bee or Crosswords. Can you imagine that the App cannot distinguish between this week or last week and that you got all 66 words out of 65 possible? The loss of crossword average times is saddest. Ads for more NYT services have now started appearing in the paid App. You know, the one you buy so you don’t get ads! In conclusion let me just say, I have to wonder if I want to continue paying for something that is this amateurish!

7 months ago, Mallegra

We all do it…

You want to test your knowledge and skills against the games, to make sure you’re sharp. These games do that, I used to just do one and now I do them all…and all of the fam does it! From 16-60 y/o we’re competing (mostly friendly) and challenging each other. Sometimes you can solve a wordle quickly or get if stuck we ask each other for a hint, happens with connections too. The crossword is world famous, as nothing feels as great as solving one of those Sunday gems! Tiles & Sudoku are fun/annoying depending on the day. Letterboxed is interesting as you can see a big start word and the rest is easy. I really like Spelling Bee - 0 timers, the challenge of coming up with the words to reach genius, and keeping at it throughout my day. Thank you kindly NYT Games we are all fans!!

5 years ago, Fractalfoot

Has advantages over paper version

Doing the NY Times Monday crossword has been one of the highlights of my week since college. Now I routinely make it to Wednesday, with the help of this awesome, but addictive app. I once put the rest of my life on hold during a seventeen day ‘streak’, but got a grip and now just do the ones I can finish and still get work done. Having the stats is neat, too. But perhaps the best part is having access to archive puzzles so I can go get a Monday puzzle from days of yore whenever the urge strikes (well, and I whenever I actually have time). Finally, when not streaking, the feature where you can struggle for a reasonable stretch and then give up and check the puzzle and find out which square is the problem is worth its weight in gold. Probably saves marriages, that feature...

2 years ago, Ben Strong

Reluctantly abandoned paper

During COVID I was in lockdown away from my home. I couldn’t get daily delivery of The NY Times and so grudgingly switched, I hoped (as we all did in the spring of 2020) for only a few weeks. Weeks stretched to months. Eventually, I returned home but by then had liked the convenience of the iPad for the puzzle. I was only using the paper edition for two things - the crossword and as an accelerant to start fires in the fireplace and bbq. I continue to miss it for the latter use. My one beef with the digital puzzle is that with the paper version, I deemed a puzzle solved when I had filled in all the boxes (yes, with one letter each, not like Calvin in the immortal “yellow-bellied sapsucker” cartoon.) The digital version only delivers the happy music if all the squares are filled in CORRECTLY.

6 years ago, History Buff AZ

App getting worse

Used to be a good app. Now the keyboard disappears when leaving a puzzle. Complete puzzles do not sync across other platforms (e.g. iPad to iPhone). I’ve completed daily puzzles this week, but if you go into the recent screen only one from this week appears when in actuality I complete at least one per day. I’ve contacted customer service several times by email and phone. I usually do not get an answer by email but when I do they say they’re working on it. Some of this has been going on since May. I expected this app to work better since it came from the Times. Maybe I’m expecting too much? 9/7/18 update - key board issue fixed and that app seems to work better. It still doesn’t sync across platforms, but I can live with that issue since it’s rare that I do crosswords on my phone. Thanks NYTimes for the response.

7 years ago, tgbguava

Extremely buggy and unreliable version—please respond and fix.

This is getting unacceptable. This is not a free app—I pay annually for this app and have done so for quite a few years now. Is there anyone making efforts to undo these bugs? I have attached a screen video of what happens to my phone when it crashes. I can now confidently say that it has to do with internet connection (specifically when I regain connection like when I’m on the subway). You will see that happens at around 16 seconds into the video. To add insult to injury, you will also notice that when I return to the app, I lose my most recent progress as well. At this point after making effects to reach out in the past, I ultimately feel that if I do not at the very least receive a prompt reply, I sadly cannot continue to support your app. Please take the necessary steps to fix this problem and treat your loyal customers with the respect they deserve. I will also be posting this as a review in the hopes that might inspire more action. Thank you.

4 months ago, danderozier

Universal dark mode please

The puzzle quality is top notch, and the app is generally well-designed and easy to use. However, the lack of dark mode support is frustrating. Some puzzles (crossword, Wordle) have their own dark modes that are configured independently. The other puzzles don’t have a dark mode at all, which you can sort of work around by using the Smart Invert accessibility setting, but this of course inverts the dark mode games, so you find yourself toggling Smart Invert on and off depending on which puzzle you’re playing. None of it respects the system-wide dark mode setting. It might sound like I’m picking nits, but by now dark mode is a standard platform feature that all high quality apps should support, and the lack of it creates unnecessary friction in what would otherwise be a five star user experience.

2 years ago, Offstage

A review, by me.

Because of this app I finish the nyt crossword every day, and I save enough money on newspapers to pay my phone bill. I can also do the puzzle at 4 am or while I’m “in the office” so yeah it’s basically why I have a smartphone. I quit social media. I consider this app to be quality screen time. I did the puzzle in ink before I got this app, and now it’s just frustrating talking to people who are still hung up on that. The nyt crossword is a miracle of our culture. If more people enjoyed it the world would be a better place. The fact that I have access to years of archived puzzles AND the daily fresh one is both awesome & somehow liberating, because I can do as much as I want, but I will probably never solve them all in my lifetime & that’s ok!

4 years ago, Ed B NYC

Great for the Puzzles ... Not for Stats

This has been a daily part of my life for many years and in almost every way is an excellent adaptation of the print version. My wife and I have completed over 2500 puzzles using the app. Its ability to track streaks and keep timing stats is sure to disappoint people who care about those features but aren’t willing to work around the poor implementation of the app’s ability to work across multiple devices and platforms. It can also be awkward when print versions of the puzzle have a gimmick that can’t be easily executed using the app’s available features. Both the handling of puzzles when shared on multiple devices and poorly executed adaptation of gimmicky print puzzles have caused the app to improperly end long streaks. A real buzzkill but not a show-stopper for an otherwise addictive and well done app.

2 years ago, Inevitable Sigh

Advertising in a paid subscription app.

The app has recently added a advertisement bar at the bottom of the screen in the spelling bee game. It’s annoying, unnecessary, and it’s a betrayal from an application to which I pay a fee every month to use without the scourge of advertisements. The spelling bee game has now been ruined for me. I pay for apps so that I don’t have to deal with advertisements. Everytime I launch it now I have to tolerate its presence. To me, one of the appeals of this app has been the clean, serene, some would say stark, interface. This has now been tainted by this rude, greedy addition. There is a button to make the ad “go away”, but it doesn’t work properly. When I finally get so next-level annoyed by it that I deign to press the little “x” to disappear the ad, it registers as a positive selection and brings me to a full-screen ad asking me to buy the app for someone else. Boom, there goes my concentration. No. My patience is wearing thin. It’s just a matter of time before ads are expanded to the crossword page as well, so don’t think that if you don’t play the spelling bee game you wont be affected by this. Get rid of it before I just cancel my subscription and be done with it. There are a thousand other word games just waiting to be downloaded to my phone. This one is now in my suspect queue on the road to cancellation.

4 weeks ago, rrileu

Crossword streaks are gone

UPDATE: i updated the app like you said, completed a puzzle without hints to test it, and i still got the blue star, not gold. no luck. I don’t often manage to complete the crosswords without hints, so when i do i enjoyed seeing the gold star in the archive and seeing the little streaks i would earn. for the last few months even when i complete a puzzle without hints, it gets marked with the blue star and doesn’t register any streaks. i tried emailing support about it, and they adjusted the few puzzles i mentioned, but the overall issue has remained. it’s a little disappointing. otherwise, i mostly enjoy the app, aside from the fact that not all featured available on the website are accessible here. specifically the special themed or monthly crosswords, i can’t get them anywhere except the website which is frustrating.

5 years ago, Swift39

Free trial ended and I lost packs

Revised... Great puzzles and easy to use app. In-app puzzle packs are about $2-$4 for 15-30 puzzles. I had just purchased two packs and then apparently my Free Trial ended two days later without any warning and I lost access to the packs I had just paid for unless I want to pay another $7/ month or $40/year. Some obvious countdown, e.g., “You have two days left in your free trial”, would have been polite. I might have subscribed or at least not made the next purchase. Instead, I’m just annoyed and out a few bucks. I expect better of NYT. UPDATE: Thanks to developer response, I recovered my purchase. (Fix was not obvious, though.) Individual packs are great for me now; I may subscribe someday when I’m confident that I can play frequently for a long period. Thanks NYT!

8 months ago, SomeoneEtAl

That sudoku music, though

I love these games for a daily ritual that keeps my mind engaged and challenged. I’m only good enough at the crosswords to fully solve Mondays and Tuesdays so far, but I hope to keep getting better. My only complaint, and I don’t know if devs ever see these, but it’s a simple bug—whenever I solve a sudoku puzzle, even though my phone is on silent and the app doesn’t make any sound effects otherwise—the congratulatory “you solved it” music plays out loud. I know it sounds like not a big deal, but it’s embarrassing in an otherwise silent waiting room. It makes me avoid ever playing sudoku in public because I don’t want to annoy anyone around me. I hope this can be fixed someday, but thanks otherwise for a wonderful app!

6 years ago, Townimbecile

The best crosswords I can find!

My best guess is that anyone who regularly does crosswords has a love-hate relationship with them. There are words that get reused because they are convenient fillers. Puzzlers are expected to know some words in any European language (but not other languages). Puzzles often try gimmicks that only sort of work. No doubt crossword puzzles can be extremely frustrating. That’s why you need them to be written by professionals, who can give time to developing and editing a superior product. The New York Times has built a reputation for doing this for decades. The best thing to say about the app is that it does not get in the way o the experience. It isn’t particularly frustrating, and considering I find fault with most user interfaces, that’s saying a lot.

2 years ago, Spitendival

Marriage Compact!

Before we subscribed to the NYT Crossword, my husband and I only had the paper version delivered every day. Back then, our deal was that he took the Arts section with him on his commute to work— seemed fair— and I had to wait for the weekend when we did Saturday and Sunday together in ink. Once covid hit, I added the puzzle to our NYT subscription so that he could do the puzzle online and I would do it on paper. It has been a dramatic improvement in our morning routines! I must report, however, that we still do Saturdays together, on paper, but we part ways on Sunday so we each get a bite at the big apple. Thank you for providing this and the other great games you keep adding: we love Wordle, Letterboxed, Spelling Bee, and Tiles, too!

6 years ago, mihowser

Ruining My Life

I wake up sometimes too earlier to seek some peace and quiet before my kids wake up and totally ruin everything. I sneak downstairs, turn on my coffee maker and I impatiently wait for it to finish. Sometimes I am too impatient to wait (ok most times) because I need to grab my blanket, hunker down with crossword app and just start already. On those days I stick my mug directly under the stream, making a wholly mess in the process but who cares! IT’S CROSSWORD TIME! MY TIME. And I know they release the next day at 10 PM but dude, who wants to do that? I like to savor my morning routine. But sometimes I can’t finish them and I go mad trying and so it’s ruining my life in the best possible way. If we ever need to cut back on our expenses, I’d give up shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and haircuts before the NYT Crossword app.

5 years ago, JimInBoston

Bug

Generally works OK but I noticed a bug. Twice now when I've completed a puzzle correctly the app refuses to accept it as so. Then the next day when I open it to try to find the error it suddenly accepts it. Then tells me that since I didn't do it 24 hours that my streak is over. Some people do the whole week's puzzles on the weekend. Not fair to them. The whole streak thing is between solver and the puzzle. It's not like someone wins a prize for streaks. Lighten up! When I was in Europe I solved a puzzle offline because no network access. Three days later I noticed that my streak had ended. Looked back to discover that the puzzle I had solved was half empty and not counted as completed. So to be fair the complete time has to be sensitive to time zones.

1 year ago, Aquí estoy

App is fine, variety and acrostics will be gone soon, though

I’ve been a subscriber for years, and loved the crosswords, but over time I started getting bored of them and liking the weekly acrostic and occasional cryptic and diagramless crosswords that I could play on the NYT website with my Crossword subscription even better. They and the Spelling Bee became a bigger draw for me than the daily crossword. But I just saw that they are going to disappear on March 1. Those puzzles are going to be exclusively on print now. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. The wobbly support (if you look at the reviews here, they have replied to one review and it’s for the wrong one!?) took one star away from the rating, and for taking away my favorite games just like that, that’s another star off. Maybe I’ll do some shopping around.

3 years ago, dayway96

Don’t bother if you care about tracking your progress

This app is fine, until you want it to reliably track your progress. A couple of years ago, the clock froze while I was solving a puzzle, meaning that my record for a Tuesday is under two minutes. Thus, I never really know if I’ve managed to break a PR on Tuesdays. Multiple emails to NYT XWords went unanswered as I tried to figure out if there was a way to erase the bad data point. Then today, I open the app as usual. I am informed that my “trial subscription” is over (I have a fully paid subscription that renewed months ago). Meanwhile, it has erased the last several days of puzzles that I solved, meaning that my solving streak of almost 250 days is now broken thanks to the glitch brought about by the incompetence of the app developers. So if you just want to solve puzzles on occasion, go for it. If you actually want an app that doesn’t routinely wipe out your data, keep on looking.

Description

Keep your mind sharp with word and logic puzzles from New York Times Games. Free to download, the app offers new puzzles daily for every skill level. App Features and Games: NEW AD-FREE PUZZLES DAILY There are never any ads to disrupt the fun in The New York Times Games app, so you can play without distraction. WORDLE Play the original Wordle, created by Josh Wardle, and guess the 5-letter word in 6 tries or less. Then, see how you stack up against the WordleBot. SPELLING BEE Is scrambling your strong suit? Play the daily Spelling Bee and see how many words you can make with 7 letters. THE CROSSWORD Subscribers can play the same daily puzzle that’s printed in The New York Times, in our app. Crosswords increase in difficulty throughout the week. CONNECTIONS Our newest word game lets you group words with a common thread. See if you can do it with 4 mistakes or fewer. SUDOKU Looking for a numbers game, minus the math? Play Sudoku and fill each 3x3 set of boxes with numbers 1 to 9. Play a new puzzle every day in easy, medium or hard mode. THE MINI CROSSWORD The Mini is all the fun of The Crossword, but you can solve it in seconds. These word puzzles don’t increase in difficulty throughout the week and feature simpler clues. TILES Unwind while you match elements in the day’s pattern — the key is to make consecutive matches. LETTER BOXED Create words using letters around the square. Letter Boxed is another fun way to test your word-making skills. STATS Track your progress for The Crossword, Wordle and Spelling Bee. For The Crossword, monitor your average solve times, see how many puzzles you can solve in a row, and more. Plus follow your streak on Wordle, and track how often you reach each level in Spelling Bee. LEADERBOARDS Start a friendly competition with The Mini leaderboards. Add up to 25 friends to see who can solve today’s Mini puzzle the fastest. PUZZLE ARCHIVE Subscribers can now solve past Spelling Bee puzzles and play over 10,000 crosswords in our archive. DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS: You can purchase a monthly or annual New York Times Games subscription. As a subscriber, you’ll enjoy the full Wordle experience, plus Spelling Bee, The Crossword and more. See our subscription offers for further details. PAYMENT AND AUTOMATIC RENEWAL TERMS: IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW YORK TIMES GAMES VIA THIS APP, PAYMENT WILL BE CHARGED BY APPLE TO YOUR APPLE ID ACCOUNT AT CONFIRMATION OF PURCHASE. YOUR APPLE ID ACCOUNT WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY CHARGED FOR RENEWAL AT THE APPLICABLE RATE SHOWN TO YOU AT THE TIME OF SUBSCRIPTION EVERY CALENDAR MONTH (FOR MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTIONS) OR EVERY YEAR (FOR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS) WITHIN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE END OF THE CURRENT BILLING PERIOD. YOU WILL BE CHARGED IN ADVANCE. YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE EACH MONTH OR YEAR UNLESS IT IS CANCELED AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE END OF THE CURRENT PERIOD. TO CANCEL, PLEASE TURN OFF AUTO-RENEW AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE END OF THE CURRENT PERIOD. YOU CAN TURN OFF AUTO-RENEW AT ANY TIME FROM YOUR ITUNES ACCOUNT SETTINGS. CANCELLATION TAKES EFFECT AT THE END OF THE CURRENT BILLING PERIOD. BY DOWNLOADING THE NEW YORK TIMES GAMES APP, you agree to: • The automatic renewal terms stated above. • The New York Times Privacy Policy: https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/privacy-policy • The New York Times Cookie Policy: https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/cookie-policy • The New York Times California Privacy Notices: https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/california-notice • The New York Times Terms of Service: https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/rights/terms/terms-of-service.html • Apple Terms of Sale: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html Please note: A subscription to New York Times Games does not include access to any other New York Times products, including but not limited to nytimes.com, New York Times Cooking, Wirecutter, mobile news content and other apps on non-iOS devices.