In 2021, Josh Wardle launched the wildly popular word game Wordle. Then in 2022 the New York Times bought the game. The rules to Wordle are pretty straightforward. You have to figure out a five-letter word in six or fewer guesses (we have a two-step strategy to help you solve the puzzle every time). After each guess, the game shows gray blocks for the wrong letters, yellow blocks for the right letters in the wrong spot and green blocks for the right letters in the correct spot.
CNET’s Gael Cooper has loads of tips and tricks to tackle each NY Times Wordle puzzle. If you’ve finished your daily Wordle and are still craving a good puzzle game, there are plenty to choose from.
Here are 10 other puzzle games you can play now.
Connections
I know it’s old but I’m not even going to try to figure this out.
New York Times/CNET
Another New York Times-owned puzzle, Connections is a tricky word game. “Players must select four groups of four words without making more than four mistakes,” the New York Times wrote on X. There are also four color-coded difficulty levels for each game; yellow is the easiest, then green, then blue and finally purple. The game is also similar to the BBC quiz show Only Connect, and the show’s host took to X to point out the connection. See what I did there?
Strands is another New York Times-owned puzzle but this game resembles a word search more so than Wordle and Connections. This game presents a theme every day to help you find words in a grid. In Strands words can appear forward, backward, top-to-bottom or any number of ways in a traditional word search, and words can also form in the shape of an “L” or have a zigzag in them. When you find a word, tap the first letter and drag your finger to the other letters. Every letter in the puzzle is used, so if you still have letters that aren’t connected to words, you aren’t finished yet.
You can play Strands on any web browser but you need a New York Times subscription (again, $1 a week) to play.
Quartiles
Apple/CNET
Quartiles is a new word game Apple News Plus subscribers can access on their iPhone or iPad that’s running iOS 17.5 or later. In this word game, you’re given 20 tiles with letters on them and you’re trying to put them together to form different words. The longest words are four tiles long, and these are called Quartiles. The game can be tough but finding just one of the Quartiles is as satisfying as remembering something that was just on the tip of your tongue.
You can play Quartiles on an iPhone or iPad but you need an Apple News subscription (which starts at $13 a month) to play.
Multiple Wordle spinoffs: Dordle, Quordle, Octordle and Sedecordle
Quordle has you solve four word puzzles at once, which sounds daunting.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Are you up for a challenge? If you love Wordle and want puzzle games that take more brain power, you’ll want to check out either Dordle, Quordle, Octordle or Sedecordle. Each of these word games resembles Wordle, but they add more rows, columns and words to solve. Each game requires you to simultaneously solve a different number of words at once: Dordle has you solving two words, Quordle four at once, Octordle eight at once and Sedecordle a whopping 16. Good luck.
“Lewdle is a game about rude words,” this game’s content advisory reads. “If you’re likely to be offended by the use of profanity, vulgarity or obscenity, it likely isn’t for you.” Translation: It’s Wordle but with bad words. The words range from mild — like poopy — to words that would make a sailor blush. Thankfully, despite this game’s content warning, slurs are not included. Like Wordle, gray, yellow and green blocks are used in the same way and there’s only one puzzle per day. So go forth and let the bad words flow!
You can play Lewdle on any web browser. You can also download this game from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store.
Antiwordle
Not off to a great start with this Antiwordle puzzle.
Antiwordle/CNET
Tired of seeing those gray, yellow and green blocks plastered all over your social media feed? Give Antiwordle a try. While Wordle wants you to guess a word in as few tries as possible, Antiwordle wants you to avoid the word by guessing as many times as possible. When you guess, letters will turn gray, yellow or red. Gray means the letter isn’t in the word and can’t be used again, yellow means the letter is in the word and must be included in each subsequent guess and red means the letter is in the exact position within the word and is locked in place. If you can use every letter on the keyboard without getting the word correct, you win. Honestly, I’ve found this version of Wordle to be much harder than the original.
Absurdle bills itself as the “adversarial version” of Wordle. While Wordle nudges you in the right direction with each guess, Absurdle is trying to avoid giving you the correct answer. According to the game’s website, “With each guess, Absurdle reveals as little information as possible, changing the secret word if need be.” Absurdle doesn’t pick a word at the beginning of the game for the player to guess. Instead, it uses the player’s guesses to narrow its list of words down in an effort to make the game go as long as possible. The final word might not even include a yellow letter from one of your earlier guesses either. You can guess as many times as you want, which is helpful, and the best score you can get is four. Have fun!
Welding isn’t a practice to go into unprepared. It requires numerous tools to do the job correctly and safely, and it’s not a bad idea to invest in a dedicated surface to work on. Fortunately, they’re quite easy to come by; even a budget retailer like Harbor Freight has two different welding tables available. For those with tighter budgets, the Chicago Electric adjustable steel welding table costs $89.99, which is notably wallet-friendly for such a workshop addition. Even better, owner opinions seem to indicate that the low price doesn’t mean low quality.
At the time of writing, the Chicago Electric welding table has just over 2,600 reviews on the Harbor Freight website, with an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars. Over 1,800 of those gave it a perfect five stars, and over 600 gave it a respectable four, with many encouraging others to give it a shot if they’re on the fence. Common highlights include the Chicago Electric welding table’s easy storage and portability, price point, sturdiness, and versatility, and many customers think it’s especially good for anyone new to welding.
All in all, most Harbor Freight customers feel this table gets the job done without breaking the bank. With that said, these positive reviews aren’t the beginning and end of this welding table’s story. Some customers had less-than-stellar experiences that are worth noting.
Potential issues with this Chicago Electric welding table
According to Harbor Freight, this zinc-plated steel Chicago Electric welding table has retractable edge guides, four slots for connecting clamps (and to prevent heat build-up), and can be tilted at five different angles. However, while the features and reviews make it seem like a surefire win at $89.99, it’s not perfect. While they’re in the minority, there are still a notable number of one- and two-star reviews that pinpoint some potential downsides.
One frequent problem is the table arriving warped right out of the box, which can make setting up and welding harder than necessary. The same can be said for the uneven legs, which many customers had to contend with. Some also warned of missing or completely incorrect hardware, preventing them from assembling the table. Elsewhere online, YouTuber Rob Pantridge wasn’t impressed with the build quality and found the design lacking in a few areas. Fellow YouTuber Jeff Estes Builds didn’t hate it, but also didn’t feel it was a necessary purchase for more serious welders.
Harbor Freight is the home of several useful welding accessories, along with table options like the Chicago Electric steel-top example to use them on. While it is cost-effective and many customers love it, this particular welding table may not be the right purchase for everyone. That is a matter only your wants, needs, budget, and experience level can decide.
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