And the answer is…

Wordle. Phenomenon or fad?

I'm a fairly late arrival to the daily word puzzle that has captured the imaginations of lexophiles everywhere. But now, Wordle is as much a part of my morning routine as brushing my teeth.

First released in October 2021, Wordle's popularity skyrocketed after the New York Times acquired the game in January of 2022. In November of that same year, Tracy Bennett became the puzzle's first editor. She whittled the dictionary's 5-letter possibilities (13,000 in total) to roughly 2,000 possibilities each year. And from that group, 365 answers are chosen.

Bennett initially selected her answers with an eye toward the date they were to appear. As an example, on November 11th the Wordle answer was "MEDAL," an homage to Veterans Day. This practice created some pushback from puzzle purists who felt the tactic was too schmaltzy for a highbrowed brainteaser. 

Not to me. I'll take all the help I can get!

"I just wanted a game that was just three minutes of your time a day, and that's it. That's all it wanted from you." - Josh Wardle, inventor of Wordle