I do NY Times crosswords. quite challenging as an ESL, but very satisfying. so far I've only been able to solve Monday or Tuesday ones, and I still use the "check puzzle" helper to see how many words I got wrong when I'm stuck, but I don't have to look up stuff online anymore!
there's another layer of difficulty when you're not from the US, as it often requires you to know stuff from US history and culture that you don't learn and know about abroad. like tHE FUCK KIND OF A THREE LETTER ORG DID NIXON CREATE, WATERGATE IS LONGER THAN THREE LETTERS
Recently I've been learning crosswords and I do the daily Newsday and USA Today puzzles since they're pretty easy, but near the end of the week the Newsday one gets kinda difficult.
I also want to shout-out Forkyz on F-Droid. It's by far the best crossword puzzle app I've used. Pulls from multiple news sites and you can import puzzles as well
I learnt Cryptic Crosswords the other year, which are somewhat mind bending. The moment you figure out the answer is often alongside a groan of aaah like you've just got a bad pun.
I tried to get into cryptics a few years ago and was really frustrated. It seemed like you really needed to just know the conventions around the clues rather than relying on general knowledge or vocabulary. I probably aught to try again.
is there a source for NY Times ones? I'm currently using https://downforacross.com/ which is pretty good on both mobile and desktop, but I'd like something that doesn't require constant internet connection, and this one freaks out when you're in spotty area and disconnect for a second.
I'm starting to play this game called Guessdle that you can guess an object/place/food. It uses AI to determine if what you asked is right or not until you finished guessing the thing. It's pretty much cool though.
Not sure it counts as quick, but a big fan of Squaredle, which is a nice wordsearch game. Another (quicker) daily game I enjoy is Polygonle, which is a nice spin on regular Wordle but with shapes!
Another fun twist on wordle I recommend is fusele. Each word you enter has its own rule you need to follow, for example maybe the first word has to repeat a letter, or you get orange hints instead which mean the letter you entered is within 3 letters of the alphabet of the correct letter.
I actually pay the $2/month for squaredle.app for the extra features. I play this game while in boring meetings so that my mind doesn't wander and I can keep my concentration on what people are saying.
I like to play the NYT mini crossword every day. I like asking other people for advice on it when I get stuck so it's both a fun daily game and a good way to do a bit of socializing.
I try to get in a game of Contexto every day at work when things are slow.
The goal is to find a secret word based on how similar the words you have already guessed is.
You do get unlimited guesses though which is nice.
it's pretty challenging but very rewarding when you finally get it.
My best score so far is 1 guess. Can't remember what clue I spotted in the pre-cleared words, but guessed that the answer was 'Ball', and it was. On average though, I'm closer to 60 guesses or so.
Wordle, chess.com daily puzzle, and the Guardian quick crossword are my daily routine. I'm not keen on the crossword and would replace it with a better one but haven't found it yet. Irish Times one was good, long ago.
The closest thing I have are the daily challenges from Hoplite (mobile) and Sagrada (boardgame app). I don't do them all the time but sometimes I do a few days in a row. The Slay the Spire ones can be fun too but too time consuming to do regularly.
I like puzzlemoji, instead of guessing something yourself, you get a movie title and have to provide three Emoji as a hint for ChatGPT to guess the movie.
You do have to purchase the expansions separately, but every week they have one available to use for free. You can also buy first edition card sets for the expansions that have come out with a second edition (Base set, Intrigue, Seaside, Hinterlands).
I like all version of the Nerdles, playing mostly the Classic, Bi, Mini, and Mini Bi. Though they recently added the Crossnerdle and that might be my favorite. You can also make your own Pro Nerdle and send them to your friends with way more operators to choose from!
Kind of spendy and maybe too absorbing, but I've found that the Android version of Dead Cells is a great way to kill anywhere from a little to a lot of time and the touch screen controls work surprisingly well (tho you're definitely going to want a controller for any of the higher difficulty runs)
Daily Dadish (iOS linked) has been a cute daily platforming challenge. Outside of super tricky levels, I can usually get the "best" time to collect the star in 10m or so, and the controls are pretty solid for being a touchscreen.