.png)
Vice: What will the Wordle take over next? How NYT Games are consuming the bright young minds of our generation.
Hello dear reader, and let me introduce you to the newest threat to humankind: the New York Times Games franchise. What began as a fun Wordle to start your day has expanded into a whole series of games that take over mornings, classrooms, and social activities. NYT Games may appear inconspicuous, but it is impossible to know the extent to which this franchise will grow.
Everybody I know does the New York Times games, and everyone has their own favorite. The game streaks are coveted (I had my brother keep mine up during Cascades) and the answers can’t be shared out loud. What is meant to be a silly, enjoyable game on your phone turns into a fierce competition. As people increasingly send Wordle, Connections, and Mini Crossword scores to each other, this enjoyable game turns into a battleground, as we compete for the best scores. We compare Wordle streaks (Virtue had 100 something before Cascades) and religiously solve these puzzles first thing in the morning, or late at night, in order to keep them on time. What should be just a fun puzzle has worked its way into the morning routines of the masses, sparked disagreements, and ended friendships (probably). My brother and I both shush our family, or anybody we’re with, to do the Mini Crossword so as not to get distracted and get a faster time. Together, we get increasingly upset with anyone who interrupts us. My friends and I get upset when someone gives us an unwanted hint on the Wordle. What’s next, we aren’t allowed to say any 5-letter words until everyone in our vicinity has done the Wordle? What has the world come to? And more importantly, how will the NYT Games franchise continue to shape our connections with each other?
Not only do these games take up precious time and spark conflict, but they also can be unfair and sometimes downright stupid. I mean, the Connections clues are out of hand. For those of you who don’t know (you should) Connections is a mini game where you are given 16 words and have to group them together into four groups of four. What started out innocently enough with clues like “dog breeds” and “traffic signs” has devolved. One clue was “words you can spell with an upside-down calculator,” which is quite frankly rude and impossible to guess (on account of that we’re always focused in math classes and therefore definitely can’t be spelling on our calculators). Even worse, there have been many clues along the lines of “colors but you replace the first letter” think preen to green and “win + letter” think wink, wind, wine. How many more “words abbreviated with letters” can we really take? How ridiculous can these clues keep getting?
While the Connections and Wordle get more absurd, the more difficult games like Letterboxed (my mortal enemy) and the Spelling Bee get more complex. I mean, in order to get Queen Bee (guess every word in the Spelling Bee, a game in which you form words from seven letters) you pretty much have to analyze a graph, do statistics, and become a thesaurus. How am I supposed to focus in class when I need to figure out how to find the panogram from the most esoteric letters in the alphabet?
These days, we tend to spend more time on the NYT Games than we would going outside or bonding with family members. Look across classroom computer screens early in the morning, and you’ll see almost all of them with the various daily games. The young minds of our generation are busy figuring out five-letter words instead of solving the pressing problems in our futures. Plus, the emptiness once you finish the daily Wordle, Mini Crossword, Connections, Spelling Bee, Daily Crossword, and even Tiles when you’re desperate, is so consuming that it’s hard to focus on anything else.
Basically, the NYT Games franchise has begun its hunt for a monopoly on phone games and puzzles. Games that were supposed to be low commitment are now in the daily routines of the vast majority of people, the competition between NYT Gamers becomes heated and divides friends and families, the clues are either too esoteric and, frankly, stupid, or too difficult to solve, and the worst part, reader, is something truly horrifying that still haunts me to this day: NYT Games got rid of their SET mini game.
Virtue: NYT Games Are Love, NYT Games Are Life
Why hello there, dear reader, and welcome back to V&V, your favorite section of The Rambler! Today, we’re coming to you with a topic that’s likely near and dear to your heart: the New York Times Games. Everyone’s favorite! These visionary minigames are the gears that keep our society moving forward. Let’s get into why exactly that is.
First, and most importantly, NYT Games are enriching the bright young minds of tomorrow. Since when did anyone know what “fugue” meant? Since it became a Wordle word that one time! Who would’ve thought we needed to start training our brains to identify color words with their first or last letters removed? Nobody, until Connections decided to use that same format about a million times in a row! NYT Games never fail to make me think outside the box, and I appreciate that it keeps our generation’s glowing, spry, and youthful minds up and active in ways they certainly wouldn’t be otherwise.
For those of you wondering about inclusivity, never fear—NYT Games can enrich the slightly less young minds among us as well! You know what they say: Connections is for everyone. Well, no one says that, but worst comes to worst, you can always just sit and play Tiles. You don’t have to think to play Tiles; it’s just pattern recognition. No funky words or scary clues! No one can mess it up too badly. Trust. Strong A for accessibility. Great job, NYT Games!
In addition to enrichment, NYT Games also always spark joy in their participants. I have never felt any sort of negative emotion towards an NYT game—in fact, I feel only peace, serenity, and the wonderful thrill of a mission success! There’s nothing better than kicking back, rattling off the Wordle in two guesses, then obliterating everyone you know in the Mini Crossword. This avenue for victory is a crucial yet overlooked component of the NYT Games experience: it feels great to be a winner!
In fact, the scope of NYT Games is so extensive that they have a niche for everyone. Are you basic and looking to continue to be so for the rest of your life? Play the Wordle! Are you stubborn and like to show people that you’re better than them by doing everything perfectly in one go? Play Connections! Do you have anger issues and want to obliterate people in simple tasks to prove your worth? Play the Mini Crossword! Did you do really well with spelling in fourth grade and develop a superiority complex because of it? Play the Spelling Bee! Do you wish to sunk-cost-fallacy your way into a life of pain, suffering, and eternal anguish, from which there is no escape and only one way forward? Do the full-size Crossword! Really, the options are limitless. So much fun for all the family!
What else would you want to do on a long bus ride, when trying to avoid starting your homework, or during a five-minute break in class that’s definitely a time when you’re not supposed to be paying attention (because we studious Rambler staff would never do anything in class except for focus!)? NYT Games bring people together, through community, competition, and commiseration. Wow—a community connected! Would you look at that. Maybe the real experiential education was the Wordle streak we made along the way.
Comments