To cancel your NYT Games subscription, go to whichever platform charges you each month: nytimes.com if The New York Times bills you directly, the App Store if you signed up on an iPhone or iPad, or Google Play if you signed up on Android. The standard Games plan runs $6 every four weeks or $50 per year, and the charges keep coming until you cancel through the correct platform.1The New York Times. Subscribe to Games from The New York Times Whichever route you take, your access continues through the end of the billing period you already paid for.
Check Who Actually Bills You
Look at your bank or credit card statement before doing anything else. A charge from The New York Times means you cancel on nytimes.com. A charge labeled “Apple.com/Bill” means you cancel through Apple. A Google Play charge means you cancel through Google. The New York Times cannot stop charges that run through Apple or Google, so canceling in the wrong place is the single most common reason people think they canceled and then see another charge post.2The New York Times Help Center. Understanding Your Bill3The New York Times Help Center. Cancel Your Subscription
Cancel on nytimes.com
If The Times bills you directly, log in and open Subscription Overview. Under Manage Subscription, select Cancel your Subscription and follow the prompts.3The New York Times Help Center. Cancel Your Subscription The site may route you through a chat window and offer a discount, a pause, or a downgrade before you reach the final button. You can decline each offer and continue.
If the online flow stalls, call customer care at 800-698-4637 to cancel by phone. Either way, you keep Games access through the end of the current billing period. The Terms of Sale state that subscription fees are nonrefundable, so no partial refund is issued; you simply use out the time you already paid for.4The New York Times. Terms of Sale
Cancel Through Apple on iPhone or iPad
If you subscribed inside the App Store, Apple is the biller. On your iPhone or iPad:
- Open Settings.
- Tap your name at the top.
- Tap Subscriptions.
- Tap the NYT Games subscription.
- Tap Cancel Subscription. If there is no Cancel button, or you see a red expiration message, it is already canceled.
Your access continues through the end of the paid period.5Apple Support. If You Want to Cancel a Subscription from Apple Deleting the NYT Games app does not cancel the subscription. The charge will keep hitting your Apple ID until you go through the steps above.
Cancel Through Google Play on Android
Android subscribers cancel inside Google Play, not on nytimes.com:
- Open the Google Play app.
- Go to Subscriptions.
- Select the NYT Games subscription.
- Tap Cancel subscription and confirm.
As with Apple, uninstalling the app does not stop billing. After you cancel, your access continues through the time you have already paid for.6Google Play Help. Cancel, Pause, or Change a Subscription on Google Play
What You Keep and What You Lose
Paid access runs to the end of the current billing cycle, whether that is the four-week period or the remainder of an annual term. After that, the account drops to free status. You lose the Crossword archive of more than 10,000 puzzles going back to 1993, the Mini’s daily archive tools, the Midi Crossword, Letter Boxed, Tiles, and full Spelling Bee access. Subscriber tools like Wordle Bot and Cross Bot also stop working.
Several games stay free with no subscription:
- Wordle
- Connections, including Sports Edition
- Strands
- The Mini Crossword
- Sudoku
- Spelling Bee, with limited access
- Pips
If those are the games you actually open, canceling costs you very little.7The New York Times Help Center. New York Times Games Subscription
Refunds for Unused Time
There are none as a rule. The Terms of Sale state that subscription fees are nonrefundable and that canceling mid-cycle does not entitle you to a partial refund. The Times says it may issue a refund at its own discretion, and that doing so once does not obligate it to do so again.4The New York Times. Terms of Sale Plan on keeping access until your paid period runs out, and getting nothing back for the unused days.
Canceling Is Not the Same as Deleting Your Account
Canceling stops future charges and leaves your account intact, including your game stats, streaks, and saved progress. Deleting your account wipes all of that permanently, along with saved articles, recipe collections, and email preferences, and none of it can be recovered.8The New York Times Help Center. Delete Your New York Times Account The Times will not delete an account while a subscription is active, so deletion requires canceling first and letting the paid access expire. For most people who just want the charges to stop, canceling while keeping the free account is the safer choice; the streaks stay, and the free daily puzzles keep working.
If Canceling Feels Harder Than Signing Up
The Federal Trade Commission finalized its click-to-cancel rule in late 2024, requiring sellers to make canceling a subscription as easy as signing up. The rule calls for a simple cancellation mechanism that immediately halts charges and prohibits burying the cancel option behind extra steps.9Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions It applies broadly to recurring subscriptions, including digital content services. If a company let you subscribe with a single click, it cannot require a phone call or a long chat to let you out. When your cancellation path looks unreasonable compared to how you signed up, that rule gives you grounds to file a complaint with the FTC.