Thursday is where the tricks hide.
For 32 years the New York Times daily crossword has slipped in a rebus, a square holding more than one letter, about 1 in 24 puzzles. It happens far more on some days than others.
Thursday has the most rebuses, Monday the fewest
Share of daily crosswords with at least one rebus square, by day of the week. Puzzles get harder from Monday to Saturday; Sunday is larger and about Thursday difficulty.
Table view
| Day | Puzzles | With a rebus | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1,715 | 2 | 0.1% |
| Tuesday | 1,715 | 3 | 0.2% |
| Wednesday | 1,715 | 48 | 2.8% |
| Thursday | 1,715 | 258 | 15.0% |
| Friday | 1,714 | 18 | 1.1% |
| Saturday | 1,714 | 11 | 0.6% |
| Sunday | 1,715 | 150 | 8.7% |
Rebus puzzles per year
Count of daily crosswords with a rebus in each calendar year. 1993 and 2026 are partial years in this data.
Table view
| Year | Puzzles | With a rebus | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 41 | 2 | 4.9% |
| 1994 | 365 | 10 | 2.7% |
| 1995 | 365 | 11 | 3.0% |
| 1996 | 366 | 9 | 2.5% |
| 1997 | 365 | 8 | 2.2% |
| 1998 | 365 | 6 | 1.6% |
| 1999 | 365 | 9 | 2.5% |
| 2000 | 366 | 8 | 2.2% |
| 2001 | 365 | 8 | 2.2% |
| 2002 | 365 | 10 | 2.7% |
| 2003 | 365 | 15 | 4.1% |
| 2004 | 366 | 16 | 4.4% |
| 2005 | 365 | 14 | 3.8% |
| 2006 | 365 | 13 | 3.6% |
| 2007 | 365 | 14 | 3.8% |
| 2008 | 366 | 15 | 4.1% |
| 2009 | 365 | 17 | 4.7% |
| 2010 | 365 | 15 | 4.1% |
| 2011 | 365 | 16 | 4.4% |
| 2012 | 366 | 18 | 4.9% |
| 2013 | 365 | 20 | 5.5% |
| 2014 | 365 | 21 | 5.8% |
| 2015 | 365 | 19 | 5.2% |
| 2016 | 366 | 17 | 4.6% |
| 2017 | 365 | 15 | 4.1% |
| 2018 | 365 | 18 | 4.9% |
| 2019 | 365 | 12 | 3.3% |
| 2020 | 366 | 20 | 5.5% |
| 2021 | 365 | 21 | 5.8% |
| 2022 | 365 | 21 | 5.8% |
| 2023 | 365 | 17 | 4.7% |
| 2024 | 366 | 20 | 5.5% |
| 2025 | 365 | 22 | 6.0% |
| 2026 | 274 | 13 | 4.7% |
The habit the NYT grew into
Sunday had the highest rebus share in the 1990s. Thursday overtook it and now leads the 2020s at 22.1%, climbing every decade in between. Each cell is a weekday's rebus share within one decade; darker means higher.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0% | 0% | 2% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 7% |
| 2000s | 0% | 0% | 2% | 13% | 1% | 1% | 8% |
| 2010s | 0% | 0% | 3% | 19% | 1% | 0% | 10% |
| 2020s | 0% | 0% | 5% | 22% | 0% | 0% | 11% |
Sunday led at 6.6%. Thursday sat at 3.8%, Sunday at 6.6%, across 2,232 puzzles.
Thursday led at 13.2%. Thursday sat at 13.2%, Sunday at 8.0%, across 3,653 puzzles.
Thursday led at 19.0%. Thursday sat at 19.0%, Sunday at 9.6%, across 3,652 puzzles.
Thursday led at 22.1%. Thursday sat at 22.1%, Sunday at 10.5%, across 2,466 puzzles.
Rebus details
- Most recent rebus: October 1, 2026 (Thursday).
- Typical gap between rebus puzzles: 21 days (median). Longest gap: 136 days, ending March 18, 1998.
- Rebus squares in a rebus puzzle: 6 is typical (median). The most is 79, on October 15, 2015.
- The Mini: 0 rebus puzzles out of 4,425, from August 21, 2014 to October 1, 2026.
- The Midi: 0 rebus puzzles out of 219, from February 25, 2026 to October 1, 2026.
Puzzles that cheat a different way
Some puzzles hide the trick inside a single square that quietly accepts a second answer, a Schrodinger clue, a symbol, or an April Fools swap, rather than cramming several letters in. Those are a different device from a rebus, so they are tracked on their own: 93 of the 12,003 daily puzzles scanned have at least one.
Most recent, newest first
- 2026-09-242 squares
- 2026-02-253 squares
- 2026-01-118 squares
- 2025-09-172 squares
- 2025-04-036 squares
- 2025-04-0117 squares
- 2025-02-274 squares
- 2024-12-2920 squares
- 2024-07-254 squares
- 2024-05-029 squares
A purely visual gimmick, a drawn shape or circled squares, leaves no mark in the puzzle data and is not caught here.
Method and limits
- Source: the puzzle JSON that nytimes.com serves to its own game pages, read without a login. A rebus is any square whose stored answer is longer than one character.
- Cross-checked: a sample of rebus dates was confirmed against XWord Info's independent rebus list, and every stored value re-derived from the live puzzle on the last full scan.
- A gimmick square is a single letter cell that still accepts another answer. Ordinary puzzles have none; visual-only gimmicks leave no trace and are not counted.
- Coverage: 12,003 of the 12,003 calendar days from November 21, 1993 to October 1, 2026 have a daily crossword on record.
- Updated daily, with a full rebuild on the first of each month. Last updated October 1, 2026.
Does the answer land on __A_E or _A_E_?
Every Wordle answer is checked against 2 patterns. About 1 in 15 fit at least one. In the original 2,315-word answer list, 3.6% fit __A_E and 2.3% fit _A_E_, so these are about as common as the list predicts.
Matches per year
Answers fitting any tracked pattern each year, since the archive begins in 2021. The table breaks it down by pattern.
Table view
| Year | Wordles | Fit __A_E | Fit _A_E_ | Fit either |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 196 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| 2022 | 365 | 15 | 7 | 22 |
| 2023 | 365 | 15 | 7 | 22 |
| 2024 | 366 | 21 | 7 | 28 |
| 2025 | 365 | 15 | 9 | 24 |
| 2026 | 273 | 8 | 10 | 18 |
__A_E
A third and E fifth. 84 of 1,930 answers on record fit (4.4%), about 1 in 23.
- Most recent match: August 21, 2026.
- Typical gap between matches: 19 days (median); longest 79 days.
The 84 answers that fit __A_E, newest first
Listed only after the day has passed, so nothing here spoils the current puzzle.
- TRACE2026-08-21
- GRAPE2026-07-26
- OVATE2026-06-22
- DRAKE2026-06-20
- AMAZE2026-06-16
- WEAVE2026-04-20
- GRADE2026-03-15
- AWAKE2026-02-21
- ERASE2025-12-10
- GRAVE2025-11-20
- GLARE2025-10-29
- PLANE2025-10-05
- DRAPE2025-09-25
- ELATE2025-08-30
- QUAKE2025-07-24
- GLADE2025-06-21
- LEASE2025-06-08
- CEASE2025-06-04
- AWARE2025-05-13
- SPATE2025-04-21
- SPARE2025-04-08
- CHASE2025-03-13
- SUAVE2025-02-16
- STARE2024-12-30
- SHARE2024-12-25
- BLADE2024-12-21
- BLAZE2024-11-03
- KNAVE2024-08-30
- STAKE2024-08-26
- SKATE2024-08-25
- BRACE2024-08-16
- SCALE2024-08-03
- FLAKE2024-08-02
- BLARE2024-07-09
- SHAPE2024-07-08
- ADAGE2024-07-01
- SHAVE2024-05-06
- SHADE2024-03-21
- HEAVE2024-03-12
- FLAME2024-03-04
- STATE2024-03-03
- IMAGE2024-02-29
- PLACE2024-02-08
- SNAKE2024-01-27
- GRACE2023-12-24
- GLAZE2023-11-09
- TRADE2023-11-06
- FLARE2023-11-05
- SNARE2023-09-20
- SPACE2023-09-01
- PEACE2023-08-27
- WHALE2023-07-23
- IRATE2023-07-04
- CRANE2023-06-21
- PLATE2023-04-20
- BLAME2023-03-13
- USAGE2023-02-13
- STAGE2023-02-09
- CRAVE2023-01-30
- SLATE2022-12-19
- CHAFE2022-12-02
- BRAVE2022-11-20
- INANE2022-11-13
- STALE2022-11-06
- SPADE2022-10-16
- LEAVE2022-10-01
- GRATE2022-09-24
- AGAPE2022-07-07
- PHASE2022-06-03
- SHAME2022-04-15
- SCARE2022-04-08
- TEASE2022-03-15
- SHAKE2022-02-17
- FRAME2022-02-08
- CRAZE2021-12-22
- BRAKE2021-12-20
- TRACE2021-12-15
- AGATE2021-09-29
- CRATE2021-08-03
- ABASE2021-07-15
- ABATE2021-07-07
- GRADE2021-07-04
- EVADE2021-06-26
- AWAKE2021-06-23
_A_E_
A second and E fourth. 43 of 1,930 answers on record fit (2.2%), about 1 in 45.
- Most recent match: September 21, 2026.
- Typical gap between matches: 34 days (median); longest 187 days.
The 43 answers that fit _A_E_, newest first
Listed only after the day has passed, so nothing here spoils the current puzzle.
- PAGER2026-09-21
- WAKEN2026-09-19
- WAGER2026-09-04
- MAVEN2026-07-02
- WAVER2026-05-14
- LADEN2026-04-09
- EATEN2026-03-13
- GAVEL2026-02-06
- WAXEN2026-01-19
- RACER2026-01-16
- MAKER2025-11-19
- HAVEN2025-10-18
- LATER2025-09-19
- WATER2025-07-23
- BALER2025-07-05
- EAGER2025-05-15
- HAZEL2025-04-07
- NAVEL2025-03-08
- WAFER2025-01-09
- EASEL2024-10-30
- LAGER2024-10-06
- CAMEL2024-09-02
- CADET2024-07-22
- CAMEO2024-07-11
- LASER2024-04-22
- FACET2024-04-18
- TAKEN2023-12-01
- CAPER2023-08-29
- HATER2023-06-07
- RAMEN2023-05-27
- BAGEL2023-05-25
- MATEY2023-01-22
- LAYER2023-01-04
- TAPER2022-12-18
- BAKER2022-11-16
- VALET2022-11-12
- PARER2022-09-16
- LABEL2022-08-12
- GAMER2022-05-20
- CATER2022-03-16
- LAPEL2021-09-10
- PANEL2021-08-24
- PAPER2021-07-24
What makes a Wordle nasty
__A_E is one shape. These are the traits Wordle players grumble about, counted across the 1,930 answers on record.
- Repeated a letter: 601 answers (31.1%). 13 used one letter three times, like SISSY, ERROR, FLUFF, MUMMY, NANNY, DADDY.
- Leaned on a rare letter (J, Q, X, or Z): 112 answers, like QUIET, MAJOR, HELIX, CRAZY, MAXIM, FJORD.
- The cruelest near-miss: LIGHT is a single letter away from 8 other answers in the original list, the classic one-blank coin flip. 135 answers sat in a look-alike family of five or more.
Method and limits
- Source: the Wordle JSON that nytimes.com serves to the game, read without a login. Every match is derived from the stored answer, so adding a pattern needs no re-fetch.
- The gripe counts (repeats, rare letters, look-alike families) are computed from the answers on record; the family sizes use the original Wordle answer list.
- Cross-checked: stored answers were spot-checked against public Wordle archives, and 97% appear in the original answer word list (the rest are real words the NYT added later).
- The patterns live in one place, WORDLE_PATTERNS, currently __A_E and _A_E_.
- Updated daily, with a full rebuild on the first of each month. Last updated October 1, 2026.
How hard was each day, really?
Each square is a daily crossword, shaded by how the median solver did against their own average for that weekday: cooler is easier than a normal day, warmer is harder. 4,292 days have a difficulty read so far.
The difficulty calendar
Newest year first. Hover or focus a square for the day, its rating, and how far it ran from a typical puzzle on that weekday.
Each row is one year. Scroll sideways to see the whole year
Difficulty from XW Stats, which aggregates community solve times. 1,368 puzzles ran harder than their weekday norm, 2,836 easier. Not every day has enough solves yet.