<s>
Wordle	B-Application
is	O
a	O
web-based	B-Protocol
word	O
game	O
created	O
and	O
developed	O
by	O
Welsh	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineer	I-General_Concept
Josh	O
Wardle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wordle	B-Application
has	O
a	O
single	O
daily	O
solution	O
,	O
with	O
all	O
players	O
attempting	O
to	O
guess	O
the	O
same	O
word	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
gained	O
popularity	O
in	O
December	O
2021	O
after	O
Wardle	O
added	O
the	O
ability	O
for	O
players	O
to	O
copy	O
their	O
daily	O
results	O
as	O
emoji	B-Application
squares	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
widely	O
shared	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
dark	B-General_Concept
theme	I-General_Concept
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
high-contrast	O
theme	O
for	O
colorblind	O
accessibility	O
,	O
which	O
changes	O
the	O
color	O
scheme	O
from	O
green	O
and	O
yellow	O
to	O
orange	O
and	O
blue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
gameplay	O
is	O
also	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
two-player	O
board	O
game	O
Mastermind	O
—	O
which	O
had	O
a	O
word-guessing	O
variant	O
Word	O
Mastermind	O
—	O
and	O
the	O
game	O
Bulls	O
and	O
Cows	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
that	O
Wordle	B-Application
confirms	O
the	O
specific	O
letters	O
that	O
are	O
correct	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wordle	B-Application
uses	O
American	O
spelling	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
developer	O
being	O
from	O
Wales	O
and	O
using	O
a	O
UK	O
domain	O
name	O
for	O
the	O
game	O
;	O
he	O
is	O
a	O
long-time	O
resident	O
of	O
Brooklyn	O
,	O
New	O
York	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wardle	O
created	O
the	O
prototype	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
in	O
2013	O
,	O
inspired	O
by	O
the	O
color-matching	O
game	O
Mastermind	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
meantime	O
,	O
Wardle	O
created	O
the	O
two	O
online	O
social	O
experiments	O
The	O
Button	O
and	O
Place	O
while	O
working	O
for	O
Reddit	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
struck	O
,	O
he	O
and	O
his	O
partner	O
"	O
got	O
really	O
into	O
"	O
The	B-Application
New	I-Application
York	I-Application
Times	I-Application
Spelling	I-Application
Bee	I-Application
and	O
daily	O
crossword	O
puzzle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wardle	O
recalled	O
his	O
Wordle	B-Application
prototype	O
and	O
was	O
inspired	O
by	O
two	O
elements	O
from	O
Spelling	B-Application
Bee	I-Application
to	O
flesh	O
out	O
the	O
prototype	O
further	O
:	O
the	O
simple-to-use	O
website	O
design	O
for	O
the	O
puzzle	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
limitation	O
of	O
one	O
puzzle	O
per	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
January	O
2021	O
,	O
Wardle	O
had	O
published	O
Wordle	B-Application
on	O
the	O
web	B-Protocol
,	O
mostly	O
shared	O
with	O
himself	O
and	O
his	O
partner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
had	O
named	O
it	O
Wordle	B-Application
as	O
a	O
pun	B-Application
on	O
his	O
surname	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
next	O
few	O
months	O
,	O
he	O
continued	O
to	O
share	O
the	O
Wordle	B-Application
website	O
with	O
other	O
close	O
friends	O
,	O
leading	O
to	O
the	O
viral	O
spread	O
of	O
attention	O
to	O
the	O
puzzle	O
by	O
mid-October	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
one	O
case	O
,	O
he	O
found	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
become	O
popular	O
with	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
friends	O
in	O
New	O
Zealand	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
had	O
created	O
the	O
emoji-style	O
display	O
of	O
the	O
guesses	O
which	O
they	O
shared	O
with	O
friends	O
,	O
which	O
inspired	O
Wardle	O
to	O
incorporate	O
the	O
feature	O
into	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
he	O
had	O
added	O
this	O
feature	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
became	O
a	O
viral	O
phenomenon	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
in	O
late	O
December	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Gale-published	O
article	O
even	O
claims	O
that	O
"	O
Wordle	B-Application
is	O
less	O
about	O
winning	O
and	O
more	O
about	O
the	O
friends	O
we	O
make	O
along	O
the	O
way	O
"	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
ease	O
of	O
sharing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
300,000	O
people	O
played	O
Wordle	B-Application
on	O
January	O
2	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
up	O
from	O
90	O
players	O
on	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
a	O
figure	O
that	O
rose	O
to	O
over	O
2	O
million	O
a	O
week	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
January	O
1	O
and	O
13	O
,	O
1.2	O
million	O
Wordle	B-Application
results	O
were	O
shared	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Separately	O
,	O
an	O
entirely	O
different	O
game	O
called	O
Wordle	B-Application
!	O
</s>
<s>
by	O
Steven	O
Cravotta	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
released	O
on	O
the	O
App	B-Application
Store	I-Application
five	O
years	O
prior	O
to	O
Wardle	O
's	O
Wordle	B-Application
,	O
saw	O
a	O
boost	O
in	O
downloads	O
and	O
purchases	O
from	O
people	O
who	O
thought	O
it	O
was	O
Wardle	O
's	O
game	O
;	O
according	O
to	O
Cravotta	O
,	O
between	O
January	O
5	O
and	O
12	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
his	O
game	O
was	O
downloaded	O
over	O
200,000	O
times	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cravotta	O
was	O
glad	O
to	O
see	O
his	O
game	O
's	O
resurgence	O
,	O
though	O
recognized	O
purchasers	O
were	O
likely	O
buying	O
it	O
thinking	O
it	O
was	O
Wardle	O
's	O
Wordle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
Search	I-Application
created	O
an	O
Easter	O
egg	O
when	O
one	O
searches	O
for	O
"	O
Wordle	B-Application
"	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
site	O
's	O
logo	O
becoming	O
an	O
animated	O
game	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
to	O
find	O
the	O
word	O
"	O
Google	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
prevent	O
play	O
from	O
being	O
spoiled	O
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
took	O
action	O
to	O
block	O
an	O
auto-reply	O
bot	O
that	O
replied	O
to	O
any	O
Wordle	B-Application
result	O
post	O
with	O
the	O
next	O
day	O
's	O
word	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
31	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
Company	O
,	O
the	O
parent	O
company	O
of	O
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
,	O
acquired	O
Wordle	B-Application
from	O
Wardle	O
for	O
an	O
"	O
undisclosed	O
price	O
in	O
the	O
low-seven	O
figures.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Wardle	O
,	O
the	O
sudden	O
attention	O
he	O
and	O
his	O
partner	O
had	O
gotten	O
over	O
the	O
previous	O
few	O
months	O
had	O
made	O
them	O
uncomfortable	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
did	O
not	O
feel	O
like	O
spending	O
the	O
effort	O
to	O
fight	O
against	O
clones	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
that	O
were	O
appearing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wardle	O
said	O
that	O
"	O
It	O
felt	O
really	O
complicated	O
to	O
me	O
,	O
really	O
unpleasant	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
sell	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
Wordle	B-Application
made	O
it	O
easy	O
"	O
to	O
walk	O
away	O
from	O
all	O
of	O
that.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Times	O
intended	O
to	O
add	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
its	O
mobile	B-Application
app	I-Application
alongside	O
its	O
crossword	O
puzzles	O
and	O
Spelling	B-Application
Bee	I-Application
,	O
seeking	O
to	O
bring	O
in	O
digital	O
subscribers	O
up	O
to	O
10	O
million	O
by	O
2025	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
game	O
operates	O
entirely	O
using	O
client-side	B-Operating_System
Javascript	O
code	O
run	O
in	O
the	O
browser	O
,	O
some	O
players	O
have	O
downloaded	O
the	O
webpage	O
for	O
offline	O
use	O
due	O
to	O
fears	O
that	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
Company	O
would	O
modify	O
the	O
game	O
undesirably	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Times	O
producers	O
did	O
not	O
want	O
to	O
change	O
any	O
significant	O
parts	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
except	O
for	O
two	O
facets	O
,	O
moving	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
work	O
in	O
React	B-Application
so	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
be	O
integrated	O
with	O
the	O
Times	O
online	O
games	O
app	O
,	O
and	O
adding	O
support	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
log	O
in	O
with	O
their	O
Times	O
account	O
as	O
another	O
way	O
to	O
track	O
progress	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Times	O
had	O
also	O
changed	O
planned	O
words	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
current	O
events	O
as	O
to	O
keep	O
Wordle	B-Application
separate	O
from	O
the	O
news	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
July	O
2022	O
,	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
six	O
words	O
have	O
been	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
2,315	O
Wordle	B-Application
answers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
these	O
deletions	O
,	O
the	O
Times	O
version	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
is	O
now	O
out	O
of	O
synchronization	O
with	O
cached	O
or	O
saved	O
versions	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
,	O
making	O
it	O
difficult	O
for	O
players	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
versions	O
to	O
compare	O
their	O
solution	O
scores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
August	O
24	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
Crossword	O
app	O
was	O
updated	O
to	O
include	O
Wordle	B-Application
,	O
with	O
player	O
progression	O
still	O
synced	O
between	O
mobile	O
and	O
desktop	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
7	O
,	O
WordleBot	O
was	O
launched	O
by	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
to	O
give	O
players	O
information	O
about	O
how	O
they	O
completed	O
their	O
Wordle	B-Application
on	O
that	O
day	O
,	O
giving	O
a	O
luck	O
and	O
skill	O
rating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
Times	O
quarterly	O
earnings	O
report	O
ending	O
on	O
March	O
31	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
brought	O
"	O
tens	O
of	O
millions	O
"	O
of	O
new	O
players	O
to	O
the	O
Times	O
puzzle	O
site	O
and	O
app	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
whom	O
continued	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
other	O
puzzles	O
offered	O
by	O
the	O
Times	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
words	O
causing	O
most	O
complaints	O
,	O
apart	O
from	O
those	O
with	O
too	O
many	O
options	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
found	O
"	O
,	O
had	O
been	O
unfamiliar	O
terms	O
:	O
"	O
parer	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Rupee	B-General_Concept
"	O
and	O
the	O
US-specific	O
"	O
condo	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wordle	B-Application
was	O
the	O
top	O
Google	B-Application
search	I-Application
term	O
globally	O
and	O
by	O
American	O
users	O
in	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
searches	I-Application
from	O
players	O
looking	O
to	O
find	O
out	O
the	O
definition	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
answers	O
affected	O
top	O
Google	B-Application
search	I-Application
trends	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seven	O
of	O
the	O
top	O
10	O
searched-for	O
word	O
definitions	O
in	O
2022	O
were	O
Wordle	B-Application
answers	O
including	O
cacao	O
,	O
homer	O
,	O
canny	O
,	O
foray	O
,	O
trove	O
,	O
saute	O
and	O
tacit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
March	O
2023	O
Game	O
Developers	O
Conference	O
,	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
producer	O
Zoe	O
Bell	O
shared	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
influence	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
to	O
other	O
Times	O
online	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Player	O
count	O
for	O
Wordle	B-Application
under	O
the	O
Times	O
had	O
peaked	O
around	O
March	O
2022	O
,	O
and	O
while	O
that	O
has	O
gone	O
down	O
,	O
levels	O
remained	O
resilient	O
to	O
about	O
half	O
that	O
count	O
a	O
year	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Importantly	O
for	O
the	O
Times	O
,	O
the	O
impact	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
has	O
shown	O
a	O
growth	O
in	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
other	O
games	O
that	O
the	O
Times	O
offers	O
,	O
with	O
daily	O
player	O
counts	O
continuing	O
to	O
grow	O
as	O
of	O
March	O
2023	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
Wordle	B-Application
sudden	O
rise	O
in	O
popularity	O
at	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
2022	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
clones	O
appeared	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Absurdle	O
,	O
created	O
by	O
British	O
programmer	O
qntm	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
adversarial	O
version	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
where	O
the	O
target	O
word	O
changes	O
with	O
each	O
guess	O
,	O
while	O
still	O
staying	O
true	O
to	O
previously	O
revealed	O
hints	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
clones	O
keep	O
the	O
mechanics	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
while	O
changing	O
the	O
words	O
the	O
player	O
needs	O
to	O
guess	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
clones	O
range	O
from	O
translations	O
into	O
other	O
languages	O
to	O
guessing	O
swear	O
words	O
in	O
Sweardle	O
and	O
NFL	B-Application
players	O
as	O
in	O
Weddle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
have	O
also	O
been	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
ports	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
to	O
older	O
hardware	O
including	O
GameBoy	B-Device
Wordle	B-Application
for	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Device
Game	I-Device
Boy	I-Device
,	O
Wordle	B-Application
DS	O
for	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Operating_System
3DS	I-Operating_System
and	O
a	O
Nokia	B-Device
N-Gage	I-Device
port	O
simply	O
titled	O
Wordle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
games	O
used	O
the	O
"	O
-le	O
"	O
suffix	O
to	O
indicate	O
a	O
connection	O
with	O
Wordle	B-Application
,	O
even	O
with	O
significant	O
gameplay	O
differences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heardle	O
,	O
a	O
Wordle-style	O
game	O
based	O
on	O
identifying	O
songs	O
,	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Spotify	B-Application
for	O
an	O
undisclosed	O
sum	O
in	O
July	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
ad-supported	O
Wordle	B-Application
clones	O
appeared	O
on	O
Apple	B-Application
's	I-Application
App	I-Application
Store	I-Application
in	O
early	O
January	O
2022	O
,	O
but	O
did	O
little	O
to	O
alter	O
the	O
formula	O
,	O
even	O
using	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
continued	O
to	O
seek	O
out	O
other	O
Wordle	B-Application
clones	O
on	O
the	O
App	B-Application
Store	I-Application
,	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
January	O
11	O
,	O
nearly	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
clones	O
had	O
been	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
filed	O
an	O
application	O
to	O
register	O
a	O
trademark	O
for	O
Wordle	B-Application
shortly	O
after	O
acquiring	O
it	O
to	O
help	O
protect	O
the	O
intellectual	O
property	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
gaining	O
viral	O
popularity	O
among	O
English-speaking	O
users	O
in	O
January	O
2022	O
,	O
Wordle	B-Application
was	O
adapted	O
into	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
open-source	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
basic	O
Wordle	B-Application
game	I-Application
was	O
created	O
by	O
Hannah	O
Park	O
,	O
and	O
modified	O
by	O
linguist	O
Aiden	O
Pine	O
to	O
handle	O
a	O
larger	O
array	O
of	O
character	O
sets	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
amenable	O
to	O
a	O
larger	O
set	O
of	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pine	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
free	O
step-by-step	O
blog	O
explaining	O
how	O
to	O
create	O
your	O
own	O
Wordle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
February	O
2022	O
,	O
at	O
least	O
350	O
different	O
variants	O
of	O
Wordle	B-Application
had	O
been	O
documented	O
on	O
the	O
website	O
"	O
Wordles	B-Application
of	O
the	O
World	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
at	O
least	O
91	O
versions	O
based	O
on	O
real	O
languages	O
,	O
including	O
historical	O
and	O
regional	O
dialects	O
of	O
some	O
languages	O
,	O
and	O
indigenous	O
languages	O
,	O
and	O
including	O
uses	O
of	O
the	O
Wordle	B-Application
formula	O
for	O
languages	O
without	O
alphabetic	O
writing	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Chinese	O
chengyu	O
and	O
American	O
sign	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
fictional	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
Klingon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Languages	O
that	O
Wordle	B-Application
has	O
been	O
adapted	O
into	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
and	O
Hasbro	O
partnered	O
to	O
create	O
Wordle	B-Application
:	O
The	O
Party	O
Game	O
,	O
a	O
physical	O
board	O
game	O
variant	O
for	O
two	O
to	O
four	O
players	O
,	O
where	O
,	O
each	O
round	O
,	O
one	O
player	O
selects	O
a	O
secret	O
word	O
for	O
other	O
players	O
to	O
guess	O
following	O
Wordle	B-Application
rules	O
.	O
</s>
