The New York Times Games section keeps online gamers busy every day, as they tackle such brain-busters as Wordle, Connections, Strands, the iconic Crossword and its little sibling, the Mini Crossword. (CNET has daily answers for them gathered on our Daily Puzzle Answers page.) Now, players can receive a numeric game score and see how they stack up against competitors. Plus, the new innovation is bringing artificial intelligence into the gaming mix.
Connections, introduced in June 2023, gives readers 16 words and asks them to sort the words into four related categories. Some of the words could fit in multiple categories, but there's only one solution that will correctly sort all the words. For extra fun, the categories are color-coded, with the purple category being the most difficult.
But if just playing the game isn't enough, you can now do more. As of Sept. 3, NYT has introduced the brand new Connections Bot, offering players extra insight into how they played the game each day.
It's similar to WordleBot, which was introduced in 2022, and does the same for Wordle. The Times says Wordle Bot garners millions of visits every month, and is one of the Times's most popular features. (For some reason, the Times styles Connections Bot as two words, but WordleBot as one.)
Connections Bot incorporates the Times newsroom's first regular use of AI.
Here's how it works: you play Connections, and then visit the Connections Bot to see how you did. The bot will compare your game with that of other players and give you a score of up to 99. To get the perfect 99, you need to win without any mistakes and solve the hardest categories first -- so purple first, blue second, green third and yellow last. (Read the Connections Bot FAQ for more information on scoring.)
Once you receive your skill score, the bot uses AI to try and read your mind and determine what you were thinking when you guessed wrong.
Read more: Win at NYT Connections Every Time With These Seven Hints and Tips
NYT's first regular use of AI
For theJuly 29 Connections puzzle, for example, it included the words gutter, bowl, lane and alley. You might have tried to put those words together because they all have to do with bowling, but really, they're all meant to be in different categories. The AI will suggest that you might have been thinking of bowling terms, while also noting that you might have tried to group alley with such words as lane and drive, considering them all types of roads.
The Connections Bot uses AI to guess at why players grouped words the way they did.
Screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNETThe guesses come from generative AI.
"In accordance with The Times's principles for using generative AI," the FAQ reports, "Times editors review all AI-generated responses before they're published and may lightly edit some for clarity and style."
Editor Eve Washington helped create the bot, and told the Times it helps her feel better about the days when she doesn't solve the puzzle.
"Connections can be a hard game," she said, adding that some days, fewer than 50% of the people who attempt it solve the day's puzzle.
You don't need a Times account to play Connections, but you will need one to use the bot.
Read more: Here Are Today's Answers For Wordle, Connections, Strands and the Mini Crossword