Keegan-Michael Key has a group chat going with his wife Elle and some friends, where they share their daily Wordle score. One guy in the chat, Phil, has a Wordle strategy that can be baffling—though the results speak for themselves.

“Phil got Wordle in one [guess] on the word ‘Trash,’” Key told Ad Age this week. “I was like, ‘Trash?’ Really? Why would that ever be your first word in Wordle? And he's like, ‘I don't know and I don't care. I got it in one.”

Developed by software engineer Josh Wardle, released publicly in October 2021 and bought by The New York Times for an undisclosed seven-figure sum in January 2022, Wordle has this effect on people. At its core, it’s a solitary mind puzzle. Yet thanks to its shareability—via text message and social media—it’s proven to be one of the world’s most social games as well.

The Times is leaning into this in a new Wordle campaign, created in-house and fronted by Key, with social elements at its core.

From today through June 23, players can share their New York Times Games scores (Wordle, Spelling Bee, Crossword and Mini Crossword) with the hashtag #NYTGamesChallenge on Twitter, TikTok or Instagram for the chance to win swag and prizes—including having Key join your Wordle group chat, where you can test your five-letter skills against him.

The campaign kicks off with this video from Key, filmed by his wife:

The actor and comedian is a natural fit for the campaign. He’s a longtime Wordle fan, and he’s also drawn to games and puzzles generally—having even hosted a season of the National Geographic show Brain Games just before the pandemic.

“I enjoy anything that tests the acumen a little bit,” he said. “I like to jog my mind so I have to think about something from a different angle. It's mental gymnastics for me.” 

Wordle, he said, is the perfect kind of game—simple and addictive, yet with endless strategic possibilities for the player.

“There's as many different people in the world as there are ways to play the game, which I think is really fascinating,” he said. “There’s an endorphin hit when you play, especially for those people—I call them randomizers—who start with a random word every day as opposed to the same word. It's almost like gambling. ‘I’m going to go red 23—I don't even know why!’” 

Wordle as a gateway

Strategically at the Times, Wordle serves as a gateway to its larger Games product, which the company is using—along with other franchises beyond news, including Cooking, Wirecutter and sports site The Athletic—to drive subscriptions. Wordle remains free to play, but it’s housed within a larger group of games, many of which are premium and require a Games subscription or a full New York Times editorial subscription to unlock.

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Word games—including the famed Times crossword—are also seen as a good fit for attracting the kind of audience that might also seek out the kind of intellectual news coverage that the Times provides.

“This is a brand that's been doing games for decades,” said Key. “When we think crossword puzzles, we think The New York Times. When we think things that tickle the mind, we think of The New York Times. All the games that are fit to print are in the Times. I was actually quite honored to be asked to be part of this campaign.”

“Our ambition is to reach new audiences and become a category leader in other areas that can occupy a big place in people’s lives, and Games is a huge part in making this strategy successful,” said a rep for the Times. “Wordle has brought an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to The New York Times since we acquired it in 2022, and it brings new audiences to other games and Times products. It shows the power of the Times’ lifestyle products, and we have continued to capitalize on all the interest around Wordle to drive interest to other games in our portfolio and other parts of our business.”

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The Times said its Games were played almost 4 billion individual times in 2022. Wordle accounted for more than 2 billion of those plays. The Mini Crossword was played more than 500 million times. And in the Spelling Bee, users reached Genius level more than 77 million times.

Key said he generally solves Wordle in four moves, preferring the strategy of entering wrong answers to eliminate as many letters as possible. “I like the sleuthing of it,” he said. “For me, it's like a journey. If I end up getting five sometimes, it doesn't bother me a ton.” 

Elle and Phil, meanwhile, are the “hot shots” in the chat group.

“She's a really brave player,” Key said of his wife. “She'll start with a word like ‘Nanny.’ I don't know how she does it, but she has the courage to throw a word in there with three of the same consonants. She just throws all caution to the wind.”

As for Phil, well, he’s harder to read.

“I'm not sure what Phil's strategy is yet, but I've got to figure out how to knock him off his horse,” said Key. “This guy is coming in with threes all the time. I’m like, ‘Are you sure you're not cheating, Phil?’”