Behind the Daily Score: A Small Tune-Up
Daily puzzles have been running for a while now, and one thing has become clear: the scoreboard was a little too crowded. Too many players were finishing with the same number, and the live speed bonus didn't move as often as it should while you were solving.
We just shipped a small update to the daily scoring that addresses both points.
A smoother speed bonus
The speed bonus now uses more finely graded tiers. As the timer advances, the bonus you see should tick down more regularly instead of sitting at one value for long stretches. The idea is simple: the faster you go, the bigger the reward, but the curve is now more responsive so the live number actually means something moment to moment.
Baseline times tuned to real solves
The baseline times we compare your solve against were also updated to reflect how players are actually completing puzzles now. The old benchmarks were a bit too optimistic, which made the bonus curve feel compressed. The new baselines are grounded in recent human performance, so the speed bonus now rewards genuine quick thinking without over-penalizing normal play.
What you should notice
The biggest practical change is fewer ties at the top of the daily leaderboard. With a wider spread of possible speed bonuses, two players who finish close together will usually separate by a few points. Nothing else about scoring changes — hints, letter points, and insight bonuses all work exactly as before.
Try today's puzzle and see how the new curve feels. If the numbers look different from what you remember, that's the idea: the score should tell a slightly sharper story about how you solved.
Happy solving.