By Emily Deskevich

It is hard these days to walk into a public space and not hear chatter of “How many did you get it in?” or “Shh, don’t tell me,” or “Today’s was hard.” These conversations are attributed to the recent phenomenon Wordle. In a recent survey sent to the Collegiate Upper School students and faculty, of the 91 people who responded, 81.4% state they play Wordle. 

A typical wordle that took six tries.

Wordle, created by Josh Wardle in October 2021, is a daily word guessing game. The online word game grants players six attempts to guess a five-letter word. The challenge? You do not get any hints on what the word might be. All users receive is feedback on their chosen letters. When a letter turns yellow, the letter appears in the word; however, it is in the wrong spot. If the letter turns green, the letter is in the correct position. In the unfortunate chance the letter is not in the word, the letter will turn gray.  

This thought-provoking guessing game has proven to be a challenge for many users. Deciding which five-letter word will lead to positive feedback has left many struggling. Collegiate Upper School student Brandon Watson (‘23) states, “I have never thought of more four or six letter words in my life.”

This leads to a controversial topic surrounding Wordle: the starting word. Some people, myself included, believe that a starting word is the key to success in Wordle. Starting off with a word that contains multiple vowels benefits the player when it comes to brainstorming the daily word. Popular starter words include: adieu, irate, roast, radio, audio, juice, arise, tears, aloud, tread, house, and trail. While these vowel-heavy words are beneficial to players, I do believe that my less popular word is a strategic choice to start off with. 

My word, you might ask? Ouija. Only on a few occasions has there not been a single vowel present in ouija that was also present in the Wordle. If this does occur, I know the vowel must be E. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with ouija. I have used this word since the start of my Wordle career, and I do not plan on ever changing. 

Other Wordle players believe that a consonant-dominant word is also beneficial. Collegiate senior AC Phillips (‘22) uses the word horse to start each day. Phillips states, “I find my word to be a great choice because I get two vowels AND two of the most common letters, R and S.” Other consonant-heavy words that were submitted on the survey included: stare, storm, entry, cloud, phone, scare, and ghost. 

While a majority of the people who filled out the survey state they use a starting word, there is a group of people who are against a starting word. When prompted about first words, Pearse Riendeau (‘22) states, “Absolutely not.” Riendeau continues, “People who use starting words hate fun.” These outspoken individuals against a beginning word believe they are superior to peers due to their spontaneity. Another vocal student against starting words is senior Alice Hallock (‘22).  A close friend of mine, Hallock often ridicules me for having a starting word and sharing with others its benefits. Prompted further on her beliefs, Hallock states, “People with a starting word lead boring lives. Live a little. Be spontaneous.” Hallock chooses to just use the first five-letter word that pops into her head each day. 

There might be merit to living on the edge and picking a random word. However, I find it hard to look past using a starting word. While Riendeau might say I hate fun or Hallock might think I lead a boring life, I strongly believe that my 20-day Wordle-guessing streak is due to the success ouija has brought me. 

A sample text of friends discussing wordle.

Wordle’s popularity is not limited to just Collegiate. Across the nation, people have enjoyed playing Wordle as a way to get through pandemic boredom. Upper School math teacher Kristine Chiodo attributes this popularity to the sharing option. Chiodo states, “The developer was very smart to include a ‘share’ feature, because that helped the game spread like wildfire!” Players can share their results via social media or text. 

The success of Wordle has not gone unnoticed by major corporations. On Jan. 31, The New York Times announced it was purchasing Wordle and plans to make it part of their game section. The New York Times has games such as Spelling Bee and a daily crossword for subscribed members of their reading community. It was announced that Wordle would initially remain free to new and existing players. However, it is uncertain if this will last, given that the motive for purchasing Wordle was due to an overall goal to increase The New York Times subscriber count to 10 million by 2025. 

It is unclear what the future might hold for Wordle players, but for the time being I plan to keep typing in ouija every morning.

Images by Emily Deskevich.