The New York Times’ flagship daily word game Wordle returned with Puzzle #1737 on Sunday, March 22, 2026, challenging players to identify a five-letter herb central to global cuisines. As millions logged in at the stroke of midnight Eastern time, the puzzle rewarded careful vowel placement and common consonant testing, proving moderately difficult yet satisfying for consistent solvers.

Wordle, acquired by The New York Times in 2022, maintains its minimalist format: guess a five-letter word in up to six attempts, with color feedback—green for correct letter and position, yellow for correct letter in wrong position, gray for absent letters. No technical disruptions affected access via nytimes.com/games/wordle, the NYT Games app or linked platforms on March 22, allowing uninterrupted play worldwide.

Today’s solution was **BASIL**, a noun referring to the aromatic leaves of the Ocimum basilicum plant, prized in Italian pesto, Thai curries, Mediterranean salads and countless other dishes. The word features two vowels (A and I), starts with B, ends with L, and contains no repeated letters, aligning with Wordle’s preference for everyday vocabulary over obscure terms.

Multiple gaming outlets and community trackers confirmed the answer shortly after release. WordleBot, the NYT’s official solver analysis tool, reported an average of 3.7 guesses in easy mode and 3.6 in hard mode, indicating a puzzle that rewarded strategic openers without excessive frustration. Solvers who began with vowel-heavy starters like ADIEU, AUDIO or RAISE often eliminated multiple incorrect paths quickly.

Subtle hints circulated across forums and social media helped without spoiling:
– The word is a common kitchen herb used fresh or dried.
– It belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae).
– Think of a key ingredient in caprese salad or Genovese pesto.
– It starts with B and has two vowels separated by consonants.
– No duplicate letters appear.

For players seeking stronger nudges:
– Starts with **B**.
– Second letter is **A**.
– Contains **S**, **I** and **L**.
– Associated with sweet, slightly peppery flavor profiles in cooking.

Strategic approaches varied. Many opened with **CRANE** or **SLATE** to test frequent consonants and vowels, then pivoted based on feedback. A popular path involved guessing **RAISE** early to probe A, I, E, S and R—letters that frequently appear. If green or yellow hits emerged on A or S, follow-ups like **BASIL** itself or close variants often sealed the solve in three or four turns.

Common pitfalls included confusing BASIL with similar herb-adjacent words like BASIS (a frequent red herring due to shared letters) or other B-starters such as BASIC or BATCH. The puzzle’s culinary theme tied neatly into broader NYT Games ecosystem synergies, where food-related words occasionally appear across Wordle, Connections and Strands.

Community reactions flooded Reddit’s r/wordle, X and Discord channels. Threads titled “Wordle 1737 – March 22, 2026” amassed hundreds of shares, with players posting grids ranging from elegant 3/6 solves to tense 5/6 or 6/6 finishes. One user noted, “Started with AUDIO, got yellow A and I, then nailed it with BASIL on guess three—herb season vibes!” Others lamented near-misses: “Thought BASIS after green B A S, but L clicked it home.”

Wordle’s enduring appeal stems from its simplicity and daily ritual. Since launch in 2021 by engineer Josh Wardle, the game has grown into a cultural staple, with streaks tracked obsessively and social sharing of square grids fueling friendly competition. The NYT expanded access through subscriptions while keeping core play free (with limited daily puzzles for non-subscribers in some regions).

Puzzle #1737 fits the 2026 pattern of balanced difficulty on weekends, avoiding ultra-rare words while introducing thoughtful themes. Preceding days featured OASIS (#1735 on March 20) and SLICK (#1736 on March 21), showing variety from geographic terms to descriptive adjectives before landing on a botanical noun.

Advanced strategies for consistent performance include:
– Prioritize openers with high-frequency letters (R, S, T, L, N, E, A, I, O).
– Use second guesses to maximize new information, especially testing remaining vowels.
– In hard mode, leverage yellow letters positionally.
– Avoid guessing confirmed grays.
– Track personal patterns via WordleBot post-solve for efficiency insights.

For those who missed BASIL or want practice, the archive remains accessible for past puzzles, though streaks require daily play. Tomorrow’s puzzle resets at midnight ET, continuing the unbroken chain since Wordle’s public debut.

As brain games maintain popularity amid digital mindfulness trends, Wordle stands out for accessibility—no timers, no ads in core experience, just pure deduction. Puzzle #1737 exemplified this: a gentle Sunday challenge evoking fresh herbs and summer dishes as spring unfolds in the Northern Hemisphere.

Whether you’re protecting a years-long streak or casually dipping in, today’s basil-scented solve offered a flavorful start to the day. Check back tomorrow for fresh hints, strategies and the next chapter in Wordle’s ongoing story.

The New York Times’ popular word-association game Connections delivered another engaging challenge on Sunday, March 22, 2026, with Puzzle #1015 drawing players into a mix of leadership terms, cinematic terminology, gym equipment and clever phrase completions. As one of the NYT Games suite’s daily brain teasers, Connections continues to captivate millions since its 2023 launch, testing pattern recognition and vocabulary in a deceptively simple format.

Today’s puzzle featured 16 words arranged in a 4×4 grid: BAR, BENCH, CHAIR, CHANNEL, COUCH, CROWD, FRAME, HEAD, IMAGE, KITE, LEAD, RACK, RUN, SHOT, STILL, WEIGHTS. Players must group them into four themed categories of four words each, with increasing difficulty from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest). Mistakes are limited to four before the game ends, adding tension to the solve.

Official NYT sources and companion articles confirm the puzzle went live at midnight Eastern time, as is standard for daily Connections releases. No major technical issues were reported on the NYT Games platform or app, allowing seamless play across web, iOS and Android devices.

The yellow category, rated easiest, centered on verbs and nouns meaning **to oversee** or take charge of something. The words CHAIR, HEAD, LEAD and RUN all fit this theme: one might “chair” a meeting, “head” a department, “lead” a team or “run” an organization. This group rewards straightforward synonym recognition, often the entry point for solvers building momentum.

Moving to green, the medium-difficulty category evoked **a picture taken from a film**. FRAME, IMAGE, SHOT and STILL capture elements of movie stills or cinematography: a “frame” from footage, a captured “image,” a camera “shot” or a “still” photo extracted from motion. This thematic tie to visual media proved intuitive for film enthusiasts but required a leap from literal to contextual thinking.

The blue category ramped up complexity with **components of a weightlifting setup**. BAR, BENCH, RACK and WEIGHTS directly reference gym essentials: the barbell “bar,” weight “bench,” storage “rack” and the “weights” themselves. Fitness-focused players spotted this quickly, while others might have initially grouped gym terms more broadly before refining.

The purple category, notoriously tricky, involved completing the phrase **____ surf**. CHANNEL, COUCH, CROWD and KITE form idiomatic expressions: “channel surf” (flipping TV channels), “couch surf” (staying temporarily on friends’ sofas), “crowd surf” (being passed over concert crowds) and “kite surf” (extreme water sport with a kite-like sail). This wordplay-heavy group demanded knowledge of niche slang and activities, often stumping even seasoned players until the pattern emerged.

Solvers shared varied experiences across social platforms and gaming forums. Many completed the puzzle in under two minutes, praising the balanced difficulty and thematic cohesion. One common misstep involved confusing “RUN” (from oversee) with fitness contexts, or mixing “SHOT” and “STILL” into unrelated groupings before cinema clues clicked. The purple category drew particular praise—and frustration—for its creative phrase completion.

Connections #1015 aligns with the game’s evolving style in 2026, blending everyday verbs, technical jargon, pop culture and idiomatic phrases. NYT Games has steadily refined the puzzle since introducing variants like Connections: Sports Edition, which launched earlier this year and offers athletics-themed boards on select days. While today’s standard puzzle stuck to general knowledge, the sports spin-off on March 22 featured categories like equipment for snow activities (SKI, SLED, SNOWBOARD, TUBE), bounce-back terms (COMEBACK, RALLY, REBOUND, RECOVERY), past-tense baseball actions (CAUGHT, DOVE, SLID, THREW) and Premier League manager names (ANGE, ENZO, NUNO, PEP).

The core game’s accessibility has fueled its popularity. Free to play with a NYT Games subscription for unlimited access, Connections complements staples like Wordle, Strands and the Mini Crossword. Daily companion articles on nytimes.com provide hints, one revealed word per category and post-solve discussion, encouraging community engagement without spoiling the solve.

For those who missed it or want to revisit, the puzzle remains available in the NYT Games archive. Players aiming to maintain streaks should note that Connections resets daily at midnight ET, with no carryover from previous days.

As brain-training games gain traction amid digital wellness trends, Connections stands out for rewarding lateral thinking over rote memorization. Puzzle #1015 exemplified this: a Sunday edition that felt satisfying yet challenging, blending professional roles, Hollywood lingo, gym culture and surf slang into one cohesive brain workout.

Whether you’re a daily solver chasing perfect games or a casual player dipping in for fun, today’s board offered something for everyone. With hints like “think leadership verbs” for yellow or “film still synonyms” for green, even stuck players could progress logically.

The New York Times continues expanding its games portfolio, with rumors of further variants and accessibility features in development for later 2026. For now, Connections #1015 serves as a strong example of why the game remains a morning ritual for word lovers worldwide.

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Gail Slater, then-head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, was reviewing Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion bid to acquire rival Juniper when she got a phone call from one of the company’s outside lawyers.

“If you don’t approve this settlement, I will destroy you. I will destroy your job at the DOJ,” Mike Davis told her, according to a sworn deposition by her former deputy, Roger Alford, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. 

Slater relayed the call to Alford and told him it had badly shaken her, her former deputy testified. Davis had been Slater’s friend for years and recommended her to President Trump for the job. Now, he was advising HPE—and Slater and her team had proved resistant to the settlement terms he proposed.

The fallout was swift. Within months, two of Slater’s deputies—including Alford—were pushed out of the Justice Department. By February, Slater was gone, too. A senior White House official said Davis played a role in her ouster.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.