Are there any benefits to the New York Times mini games? 

 

Since the launch of Wordle, the New York times release lots of mini games, every day.  This includes connections (which is similar to the wall on the game show only connect), spelling bee (which tests your spelling and ability to recognise words) and the mini crossword (a smaller and easier version of the regular crossword). Each of the games test your abilities in a different way, whilst the sudoku tests your non-verbal reasoning skills, the wordle tests your spelling and awareness of words. My personal favourite is the connections, although they’ve been very challenging recently, they don’t restrict you to just one subject. They test verbal reasoning as well as general knowledge, it’s a right mix of things which I why I enjoy it so much. 

 

Depending on how good you are, the mini games take just a few minutes, they are a much better way of starting your day than mindlessly scrolling on social media. Here’s the science bit: by starting your day by exercising the brain, it keeps it sharp. For older adults this can be extremely beneficial, studies have shown that the mini puzzles can help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.