Priya Venkat
Mobile Puzzle Columnist · @priya.v
Wordle, Lexigo, Connections, and any mobile puzzle that’s small enough to play on a bus. Came to puzzles from data science; built half our solver tooling, including the opening-word benchmark on the cover.
Priya is the reason we have actual numbers next to claims like “SLATE is a better opener than ADIEU.” She wrote the simulator that benchmarks Wordle openers against the NYT solution list; the chart on the cover runs off her code. Before joining the magazine, she was a senior data scientist at a logistics company; the puzzle column started as a Substack and got merged into GameTipster when Margaux read it twice in a week.
She covers the five-letter games and the daily Lexigo. Her Wordle review is the one we send to people who say opening words don’t matter; they go quiet after the second chart. Her twelve-month average is 3.42 guesses, which she will mention only if you ask.
i Off-duty
Runs an annual board game tournament for friends. Refuses to play Scrabble because she thinks the tile distribution is biased. Was unironically delighted when she found out Lexigo’s daily solution publishes on its own dedicated page; check the Wordle review’s closing section for the link she actually uses.