The News.
What’s actually happening in the crossword world this week. App launches, format experiments, record breakers, and the small dramas the daily-puzzle crowd argues about on Twitter.
LinkedIn quietly launched a mini-crossword. It’s actually good?
A surprise feature drop puts a 5×5 grid between you and your inbox. We’ve been solving it every morning for a week, and the verdict is more interesting than “meh.”
The WordleBot just got an upgrade. Now it’s judging your starter words even harder.
NYT’s post-game critic gained a new ‘skill score’ metric this week. Players are not handling it well.
A 12-year-old just hit Queen Bee on Spelling Bee. With 81 words.
The puzzle that broke Twitter on Tuesday produced one of the most decisive solves the format has ever seen.
NYT Strands turns one. The crossword family’s weirdest cousin found its audience.
A year ago Strands launched and a lot of people called it confusing. The data tells a different story.
CodyCross drops three new packs and a redesigned password screen.
Fanatee’s big fall update lands with new themes (Plant World, Behind the Curtain, Time Travel) and a tidier reveal animation.
Connections gets a quiet redesign. Solvers somehow noticed in 30 minutes.
The category-grouping puzzle’s tile animation got smoother. The internet, naturally, has opinions.
The Wall Street Journal crossword has a new editor. Here’s what changes.
After a decade under Mike Shenk, the WSJ daily passes to a younger constructor with a taste for theme experimentation.
7 Little Words turns 15. Blue Ox quietly built one of the genre’s most durable apps.
No microtransactions. No leaderboards. No drama. Just a clean little daily that keeps showing up.
American cryptics are having a moment. Three new indie outlets, two new books, one Reddit boom.
The British puzzle form is finding U.S. audiences fast — and the people teaching it are mostly under 35.
Editors are quietly testing AI-written clues. The early reviews are… mixed.
Three top crossword editors told us they’ve tried generating clue first-drafts with LLMs. None of them are publishing the output yet.
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