The hottest topics currently sweeping the St. X halls are the various mini games on the New York Times website. Students check in every day to solve these puzzles and compare their scores to see who’s on top. I checked out every game and surveyed fellow Tigers to see which are favorited. Here are the results and a description about why they are ranked where they are.

5. Spelling Bee

Sneaking into the five slot is Spelling Bee. This methodical mini game has been around since 2014, making it a veteran amongst many newcomers. The aim of the game is to connect an assortment of letters in a honeycomb to create words out of the given letters. Each time you uncover a word, you get closer to winning, with larger words awarding more points. You must use the middle letter in each word.  Each puzzle includes a “pangram,” which is a word that includes all of the provided letters. The game requires time and a large vocabulary but is satisfying each time you reveal a word from the puzzle.

4. Tiles

Earning the number four slot is Tiles. Tiles is relatively new, compared to other games, with a release year of 2019. The interesting and appealing aspect of this mini game is there are no word puzzles involved, unlike almost every other NYT game. Tiles is solely a mind game. The goal is to match parts of one quadrant of the puzzle to other quadrants. It seems simple but takes a great deal of concentration and time. It’s a nice game to play when wanting to take a break from the other games that are similar to each other.

3. The Daily Mini

Next up, a classic sits at a well-earned podium spot. The mini crossword puzzle came out in 2014 and paved the way for many new and popular games. Since the original crossword puzzle on the website requires a subscription, this is a great substitute. Although it doesn’t take too much time, the riddles for each puzzle are fun to find out. The Mini is one of my favorites but its run comes to an end.

2. Wordle

Alright, this one could be controversial. Wordle is arguably the most popular NYT game and I could see why. I played Wordle every day for at least a year straight from around the release date in October of 2021. It even helped me through quarantine. The goal of the game is to solve a puzzle and find a five letter word with only six guesses. The less guesses you use to reveal the word, the more bragging rights you obtain. Wordle can be considered the face of NYT mini games, but for now it will have to be content with the second place finish.

1. Connections

At the top of the list and the winner is connections. Although Connections is a new game that came out in 2023, it has taken the world by storm. Connections is the most addicting NYT games and surprisingly difficult from time to time. You only have four guesses to correctly group four categories of words together. The words somehow have a “connection” and it’s up to you to figure out what that is. The categories have different colors based on difficulty, with yellow being the easiest, then green, blue and purple. Although it was close, Connections earns first place based on the balance between difficulty and the fun aspects. I get excited every day to see what the next puzzle is.