Picle

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One photo a day: guess where it was taken and when.

Play Picle

on thetimes.com

Picle's own tile from The Times puzzles page: its icon of a cut-up photo with a Times map pin, the name Picle and Today

Picle is a daily photo game from The Times and The Sunday Times, built on the paper's own picture archive. Each day there is one photograph to place on a map and in a year, scored out of 50 for each. It runs in the puzzles section of the Times website, and players report that it needs no subscription.

About Picle

Picle is a when-and-where photo game from The Times, launched in beta at the end of March 2026 and now part of its puzzles section alongside the crosswords, sudokus and the Quizle quiz. The pictures come from The Times' own archive of news photography, so a day might bring a royal visit, a strike, a sports crowd or a street scene from decades ago.

There is one photograph a day. You study it, drop a pin on the map where you think it was taken, and set the year. The game then shows the real place and date, how far off you were, and a short account of what the picture shows and why it was taken. The year and the place are each scored out of 50, for a total out of 100, and the total earns a medal from Bronze up to Diamond, with a running count of each medal you have won.

With a single picture, Picle takes a few minutes. The archive leans towards Britain and the twentieth century, so it rewards a feel for British towns, uniforms, cars and fashions.

It suits players of TimeGuessr and WhenTaken who want one carefully chosen photo with its story, and Times readers who already play the paper's other daily puzzles. Players report that Picle opens without a subscription, unlike most of the Times puzzles.

How to play Picle

Open Picle in the puzzles section of The Times website.
Study the day's photograph for clues to place and period.
Drop a pin on the map where you think the camera stood.
Choose the year you think it was taken.
Submit to see the real place and year, your marks out of 50 for each, your medal and the story behind the picture.

Tips

Cars, number plates, buses and shop signs date a street scene quickly.
Newspapers printed in black and white until well into the 1980s, so a grey picture can be newer than it looks.
The pictures come from a British paper's archive, so start in the UK unless the scene says otherwise.
Place the pin where the photographer stood, not on the building in the picture: players lose yards there.
Read the caption story at the end; it teaches you what to look for next time.

Questions

Is Picle free?

Players report that Picle plays without a Times subscription, though most of the other Times puzzles need one.

How many photos are in Picle each day?

One. You place it on the map and choose the year.

How is Picle scored?

The year and the place are each marked out of 50, for a total out of 100. The total earns a medal: Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond, the top one for 90 or more.

Where do the pictures come from?

From The Times' own photo archive of news pictures.