Why Wordle Exploded (2024)

The Media Industry Crossword

Do you consider yourself a media industry expert?Test your knowledge of the global media landscape with a fun little crossword we put together.

Why did Wordle Explode?

Jonathan Knight, Head of Games at the New York Timesdiscussedthe company’s games strategy with Naavic Games. Here are key insights from the podcast.

• Games are retention tools: “Subscribers who engage with both news and games within a given week are far more likely to retain than any other combination and more likely than just news," Knight said.
• A clear mission statement: “An essential subscription for English-speaking curious people looking to understand and engage with the world” - that's how Knight articulated NYT's mission. It’s crystal-clear, and encompasses games, cooking and more.
• Wordle's growth loop: Wordle went viral because ofthe coloured blocks littered across social apps, and that hasn't changed. “I’m blown away by the percentage of shares,” Knight says, “It’s just stayed that way through the lifetime of the product.”

News Publishers 🤝 Weekly Quizzes

Rewarding an avid consumer of your content is not hard - just let them show off about it. indianexpress.com recently concluded itsNews Quiz Leaguespread over 6 weeks, and it's a fabulous example of this strategy:

• 62,377Indian Express readers participated, and1409submitted complete entries, returning to the site every week. Their average solving time was 1.5 to 2 minutes every week.
• The top 3 winners all got60/60questions right, separated only by seconds in solving time. The competition was fierce.

If your content caters to curious people, a quiz could be the perfect way to engage them. Reach out to us today to embed feature-rich quizzes on your site.

Thematic Puzzles:For the launch of India’s new parliament, The Indian Express also published aparliament crossword. Topical crosswords like these help publishers capture the moment and delight their audience.

PuzzleMe Spotlight

A selection of features from PuzzleMe,themost advanced digitalplatform for Smart Games

For solvers who want to end the day with a satisfying puzzle, we’ve got something special. A dark mode option, which has always been available on crosswords and sudokus will now also be available on quizzes and WordroWs.

Recommended by LinkedIn

Using games to increase subscribers, TikTok news…

See Also

Do You Play Wordle? Here's Why Your Answers Might Have Been Different Than Your Friends' in Recent Days

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Elaine O'Connor 9 years ago

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Hanna Yatel 🇺🇦 8 years ago

The explanations feature on PuzzleMe games is powerful.You can share information with your audience right when they’re most primed for it. Whether it’s a crossword or a quiz, add an explanation that is displayed alongside the answer.

You have the perfect word for your grid, but can’t come up with a clue. Or you want to see common clues used for your word. Did you know that clue suggestions are available within the PuzzleMe creator? While you’re entering a clue on the grid, switch to the Clue Suggestions tab tobrowse through a list of clues commonly used for your word.

Did you know?

"Film & TV" stars account for 30% of all names featured on crosswords in U.S. and U.K. newspapers, according tothis analysis.

Puzzle constructors like to keepcelebrity nameslike ‘Edie Falco’ and 'Richard Gere' handy, it seems. The next most popular categoryis musicians, withpoliticians and religious figures lagging far behind.

About Us

Amuse Labs is the creator of PuzzleMe™, the leading digital platform for Smart Games. It is a B2B SaaS company trusted globally by brands and publishers, powering Crosswords, Sudokus, Jigsaws, Quizzes, Word Searches and more. Explore opportunities to partner bysending a noteorapplyingif you’d like towork with us!

Oh, and to the journalists on our mailing list, write to us if you’d like to cover highlights from this newsletter or about Amuse Labs.