“Wordle” is an online daily word game that was created in October 2021. It has gained popularity over the past few months, and West Henderson High School students and staff alike have been competing with each other to see who can come out on top.

“Wordle” is similar to a crossword puzzle. There’s a new five-letter word every day, and you get exactly six guesses to figure it out. If a letter you guessed is in the word and the correct spot it will turn green, if it’s in the word but not in the correct spot the box will turn yellow, and if the word isn’t included at all it will turn gray on screen and in the letter bank below. You only get one opportunity to play per day, and everyone is playing the exact same word. “Wordle” keeps a record of how many guesses you used and allows you to share your statistics with friends. 

“I found out about ‘Wordle’ when the New York Times ran a story about its creation. The article was trending on Twitter, so I searched for the game,” English teacher Emry Trantham said. “It was my idea to start a spreadsheet. I liked the idea of competing with my friends and coworkers, even though there aren’t any real stakes.” 

Trantham’s spreadsheet keeps track of her and her friends’ average score per day and then calculates the average for each player and day as well as the mode for everyone logging their score. The game stimulates the brain, and fosters friendly competition between friends. 

“I think ‘Wordle’ is a fun game that brings both a challenge but also a slight competition. It’s fun to try and see who can complete the day’s word the fastest and in the least amount of tries,” junior Elizabeth Crane said. “It also has that aspect of only being able to play once a day, so when you do get to play it’s super exciting and you never get sick of it.”

By: Emma Heagney, Feature Writer