Wordle has remained largely unchanged since The New York Times bought the smash-hit online puzzle earlier this year.
But the publication has now announced that Wordle’s word list will undergo some key changes, under the direction of the game’s new dedicated editor.
The puzzle’s word list was first put together by Wordle founder Josh Wardle, who sold the game to the NYT in February this year.
The word pool consists of 2309 five-letter words and has remained unchanged ever since.
Mr Wardle had intended for Wordle to cycle through the list for a couple of years.
But now, the NYT will officially be revising Mr Wardle’s list, announcing it will now be “curated” on a daily basis by Wordle editor Tracy Bennett.
Tweet from @nytimes
According to the NYT’s statement, there will be some “editorial adjustments” to the word list “to ensure that the game stays focused on vocabulary that’s fun, accessible, lively and varied”.
The publication will also be letting go of plural forms of three or four-letter words that end in ‘ES’ or ‘S’.
For example, words like FOXES and SPOTS will no longer be found on the list.
But plural words that don’t end in ‘ES’ or ‘S’ can stay, such as GEESE or FUNGHI.
But do not fret – other than these small changes, the core gameplay will remain the same, meaning you won’t need to rethink your guess words and game tactics.
This marks the first time that the NYT has publicly announced changes to the game since it purchased it.
However, some eagle-eyed developers noticed that a handful of inappropriate words were quietly removed from the list in February.
Tweet from @ForbinP
Although some users are disappointed at the announcement, it’s no surprise that the NYT is paying closer attention to Wordle‘s daily answers.
The game made headlines in May when users were given the randomly-selected answer FETUS – just days after Roe v Wade was overturned by members of the US Supreme Court.
The NYT reportedly scrambled to change the word before it reached users. But unfortunately, the word still loaded for millions of users.
The Times’ editorial director of games Everdeen Mason apologised for the “coincidence” in an editor’s note, headlined ‘A Note About Today’s Wordle Game’.
“This is entirely unintentional and a coincidence – today’s original answer was loaded into Wordle last year,” Ms Mason said.
“We take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and want Wordle to remain distinct from the news.”
