Ask just about anyone today and they will probably have an answer to the question, “Have you done today’s word yet?” Most people have bought into the hype around the ubiquitous word game. The game Wordle was recently bought by The New York Times in an effort to capitalize on the unforeseen popularity of the game. The game now has millions of users and inspired spin off games such as “Worldle”, a geography guessing game.

The game works simply, with the user guessing words and being shown which letters have been used correctly until they enter the right word. A letter turning yellow means that it is used in a different spot in the word, and a letter turning green shows that it is being used in the correct spot in the word. Gray letters mean they are not used at all.  The user has six guesses to try to get that day’s word. Some players use their first guess strategically, some have a lucky word, and others try something new every day.

Unfortunately, when the game was bought by The New York Times, users were unsatisfied with the changes to the original format. The common complaint was that the words became more difficult to guess, but The New York Times denies making changes to the game. Recent words of the day have included “ulcer” and “caulk” which some fans are saying is a change from the normal words. 

I recently started to check out the game to see what all the hype was about and, I must say, the appeal of the quick, brain teaser wasn’t undersold. If the game intrigues you too, you can check out the Wordle puzzle of the day on The New York Times‘ website.