An epidemic of unprecedented proportions has recently infected hundreds at Needham High School– it looks like it’s here to stay. This epidemic is none other than Josh Wardle’s daily word game: Wordle. Although simple in concept, Wordle has captured the hearts of countless teenagers and adults alike. Many have found comfort in reserving small moments of their busy days to sit down and complete the fun mini-puzzle for a couple of minutes. However… Leto Oiler is not one of these people.
Oiler first learned about the Wordle through social media: “I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw a bunch of green, yellow, and gray boxes on my timeline. I looked into it and that’s how I found out about Wordle. In the beginning it was really fun, but then I just got bored of it.”
After less than two weeks of playing the Wordle, Oiler decided to cheat. With a simple Google search of “All Wordle answers,” Oiler had access to all current and future Wordle answers. Although now possessing profound secrets, Oiler decided to be responsible and not ruin the puzzle for anyone else… That is, of course, only before he had engaged in deep discourse about herd mentality while in psychology class.
Amidst the heated discussion, an unknown classmate decided to pull out his phone and record the event – later, he dm’d it to an anonymous Instagram account called “NhsOutbursts” who promptly posted the video. In the clip, Oiler was caught screaming at his class, including the teacher, about how all of them are “sheeple that are doing the Wordle because everyone else is doing it.” Oiler continues with, “I am special. I know all the answers. I have the power over all of you.” From that point onwards, he became known as Leto “The Spoiler” Oiler.
Now, every day, Oiler attempts to tell as many people as possible the answer to the Wordle. Oiler estimates that, on a typical day, he tells 50-100 would-be-Wordle-solvers the answer to the puzzle. Leto appears to be content with how others perceive him; in fact, he enjoys the negative attention.
“I take pride in standing out from the crowd and sharing my beliefs with other people, even when they don’t want me to. When I tell people the answer to the Wordle, they appear only slightly peeved––I am beyond overjoyed. I think that’s a pretty fair trade off. Plus, everybody knows who I am. I’m pretty much the most popular kid in school.”
Leto doesn’t know if, or when, he’ll stop. He has declared that he’ll be “The Spoiler” until every single person at Needham High School has given up on the Wordle. But as it stands, it’s probably best to start doing Wordle when the clock strikes midnight.