The creator of Wordle is back with a new game about cryptic crosswords

The quickest way to feel dumb, in my experience, is to attempt a cryptic crossword. As Simon Parkin explains in the New Yorker:

American, or “concise,” crosswords are typically exercises in trivia more so than wit. A conventional clue might read: “Got up.” If the solution line has four letters, two answers might fit — “rose” or “woke” — and only the crossing letters can settle the matter. The cryptic clue eliminates the ambiguity entirely. It might read: “Pairs of rowdy seagulls get up.” Here, “pairs of” is not a hint but an instruction: take pairs of letters from the following words — the “ro” of “rowdy,” the “se” of “seagulls” — and arrive at an answer, “rose,” that matches “get up.” The uncertainty collapses in a single, satisfying click. Chasing that click is the cryptic solver’s obsession.

I’m pretty good at American-style crosswords, but cryptics have always evaded me — in part because solving them requires knowing game mechanics that go beyond the simple text of a clue, and I’ve never had those mechanics explained to me. Thankfully, Josh Wardle, best known as the creator of Wordle, has a new game to teach people how to play them: Parseword, a name that delights me not only for its many levels of wordplay but because it also contains within it the word “arse,” a synonym for how I feel when playing a cryptic crossword.

Games are an increasingly key component of publishers’ revenue streams, as Wordle itself proved — The New York Times bought it for “an undisclosed price in the low seven figures” in 2022. The New York Times has added more games in the time since, and they; back in February, it introduced a “Midi” crossword size. Hearst invested in the puzzle game site Puzzmo, which syndicates its game to other outlets, and the New Yorker has its own stable of games, like Shuffalo and a cryptic crossword.

“Cryptics are beautiful and rich puzzles but are notoriously hard to learn,” says the game’s about page. “We wanted to make a game that captures the joy of solving cryptics while making them more accessible to everyone.”

Wardle made Parseword with longtime collaborators Chris Dary and Matt Lee, and as he tells Parkin in his New Yorker profile, his interest in cryptics came out of the suddenly massive spotlight that he found himself under in the wake of Wordle’s success. “Releasing Parseword is happening more on my own terms, instead of happening to me,” he told Parkin.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the pedigree, Parseword is a delight, with bright colors and fun popping sounds that accompany your moves. After playing through the tutorial, I feel like I’ve at least got the hang of the cryptic basics. Do I feel ready to try an entire cryptic crossword myself? Uncertain postponement.