A wordle is one of those incredibly stupid word puzzles that teachers give to young kids in school. Most are obvious upon brief inspection. Here are some examples:

Man
------- = Man Over Board
Board

Death Life = Life after Death

Tune
Tune = Fortune.
Tune
Tune

cisab2 = Back to the Basics

Mind
------- = Mind Over Matter
Matter

IDEA = A Capital Idea

Wordle is a word puzzle invented by a man named Josh Wardle (the name thus being a pun on his name and "word") that was first released in October of 2021, and after gaining prominence on the internet (and especially Twitter), was sold to the New York Times, where it currently resides.

The gameplay is simple: the player guesses a five letter word. The letters are then revealed as being green (the right letter in the right place) yellow (a letter that is in the word but not in the right place), or grey (not in the word at all). The player has six total guesses to guess the word. Most words can be guessed in about four tries. The site keeps track of a players win streaks and win percentage. Other than that, there are no bells or whistles. The puzzles are minimal and can usually be guessed in about about four tries. There is also only one puzzle a day, which refreshes at midnight, and everyone around the world is solving the same puzzle.

There is one small problem with the interface: when you get a green letter, it doesn't let you know if the letter occurs more than once in the word. So, for example, if a player guesses "tiles", and the word is "total", they will get a green "t", but won't know the letter also is in the third position.

It is refreshing in its simplicity, and my minutes a day of playing Wordle (usually right after midnight) are a nice moment of calmness in my day.

Some users have claimed that the Wordle became more complicated after being acquired by the New York Times, and while I did notice that myself, it might have just been the power of suggestion.

Wor"dle (?), n.

One of several pivoted pieces forming the throat of an adjustable die used in drawing wire, lead pipe, etc.

Knight.

 

© Webster 1913.

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