Wordle, the popular word-guessing puzzle game that was recently acquired by The New York Times, has decoupled from the original version of the game.
Following the acquisition, The New York Times rolled out a new URL for Wordle that differs from the original ‘powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle‘ URL (which now redirects to the Times’ URL). As of Wordle #241, which was released today, February 15th, the solution for each Wordle will be different on both versions of the game.
Alert! ????Wordle discrepancy???? I’ve still been playing at the powerlanguage site, because I didn’t know there was a new NYT URL, and today the solution was different (for the first time). If I go to the NYT site my history isn’t there ???? I had a 37 game unbroken streak ???????? halp!
— Jenniiifffeeerrrrrr Malec (@projectjennifer) February 15, 2022
The initial changes to the solution list were first spotted by BoingBoing on February 11th. The publisher said that The New York Times’ version of the game has had some upcoming solutions, including ‘agora,’ ‘lynch,’ ‘pupal,’ ‘slave’ and ‘wench,’ removed.
Further, words like ‘darky,’ ‘spics,’ ‘gooks’ and ‘coons’ were removed from the list of accepted guesses too.
If you haven’t completed today’s Wordle, and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading. If you’ve already completed Wordle #241, or are unbothered about spoilers, continue reading.
Wordle #241’s solution on the regular version of the game is ‘agora,’ whereas the NYT version’s solution is ‘aroma.’
Australian journalist Michael Slezak on Twitter got in touch with the NYT over the discrepancy in the two versions and was told that they are “updating the word list over time to remove obscure words to keep the puzzle accessible to more people, as well as insensitive or offensive words.”
Just got this explanation from the NYT… pic.twitter.com/0gqHh23Eyi
— Michael Slezak (@MikeySlezak) February 14, 2022
While not a monumental change, it has upset some users who can no longer compare with their friends’ solutions.
So #Wordle has now split into two versions. I’ve seen a different solution for the one hosted on @nytimes and the one hosted on the original site. This is rubbish. fwiw I’m doing the original which I still have cached in an open browser tab. https://t.co/kziPXJ0TQJ
— Chris Kendall (@ottocrat) February 15, 2022
Via: The Verge
