One morning earlier this month I slammed the laptop shut. I drank four cups of coffee and was filled with anger. My hands were shaking and my vision was blurry. It’s not politics, which is normal to me, that confuses me.
It was Wyna Liu.
Liu is new york times The editor who created Connections, an online puzzle game that has been both a joy and a bane to my mornings—and the days of millions of people who regularly spend time busy with Liu’s creations. Connections, launching in 2023 by time‘Game teams are the second most popular teams. time A game after Wordle, this puzzle is all about identifying words with the same topic that could be Very satisfying, but often Ordinary thread is so thin that it cannot be seen. Imagine a puzzle made of puzzles. Think of a crossword, but evil–
One recent board—which is how Liu refers to each puzzle—has a glossary. In the end– after– nextand recentlyWhich can be combined under the category “At Some Future Point”. Well, good, simple enough, but in the same puzzle. Another category is “What the protruding index and middle finger can represent” has the word on it. calm– scissors– twoand victory– Woof. Over the past few weeks, Connections players have been faced with confusing categories like “Words that seem longer to be written than spoken”; “Church of England Wedding Vows”; and “The Beginning of the Pasta Name” But we keep fighting.
Most mornings I was able to finally solve the connection problem. But about once a week I found myself stuck. Unable to decipher Liu’s secret code, she became my enemy. And I’m not alone. People were simultaneously addicted to Liu’s games and angry at her all the time. Online it is fashionable to be very dramatic about this. “The connection deserves the death penalty,” one user which starts eating your brain :/” another wrote once, after being stunned by Liu’s daily riddles. Saturday Night Live Comedian Bowen Yang drives by time An office building in Manhattan, flipped it over and posted a photo on Instagram.
All of this makes me want to contact Liu. I’d like to ask my most pressing Connections questions to the mystery creators. Who does she think she is? But also: Does she know that her games make us all uncomfortable? Can you hear my anger? The short answer is, yes, Liu knows, and she likes it (on Monday, Liu’s mystery included a cryptic reference to Yang).
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Elaine Godfrey: Okay, Vina, how do you start building relationships? Is there a mystery school you graduated from?
Waina Liu: I got into puzzles through crossword puzzles. I started actively solving problems about 15 years ago, and I was really into it. Then I started going to tournaments. I’m not a good problem solver. I compete in the loosest sense. But that’s where you’ll find people creating and solving puzzles. The great thing about puzzles is that there is no straightforward path—there are no schools of puzzle solving. You just earn it by being a fan.
I join time In 2020, as a crossword solver, Connections was featured during Game Jam, an annual event where people from the Games team come together and pitch ideas. Suggested by two of my colleagues. One person is an engineer. and another is in target group research. The greenlight committee decided that if they wanted to do a 60-day public beta trial, they needed to assign an editor to write a daily bulletin. And I’m the only editor who doesn’t have a game. I’m really lucky
Godfrey: Tell me how you created your Connections board.
Liu: There are lots of free links, lots of Google. I keep notebooks and notes in the Notes app. I created a game in Google Sheets so you can click and drag words around. You just start to pick them apart. Okay, what does this mean? What might that mean? You just start using the word-cloud to think of different meanings of the same word. There may be three or four different options for the meaning of the word. bow May mean. bow It might be something you are tied to. The bow may be part of the violin. The bow may have been part of the ship. Or maybe it’s a bow. which is a show of respect
You separate the categories into two categories, and then they’re massages together. It was a lot of trial and error for me, a dead end, and together it felt very satisfying.
Godfrey: If I ask you to make a board now, how long will it take?
Liu: It will be a very boring call –laugh) On average, it may take about two and a half hours. At this point I have more experience doing this. So I felt more at ease. Sometimes I want to have a board where every word is a movie name. Or do all words start with the same letter? That might take a little longer.
Godfrey: Do you make a bunch of them and put them in the bank to use later?
Liu: Yes, I will create seven boards per week. And it will be sent to my editor, Joel Fagliano, who is the creator of Mini Crossword and is the editor-in-chief of our team. He will test them. Take notes for me I will make changes if necessary. Then send it to our panel of testers. So I submitted a board that will be published in about a month.
Godfrey: Test panel! How does it work?
Liu: We have internal testers working for them. timeand some citizens who participated time‘ The Crosswords fellowship program is tester-based. They receive a form every week with a board asking questions such as “From level one to five How difficult is this puzzle?” Does the color difficulty match your experience? Is there a flag or another solution?”
I find that difficulties can be very personal. Sometimes everyone is like,This is one fourth out of five; It’s really hard.– But sometimes the board will get the full range of scores.
Godfrey: The board has four colors: purple, blue, green and yellow, corresponding to the difficulty level, right? How do you define those things?
Liu: Purple is a pun category. The four words in that group are not defined by their actual meanings. Words ending with – or Homophones or something Blue is a trivia that could be a little more special. Not just a definition It could be an entire movie or a certain band. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing. Other categories Yellow and green: These are probably the four things you bring to the beach. Or sometimes they can be synonyms for the same word. I would say yellow is the most straightforward.
At first I thought Can we have fake cards that do not fall into any category? I have all the ideas I’m proposing. I made these other test boards, but I think the original designers were right. I like the game the way it is.
Godfrey: Oh my god, if there was a word about red herrings… I probably won’t make it. I’ve read the story subreddit for connection Some users said that they did everything in their minds first and then started solving the problem. Because in this way You will be able to tell if you were fooled by another category. I can’t do that. My brain doesn’t work like that. But there’s a way for you to be. that should Will connection be made?
Liu: number! It’s really cool to have metagame elements where people have different limitations. There are different ways they like to do things. I like hearing that. Games work best when edited in your own way. Some people have asked: Can I search for things? Is that cheating? And I was like, yeah, look at the thing! Why not? Anything that helps you enjoy the game’s experience is not only fair but also fair. But it’s also good. The game should be served by a solver.
Godfrey: People have had strong reactions to this game. You expected that?
Liu: The whole thing was a surprise. It’s so exciting that people love talking about this game so much. What’s cool about puzzles is that people are so fascinated by them. But there are also low stakes. It’s fun to be crazy. I like to be angry about things. So I understand
My parents are much older and offline. One time when they were like Your cousin is talking about it!That’s meaningful.
Godfrey: I know people who are really angry at this game. Some of my colleagues would like to know if you have a quota for filling in the blank categories. Because they really want you to stop doing that.
Liu: I’m sorry for your colleagues –laugh) But yes, I’ve heard some sentiments about some of the more bizarre categories. That’s fair.
Godfrey: Did you see that Bowen Yang flipped out? new york times Made it once because he was so angry at your puzzle?
Liu: What an honor. i love that It’s amazing. And he was amazing.
Godfrey: Have you received Connections hate emails?
Liu: Most of the discourse has people saying something like, Who do you think you are? and You will pay for this! All of this is great. I took it in the spirit that it meant. I remember seeing a video online called “Connecting Writer’s Room” and having someone just take photos and pitch ideas –laugh) I don’t drink! There are times when the intent is to cause bodily harm. I try not to take it too personally.
Godfrey: What other games do you like?
Liu: It’s a little embarrassing. But I’m not good at playing games. Anything related to strategy in any way. Anything that has random elements Rolling the dice or card games that require gambling You won’t know what to draw. Then you must Decide—for me That’s the most confusing thing. I just don’t understand how to do it.
But I like codenames. Although there is competition But there is this spirit of cooperation. I love party games like Fishbowl, Sudoku—I feel like I’m 15 years too late, but it feels like my brain is very at peace. I like word puzzles. But I interact with them a lot in my work. Glad to have something else. Secret crossword puzzle Really fun
Godfrey: Have you ever thought that Okay, I don’t want to play around anymore.–
Liu: –laugh) I have an insistence on solving crossword puzzles with my friends on the west coast. It’s a lot of fun. But yes, usually my way to relax is to watch horror movies. I’m going to compete in a crossword puzzle. But it will save a lot of time on special occasions. I don’t want to get bored with puzzles.
