The Wordle Craze

The Wordle Craze

By Tevel Bober-Tsafrir

No matter the age, most have probably heard of Wordle multiple times. It’s all everyone’s talking about, from elementary schoolers to seniors. The way the online game works is that there is a different five-letter word each day, with the user granted six guesses. If a letter is in the correct place, it is highlighted in green. If it is in the word but not in the right place, it is highlighted in yellow. And if the letter is not in the word at all, it is highlighted in gray. Players build their streak each day by continuing to guess the daily word based on the hints.

The most popular starting words are: Adieu (for its many vowels), Piano, Snare, Steak, and Tread. Believe it or not, Wordle is responsible for bringing people together. After completing a game, players have an opportunity to share their Wordle success with others--showing how many tries it took. Over one million people per day play the game, and at least half of those share their successes.

Mrs. Mauriello, 7th grade ELA teacher, said, "My family has a Wordle group chat called Word Up. We actually share our "scores" in the chat every day. From my youngest nephew, who is in 6th grade, to my father, in his eighties, we are all on the game and take every chance to tease the ones with the lowest scores. Our chat keeps us in contact with one another every single day. I definitely think World has created more than just a game; it has created a community." Similarly, Mrs. Erdos, a reading teacher at WMS, plays the game with her students on the daily. They look forward to solving the puzzle each day and look forward to class to get started on the Wordle.

One question arises: Why is it called Wordle, which has six letters if the daily word is five letters? Because the creator, Josh, didn’t only use wordplay in his game but also in the title, which he based on his own last name, Wardle.

Wordle, which was released in October 2021, already has millions of players. And this number keeps growing as more and more fans recommend the game to friends and family members. Several spinoff games have already popped up including Nerdle, Quordle, Worldle, and Heardle (a musical version). Recently, Wordle was sold to the New York Times for an undisclosed amount. Check out the entertainment section for The Boulevard's very own wordle puzzle.