The Way It Was is a daily game about American political history. Every day at midnight, we pull nine real events from our archive — more than a thousand moments spanning 1776 to the present. One is filed on the timeline for you. Your job is to file the other eight where they belong.

It sounds easy. It isn’t. The events in each day’s puzzle cluster close together in time — sometimes within a single presidency — so “before or after the Civil War” won’t save you. Placing them correctly takes the kind of knowledge that comes from actually caring about this stuff: knowing that the Saturday Night Massacre came after the tapes were revealed, that the Berlin Airlift began before NATO existed, that the vicuña coat fell Sherman Adams before the kitchen debate.

Puzzles start gentle on Monday and sharpen through Saturday, crossword-style. Correct placements early in a round are worth 2 points; the final three cards — the hardest — are worth 3. A perfect day is 19. One hint per game (“reveal the decade”) costs a point. Spend it wisely.

You can play as a guest, no account needed. Create a free account and the game keeps your streak, your stats, and your history — including which eras you know cold and which ones need work.

The Way It Was is presented by Political Wire, where Taegan Goddard has covered American politics since 1999. The event archive is curated with the same editorial care — every date checked, every description written to inform without giving the year away.

New puzzle every day at midnight Eastern.