Last updated on June 9, 2025

When playing Create Your Own Wordle Puzzle (CYOWP), please keep the words you choose, the messages you send to others, and your display name kind, respectful, and relevant to the game or otherwise appropriate. You must follow the rules outlined below. You should also refer to our community guidelines that apply to commenting and other interactions. Your actions are also subject to the prohibitions, restrictions, and obligations in The New York Times Terms of Service, including the requirement that you must be 13 years or older to play CYOWP in the USA and the UK, and 16 years or older anywhere else. In the case of any conflict between our Terms of Service and this Acceptable Use Policy, the Acceptable Use Policy will apply and control. Failure to comply with these rules may result in temporary suspension or permanent removal from CYOWP.

If you feel someone is using CYOWP improperly, you may report them by using customer care. 

The following are not permitted within or in relation to CYOWP, either in the messages that you send or through the words that you choose or play in the game:

• Name-calling, personal attacks, slurs, harassment, threats, hate speech, bullying, abuse, malicious acts, descriptions of violence or gore, and discrimination
• Profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes that could translate to an expletive) and content that is sexual, salacious, obscene, or predatory, including grooming behaviors
• Sharing disinformation or misinformation
• Commercial promotions or transactions, solicitations, phishing, scams, and spam
• Links to material containing malicious content, including viruses, malware, or spyware
• Links to other sites or services, or other attempts to convey a false hyperlink, QR code, or reference to another site or service
• Gambling, encouraging gambling, or otherwise creating or engaging in illegal lotteries
• Sharing or requesting payment information or other means to facilitate financial transactions
• Impersonating anyone else or otherwise misrepresenting your identity, affiliation, or status
• Infringing on others’ privacy—for example, disseminating or soliciting others’ personal information without consent
• Doxxing – for example, sharing personal information of another individual without their consent and with the intent to cause harm, harassment or distress
• Defamatory or libelous content
• Breaching a court order or stalking behaviour
• Infringing on others’ intellectual property (see Terms of Service § 13.7)
• Discussion or promotion of illegal activity
• Using customer support services improperly, including by submitting false reports or using profane or abusive language in communications with our support personnel
• Creating a new account to evade a prior ban
• Other abusive, unlawful, or persistent conduct that we or other users deem objectionable
• Doing anything that could disable, damage or change the functioning or appearance of CYOWP, circumvent any restriction, condition, or technological measure that controls access to CYOWP or otherwise compromise the security or operation of CYOWP or the New York Times’ systems
• Attempting to entice or promote any of the above.