Will Parsword replace Wordle was the question I started out with. The answer? No.
But that's okay, it's not meant to.
With that out of the way, what is Parseword and what is creator Josh Wardle doing with his new tricky word game?
Wordle is a simple word game on the face of it. Type a word and get letter clues to determine what the word of the day actually is, and you only have six attempts. It was a viral hit that took the internet by storm in 2021 before eventually being sold to the New York Times and folded into the Grey Lady's growing shelf of games.
As Wardle told the New Yorker following the massive success of his hit, "I’m not sure humans are built to handle going viral."
What is Parseword?
Parseword is both trickier to solve than Wordle but also a teaching tool.
The game is an attempt to make cryptic crosswords easier to understand while teaching you how to solve the types of clues you might find in a cryptic.
The clue is the puzzle. As Wardle notes, it removes some of the ambiguity of the American "concise" crossword. Historically, cryptics are more popular in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Here's an example from The Guardian if you're curious.
"Cryptics are beautiful and rich puzzles but are notoriously hard to learn," the game's about page reads. "We wanted to make a game that captures the joy of solving cryptics while making them more accessible to everyone."
Parseword eases the difficulty with helpful videos, tutorials, starter puzzles and hints to help you understand the daily puzzle. Where it differs from the crossword is that each daily puzzle is a single "simile sentence" to solve.
We have a guide on how to play Parseword, and you'll find that the game's site is quite deft at teaching or hinting at how to solve the puzzle.
Will Parseword join my daily puzzle grind?
After a week of Parseword, I have to admit, the game may not be for me.
I am a daily puzzler. From the NYT hub, I solve Strands, Wordle, Connections, and the Crossword. I also solve the daily Pips for this site, though it's not a personal favorite. I've recently been enjoying Clues by Sam for its logic puzzles.
After a week of Parseword, I have to admit, the game may not be for me.
My personal tastes lean toward trivia and clued logic puzzles, which is why Connections and the Crossword are particularly appealing to my solving tastes.
In a way, Parseword or cryptics are a logic puzzle, but I found the description of Parseword as an equation to be solved more illuminating for my aversion. Perhaps a week isn't long enough, but I had a hard time with the overall concept, even with all of the helpful hints.
There's a lot to take in from the game. There are at least nine keywords, several of which can operate in more than one manner. Plus, there is a cleverness to looking at the sentence that, admittedly, I probably lack, where sometimes seeing the word within the word escapes my thought processes.
I think when it comes to puzzles, there is joy in the journey, but also in the solving. As an example, yesterday's (March 19) daily puzzle: Bee audibly deflated: helium-filled craft was one I was able to breeze through without using the included hints.
I found some enjoyment in finally grasping the homophone and replacement moves I needed to make, but the solve still left me... unfulfilled.
If that kind of thinking excites your puzzle brain, you should give Parseword a try. However, if you're like me and find that you don't approach puzzles this way, there are other games to play.
Wardle has described Parseword as a "gradual on-ramp" to understanding cryptics. If the game catches you, I agree, it seems like a useful way to warm your brain up to eventually diving into the much trickier world of full cryptic crosswords.
Alternatives to try
Of course, the New York Times has its Games app with some quite popular daily puzzles.
There's also the Hearst-owned Puzzmo which has a bevy of games that are wildly different from the NYT offerings. Circuits and Really Bad Chess are two I'd recommend alongside their versions of the Crossword. But everyone have games these days including LinkedIn of all places.
While you're here, did you know that we have our own Tom's Guide games?
Our games include everything from crosswords and word searches to trivia and guessing numbers. Give it a try and let us know what you might be interested in playing. We're always interested in feedback so let us know your views in the comments below.
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