It’s not out of the ordinary for the NYT to beta test new games. Strands launched in beta earlier this year before officially becoming a part of the NYT Games app in June. Digits, a math-based puzzle game, wasn’t as lucky, launching in April 2023 in beta before being shut down a few months later.

The popular word-based game was launched by The New York Times in June 2023 and is now the publication's second-most played game behind Wordle. Connections developer and crossword editor at the New York Times, Wyna Liu, recently spoke with Newsweek about the game's popularity.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands and Connections puzzles. The New York Times Crossword Puzzle is legendary.