Column: I’m Puzzled (and Thrilled to be!)

by: Tyler Sperow '28

In the last issue of Crossroads, I shared some interesting information about the Rubik’s Cube; this issue I thought I would share some fun facts about Wordle! The phenomenon of Wordle started as a simple 5-letter word puzzle in June 2021 that was played online Software engineer Josh Wardle initially invented the word-guessing game for the sole enjoyment of his friends and family members; by October, however, the game named after a play on Wardle’s last name was launched publicly online to a simple website with less than 100 player-visitors in the first few weeks. By early January 2022, that number catapulted to 300,000 dedicated Wordle players on any given day. By the end of January and just 90 days after it was first created, millions were playing and Josh Wardle sold his creation to The New York Times for a dollar amount in the low seven-figures. Here are some other fun facts about this puzzle phenomenon:

“Cigar” was the puzzle’s very first answer.

The puzzle was never designed to make money.

It’s a free game with no ads.

It chooses from a database of 2,315 words.

It has a database of 12,972 allowed guesses.

The game will never have the same answer twice.

Because of the amount of words from which to choose and the fact that the game doesn’t choose the same word twice, the game should last for about six years, ending in mid-2027!

No one knows what word is going to be chosen next because it’s randomly picked by a computer Wardle tested different word lengths and number of tries, and figured out that a 5-letter word in six tries was the best design, making the puzzle both enjoyable and challenging. Easy, but still makes you feel like you accomplished something!

As a spoiler-free way of sharing Wordle, a Twitter user by the name of Elizabeth S. came up with the emoji grid that everyone sees and shares today.

It is scientifically proven that “SALET” is the best starting word for Wordle! There's a hard mode! It’s the same Wordle you play every day, except with added difficulty. The letters still light up yellow for a correct letter, and green for a correct letter in the correct place, but you must use previous correct guesses in all subsequent guess. In hard mode, you always have to go with the clues from the previous word. To play this version, simply navigate to the “Settings” menu (the cog at the top right of your screen), and choose the “Hard Mode” option. When you click it, the color will change, affirming that you have launched the puzzle in hard mode.