“What’s New In Game Center” popup blocks further access

A “what’s new in game centre popup blocks my access to New York Times games and to Game Center in System. I can’t get beyond it. I've never used game center. It has been going on for about a month and restarting doesn't help. I’m using an M4 iPad pro with iPadOS 18.5. I don’t get this behavior on my iPhone 15 with iOS 18.5