The New York Times (NYT) has been famously releasing their daily crosswords since 1942. But within the past ten years, their online Mini games have been an obsession for many readers across the country.

If you have been paying attention this school year, you likely have noticed that this NYT games craze has swept over our school. In almost every classroom, students can be seen playing many of the seven games that the website offers for free. In addition to these, the full sized crossword can be played by subscribing members.

Of these seven options, it seems that the most popular games amongst Yorktown students are the Wordle, Connections, Mini Crossword, and the newest game: Strands. These word games challenge students to broaden their vocabulary and think outside of the box. These games have spread like wildfire throughout our school and have integrated themselves into the culture of almost every classroom.

The Connections is probably the most loved game in our school’s population. Students race each day to sort a selection of 16 words into four categories of varying difficulty levels.

For many of the participants, the games have become a daily competition within classes, with students competing to finish the game the fastest. Students push themselves daily to improve their personal bests and prove to their peers they are the more skilled at the challenging word games.

Luckily for students, these NYT are extremely popular in all age groups. Some teachers have been able to bond with their students by sharing different strategies to solve the puzzles.

As a whole, the New York Times has encouraged students to broaden their vocabulary skills , all while putting forth their best efforts into word games. The craze has worked its way into every room in the building, and will likely continue to be a beloved trend in the Yorktown community.