A few years after selling Wordle to the New York Times, creator Josh Wardle has returned with a new word game — albeit one that’s quite a bit trickier. Wardle and a team of collaborators have just released Parseword, a game that tries to make cryptic crosswords easier to understand. “Cryptics are beautiful and rich puzzles but are notoriously hard to learn,” the site’s about page explains. “We wanted to make a game that captures the joy of solving cryptics while making them more accessible to everyone.”
In a profile in the New Yorker, Wardle explained that he struggled with viral success of Wordle and the attention that followed, but he found some refuge in cryptic crosswords, which differ from standard crossword puzzles in that the clues themselves are puzzles. Parseword not only streamlines things to make them more accessible, but also offers a number of tutorials, starter puzzles, and some helpful videos to introduce newcomers to the genre. It also includes three game modes of varying difficulty so veterans can still play.
Parseword is launching at a time when the market for daily puzzle games is as crowded as it has ever been, almost entirely due to the breakout success of Wordle. The New York Times continues to expand its presence (including frequently updating Wordle), newcomers like Puzzmo have been steadily growing, and even big names like Netflix and Apple are exploring the space. Parseword, though, appears to be more of a labor of love than an attempt to re-create Wordle’s success. “Releasing Parseword is happening more on my own terms, instead of happening to me,” Wardle told the New Yorker.
