Three puzzles, the same for everybody today
A number, a word and a pattern, chosen by the date rather than by a server. Independent of each other, playable in any order, and gone tomorrow. There is no streak and no score — skipping a day costs nothing, because nothing is being counted.
Today
Built by your browser from today's date
How "the same for everybody" works without a server
The three puzzles are derived from a manifest — the date, the engine behind each slot, and that engine's own rules version — and the seed is a function of those and nothing else. Two people whose calendars say the same date, running the same build, get the same three puzzles. No request is made and nothing about your play is transmitted.
Two consequences, both worth stating rather than hiding. It is your calendar day, not a server's. Somebody in Auckland reaches a given date well before somebody in Los Angeles and gets the same puzzles, just earlier; a shared clock would need a server, and a server would need to know when you played. A rules change moves the puzzles. If an engine's version changes, the seeds change with it, which is why every slot records the version that built it — a date's manifest is only meaningful alongside the versions it names.
Why these three, and what is missing
Three kinds of thinking rather than three puzzles: arithmetic search, letters, and rule-finding. Each slot is built by an engine that already proves something about its own output — the number puzzle has exactly one route, verified by exhaustive search; the cryptogram never lets a letter stand for itself and uses lines written for the tool rather than quoted; the pattern is checked against every rule the engine knows and discarded if two of them fit but disagree.
The original plan had a word-ladder slot. It is not here, because a word ladder needs a licensed dictionary with frequency and proper-noun metadata, and there is nothing on this site that could stand in for one. Rather than fill the slot with unverified content, it is left out and this paragraph explains why.
No streak, and that is deliberate
There is no counter recording how many days in a row you have played, because a streak is not a feature — it is a cost imposed on you for stopping. The moment one exists, missing a Tuesday means losing something, and a puzzle you play to avoid a loss is not the same as one you play because you feel like it.
Today's progress is kept so that closing the tab does not lose a half-finished cryptogram. It is discarded when the date changes. Nothing is stored about which days you played, and there is nobody to compare with.
Yesterday's puzzles
Are gone, and there is no archive. Keeping one would mean either storing a history of what you have played or serving old puzzles to be worked through in bulk, and neither is worth the complication. Every one of the three has a full version with unlimited puzzles, linked from its panel once you have finished it — not before, since a link to unlimited puzzles beside an unfinished one is mostly an invitation to go and look up the answer.
Related
The full versions: Sum Path, Cryptograms, Pattern Detective. Everything else is on the puzzle hub.
Questions people actually ask
How is it the same for everybody without a server?
The three puzzles are derived from a manifest — the date, the engine behind each slot, and that engine's rules version — and the seed is a function of those and nothing else. Two people whose calendars say the same date, on the same build, get the same three puzzles. No request is made and nothing about your play leaves the device.
Whose day is it?
Yours. The date comes from your own calendar, so somebody in Auckland gets a given day's puzzles well before somebody in Los Angeles — the same puzzles, just earlier. A shared clock would need a server, and a server would need to know when you played.
Is there a streak?
No, and that is deliberate. A streak is not a feature, it is a cost imposed on you for stopping: once one exists, missing a Tuesday means losing something. Today's progress is kept so closing the tab does not lose a half-finished cryptogram, and it is discarded when the date changes. Nothing records which days you played.
Can I do yesterday's?
No, and there is no archive. Keeping one would mean storing a history of what you have played or serving old puzzles to be worked through in bulk. Each of the three has a full version with unlimited puzzles, linked from its panel once that slot is finished.
Why does the link to the full game only appear after I finish?
Because a link to unlimited puzzles sitting beside an unfinished one is mostly an invitation to go and look up the answer, and then the daily has no point.
Where is the word ladder that was planned?
Not here. A word ladder needs a licensed dictionary with frequency and proper-noun metadata, and there is nothing on this site that could stand in for one. Filling the slot with unverified content would be worse than leaving it out, so it is left out.
What happens if a puzzle engine changes?
The seeds change with it and the day's puzzles differ from what they would have been, which is why every slot records the version that built it and any stored result from a superseded version is discarded rather than shown against a puzzle it does not describe.