After playing Wordle for a few days and guessing words such as light, sugar and mount, what I perceived as easy words soon changed to ones that are harder to guess such as ulcer, cynic and tacit. These time periods corresponded to the New York Times (NYT) acquiring the daily word game.
The rules of the game have stayed the same. Players get six tries to guess a five letter word of the day. Their guesses can result in three types of boxes. Gray boxes indicate that the letter is not a part of the word, yellow boxes mean the letter is in the word but in the wrong place and green boxes show that the letter is both in the word and in the right place.
I first found out about Wordle in January, but the addictive game became available in October of 2021. The NYT bought Wordle around late January. Soon after, the Wordle website, font and eventually the words changed. Although these were minimal changes, it changed the overall look of the site.
In addition, NYT released an update that they alter the list over time to make “the puzzle more accessible to people.” Wordle #241 Feb. 16, even had two Wordle answers, one for people who played the NYT version and others who played the original version because they did not refresh the site. Which proved some complications arose while users adjusted to the site.
For some time, the Wordles became harder, to the point where I thought perhaps the NYT ruined the appeal of the game, but it actually made it more fun. At the end of the day, it is the unpredictability that makes finding the daily Wordle a more entertaining experience.
