January 4, 2022

"I think people kind of appreciate that there’s this thing online that’s just fun. It’s not trying to do anything shady with your data or your eyeballs. It’s just a game that’s fun."

Said Josh Wardle, the inventor of Wordle, quoted in "Wordle Is a Love Story/The word game has gone from dozens of players to hundreds of thousands in a few months. It was created by a software engineer in Brooklyn for his partner" (NYT).

I played for the first time and got the word on the fifth line, without being strategic in choosing the first word, just using the kind of logic you use in Mastermind. It's more interesting than Mastermind, because the answer will be a real word, not just any combination of letters/colors.

The popularity of the game — not the game itself — had something to do with the very popular NYT game Spelling Bee:
Mr. Wardle said he first created a similar prototype in 2013, but his friends were unimpressed and he scrapped the idea.... The breakthrough, he said, was limiting players to one game per day. That enforced a sense of scarcity, which he said was partially inspired by the Spelling Bee, which leaves people wanting more, he said.

22 comments:

David Begley said...

I got it right on my first try. But I don’t like - and don’t play - games. Seemed fun; if you like games. My mom liked Sodku.

rhhardin said...

Moo was the game of the 70s. Computer operators and online secretaries played it in every spare moment.

Guess a 5 letter word (any number but 5 plays well with a friend). For every letter that's right in the right position you get a bull. For every letter that's in the word (right position or not) you get a cow. Hence 1 bull 4 cows, for 4 letters in the word with one in the correct position. The word has no repeated letters. Take turns. A good strategy is always guess a word that it might be.

Computer versions used 4 letter words to keep the dictionary size that it needed down.

ADIEU is a good first guess.

Ann Althouse said...

"I got it right on my first try."

You mean you guessed it by chance on the first line?

Ann Althouse said...

"Moo was the game of the 70s. Computer operators and online secretaries played it in every spare moment."

That's very close to Wordle, except with Wordle you know which letters are in the right place and are in the word but in the wrong place.

Moo is closer to Mastermind.

Jersey Fled said...

I hate games.

How about you guys?

Ann Althouse said...

Just got a big mental flashback to Jotto.

And don't forget hangman.

Breezy said...

Grr I’m stuck on the fourth line! Curses!!

Breezy said...

Finally got it!!! Now wiser and addicted.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Legacy Sudoku provider... https://krazydad.com/sudoku/
Keeps the mind sharp, and with the variety and challenge levels, all can enjoy it.

rehajm said...

I'm stuck. I had a hard time with Countdown! puzzles at first. I kept applying rules of other word/maths puzzles. A bit of practice and now I'm competitive...

I'll keep at it until I get it...or lose interest.

rehajm said...

oops- just like that, third try. Duh. I was thinking you couldn't use a letter more than once :^l...

Temujin said...

Didn't even consider repeating the use of a letter. Once I 'allowed' myself to do that, it was done.

Great puzzle. I can see this with morning coffee to wake a dulled brain.

Dave Begley said...

Yes. First line. "Would"

tim maguire said...

Same--fifth try. That was kind of fun. You can play once every 15 minutes. I think I'd prefer being allowed play only once a day.

tim in vermont said...

Got it in three!

But the letter combination was unusual, and I have been reading a lot of French and Indian War stuff, the word was 'siege.' But I did use the logic of the game, but it seemed like the only possible solution, when I tried it, which means I had lucky guesses leading up to it.

For those of you who think it's morally wrong to encourage the New York Times, like I do, here is a hot link: https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

RIVER
EIGHT
PINGS
SINGE
SIEGE

Mistakes:
Shouldn't have used a letter ("R") twice a letter on the first try.
Used the "N" a second time after it was eliminated.

Breezy said...

Yes - the repeated letter was what hung me up.... Because of that, I wasted a step by adding a word simply to rule in/out a couple letters.

tim in vermont said...

SINGE was ruled out by my first guess.

WINDY
LIFER
SIEGE

How could you guess 'N' twice? Oh, LOL, I misunderstood the rules, and got really lucky then. I knew it seemed too easy.

tim in vermont said...

Still, It was a solve in three sequence, given the 'I' in the second letter, and two 'E's

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Got it in six, but I threw away a guess because I misunderstood the rules. Then I got stymied for a good long while because I didn't see how a letter could be repeated and not indicated to be both in the right place and the wrong place at the same time. It felt like my brain was under siege.

BudBrown said...

Siege was my word also.