‘Wordle in 1’ is the NYT’s new puzzle just for subscribers
This and other bonus puzzles will be released in weekly batches every Wednesday.
This and other bonus puzzles will be released in weekly batches every Wednesday.
by Sep 2, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC
Image: The New York Times / The Verge
Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.
The New York Times has prepared some exclusive goodies for its subscribers: a weekly drop of bonus puzzles based on the publication’s popular games. Five to six new puzzles will be released every Wednesday, each featuring “a twist” on games like Wordle, Strands, Connections, and Crossword that are designed to keep puzzleheads playing with fresh yet familiar experiences.
The availability of bonus puzzles may vary each week, but here are some examples you can expect:
- Wordle in 1: A version of Wordle with five rounds, where each round has a single clue and only one possible word solution. Players need to guess all five words to win the game.
- Connections 3×3: Like the name suggests, this is Connections, but with three groups of three instead of four groups of four.
- Colorful Strands: A “more visually-interesting, editorially-designed” variation of Strands that otherwise uses the same rules.
- Mystery Mini: Similar to Colorful Strands, this is a variation of the Mini Crossword that uses the same rules, but features a “creative twist” to the presentation of the grid or clues.
- Easy Mode Crossword: A version of the Friday Crossword with easier clues that will also be published in the Easy Mode Newsletter every Friday.
- Special Crossword: A special themed version of the Crossword, published on the first day of each month. In some months, more than one Special Crossword may be published, and may be created in collaboration with celebrities, including Nick Offerman, Jeff Tweedy, Bianca Del Rio, and Gabby Windey.
“Bonus puzzles are an exciting addition to continue diversifying our portfolio, with each puzzle built on mechanics that our solvers already know and love, but with novelty to make them feel distinct from the daily puzzles,” Jonathan Knight, The New York Times gaming head said in the press announcement. “Designed for flexible, low-pressure play, the weekly drop gives solvers more ways to play with no daily obligations.”
Bonus puzzles are starting to roll out now and will be available to all Games and All Access subscribers (which start at $6 and $7.50 every four weeks, respectively) in the next few months. The new games launching today, however, include an introductory set of bonus puzzles that anyone can play without a subscription.
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