Wordle has come under the umbrella of The New York Times and some believe that the medium has increased the difficulty of the game. This is not true.
The phenomenon game wordle Now belongs to the New York Times and, in fact, it does not change much from before: it is still a free mini-game in which you have to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Except that for some, the difficulty would have suddenly increased. ” It must be a coincidence, but New York Times puzzles are tricky, and suddenly Wordle has some questionable words. “, plague for example the author Anna Spargo-Ryan in a tweet posted on February 12, 2022.
The interested party is right: it is only a pure coincidence. ” Nothing has changed about the game “defends Jordan Cohen, director of communications for the New York Times, in an exchange relayed on February 14 by The Guardian. In sum, wordle still relies on the incredible database imagined by Josh Wardle when he gave birth to his Motus 2.0 (over 2,000 words, which will keep us busy until 2027).
Some words are harder to guess
In recent days, the solutions of wordle were words like “ULCER”, “HUMOR” or even “ALOFT” – probably less easy to guess, it is true. Especially since a word like “HUMOR” is the American spelling of “HUMOR” – which is even less obvious for a Brit. But according to this database which makes it possible to discover all the solutions until 2027 (do not click), Josh Wardle made it difficult from the start (you know the words “WHELP”, “OFFAL” or even “ABACK” ?).
In other words, there is a certain conspiracy theory around the takeover of wordle by the New York Times. Questioned by the Guardian, Tiger Webb, a researcher specializing in language, nevertheless recalls the obvious: “ Maybe it’s harder, maybe they changed something, we don’t know. And if they haven’t changed anything, just open a dictionary on a random page and you’re bound to find a five-letter English word you don’t know. »
In conclusion, it should rather be seen as a succession of puzzles that are less easy to solve, than a desire to harm users. The New York Times would in any case have no interest in alienating a community of more than 300,000 enthusiasts who visit the page of Wordle.