Letter Boxed

The New York Times created Letter Boxed, a word puzzle game. The goal of the game is to use the nine provided letters to create words that can be arranged to form three overlapping words, which are then entered into the provided boxes.

Each box represents one of the words, and each letter must appear exactly once in each of the three words. The words must also be at least three letters long and be found in the crossword puzzle dictionary of the New York Times.

The game is available on the New York Times website and app for free with a basic subscription or for a paid subscription with access to additional features and puzzles. It's a fun and challenging way to work on your vocabulary, spelling, and word association.

Letter boxed game in which you place each letter one at a time into the 4 by 4 grid to make as many 3- and 4-letter words across and down as you can.

A box near the Next button at the top of the screen fills with random letters. Click or tap anywhere on the empty playing grid to insert the letter. When you're satisfied with where you've placed the letter, press the Next button to secure it and receive the letter that follows. You can try it in different squares.

Find out how often you can beat Lexi, the computerized opponent. If there is enough room on the screen, Lexi's playing grid will appear next to or below yours. Lexi's grid can be viewed at any time by clicking on her name if it isn't already visible on the scoreboard.

Click "You" to go back to your personal grid.

After completing the previous game's grids, press the Next button to begin a new one. Running totals are kept until one of you or Lexi reaches 100.

To reset all scores and begin a new series, simply press the Clear button at any time.

The letters are drawn at random from a pool of letters, roughly in proportion to how frequently they appear in English words (see table at right). Because letters are chosen at random, they may only appear once or twice in any given game. There can be no more than three of each letters or more than seven vowels in a game (A, E, I, O, or U). The letter QU is considered to be a single letter.

There is a list of all four-letter words that can be formed in any row or column. Simply click the? button at the start of the row or column you want to learn more about. The only requirement is that the row or column already contains at least one letter. The word list includes letters that have already been used in the game.

How to play

Use mouse

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