Wordle pulled you in, and now you want more. The good news: word games are one of the cheapest, most portable hobbies going. A great crossword book and a reliable pen fit in a jacket pocket and will entertain you for months. Here's exactly what to get first, and what to skip.
By Colin B. · Published June 13, 2026 · Last reviewed June 13, 2026
A puzzle book and a decent pen is all you need to start. Even Scrabble runs under $25 used. This is one of the most affordable hobbies you can build.
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At a glance
Our top pick in each category
The fastest path through this guide — each best-starter pick by category.
Scroll for the budget and upgrade alternatives.
Start with free Wordle and the NYT Mini Crossword before you spend a dollar. Both are genuinely good, and they'll tell you whether you want more. The full NYT Games subscription ($5/month) unlocks Spelling Bee, Connections, and the full crossword archive, worth it if you're doing puzzles daily.
Physical vs. digital is a real choice. Paper crosswords have a tactile satisfaction that an app doesn't replicate. Digital solves anywhere, auto-checks answers, and never runs out. Many people do both. Neither is the 'right' way.
Word games range from solitary (Wordle, crosswords) to social (Bananagrams, Codenames, Scrabble). Think about when and with whom you'll be playing. That shapes everything you buy.
The best crossword books for beginners are the Monday and Tuesday NYT collections, graded to give you solvable puzzles while still teaching you the vocabulary and patterns. Monday puzzles are built for new solvers (usually themed, more straightforward fill), Tuesday steps it up. Avoid 'easy' crossword books from supermarket racks; they're often poorly constructed with obscure fill that teaches you nothing. The NYT is the gold standard. Buy a Monday collection and work through it before buying anything else.
Best starter
The New York Times
New York Times Monday Crossword Puzzle Omnibus
$
★★★★★Our rating
The NYT Monday Omnibus is the universally agreed best entry point for new crossword solvers. 200 Monday puzzles graded exactly right, enough to build real vocabulary and pattern recognition without the frustration of harder grids. When you can reliably finish these, move to Tuesday.
What we like
200 Monday puzzles, the ideal beginner difficulty level
NYT constructors maintain quality no other publisher matches
Compact paperback fits perfectly in a bag or bedside drawer
What to know
Finite; you'll finish it in 4-6 months if you solve daily
Once Monday feels easy, the Sunday puzzle is the classic challenge. Big grid (21x21), 140+ answers, and themed in ways that reward lateral thinking. The Omnibus volumes pack 200 Sunday puzzles into one fat book. Weeks of entertainment.
What we like
200 full-size Sunday grids, typically 3-5x longer than Monday
Sunday themes are creative and memorable, unlike filler themeless grids
What to know
Not a starter book: solve Monday/Tuesday first or you'll quit
Paperback spine can crack if you fold it flat while solving
Not everyone wants the challenge of crosswords. Word searches are pure pattern-matching flow, relaxing rather than taxing. This large-print volume is well-curated, thematically organized, and legitimately satisfying for a different kind of puzzle mood.
What we like
Large print makes it comfortable for extended sessions
Thematic categories let you jump to topics you actually care about
What to know
Word search is more passive than crosswords; less vocabulary-building
Variable difficulty; some puzzles feel too easy for the page count
Two books make a real difference: a collegiate dictionary and the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate is the one crossword editors use as their authority. When a puzzle is ambiguous, this is the tiebreaker. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD or Official Tournament Word List, OWL) is a different beast: every playable 2-, 3-, and 4-letter word is listed and defined, and tournament players memorize from it. You don't need the OWL to have fun, but if you want to win.
Best starter
Merriam-Webster
's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition
$$
★★★★★Our rating
The standard reference for American crossword constructors and editors. When you hit a clue answer you don't believe ('is INIA a word?'), this is where you settle it. The 11th Edition has over 225,000 entries. A paperback sits next to the puzzle book; the hardcover is for the desk.
What we like
The dictionary crossword editors actually use, directly useful
225,000+ entries, definitive for American English spelling questions
New edition includes internet-age coinages constructors use freely
What to know
Overkill if you mostly solve digitally (Merriam-Webster.com is free)
Hardcover is bulky; this lives on the desk, not in a puzzle bag
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (5th Edition)
$$
★★★★☆Our rating
The OSPD is the Scrabble tournament standard. Every word of 2-8 letters permitted in North American club and tournament play, with definitions. Memorizing the two-letter words (AA, AI, OE, XI...) alone will add 50 points a game. Overkill for casual play; essential if you take Scrabble seriously.
What we like
Lists every legal Scrabble word, the authoritative challenge reference
Two-letter word section alone is worth the price for competitive play
What to know
Dry reading; this is a reference tool, not light bedtime material
Doesn't cover Scrabble GO's word list, which differs from official
The right pen matters more than you'd think for paper puzzles. You want something that writes in small spaces without bleeding through puzzle-book paper, and that dries fast enough that your palm doesn't smear it as you work across a grid. Fine-tip ballpoints and gel pens both work; fountain pens are a pleasure but require better paper. Most serious crossword solvers use pen, not pencil; committing in ink is part of the discipline.
Writing Instruments — what's the difference?
A few common shapes, each making a different trade.
Gel Pen (0.7mm)
Smooth, consistent, best for most paper types.
Tip
0.7mm
Ink type
Gel
Erasable?
No
Best for Everyday crossword solving on standard paperback puzzle books
The G2 fine-point is the de facto crossword pen. Smooth, consistent, smear-resistant after a few seconds, and widely available when you run out. The 0.7mm tip writes cleanly in standard crossword squares without blobbing. Buy a 12-pack; you'll lose them before you run out of ink.
What we like
Smooth gel ink dries quickly, won't smear left-to-right as you write
Refillable; you can buy G2 refills and reduce waste over time
0.7mm tip stays clean in small crossword squares
What to know
Clip breaks off with heavy pocket use, not a hard-use pen
Some solvers genuinely prefer pencil; you can erase mistakes, which matters when learning. BIC mechanicals are cheap, consistent, and the 0.7mm lead is the right weight for puzzle paper. No sharpening, no mess.
What we like
Erasing is allowed when you're still building confidence
Cheap enough to leave in every bag you own
What to know
Pencil marks smear on pulpy puzzle-book paper
Erasing in small crossword squares leaves grey smears
The Triplus fineliner in black is a crossword upgrade worth considering: the 0.3mm tip is precise in tight grids, the ink is waterproof, and the triangular barrel is comfortable for long solving sessions. The 10-color set opens up color-coding for variety puzzles, themed entry groups, or the obsessive.
What we like
0.3mm tip is the most precise option for small puzzle-book squares
Triangular barrel is ergonomic for 30-60 min sessions
Ink dries instantly on coated paper; zero smear
What to know
Fragile tip: pressing hard like a ballpoint will splay it
Fineliner ink can feather on cheap paper-back puzzle-book pages
Word board games are a different experience from solo puzzles: they're competitive, social, and faster-paced. Bananagrams is the gateway drug: no board, no turns, everyone racing simultaneously. Scrabble rewards vocabulary depth and strategic tile placement. Codenames rewards deduction and lateral association. You don't need all three; pick the one that fits how your group plays.
Best starter
Bananagrams
Bananagrams
$$
★★★★★Our rating
Bananagrams is the best word game on the market for groups who don't know if they like word games yet. No board, no turns, no setup; you race everyone else to use all your tiles in a valid crossword. Rules in two minutes, first game in five, and it genuinely rewards word knowledge without punishing beginners too hard.
What we like
Entire rule set explained in two minutes; instant pickup play
The classic. Takes longer than Bananagrams, rewards tile placement and obscure word knowledge (all those two-letter words pay off), and has a satisfying strategic layer that Bananagrams lacks. The board and tile quality on the Original Edition is fine; spring for the Deluxe if you want a rotating platform and locking tiles.
What we like
Strategy runs deep: placement matters as much as word quality
Widely available used for $5-10; great candidate for thrift stores
What to know
Slower pace: 2-hour games are common with analytical players
Paper tiles show wear; score pads run out and need replacing
Codenames is about word association, not vocabulary. Two teams race to find their agents by interpreting one-word clues. The best group party word game since Taboo. If your crowd is more lateral thinkers than Scrabble nerds, this is the pick.
What we like
Team-based: one bad vocabulary player doesn't tank the whole game
25-minute play time; easy to fit between dinner and dessert
What to know
Needs 4+ players; 2-player rules exist but feel like a workaround
Spymaster role has a steep learning curve for new players
Hasbro's official physical Wordle translates the 5-letter grid format into a 2-player guessing game with colored pegs for feedback. Quick to learn (if you already play digital Wordle), takes 20 minutes, and makes a great gift for anyone in your life who loses 15 minutes a day to the app.
What we like
Familiar Wordle rules mean zero learning curve for daily players
20-minute play time, easy to fit anywhere in an evening
Wordle takes five minutes a day. A crossword takes twenty. You don't need to become a puzzle fanatic, but if you want to, here's how to get there from where you are now.
Word games don’t ask much of you. No equipment to assemble, no court to find, no partner to schedule. You open the app, flip to a puzzle page, or set the tiles on the table, and you’re in.
The challenge is figuring out which game is actually yours. Wordle and a daily crossword are fundamentally different experiences from Scrabble or Bananagrams. Some people want the solo satisfaction of cracking a hard clue. Others want the chaos of everyone building words at the same time. Most want both, depending on the day.
This guide maps out the first month: where to start, how to get better, and when to add more.
Week one: free, no commitment
Before you spend a dollar, spend a week with the free stuff.
Wordle is already on your phone. One puzzle a day, five minutes, six tries to guess a five-letter word. The yellow/green tile feedback is addictive in a Pavlovian way. You’ll start opening it before your coffee brews. That’s fine.
The NYT Mini Crossword is also free, five minutes, 5×5 grid, usually one decent pun. Do this the same time as Wordle for a week. If you like it, you’ll want more.
NYT Connections is free too. Four groups of four words, connected by a hidden theme. Easier than the crossword, sharper than Wordle. It’s the gateway drug for people who don’t think they’re crossword people.
By the end of week one, you’ll know whether you want solo puzzle depth (crossword path) or social word chaos (board game path). A lot of people want both.
If the Mini felt too short, buy the NYT Monday Crossword Puzzles compilation. Monday is the easiest day of the NYT crossword week: themed grids, accessible fill, solvable in 10-20 minutes when you’re new.
The single most important thing about getting better at crosswords: finish every puzzle. Even if you check the answers section and write in the ones you couldn’t get. You need to complete the grid to build pattern recognition. Staring at a stuck clue for ten minutes teaches you nothing except frustration. Finishing the grid (even with help) teaches you that OSLO is always clued as “Scandinavian capital” and ERA shows up every third puzzle.
Crossword vocabulary is its own dialect. These recur constantly:
Three-letter words: ERA, ORE, ALE, ETA, OLE, ENE, ERE, AWE
You don’t need to memorize them. You’ll absorb them automatically over 50 Monday puzzles.
The board game path
If you want games that need other people, Bananagrams is the call. No setup: dump tiles, everyone races to build their own interlocking crossword grid. First person to use all their tiles wins. Teach it in two minutes at the table; you’ll be mid-game by minute three.
Bananagrams rewards fast vocab, not obscure vocab. You don’t need to know unusual Scrabble words. You need to build quickly and rearrange when you’re stuck.
Week three: going deeper
By week three, Monday crosswords should feel easier. That’s the right feeling: it means you’re building.
The upgrade from Monday: Try Tuesday. The NYT Tuesday puzzle is still gentle but requires more wordplay knowledge: puns, homophones, theme revealer answers. Tuesday is where you start learning how constructors think.
On pen vs. pencil: Most serious crossword solvers use pen. It’s not snobbishness; it’s discipline. Committing to ink means you think harder before writing. It slows down casual guessing. The fear of a blotched grid teaches you to confirm crosses before filling. Use pencil if you’re new; switch to pen once you can finish a Monday confidently.
If you’re playing Scrabble: Learn the two-letter words. There are about 105 of them in the Official Scrabble Dictionary. You don’t need all of them. Knowing ten good ones (QI, ZA, AA, XI, XU, KA, JO, OE, AE, AI) is worth an extra 20-40 points a game. The two-letter word list is free online.
The word game habit lives in the gap minutes: waiting for coffee, commuting, ten minutes before a meeting. That’s where Wordle and the Mini live.
Paper crosswords are different. They need 20-40 minutes of actual sitting. The best crossword solvers have a ritual: same chair, same pen, same time of day. Ritual lowers the activation energy. If it’s just “whenever,” it doesn’t happen.
When to add the NYT Games subscription ($40/year): When you’re doing Wordle and the Mini every day and want more. The subscription adds Spelling Bee (addictive), Connections (good for 5-10 minutes), and the full crossword archive going back to 1993. The archive alone is worth it: decades of past Mondays for when you want to practice.
When to add Scrabble or Codenames: When you have regular game-night people. Both games are better with people who’ve played before. Don’t buy Scrabble just to introduce it cold; start with Bananagrams, which requires zero prior knowledge to enjoy.
What the first month actually builds
Thirty days in, you should have:
A Wordle opening word that works for you (CRANE, SLATE, and TRACE are popular; try each for a week and track your score)
A sense of which NYT puzzle is your daily anchor (the Mini, Connections, Spelling Bee, or the full crossword)
At least 20 Monday NYT crosswords solved, pencil or pen
A feel for whether you want more solo puzzles, more board games, or both
What you won’t have yet: speed. Crossword speed comes later, after your pattern recognition becomes automatic. Don’t chase time in the first month. Chase completion.
Going further
The NYT crossword’s daily blog, Wordplay, publishes constructor notes for each puzzle after it runs; reading why a constructor made certain choices teaches you how to think like them. Start there once the Monday grid feels easy.
Save your money
What you don't need yet
Beginners get pressured to buy a lot of stuff that doesn't help them play
better. Here's what we'd skip on day one.
A full NYT digital archive subscription — Start with the free Wordle and Mini. Add the full subscription only once you're solving daily and want the Spelling Bee or archive access.
A Scrabble Deluxe or rotating board — The standard board works fine. The rotating Deluxe edition is a luxury, not an upgrade. Buy the original first; Deluxe only if you're playing weekly.
Word frequency or pattern books — Books like 'Word Freak' or tournament word-list books are great eventually. Waste of money until you've been solving for six months.
A puzzle light or magnifier — Puzzle books print plenty large. A magnifier is a solution to a problem you probably don't have yet.
Every Wordle-variant app — Quordle, Octordle, Dordle; they're fun but overwhelming to start with all at once. Master the original five-letter Wordle first.
A leather crossword portfolio — Handsome accessory, but a book and a pen work perfectly without it. Buy one if paper puzzles become a daily habit.
First week
Your first seven days
A short, real plan to get from gear-on-doorstep to actually playing.
Play Wordle today. It's free, takes five minutes, and sets the vocabulary for everything else. · Action
Solve the first five Monday puzzles in one sitting. That first sitting calibrates everything: how fast you are, where your gaps are, what kinds of clues light you up. · Action
If you have people to play with, add Bananagrams. Teach it in two minutes at the table. · Buy
Different formats, same underlying skill. Wordle is a daily 5-letter word-guess game (6 tries to find the word). Crosswords are interlocking fill-in grids, clued by wordplay and trivia. Both reward vocabulary, but crosswords add a cruciverbal pattern language, and learning how constructors clue things makes them dramatically easier.
How do I get better at Wordle?
Two habits help: start with a high-coverage opening word (CRANE, SLATE, TRACE are popular; they hit common letters early), and build a mental model of rare letters (Q, X, Z, J, V appear infrequently). Most players plateau at 4-guess averages. Getting to 3.5 average is achievable in a few months of daily play.
How long does a crossword take to solve?
Monday NYT: 5-15 minutes once you've been solving for a month. Tuesday: 10-25 minutes. Sunday: 30-60 minutes. Speed solvers at the ACPT compete in under 5 minutes per Monday. There's no race; solve at your own pace and time yourself only if you want to track improvement.
Is Scrabble worth learning the two-letter words?
If you're playing competitively or against people who already know them, yes: knowing QI, XI, ZA, AA, and the other 100+ two-letter words is worth an extra 30-50 points per game. For casual family Scrabble, skip the list and just enjoy the vocab you have.
What's Spelling Bee and should I subscribe?
NYT Spelling Bee gives you 7 letters and asks you to make as many words as possible using the center letter. The goal is 'Genius' (top score) or 'Queen Bee' (every word found). It's addictive, trains vocabulary differently than crosswords, and comes with the NYT Games subscription. Worth $40/year if you're doing it daily.
Can I play word games solo?
Almost all of them, yes. Wordle, Spelling Bee, crosswords, and word searches are inherently solo. Bananagrams has a solo mode (build a valid crossword, fastest time). Scrabble has apps with AI opponents. The social word games (Codenames, Taboo) need people, but they're a small slice of the hobby.
Wordplay (NYT Crossword Blog) — Daily blog by the NYT crossword editors. Constructor notes, solve tips, and deep dives on clue construction. Essential for serious solvers.
r/crossword — Active subreddit for daily solve discussions. Best use: reading comments on the NYT daily puzzle to see how others approached tough clues.
Puzzazz — Premium crossword app with excellent stylus support and an archive of NYT, LAT, and indie puzzles. Better app experience than the NYT native client for many solvers.
Merriam-Webster Word Central — Free online dictionary with crossword-specific lookups. Use the word finder for partial-fill crossword searches.
One Across (Crossword Solver) — Pattern-search tool for stuck crossword letters. Enter what you have (?RAIN?OW) and it returns candidate words. Use sparingly; overuse kills the solve satisfaction.
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Our top pickNew York Times Monday Crossword Puzzle Omnibus
