If you’ve spent any time on the NYT Games app lately, you know the drill. You check Wordle, get your green squares, maybe struggle through the Connections grid while cursing Wyna Liu’s cleverness, and then see that little square icon. Letter Boxed. It’s the one people often skip. Honestly, it’s intimidating. While Wordle is a quick hit of dopamine, Letter Boxed is more like a slow-burn mental wrestling match.
It’s basically a game of "connect the dots" but with high-stakes vocabulary. You’ve got a square. Three letters sit on each side. Your job? Use all twelve letters to create words. The catch is that you can’t use letters from the same side of the square consecutively. If you use an "A" on the top rail, your next letter must come from the left, right, or bottom. Oh, and the last letter of your first word has to be the first letter of your next one.
It's a brutal logic puzzle disguised as a spelling bee.
The Mechanics of Letter Boxed the New York Times
Most people jump in and start typing the first five-letter word they see. That’s a mistake. The goal isn’t just to find words; it’s to clear the board in as few moves as possible. Usually, the "Par" is two words. Think about that for a second. You have to find a way to use twelve distinct letters—some of which are usually clunky garbage like X, Q, or Z—using only two interconnected words.
It’s hard. Really hard.
The game was designed by Sam Ezersky, who also edits the Spelling Bee. If you’ve ever played the Bee, you know Sam has a penchant for words that feel just slightly out of reach. Letter Boxed the New York Times follows that same philosophical thread. It rewards "pantry" words—those weird terms you know but never say out loud.
Why Your Brain Might Hate It (At First)
Cognitive load is a real thing. In Wordle, the constraints are tight. In Letter Boxed, the possibilities are almost too vast. You start seeing "PH" on different sides and think PHANTOM. But then you realize the "M" is on the same side as the "O," and your entire strategy collapses.
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The game forces you to rethink spatial relationships. You aren’t just reading left-to-right anymore. You’re scanning corners. You're jumping across a digital void. It’s a workout for your working memory.
Breaking the Two-Word Barrier
To get that elusive two-word solution, you have to stop thinking about "good" words and start thinking about "efficient" words. A seven-letter word that uses common vowels is actually worse than a four-letter word that uses a "V" and a "K."
Let’s look at how the pros—yes, there are Letter Boxed pros—handle this. They look for "bridge letters."
If you have a "Q," you essentially must find the "U" immediately. But if the "U" is on the same side as the "Q," you’re in trouble. You have to find a word that ends in a letter that can then pivot into a word containing that "U." It’s like a game of billiards where you’re planning three shots ahead.
Compound Words are Your Best Friend
If you can find a compound word, you’ve basically won. Words like "BACKSTROKE" or "THUNDERBOLT" are massive because they eat up a huge chunk of the alphabet in one go. If you can land an eight-letter compound word, the remaining four letters are usually easy to mop up with a short second word.
But don’t get cocky. Sometimes the letters just don’t want to cooperate.
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You’ll find "HOUSE," but then you’re stuck starting your next word with "E." If the only letters left are "X," "Y," and "B," you’re going to have a bad time. You have to back up. Delete. Start over. It’s frustrating. It’s annoying. And yet, when those twelve letters disappear and the "Solved!" screen pops up, it feels better than a Wordle in two.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
The biggest trap is the "The" or "Ing" trap. You see an "I-N-G" and immediately want to make a participle. Sure, "RUNNING" is a word. But "G" is a notoriously difficult letter to start a second word with unless you have specific vowels available.
- Don't ignore the "y". It’s a semi-vowel that can save your life when you've used up your A, E, and O.
- Watch your endings. Words ending in "S" are rare in Letter Boxed because the NYT dictionary for this game is notoriously picky about plurals. They often don't allow simple "S" additions to inflate word length.
- Check the sides. If you see "T," "R," and "S" all on the top rail, you know you can never have those letters touch. No "ST." No "TR." This fundamentally changes how you look at the English language.
The "Par" Problem
NYT lists a "Par" for every puzzle. Usually, it's something like "Solve in 5 words." If you do it in five, you're fine. But the community doesn't care about five. They care about the "Two-Word Solution." There is an entire subculture on Twitter (or X, if we must) and Reddit dedicated to finding these daily two-worders.
It’s a badge of honor. It’s also a massive time-sink. I’ve seen people spend forty minutes staring at a square just to avoid using a third word. Is it worth it? Probably not. Do we do it anyway? Absolutely.
Semantic Variety and the Dictionary
One thing that confuses players is the dictionary. It isn’t the same as the Wordle dictionary. It’s more expansive than the Spelling Bee (which excludes "obscene" or "overly obscure" words) but it still has its quirks.
Sometimes it accepts medical terminology. Sometimes it rejects a word you’d swear is common. This is because Letter Boxed the New York Times relies on a curated list that aims for a balance between "challenging" and "accessible." If they allowed every single word in the Oxford English Dictionary, the game would be too easy. The constraints are what make it art.
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Actionable Tips for Tomorrow’s Puzzle
If you’re going to tackle the next one, change your setup. Don't play it on your phone while you're distracted. This game requires a "flow state."
- Look for prefixes. "UN-", "RE-", "PRE-". These are great for eating up letters without using much brainpower.
- Identify the "Loners." Look for letters like J, X, Q, Z, or V. These are your anchors. You must build your strategy around them, not fit them in at the end.
- The "Pivotal" Letter. The letter you end your first word with is the most important decision you'll make. Ending in an "E" or "A" gives you infinite options for word two. Ending in a "V"? You're probably going to fail.
- Write it down. Honestly, some of the best players use scratch paper. Drawing the square and physically crossing out letters helps visualize the remaining options better than the digital interface does.
Why This Game is Actually Growing
Wordle was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for the New York Times. It brought millions of people into their ecosystem. But Wordle is fast. The NYT wants "dwell time"—they want you staying in the app. Letter Boxed is the perfect tool for that.
It’s a deeper experience. It’s the "prestige TV" of the puzzle world. While other games might feel like a quick snack, Letter Boxed is a multi-course meal that sometimes leaves you with indigestion but always makes you feel smarter once you finish it.
The social aspect is also key. Sharing that "2 Words" result is a humble-brag that carries more weight than a "3/6" on Wordle. It says you have the patience to sit through the frustration. It says you have a vocabulary that goes beyond five-letter basics.
Your Next Steps to Mastery
Stop treating Letter Boxed the New York Times as an afterthought. Tomorrow morning, try this:
Find the most difficult letter on the board first. Build a word around it, and try to end that word on a vowel. Don't press enter. Just look at the remaining letters. If you can't see a clear path to using the rest of them in one more word, delete it and try a different ending letter.
Persistence is the only real "hack" for this game. Most "geniuses" at this puzzle aren't actually walking dictionaries; they're just people who aren't afraid to delete a "good" word because it leads to a dead end.
Go find that two-word solve. It’s waiting there, hidden in the square.