Games Like Connections and Wordle: What to Play Next

You solved today's Connections, you got Wordle in four, and you're not ready to put your phone down. Good news: the daily word puzzle is a format, not a single game. Here's what to play next, and how to get better at it.

The short answer

If you like The New York Times' Connections, look for a daily grouping puzzle: 16 words, four hidden groups of four. If you like Wordle, look for a daily five-letter word puzzle: one secret word, six guesses.

Our three daily puzzles:

Word Groups: sort 16 words into four groups of four, with four mistakes allowed.
Daily Word: guess the five-letter word in six tries, then keep going with practice words.
Riddle of the Day: one riddle, up to three hints, and an honest answer to "did you get it?"

All three change at midnight Eastern time, they're the same for everyone, and they run in any phone's browser. They're our own puzzles with our own words, and they aren't made by or connected to The New York Times.

The New York Times also runs other daily puzzles, including Spelling Bee, Strands and the Mini Crossword, and you'll find daily geography, number and trivia games all over the web.

Why daily puzzles stick

One puzzle a day. You can't binge it, so you look forward to it.
Everyone gets the same one. Your sister, your coworker and a stranger across the country all saw the same words today, so there's something to talk about.
It takes a few minutes. It fits into a coffee, a bus ride or the wait before a meeting.
You can share without spoiling. You post a small grid that shows how your solve went, but not the answer. Wordle's grid of colored squares is widely credited with helping the game spread on social media and in group chats.

Three daily puzzles to play next

Word Groups: a daily grouping puzzle

Each day you get 16 words hiding four groups of four. Pick four words you think share something, then check them. You can make four mistakes, and if three of your four words belong together, you'll see a "so close" hint. Each solved group shows its difficulty as dots, from one dot for the most direct link to four for the sneaky one. A shuffle button mixes up the board when you're stuck.

When you finish, you see one row per guess. Each row has four numbers from 1 to 4, one per word you picked, showing which difficulty group that word belonged to. A clean solve is four rows of matching numbers. A row of mixed numbers is a mistake. The share sends the puzzle number, those rows and a link, with no words or group names, so friends can still play it fresh. Your stats track games played, solve rate and streaks.

A new puzzle arrives at midnight Eastern, which is 9 p.m. Pacific. There's no archive of past puzzles.

Play it: Word Groups

Daily Word: a daily five-letter word puzzle

There's one secret five-letter word each day, and you have six guesses. Every guess has to be a real word. After each one, the tiles show what you got:

Dark tile: the letter is in the word, in the right spot.
Orange tile with a small dot: the letter is in the word, but somewhere else.
Pale tile: the letter isn't in the word.

The dot means you never have to tell two colors apart.

Your stats include your streaks and a chart of how many tries each solve took. The share text gives the puzzle number and "solved in 4" (or "not solved today"), then a row of dots for each guess: black for the right spot, orange for the wrong spot, white for not in the word. No letters, no spoilers.

After the daily word, win or lose, you can play unlimited practice rounds using words from earlier days. They don't count toward your stats. The daily word changes at midnight Eastern. Miss a day or run out of guesses, and your current streak goes back to zero, but your longest streak stays on the board.

Play it: Daily Word

Riddle of the Day: a different kind of daily puzzle

Riddle of the Day gives you one riddle, no timer and nothing to type. Think it over, reveal up to three hints one at a time if you need them, then reveal the answer and mark whether you got it. It's the honor system.

Your stats show riddles solved and your streaks. The share is a single line with the riddle number and how it went: "solved with no hints," "solved with 2 hints" or "stumped me." Earlier riddles are listed on the page, with each answer hidden until you tap it.

Play it: Riddle of the Day

How to solve grouping puzzles

These tips work for any 16-word grouping puzzle.

Solve the most specific group first. "Words that come before FALL" has only a few possible members. "Things in a kitchen" could swallow half the board. Lock in the narrow group, even if it isn't the easiest, and the broad one gets clearer.
Expect a red herring. If five words fit one idea, one of them belongs somewhere else. SALMON, TROUT, CARP, PIKE and BASS look like five fish, but BASS might be waiting with CELLO, HARP and OBOE.
Watch for words that fit two groups. SNOW can go before BALL, FALL and MAN. Place words like that last.
Learn the sneaky categories. The hardest group is often one of these:
- Fill in the blank: WATER, RAIN, NIGHT and SNOW all go before FALL.
- Hidden words: SCATTER, CHANT, PIRATE and GRAPE each hide an animal (cat, ant, rat, ape).
- Sound-alikes: EYE, WHY, YOU and ARE sound like the letters I, Y, U and R.
- Second meanings: read every word as both a noun and a verb.
Don't spend mistakes early. If you're torn between two words, solve a different group first. A "so close" hint means swap one word, not start over.
Shuffle when you're stuck. A new order breaks up the pairs your brain has locked in. And remember, the last group is free.

How to solve five-letter word puzzles

Start with common letters. Open with five different letters and two or three vowels, like CRANE, SLATE or AUDIO. E, A, R, T, O, L, S and N turn up in a lot of English words. Q, X and Z can wait.
Use your second guess for new letters. Ruling letters out is as useful as finding them.
Think about positions. An orange tile tells you where a letter isn't, so move it. Many words start with SH, CH, ST or TR, and plenty end in ER, LY or Y.
Don't forget double letters. SPOON, LEVEL and KITTY are easy to miss. If you guess a word with two E's and only one lights up, the answer has one E. A letter that lit up once can still appear twice.
Break ties on purpose. If LIGHT, MIGHT, NIGHT, SIGHT and TIGHT all fit, guessing them one by one can burn every try you have. Spend a guess on a word that tests several of those first letters at once.

Word games to play with friends in the same room

Daily puzzles are solo by design. When the people who argue about today's groups are in one room, try a word game you play out loud, all on one phone.

Say the Same Word

If finding the link is your favorite part of a grouping puzzle, start here. Two players count to three and each say a word. Then both try to say one word that links the last two. Keep going until you say the same word at the same time. The phone counts you in, can deal the starting words, and scores you on how few rounds you needed. Bigger groups can play in pairs.

Play it: Say the Same Word

Name, Place, Animal, Thing

The phone spins a letter and runs the timer. Everyone writes a name, a place, an animal and a thing starting with that letter. Answers nobody else wrote score 10, shared answers score 5, and the phone can keep the running totals.

Play it: Name, Place, Animal, Thing

Don't Say It

Get your team to say the word on the card without saying it or any of the five forbidden words underneath. Play in two to four teams, with a player from another team watching the screen to call a buzz when you slip.

Play it: Don't Say It

Forehead Guess

Hold the phone to your forehead while friends give clues for the word you can't see. Tilt down when you get it, tilt up to pass. There are ten decks and you can play solo or in teams.

Play it: Forehead Guess

Name 3 Things

Tap for a prompt like "Name 3 things in a junk drawer," then name three before the five-second buzzer. The group decides whether your answers count, and the first to the target score wins.

Play it: Name 3 Things

Keeping a streak with family or a group chat

Play on the same device. Our streaks and stats are saved in the browser you play on. A new phone, a different browser or cleared browser data starts you over.
Mind the clock. The new puzzle lands at midnight Eastern, which is 9 p.m. on the West Coast, so friends out west can post first.
Share results, not answers. Post your share text, and agree that nobody discusses the words until everyone has posted.
Keep a weekly tally. Add up everyone's tries on Daily Word, or mistakes on Word Groups, from Monday to Sunday. Lowest total gets bragging rights.
Solve together. Two people see different links in the same 16 words. Or read the riddle at family dinner and give everyone until dessert. For more, see our games for two.

Miss a day? Your longest streak stays on the board, and tomorrow's puzzle will be waiting at midnight.