By Dan Murphy
In less than one year, Wordle has become the one of the most popular word games, and a part of many wordsmiths’ daily lives. For those of us who have enjoyed playing the NY Times Crossword puzzle every day, Wordle is a quicker and easier game to complete every day.
Every morning when I get up and have my two cups of coffee, a game of Wordle is possible, because it can be completed in about 5 minutes. It stimulates your mind and prepares you for your work day.
Wordle was invented by a Brooklyn based software engineer in October of 2021. The NY Times bought the rights to Wordle in January of this year, at a price estimated at $1 Million. And on behalf of the millions of Wordle players across the world, let us say thanks to the times for keeping Wordle free to the public.
One of the keys to success at Wordle is the importance of picking the best, five-letter word. Every Wordle game is a five word clue that you must guess in five attempts, after starting with your choice of five letter word.
My Wordle starting word is always mouse. I have had some success but not a guarantee. I picked it because it has three vowels in it. My Uncle Bill chose aisle as his Wordle starting point, another good choice with three vowels.
In my thirty years of reading the crossword in the paper, the only other word game that comes close to Wordle is Jumble. Jumble is a word puzzle with a clue, and a drawing illustrating the clue. The set of words are jumbled, or in the incorrect order. It is the players job to put the letters in the proper places to solve the club.
Word craze games have been around for more than 100 years. One of the oldest word clue games is “cross-word mania” which first appeared in the New York World in 1913.
The one requirement for anyone who wants to play any of these games is a love of words, and an eagerness to learn new words. Enjoy your coffee and your Wordle, crossword and any word game that you prefer.
