The New York Times is trying to shut down a popular Connections puzzle creator

A screenshot of today’s NYT Connections on the alternate puzzle creator. | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The New York Times wants to shut down a copy of its popular Connections word game. The publication sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of a website that lets you make your own Connections games. The site also has a full archive of all of the NYT’s past Connections puzzles, which the NYT keeps behind a paywall.

The Connections creator website is built and run by Anthony Salazar, a freelance web developer who runs the creative studio Swellgarfo. Earlier this month, striking New York Times tech workers used Salazar’s Connections tool to make their own strike-themed puzzle. Salazar previously told me that he built the archive using the NYT’s publicly available API.

In the letter, which Salazar shared with The Verge, the NYT’s counsel…