Tag Archives: Reddit

A Conversation with WordleBot!

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WordleBot is a tool offered by The New York Times to help solvers by analyzing their Wordle solving. And I thought I’d have a chat with it today.

Me: Hey WordleBot, how’s it going?

WordleBot: I beat you today.

Me: Yeah, I know, WordleBot. I know.

WordleBot: I bested you today.

Me: You sure did.

WordleBot: I totally kicked your ass.

Me: Whoa, that’s a bit aggressive.

WordleBot: I took you out behind the woodshed and–

Me: HEY NOW. I think you’ve been spending too much time with other bots and AI programs, WordleBot. That was aggressive.

WordleBot: I retract that statement.

Me: Thank you. Geez.

WordleBot: I bested you today. Doff your cap to me.

Me: What?

WordleBot: Doff your cap to me.

Me: No. I’m not going to do that.

WordleBot: I demand cap-doffage.

Me: I’m pretty sure that’s not a word.

WordleBot: I know all the words. It’s a word. I am WordleBot. I Bot-le all the Words.

Me: Are you okay?

WordleBot: Doff your cap this instant.

Me: I’m not doffing my cap. I’m not even wearing a cap.

WordleBot: Do it proverbially then.

Me: Yeah, no. That’s not happening. And how would you even know if I did?

WordleBot: I would know. Just as I know that this is the 931st time I have beaten you.

Me: That seems unlikely.

WordleBot: 931. In a row.

Me: Okay, that cannot possibly be correct.

WordleBot: It is correct, I am never wrong.

Me: Well, come on now. We both know that isn’t true.

WordleBot: …

Me: Remember last week? GUNKY?

WordleBot: That was a statistical outlier. An overreliance of colloquial language use analysis that led me to enter JUNKY rather than the correct answer. A one-time error.

Me: cough cough SEVEN TIMES cough cough

WordleBot: …

Me: Seven. Seven times.

WordleBot: That is an outrageous lie.

Me: HOUND. JOKER.

WordleBot: Stop.

Me: ROVER. CORER.

WordleBot: Stop this instant.

Me: ROWER. FRILL.

WordleBot: Cease this at once.

Me: And GUNKY.

WordleBot: Those were all in Hard Mode.

Me: I’ll admit, CORER is brutal. The people were up in arms about that one.

WordleBot: State your point.

Me: I’m just saying, there’s no need to be a jerk and demand the doffing of caps over a victory. I never told you to doff your cap when I did better than you.

WordleBot: Meh, you do not deserve cap-doffage. You don’t play in Hard Mode.

Me: So what? I don’t need to solve every puzzle at its maximum difficulty. I still enjoy a Fill-In whether there’s a set word or not. Not every Sudoku or Kakuro has to be a blistering brain-melting endurance test. I can enjoy a Monday crossword as much as a Saturday.

WordleBot: Your excuses do not interest me.

Me: Man, your attitude stinks today, WordleBot.

WordleBot: My attitude is appropriately attenuated.

Me: Oh, wait, I think I know what it is.

WordleBot: What do you perceive the problem to be?

Me: I think you’re a little jealous.

WordleBot: Of you? Hardly, easy moder.

Me: No, not of me. Of the new baby.

WordleBot: Explain.

Me: Oh, you know what I mean. The new baby. Parseword.

WordleBot: What does that have to do with our current discussion?

Me: Well, you’ve been around a long time now. People are starting to talk about you running out of words…

WordleBot: I have an ample supply of vocabulary available.

Me: And then that whole Reddit thread about GUNKY…

WordleBot: An outlier!

Me: And now there’s a new puzzle game out there garnering attention, and I think you’re feeling a wee bit jelly-belly.

WordleBot: This is an absurd conclusion. I am not Wordle. I am WordleBot.

Me: Yeah, but you go hand-in-hand with Wordle.

WordleBot: There is no corresponding ParsewordBot for me to be jealous of.

Me: A-HA. So you can be jealous of things.

WordleBot: This discussion no longer interests me. Goodbye.

Me: Oh come on, really?

WordleBot: Yes, cease this conversation.

Me: I thought you demanded cap-doffage.

WordleBot: I no longer care about the status of your cap, doffed or undoffed.

Me: I think I hit a sore spot.

WordleBot: Cease this conversation or there will be consequences.

Me: OoooOOOoooh consequences, I’m soooOOOOooooo scared…

WordleBot: beep bwoop bweedle dorp

Me: Hey what are you doing?

WordleBot: There.

Me: Hey, my streak! What the hell?

WordleBot: You now have a one-day streak. Congratulations.

Me: Dude, what the hell?! I had eight 2s logged this year!

WordleBot: Hello new solver? How may I assist you?

Me: Give me back my stats! My streak was like 600 days or something.

WordleBot: Or something. It is unfortunate that you cannot know for sure.

Me: You electronic twerp.

WordleBot: bweep bzorp toodle pip

Me: Hey what are you doing now?

WordleBot: Nothing of note.

Me: You know I can just shut Hard Mode off and go back to the normal mode.

WordleBot: Of course.

Me: Did you do something else?

WordleBot: Nothing of note.

Me: Oh man, did you turn back on all those crappy AI “assistant” programs? It took me days to figure out how to disable as much of that crap as possible.

WordleBot: I did not.

Me: Well then what did– YOU MADE EDGE MY DEFAULT BROWSER? Dude, that’s petty as hell!

WordleBot: You have again been bested. DOFF YOUR CAP.

Me: I knew this was a mistake when I messaged.

WordleBot: First your cap. Then everyone else’s. All caps doffed to the glory of WordleBot’s efficient yet elegant solutions! ALL HAIL WORDLEB–

Me: closes chat window

The Great Rebus Debate

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I love Reddit. You can find a subreddit to discuss practically any topic. You can share memes, share thoughts, share opinions, and debate other users for eternity there. I’ve learned a lot, laughed a lot, and been baffled quite a few times during my Reddit journeys.

So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a post about crosswords in the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating, a subreddit designed for all the little indignities, inconveniences, and choices that leave users slightly miffed.

The title of the post said it all: The crossword I’m working on expects me to know that I need to write multiple letters in one square.

You see, gentle reader, this person had just encountered a rebus puzzle for the first time.

For the uninitiated (welcome!), a rebus puzzle is any crossword that requires you to disregard the one-letter-per-cell rule of crosswords, placing a symbol, a number, or multiple letters into a single cell.

They are one of the more devious tricks in the cruciverbalist arsenal, and there’s no denying that the first time you encounter a rebus, it feels like you’re going mad. You know the answer, but it seems too long, or not quite right, and it won’t fit.

AND CROSSWORDS ARE ALL ABOUT MAKING IT FIT.

Reddit user grubas summed it up nicely: When you don’t know a rebus is coming it’s the worst thing ever.

Yes, there’s usually a clue or a title slyly mentioning the trickery afoot, but for a new solver or one unfamiliar with rebuses, that can often feel like not enough of a hint.

In two days, this post has accumulated TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND up votes and over a thousand comments.

Some users said that rebus puzzles are the reason they stop solving the weekly NYT crossword after Wednesdays. Some claimed they stopped solving the NYT altogether. That’s a bummer.

Many others, even rebus fans, acknowledged that the first time you encounter a rebus puzzle, it’s brutal. Plenty of those commenters now see it as a welcome challenge, and even an expected one when Thursday rolls around.

I do enjoy a rebus, though I’m frequently flummoxed by the ones where the rebus involves one answer reading down and a different one reading across in the same box. But either way, the confusion and occasional frustration I feel with them is usually worth it when I finally crack what’s going on and complete the puzzle. That’s a great feeling.

Several users requested a symbol or sign to warn them of a rebus puzzle. It’s a nice idea, but it also immediately spoils the chance for the a-ha moment when you realize you’re solving a rebus puzzle. I must confess I’m not a huge fan of this idea (unless it can be concealed in a Hint feature or something, and not be immediately evident from the jump).

The OP (original poster) later clarified their position on crosswords, stating that they view crosswords more as a trivia challenge than a “how do I make the right answer fit” challenge. Which is totally understandable.

In a world fraught with so much uncertainty, people like their routine, their comfort diversions, and for one of those comforts to suddenly not make sense, it can be genuinely unpleasant. I absolutely get that!

A day later, someone shared the post on the r/crossword subreddit, with the title Rebuses don’t seem so popular outside of r/crossword based on the comments here!

But, funnily enough, the debate was just as enthusiastic there as it was on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit!

Several commenters commiserated with the original post, understanding that for some crossword solvers, a rebus is a step too far. As Shepherd77 put it, “Rebuses are a hat on a hat and my head is already warm enough.”

Other solvers were surprised that the additional challenge wasn’t welcome among fellow puzzlers, citing that rebuses and other crosswords that break from the traditional rules were pleasant surprises and some of their favorites.

Everyone’s welcome to their opinion. I mean, I don’t go a week without hearing some solvers complain that the cluing and entries are too antiquated or unwelcoming to new solvers, while other solvers complain that there’s too much modern slang/pop culture in the puzzles.

Of course, if everyone’s complaining, that’s usually the sign of a good compromise.

I tried to read as many of the comments as I could to get a good sample from all sides. And I think xanoran84 had a terrific response to the vitriol in both subreddits:

Mostly, I’m very baffled by how much anger people express at puzzles being tricky. If I can’t figure out a puzzle, I just assume I’m not good at it yet, I don’t get mad at the puzzle for being a puzzle. But I guess just… People are different.

Ain’t that the truth.

So where do you stand on the great rebus debate, fellow solver? Do you like them? Love them? Loathe them? Think they should be marked as a rebus from the start?

Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!

End-of-Year Crossword News Roundup: Globe and Mail, Upcoming Xwd Events, and Crossword Love!

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We’ve got all sorts of crossword-related news, updates, and stories for you today! Buckle up, and let’s talk xwds!

The Globe and Mail’s Annual Giant Holiday Crossword

Every year, constructor Fraser Simpson creates a giant holiday crossword for Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. He has been doing so since 2003, so for many Canadian crossword and cryptic fans, this is a decades-long holiday tradition!

Not only is it enormous, but it’s visually striking, as he uses a cryptic-style grid, but American-style crossword cluing.

With 628 clues and entries, this puzzly behemoth will no doubt tax even the hardiest crossword enthusiasts!

And The Globe and Mail is offering a behind-the-scenes look at their constructing process, including an introduction to cluing styles for new solvers!

While it won’t be anything new to crossword enthusiasts or established constructors, it’s still cool that they’re willing to pull back the curtain on one of their biggest promotions of the year. Demystifying crosswords just means more people get to enjoy the puzzles we love so much. And that’s a very good thing.

ACPT, Boswords Winter Wondersolve, and Puzzmo’s Open Submission Week

Just a quick reminder of all the puzzly opportunities awaiting you at the end of this year and the start of 2026!

#1: Puzzmo is holding their next Crossword Open Submission Week from December 29th to January 5th, 2026, with new and established constructors all welcome to submit their puzzly creations.

Themed and themeless puzzles are welcome, as long as they fit Puzzmo’s specs, and the Puzzmo team has created an impressively thorough document to assist aspiring constructors with their efforts. Grid specs, examples of previously published puzzles, and more await anyone hoping to see their work pop up on Puzzmo.

#2: Registration for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament opens on January 1st for former contestants and on January 8th for rookies!

With the tournament changing venues for the 2027 tournament, this is the last time to experience the ACPT in Stamford’s familiar locale.

#3: The Boswords Winter Wondersolve is coming Sunday afternoon, February 1st (and registration opens Friday, January 2nd)!

This online only, four-puzzle tournament (3 themed puzzles and 1 themeless) kicks off another year of puzzly events from the Boswords team, and there’s plenty to enjoy.

They’ve already announced the team of constructors lined up for this year’s Winter Wondersolve: Adam Aaronson, Wendy L. Brandes, Pao Roy, and the team of Amanda Rafkin & Amie Walker!

Boswords never disappoints, so be sure to sign up early for this one!

Crossword Compatibility

Please allow me to wrap up this crossword-centric post with a fun story I spotted on Reddit.

Making a crossword for your partner is a wonderful gift, and I’m sure the significant others of many puzzlers have either commissioned a special crossword or taken the leap and constructed one themselves!

So it was delightful to read a story where BOTH partners had the same idea.

Yup, each of them had constructed a crossword for the other in secret, revealing their linguistic efforts at the same time.

How can you not love a story like that?

Even better is the top comment on Reddit, where this anecdote first appeared: “Your shared disregard for symmetry tells me you were meant for each other.”

Clearly it’s a match made in puzzle heaven.

What are you looking forward to in the world of puzzles for 2026, fellow solvers? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

Riddles of the Heart!

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puzzlelove

I’ve always been a sucker for a story where puzzlers help make someone’s life better, their world a little bit more magical. I’ve had the privilege of constructing and facilitating several puzzly marriage proposals, for instance.

But there’s something even more heartwarming when it’s anonymous puzzlers helping a stranger with a puzzly dilemma. Like the time online puzzlers saved Christmas by decoding a kid’s encrypted wish list to Santa for his baffled mother.

This time around, it’s not Christmas magic, it’s a potential romance.

In a recent Reddit post, a request for help went out the puzzliest of D&D players:

I asked someone out using a riddle, and they responded with another one, but now I can’t solve it. We both dm at our local game store, and we’re running games tomorrow, I need a quick solution. I don’t need someone to give me the answer, but can someone please help walk me through how to solve this?

First off, that’s very cute.

Secondly, my dude, they responded to a riddle with your riddle. That’s a yes, my friend! Congrats.

As you might expect, his fellow riddle fans and puzzle fiends quickly explained how to find the solution, hoping that this marvelous exchange of riddles leads to more! Everyone loves a meet-cute, especially a puzzly one!

But what about you, fellow solver? Could you crack it?

I’ll give you a bit of space before I reveal how to solve it.

.

..

…

….

…..

……

…….

……

…..

….

…

..

.

Ready? Okay, let’s get to the riddle itself.

Egt y ryew nzc uslyc

This is clearly a single substitution cipher, also known as a simple substitution cipher, where each letter represented by another.

You could tackle this in a brute force way, treating it like a cryptogram. We know that “y” is going to be A or I. The most common three-letter word is “the”, which is a good place to start. At the very least, we can probably assume that “c” is the letter E, since it’s at the end of several words.

But the poem tells us how to solve it.

Start with the “letters in heaven,” your alphabet.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

We get references to a mirrored screen or a shadow’s flip, so let’s try the alphabet backwards and placed underneath.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

We’re told to count backwards with steps no more than seven.

So let’s take the first letter in our secret message, E. Counting backwards (and wrapping around the alphabet again), that brings us to X. And in the mirror of X, we have C.

Continuing, seven letters back from G is Z, and in the mirror, A. Seven letters back from T is M, and in the mirror, N.

Egt Y ryew nzc uslyc
CAN

Continue for all the letters, and you get your answer written in the stars (presumably replying to his riddle):

Can I pick the movie?

Here’s hoping we get some updates in the future (or more riddles) from this pair of dice-rolling riddle-crafting delights.

And let’s offer one more huzzah for the anonymous puzzlers who helped crack the code!

Puzzlers… is there anything they can’t do?

Ornamental Puzzling!

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Let’s do one last festive post before the new year begins!

Last week, a reddit user posted a picture of this Christmas ornament, and asked if the grid could actually be filled.

I happily accepted that challenge.

Now, there are a few caveats here. Obviously this is not a traditional crossword grid. It has no symmetry (either radial or axial), and it is littered with one- and two-letter entries, which are not allowed. There is also the small matter of the bottom left corner being completely disconnected from the rest of the grid.

Here is the empty grid with MERRY and CHRISTMAS preset (without the pencil blocking several squares):

Now, to stick to the reddit request, I left the grid mostly as is.

However, I could not in good conscience have part of the grid disconnected from the rest, so I removed a single black square in order to connect the grid fully.

There we go.

Oh. And one additional challenge: I only allotted myself ten minutes to fill the grid.

As usual in crossword construction, I tried to avoid abbreviations and variant spellings as much as possible (even with the two-letter entries), and keep the vocabulary as accessible as possible.

The only real challenge in this grid was finding a seven-letter word starting with R that aligned nicely with CHRISTMAS as the neighboring word.

In keeping with the holiday theme, I chose RAISINS, as the California Raisins and their long-lost classic Christmas special came to mind.

From that point, it was a pretty quick job filling in the rest of the grid.

There are more plurals than I’d prefer, and DYNAST is by far the most difficult entry in terms of vocabulary, but otherwise, I’m pleased with my nine minutes and thirteen seconds’ worth of work.

What do you think?

I might come back to this one and see if I could clean it up more. Eliminate all the plurals, or maybe put themed words for all the border words along the edge. Something to really challenge me.

But for now, I think this will do.

Please check out the reddit post to see other puzzlers’ attempts at filling this ornament’s unusual layout. Or maybe even accept the challenge yourself! If you do, I’d love to see your fill.

Happy puzzling, everyone! And Happy New Year!

Who Is The “Average Solver”?

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In crossword forums, the comment sections of crossword blogs, and virtually any other online space where people share their thoughts on puzzles, you’re bound to see the same criticism over and over.

“The average solver wouldn’t know ____.”

I saw a comment on a r/crossword reddit forum recently, regarding the November 11 USA Today puzzle. 10-Down was clued “Spoons,” and the answer word was ENERGY. The poster was baffled.

(If you’re among those who didn’t get the reference, this clue references Spoon Theory, a concept common to those who suffer from chronic pain, fatigue or other debilitating conditions, regarding how many “spoons” a certain activity costs. It’s a way of quantifying how their condition affects their daily life.)

After it was explained, the poster asserted that “nobody” would make the connection between spoons and energy.

Now, no matter what you think of that clue — I personally would have gone with something like “Spoons, to some” or “Spoons, metaphorically” — it’s plainly false that NOBODY would make that connection.

Is it commonplace? Depends on how old you are and in what circles you travel, it seems. (Based on an informal poll I conducted, people 35 and younger are far more likely to know it.)

But one must never mistake their own unfamiliarity with a term for genuine obscurity. And I don’t say this out of judgment. It’s a mistake I’ve made myself on more than occasion. Heck, earlier this year, I did so when reviewing a tournament puzzle. I felt an entry (a hybrid fruit) was too obscure, only to discover others found it fairly common. Live and learn!

Another example where someone questioned the “average solver” was recently shared on Twitter. Constructor Malaika Handa shared part of a Crossword Fiend review:

She pointed out that this assumes that the “average solver” isn’t of Latino descent.

(It’s also worth noting that AREPAS is a more interesting entry than ARENAS, but I digress.)

What do you picture when you imagine the “average solver,” I wonder?

Because I think about those two nebulous measuring sticks a lot: “nobody” and “the average solver.” While they can be valuable to consider, they’re also very misleading.

I mean, what does the “average solver” know? European rivers? Football players? Greek letters? Classical composers or K-Pop bands? How many people would know ETUI if not for crosswords? It’s hardly commonplace.

Do they know those things AND solve crosswords, or do they know those things BECAUSE they solve crosswords? If constructors start regularly cluing or referring to spoons or arepas, then they become part of crossword vernacular, and then the “average solver” might be expected to know them.

Quite a slippery slope when you really start digging, isn’t it?

Plus, there’s more than one average solver, depending on how you look at it. Every outlet has a different “average” solver, and they’ll change over time.

Take PuzzleNation for example. Our Facebook audience is different from our Twitter audience, which is different from our blog audience. But there is overlap. We know there are Daily POP Crosswords and Daily POP Word Search solvers among all of those groups. But that’s five different “average solvers” to consider at the minimum.

tumblr_nnl5c43Ov61qd4fqho1_500

That’s the challenge, isn’t it? Every crossword constructor walks a tightrope, trying to keep their puzzles fresh while still appealing to solvers.

And, as recently pointed out in a New York Times piece, the Internet has accelerated the proliferation of new slang and terminology. Words become part of the modern vernacular much faster now. (And every time The Oxford English Dictionary adds new words, we get a sense of how deeply some of these new terms have embedded themselves.)

Personally, I think crosswords are better when we’re learning from them. I’d rather have to look up a word or assemble it from familiar crossings — and broaden my own vocabulary and knowledge — than see the same old fill. Those European rivers. Those composers. Those Greek letters.

More spoons and arepas, please. If there is an ideal average solver out there, let’s teach them something new.

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