Kenundrum

ยท 1 min read tech AI games

What started out as a silly joke between my FIL and I regarding one of the categories in NYT's Connections game on 01/10/26 has become a reality.

Musing on the idea of a daily game called "Ken" brought us to the idea of a game where finding the "Ken" was the whole challenge.

I'm proud to present "Kenundrum". 4 people, one of them is Ken. You have 3 attempts. Find them.

Some observations

The game has been played by some friends, family and colleagues over the last few days and what I've come to notice is:

  • There seems to be a general consensus on what a Ken looks like
  • Some of the "Not Kens" look like Kens (looking at you Matthias Fischbach)
  • It's possible to pun the name Ken quite extensively (ex-kens-ively?)

A note on the tech

The game itself was heavily vibe-coded however the images have been sourced from Wikipedia from Ken (and Ken-adjacent name) lists where the image licensing is suitable for this fair use.

With over 150 Kens and 600 "Not Kens" in the game this daily weirdness should run for quite a while (and beyond with re-seeding giving new jumbles even when the end is hit)