The Ongoing Crazordle
By MORGAN SLY
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past month and a half, you’ve heard of the ever-popular word game and a new way of life for many: Wordle. Whether you’re the purist who strongly disagrees with the font change with the new ownership (Times New Roman is basic) or the one just along for the ride, Wordle has grabbed your attention and isn’t letting go.
If you are a boulder-dweller, let me explain to you the basics. Wordle is, as you might have guessed, a word game. It deals only in five-letter words, so no need to grab a dictionary. (Unless the solution ends up being ‘tacit’ — seriously, what is that?) The concept is actually pretty simple: you type in a valid 5 letter word, and the game gives you a variety of colors. Green means that you got a letter that is in the word, and it is in the right position in the word. Your end goal is to find the word with all green letters, or the solution. If you see a yellow box— don’t worry, you’re on the right track. The letter is in the word, but not in that specific spot. A gray letter means that the letter isn’t in the word at all, which is useful for elimination purposes.
Sometimes the hardest part of Wordle is picking what word to start with. I remember the first time I played, I sat for a solid 20 minutes pondering, trying to come up with the perfect word. There are a couple strategies for starter words:
- Pick one word with a bunch of vowels
- Pick your favorite word
- Have 2 or 3 starting words to eliminate as many letters as possible
- (My personal favorite) Pick a word that fits the vibe of the day
- Pick the worst possible word (xylyl) to challenge yourself
Wordle is so popular that it’s acquired quite a few spin-offs of various qualities. Some take the original Wordle concept and twist it to fit a new subject, while others increase the number of words you have to guess. Here are some of my favorite spin-offs (by category):
Same Concept, More Words:
Math Fanatics:
Geography Buffs:
Worldle (my personal favorite)
Anti-Wordle:
Absurdle (please read the directions before you play)
Swiftie (yes, this is in its own category):
