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10 Puzzle Games Like Wordle You Can Play Now

Puzzle and word games are everywhere, and these are some of the most fun.

Wordle has grown to be one of the most popular words games since Josh Wardle launched it in 2021. The game asks players 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 but there’s only one Wordle puzzle a day. So if you’ve completed today’s game — or just love puzzle games — you should try these other games until the next Wordle puzzle comes out.


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Here are 10 other puzzle games you’ll probably enjoy if you like Wordle.

Connections

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?

You can play Connections on any web browser but you need a New York Times subscription (which starts at $1 a week) to play.

Strands

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

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

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 DordleQuordle, 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.

You can play DordleQuordleOctordle or Sedecordle on any web browser.

Lewdle

«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

Tired of seeing those grey, 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.

You can play Antiwordle on any web browser.

Absurdle

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!

You can play Absurdle on any web browser.

For more word game fun, check out CNET’s Wordle tips, the best Wordle jokes and everything you need to know about the word game. You can also check out what to know about the other New York Times-owned games, Connections and Strands.

Technologies

Amazon Set to Unveil Upgraded Home and Entertainment Hardware Later This Month

Expect possible updates to Echo, Kindle and Fire TV devices at Amazon’s Sept. 30 event in NYC.

Amazon is set to announce a slew of refreshed products at its annual fall hardware event, which the company announced Monday will take place Sept. 30 in New York City.

Amazon has a wide-ranging product portfolio including Kindles, Echo smart speakers, Ring security devices and Fire TV products — any of which could be candidates for upgrades.

Back in February, Amazon upgraded its smart assistant Alexa with new conversational skills enabled by AI. Supercharged Alexa will be front and center in this new wave of devices, according to a Bloomberg interview with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy from earlier this year. 

The company is set to have more competition than ever in the smart home space in the coming year or so if the rumors about Apple’s plans for home devices are to be believed. While it’s still on the front foot, this could be an ideal moment for the company to convince you that its Echo devices are worth investing in.

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Technologies

Remember That TikTok Ban? A Deal This Week Could Finally Bring Closure

As another TikTok shutdown deadline nears, an agreement with China seems to be imminent.

The Trump administration is working on a deal with China to determine TikTok’s fate, which could be finalized by the end of this week, according to reports citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

President Trump has plans to meet on Friday with China’s President Xi Jinping, and the two are expected to discuss the fate of the Chinese-owned social media platform. That means the deadline of Wednesday, Sept. 17, may pass before there’s a definitive resolution on the matter. The key question is whether ownership of TikTok will transfer to a US-based company. The platform could shut down temporarily in the US, as it has before, in accordance with a federal law passed last year. 

Bessent said on Monday that the two countries have reached a preliminary deal and «commercial terms have been agreed upon.»

Neither TikTok nor the Treasury Department responded immediately to requests for comment.

An agreement over TikTok has been complicated by ongoing trade warring between the US and China and a new ruling against US-based Nvidia. China claims Nvidia has violated anti-monopoly laws in that country

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Technologies

New Apple Products Are Here, but I’m Eyeing This $15 MagSafe Charger Instead

This MagSafe charger makes it a breeze to charge your iPhone or AirPods wirelessly, and a single one costs just $15 at Woot.

How many times has your iPhone charger snapped, leaving you with no way to power up your phone? Wireless chargers are a convenient way to make sure your devices are powered without the hassle of fumbling around with a cable. But Apple doesn’t bundle a MagSafe charger with its devices, so if you want the convenience, you’ll have to buy one separately. 

Right now, you can score a first-gen MagSafe charger for only $15 at Woot, which is a savings of 62% off the full price. However, this deal wraps up on Oct. 3 or when stock runs out, so don’t wait around too long if you want to snag one at this record-low price.

After plugging in your MagSafe charger, simply put your phone or other MagSafe-compatible device on top of the charger — that’s it. The magnets in the MagSafe charging system will align and wirelessly charge your device up to 15W. This works with Qi charging, too, so it can wirelessly charge your iPhone 8 or later and AirPods with a wireless charging case. 

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You can get Woot’s Apple MagSafe wireless chargers in bulk, too. Right now you’ll get one for $15, a two-pack for $28 or a three-pack for $40. The more you buy, the higher the percentage off. They also come with a 90-day Woot limited warranty and Prime members can get free standard shipping (because Woot is an Amazon company). 

Note that this is the first-gen MagSafe charger, not the 2024 second-gen model that bumped speeds to 25 watts. And Apple just introduced a 2025 version alongside the iPhone 17 that’s still 25 watts but now Qi2 certified, making it more future-proof with upcoming accessories.

Why this deal matters

Ordinarily, one MagSafe charger costs $39. With this deal, you can get three of those chargers for just $1 more, so you’re essentially getting three for the price of one. The timing isn’t random either — Apple is clearing out stock of its older MagSafe chargers to make room for the latest versions. If you don’t mind sticking with the earlier 15-watt model, this clearance prices makes it a compelling pick-up.

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Impulse Buys Under $25 on Amazon That Make Surprisingly Great Gifts

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