What's That Good Word?

Are you addicted to Wordle? Worried it may soon go behind a paywall? Here are some Wordle spin-offs to keep you going after solving the day’s puzzle or when a paywall pops up.

Unless you live in one of the world's remotest and inaccessible corners with an extremely patchy internet connection, chances are you haven’t escaped the daily grid of yellow and green boxes that have filled our Internet timelines. We are of course talking about Wordle.

Haven't tried Wordle yet? First of all, congratulations. You are either truly off-grid or one of those original ‘going-against-the-grain’ types. Even so, being the Wordle evangelists that we are at Silver Talkies, here’s how it works: Wordle players get six attempts to guess the five-letter word of the day. Log in to https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html and guess your first starter word, which has now become as much a thing as sourdough starters were during the height of the pandemic. Depending on whether the letters used exist in the answer or are in the right place (as shown by coloured grids), you continue guessing for six tries. Unless you are one of those lucky ones, who get it right on the first try-- a rooftop-shout worthy achievement. Once done, you have the easy option to share your spoiler-free Wordle score with fellow addicts and the world on social media. 

Created by Josh Wardle as a pandemic game for his partner who enjoyed the NYT crossword and other word games, Wordle is a viral sensation that’s given many of us a fun morning distraction. It works the brain and has also become a way to stay connected as the pandemic drags on and pulls us all collectively down, with a war playing out in the background now for good measure. Wordle has become a welcome five-minute (ok, sometimes much more) respite from obsessive doomscrolling, household chores and the morning rush for many of us, sending us down a rabbit hole of best five letter words, vowel combinations and eliminations. 

By now, everyone has their own theory of Wordle’s immense global popularity. British psychologist Lee Chambers credits it to the fact that it stimulates language and logic processing areas of our brains and releases dopamine, that much-needed shot of well-being. Then there is the social aspect of it. Washington Post columnist Molly Roberts called it ‘Togetherness in solitude’ as the ongoing pandemic has meant consistent loneliness and the need to find something to connect with family and friends as we used to, without a screen or mask between us. 

Wordle allows us to win a bit of that togetherness every day, Roberts wrote in her beautiful essay. 

Meenakshi John, 63, agrees. Wordle is her new way to say hello to her teenage grandson who lives in another city, even if it’s the only exchange they have during the entire day. “It’s a good way of reaching out to a teenager I don't have much in common with anymore.” Part of the charm also lies in the fact that you can’t solve the next Wordle immediately and need to wait until the next morning or 12 am if your addiction level has peaked. 

Does all that problem solving and social engagement improve our brain’s plasticity? While we await the verdict on that, there are enough studies that prove the benefits of solving word puzzles.

A study in May 2016 assessed the link between 14 cognitive measures (sustained attention, information processing, among these) and word puzzle solving in over 19,000 adults between 50 and 93 years. On each measure, regular puzzle solvers did much better than those who played occasionally or never.

Now that the New York Times has purchased Wordle, regular players are rather perturbed by questions on top of everyone’s minds. Would everyone’s favourite morning routine go behind a paywall soon? How then would we debate the best starting words? Discover best letter frequencies? Or declare that we aced KNOLL and (humble brag here) even CAULK?

All good things come to an end and though we don’t wish for it, perhaps Wordle may become another word game we remember to play occasionally someday. But that doesn’t mean the world of word games will dry up. They’ve always existed and now thanks to Wordle we now have some intelligent spin-offs that will ensure our brains stay active for quite a bit. CHECK out our list of more brain teasers to SOLVE and don’t forget to THANK us later!

Quordle: Not happy solving one Wordle a day? How about four? Try Quordle. You get 9 chances and this is an addictive toughie. 

Absurdle: Absurd enough to try but fun nevertheless, Absurdle prunes its list with each guess, making the game go on longer. A once try for sure, especially if you have time to kill. 

Nerdle: This one is for all Math geeks. Nerdle is a Math puzzle and you have to try to guess the problem and the solution within six tries. 

Crosswordle: This one combines the game of crossword with Wordle. The best part? Unlimited guesses! 

Worldle: A geography-based spin-off that is becoming as popular as the original. 

Wordle archives: This one is remembrance of Wordles past. Want to try the very first Wordle? Or every previous wordle you may have missed? It’s time to visit this one. 

Are you a Wordle player? Do you play other word games or puzzles? Let us know in the comments!