Considering the global sensation it has become, Wordle has remarkably humble origins, with the game invented during the coronavirus lockdown by Josh Wardle, a software engineer from the U.K. working in New York, who wanted a game “for me and my partner to enjoy.”
Wardle released Wordle to the public in October 2021 and the game quickly picked up a loyal audience, with some players sharing their results and strategies on social media each day. Wordle’s appeal meant the game was purchased by The New York Times in January 2022 for a low seven-figure sum, though it remained free to play.
Speaking to Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, an academic who teaches applied linguistics at the U.K.’s University of Reading, provided some tips for Wordle players.
He said: “One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as …