About

The Completely Unauthorized Games Toolbox is a passionate community project—a comprehensive suite of spoiler-free tools designed by and for word puzzle enthusiasts who structure their days around their favorite word games. We believe in enhancing the puzzle experience without spoiling the joy of the solve. Our mission is simple: help fellow game enthusiasts get unstuck when needed, while preserving the satisfaction of that "aha!" moment that makes these puzzles so addictive. Founded by a group of Spelling Bee obsessives who wanted better ways to track their progress and get gentle hints, The Toolbox has grown into a thriving community united by our shared love of word puzzles.

In an era of endless social media scrolling, we believe there's something refreshingly deliberate about the daily ritual of solving word puzzles, whether from The New York Times or other sources. The Times' journey from a simple crossword addition to the newspaper in 1942 to today's digital gaming empire mirrors our own evolution from casual players to dedicated puzzle enthusiasts who've built tools to enhance the experience.

The Wordle Phenomenon

The 2022 acquisition of Wordle marked a watershed moment for NYT Games. The simple word-guessing game had already become a viral sensation, with its distinctive green, yellow, and gray squares flooding social media worldwide.

Many players have shared how Wordle served as their entry point to the broader world of word puzzles. What starts as a simple daily habit often evolves into a deeper appreciation for more complex word challenges—something we've witnessed firsthand in our community.

Our Toolbox

While the NY Times Spelling Bee holds a special place in our hearts and was our initial inspiration, it's just the beginning of our journey. We've started with a complete ecosystem of Bee-focused tools:

Bee Sheet - Our original tool, a printable helper to track your progress
Bee Grid - A visual aid organizing potential words by starting letters
Bee Jumble - For when you need a bigger hint, scrambling letters of valid words
Bee Peek - Our newest addition, launched May 5th, reveals just one word at a time

But we're not stopping there. Our vision extends to many more word games across various publishers and platforms, with each receiving the same thoughtful, spoiler-free approach to assistance.

Expanding Our Horizons

We're excited to announce that The Toolbox will soon be expanding beyond the NY Times universe. In the coming months, we'll be introducing tools for popular word games from other sources, including:

Connections helpers for the NYT's newest word grouping puzzle
Quordle and Octordle assistance for multi-Wordle enthusiasts
Waffle and Squareword trackers for grid-based word puzzles
Tools for the LA Times' Word Winder and Washington Post's Vowel Play

Our goal is to become your one-stop shop for enhancing any word puzzle experience, regardless of publisher, while maintaining our commitment to hint-based assistance rather than outright solutions.

Our Free Subscription

While NYT Games, and others, require a paid subscription for full access, we're proud to offer The Toolbox through a free subscription model. Our approach is simple: subscribe for free, get access to our complete set of tools, and enhance your word puzzle experience whether you're playing the free or paid version of games.

We created our tools—to help extend the joy of the free experience while respecting publishers' business models. Consider us your complementary companion on your puzzle journey, wherever it takes you.

Looking to the Future

As word games continue to evolve across publishers and platforms, so will we at The Toolbox, developing tools that enhance your puzzle experience without diminishing the challenge. Our vision is to create a community where word game enthusiasts of all types can find resources tailored to their favorite puzzles.

In an attention economy dominated by algorithms designed to hijack our focus, there's something almost rebellious about the deliberate concentration required by a well-crafted word puzzle—regardless of who publishes it.

Subscribe to The Completely Unauthorized Games Toolbox
Play today's word games with today's tools. No waiting. No spoilers. More games coming soon.

Unofficial. Unaffiliated. Unapologetically Puzzle-obsessed.