Swifties flocked to the Vault Puzzles game and crashed the internet in the process.
A partnership between Taylor Swift and Google has seen 33 million puzzles solved on the search engine in less than a day.
The singer-songwriter announced on Tuesday that the names of four new tracks on her upcoming 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album would be revealed via some code-cracking.
Google elaborated in a blog post dotted with Swift references: “Search for ‘Taylor Swift’ in the Blank Space (ahem, a Search bar). Click on the blue vault and solve one of the word puzzles. It may take a second, since there are 89 puzzles to get through (a la '1989 (Taylor's Version)') — don’t say we didn’t warn ya!
“But nothing lasts forever. You’ll be helping Swifties around the world get out of the woods (or unlock the vault) as everyone collectively solves 33 million puzzles. And that’s how it works, that’s how you get the vault track titles!”
The response from followers of the American pop star was so monumental that it temporarily crashed the site.
However, it was soon back up and running, much to the delight of eager solvers who managed to open the vault and unveil the songs.
They are: Is It Over Now?, Now That We Don’t Talk, Say Don’t Go and Suburban Legends.
How to play
Although the 33m milestone was reached, the Google Vaults game is still available to play. To see if you can work the 89 puzzles out for yourself:
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Go to the search engine
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Type 'Taylor Swift'
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Click on the blue vault which appears at the bottom-right of the page
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Unscramble the anagrams and enter your answers into the search bar
A puzzles-loving phenomenon
Swift is well-known for her use of cryptic clues and hidden messages.
Her fans now make sure to keep an eye out for these 'Easter eggs' which may be the route to some secret info.
For example, album liner notes have often included capitalised letters to reveal another word when joined together.
She used this method in the lyric sheet for Fearless when she announced “I CRIED WHILE RECORDING THIS” in reference to the song Fifteen.
Discussing the response of her fans to these mini mysteries she said: “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”
Since releasing her first album in 2006 Swift has gone on to break records, win numerous awards and achieve feats not usually associated with a musical artist.
The Wall Street Journal has termed her financial impact "Taylornomics" and the US Federal Reserve credited her stadium tour with boosting the country’s economy.
The Eras Tour is scheduled to continue until November and is expected to surpass the current highest-grossing concert tour record, currently held by Elton John.