Following The New York Times’ acquisition of the popular browser game Wordle in February 2022, avid fans have raised concerns regarding changes made to the established formula. Some voiced issues with the ad tracking features introduced to the Wordle mobile app, while others decried the haphazard censorship of certain words. The latest controversy suggests that, since The New York Times took over, the solutions to Wordle’s puzzles have grown increasingly pretentious.
Wordle-related Google searches for “five-letter words” have exploded in popularity of late, and that likely has everything to do with stumped fans looking for help with a tough word. Rumblings from spurned players developed to a din of digital unrest following the February 20 Wordle puzzle, the solution to which was the seldom-used term “tacit.” The word often refers to communication that is unspoken or otherwise expressed through non-verbal action, but fans were far from tacit in their distaste for the weird word.
Most prominently, Canadian actor and comedian Dan Levy posed the simple question “new Wordle is getting pretentious?” on Twitter, which sparked a major debate as to the subtle differences of the NYT-owned version of the game compared to the previous installment. The use of the word “new” is, of course, debatable in itself, as the game hasn’t undergone any major changes. A handful of controversial and confusing words were nixed from the pool of possible solutions, an act that spawned the aforementioned conversation about censorship in Wordle. However, aside from that, in terms of gameplay, little has changed.
Levy later re-tweeted a counter-argument posted by Twitter user Matthew Shallenberger, who argued that an increase in perceived pretentiousness on the part of The New York Times is likely a product of confirmation bias. He also argued that, since the publication has attained a not-insignificant amount of ire in recent years, some players are now more interested in disparaging Wordle than actually playing it. After all, Wordle has given rise to a litany of niche spin-offs, some dramatically more difficult than the original, but only the New York Times-affiliated product is slammed for apparent pretentiousness.
Still, February has thus far seen a decent amount of uncommon Wordle solutions. “Tacit” may have angered fans, but solutions like “swill,” “caulk,” and “cynic” were similarly challenging for many. Part of the perceived difficulty may come from the fact that most of these solutions use a single letter twice, meaning that players may end up chasing a phantom fifth letter that’s not actually present in the solution. These may be a far cry from the brain-busting puzzles found in the challenging spin-off Absurdle, but, should oddball language continue to appear, discontent for Wordle may well continue.
Wordle is available now.
