NEW YORK — The New York Times Games app has added a new logic puzzle based on the city’s upcoming Democratic mayoral primary election, sources confirm.
“Clue 1: You must not rank Zohran Mamdani,” reads the first—and, so far, only—puzzle. “Clue 2: We are not endorsing Andrew Cuomo. Clue 3: Really, we do not make official endorsements on local elections anymore. Clue 4: You must rank either Mamdani or Cuomo without violating any of the previous directives.”
Fans of the app were happy to see new content.
“I already use the app every day for Wordle and Spelling Bee,” said Charles Callahan, 64. “This should keep me busy for a while. It’s pretty confusing. It’s supposed to be about voting, but there’s spots for more than one name. I don’t really understand it. When I click ‘hint,’ it just tells me that sexual harassment is a personal matter and shouldn’t be something that you consider when you vote. Oh well, I guess I’ll just write ‘Cuomo,’ since I recognize his name the most. They write about him in the paper all the time. Hey! That was the right answer! The game says I’m very smart for figuring it out.”
Media analyst Spencer Kane, 33, speculated that the New York Times and other publications will increasingly deliver a variety of content in the form of puzzle games.
“This is just how our media landscape is evolving in 2025,” said Kane. “Matrices and grids have taken over film and sports discussion. Older folks who were still following legacy media have since abandoned in favor of spamming family group chats with their daily Wordle-like scores. Soon, you’ll have to guess the upcoming week’s weather just to know what the forecast is. It’s no surprise that the Times is using this to find a way to give a mealy-mouthed non-endorsement to Cuomo after they vowed never to endorse in local contests ever again. It’s basically as clever as they get.”
When reached for comment, The New York Times directed reporters to two separate public relations representatives—one who always tells the truth, and one who always lies.
