“A great puzzle app that has been losing features over time. I loved it, and was about to drop money on the subscription because of how generous they were. The removal of the Mini from free play was a kick in the face, and I now refuse to…”
Independent automated assessment · 3 signal sources · 1,174 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-05.
4.8 ★438,956 ratings
10M+Downloads
12+Age rating
147 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
New York Times Games is the essential app for anyone who loves word, logic and number games. Guess the Wordle, solve the Crossword or build words in Spelling Bee. Free to download, the app offers new puzzles daily for every skill level.
App Features and Games:
NEW: THE MIDI CROSSWORD - Crush this clever midsize word puzzle. - Just-right size between the Mini and the Crossword. - Enjoy approachable clues, special puzzles and a path to daily wins.
THE CROSSWORD - The classic daily New York Times puzzle you love. - Crack clues and fill the grid with answers. - Crosswords increase in difficulty throughout the week.
WORDLE - The official Wordle, a word-guessing game. - Can you guess the 5-letter word in 6 tries or less? - Analyze your guesses and improve your skills with Wordle Bot.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version 6.43.0 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 6.43.0, updated 2026-09-22.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 6.44.0 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 6.44.0, updated 2026-09-29.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
1 theme reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence about the app, not a finding about it.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 1
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Paywall blocks the basics: raised by 14 distinct reviewers (2.3% of 621 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Half of the puzzles are locked behind a paywall, I hate the connections puzzle as they often have to cheat using word-pairs, non-english words, and literal non-words. The spelling be is "how many words can you find" but you're limited to…”
“90% of the reason you would download this app is locked behind subscriptions”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 6.43.0.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown6
Lowest$0.00
Highest$39.99
Games - Monthly$5.99
Games - Monthly$4.99
New York Times Crossword Subscription$6.99
New York Times Crossword Subscription$39.99
Free Starter Pack$0.00
Show 1 more purchase
Introducing the Midi$0.00
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.