Oh word!: Wordle leaves the world greedy for green
Wordle has taken the world by a storm, jumping to millions of players in just a few months. Born out of a love story, the game has brought the community together through a love of words.
June 10, 2022
Five letter words have taken the world by a storm. The New York Times, notorious for their games, has taken on a new one in the form of gray, yellow and green squares, Wordle. While the name of the game is composed of six, the object of the game is to guess a five letter word based on the color of the squares of the word the player puts into the game.
The game was first released to the public in Oct. 2021. The game was created by Josh Wardle for his partner, who is an avid word-game player, and the title is a spoof of his own last name. Wordle gained major traction in Nov. 2021, and was bought by The New York Times on Jan. 31, 2022 for “no less than 7 figures.”
“I started playing Wordle in the middle of January,” senior Nic Lampert said. “The drumline coach told us ‘get out your phones and do this.’”
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Out of 82 people surveyed via @buenaspeaksnews on Instagram, 56 participants play Wordle, and 26 do not.
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Everyday, the puzzle has a new word. The original Wordle only has one puzzle a day, but many “off-brand” games have appeared due to Wordle’s success, such as Anti-Wordle, Absurdle, and Wordle Unlimited. There are also pop culture versions of the game, like Taylordle, and sports versions as well.
“I play Weddle, an NFL version of Wordle, where you guess the player,” senior Jadon DuBransky said. “There’s another version called Poetle for NBA players.”
As the game has gained more popularity, social media content creators have begun to share their favorite starting words and techniques for success. On TikTok, a common starting word is “adieu” for its heavy vowel content. Other popular starting words include “irate”, “soare”, and “mound” for the same reasons.
“I always start with ‘salty’,” Lampert said.
Some players have found using two words to start the game helps them solve the puzzle faster, giving them a chance to either eliminate or gain more letters.
“I start with two words,” DuBransky said. “I always go ‘joint,’ then ‘spear.’”
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The first word entered is often a crucial one. The green squares mean that it is the correct letter in the correct spot. Yellow squares mean that it is in the word, but in an incorrect spot, and grey squares mean that the letter is not in the word.
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A great second try, almost all of the letters in the word are revealed.
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P, S, and E are in the correct spot, A is in the word, and only one letter is missing to solve the puzzle.
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Just like 33 percent of players, the puzzle was solved in four tries. Encouraging messages are flashed at the player for being successful in solving the puzzle.
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The average Wordle score is four tries, with 33% of players solving the puzzle on their fourth attempt. Both Lampert and DuBransky shared that they usually uncover the mystery word on their fourth try, but have both had a few close calls, relying on the sixth attempt to save their streak.
“My longest streak is 82 days,” Lampert said. “I used to play every day when I was eating breakfast or during first period.”
Wordle was originally created to be a quick game, not taking up too much brain power or time. Wardle shared that he wanted to create a “simple” game that “deliberately doesn’t want much of your attention.”
“My advice to someone who wants to start playing Wordle is to never spend more than five minutes playing,” DuBransky said. “It’s supposed to be fun.”
Wordle is beloved by the world, and Twitter feeds are filled with the green, gray and yellow square emojis showing how many tries it took the player to get the word. Technique and intelligence aside, the game was born out of love for other people, creating a supportive community of word lovers.
“Wordle is awesome,” Lampert said. “Wordle makes the world go ‘round.”
