Cookies
What cookies are
Cookies are small files that a website saves in your browser. Similar tools, like your browser's local storage, work in the same way. On this page, we call all of them cookies.
Cookies we always use
A few cookies are needed for the site to work: a session cookie that keeps you signed in, a security cookie that protects our forms, and a cookie that remembers your cookie choice. Your browser may also keep your game progress. These cookies are not used for advertising.
Our own anonymous counts
We count visits and plays ourselves, anonymously: which page or puzzle was opened, how far a game got, the language, phone or computer, and the kind of site a visit came from (for example a search engine). This uses no cookie and keeps no personal data: no name, no account, no IP address. Nobody can be recognised from these numbers.
Some of our links carry a short code, for example ?c=wa-word on a result shared on WhatsApp, or ?c=print-sudoku on a printed page. It tells us which share button, post or page a visit came from, never who you are. We count clicks on our links to other sites (/go/...) the same anonymous way.
Cookies we use only with your consent
When we switch them on, these tools may save cookies, but only after you accept: Google Analytics (cookies whose names start with _ga) to count visits, Microsoft Clarity (cookies such as _clck and _clsk) to understand how pages are used, and Google AdSense to show advertising.
Google Consent Mode
We use Google Consent Mode version 2. Until you accept, Google tools are told that you have not given consent, and they do not save their cookies.
Your choice
Until you choose, our banner stays at the bottom of the page and these tools do not load. "Accept all" allows them, "Reject all" blocks them, and "Choose" lets you decide for each kind. You can change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page. You can also delete cookies in the settings of your browser.
All our cookies
| Cookie | Who sets it | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| the-games-nook-session | The Games Nook | Keeps you signed in while you visit, and remembers your language. | 120 minutes |
| remember_web_… | The Games Nook | Keeps you signed in on this device (only when you sign in with Google or choose "remember me"). | 400 days |
| XSRF-TOKEN | The Games Nook | Protects our forms against fake requests from other websites. | 120 minutes |
| nook_consent | The Games Nook | Remembers your cookie choice. | 6 months |
| nook_staff | The Games Nook | Only for our team (editors and admins), set when they sign in: keeps our team’s visits out of the statistics. | 30 days |
| nook_source | The Games Nook | Only after you allow "Analytics": remembers for 30 days where your first visit came from (for example Google or Pinterest) and the first page you opened, without your name; saved with your account if you sign up, only for our own statistics, never shared. Taking your consent back deletes it. | 30 days |
| nook:… | The Games Nook | Browser storage, not a cookie: keeps your games, best times, finished puzzles, your settings and a random game number for this browser (so your puzzles as a guest can count after you sign in) on this device. | Until you delete it |
| _ga | Google (Google Analytics), only with your consent | Counts visits: tells one visitor from another, without your name. | 2 years |
| _ga_… | Google (Google Analytics), only with your consent | Keeps the state of your visit for Google Analytics. | 2 years |
| _clck | Microsoft (Clarity), only with your consent | Recognises the same browser on your next visits, without your name. | 1 year |
| _clsk | Microsoft (Clarity), only with your consent | Joins the pages of one visit together. | 1 day |
| CLID, MUID… | Microsoft (Clarity), only with your consent | Other Microsoft cookies on clarity.ms and bing.com (such as CLID and MUID): connect Clarity data across websites that use it. | 1 year |
Last updated: 3 November 2026