Wordle, the viral word game developed by New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle, is remarkably simple, doubtless helping to explain its appeal.
Each day the player has to work out a new five-letter word in six attempts or fewer. After each guess the letters light up indicating how close to the answer you were. If a letter goes green it is both in the word and in the position you placed it. Yellow tells you the letter features, but not where you put it, while gray means it is not included at all.
Speaking to Newsweek in January 2022 Wardle explained why he settled on five-letter words for his puzzle.
He commented: "There is a reason that every word is five letters long and that you are allowed six attempts to guess it. That might seem arbitrary but, with the prototype version, I tested different word lengths and experimented with the number of tries that players were allowed.
"Through that process of refinement, I figured out that five letters and six tries was the ideal sweet spot. It's just limited enough to feel challenging and to make you think, but most of the time people still manage to solve it. So, you feel a real sense of real accomplishment."
Wardle sold Wordle later that same month to The New York Times, for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum, though the game remains free to play.
Wordle's popularity helped inspire a range of other online puzzles, including Nerdle, Dordle, Quordle and Worldle, for geography enthusiasts.
'Wordle' #822, Clues for Tuesday, September 19
Newsweek has put together five clues to help you solve today's Wordle puzzle.
Hint #1: The answer contains two vowels.
Hint #2: There are no repeated letters.
Hint #3: Synonyms for Tuesday's Wordle include "shut."
Hint #4: The final letter is a vowel.
Hint #5: One of the first three letters in the alphabet features.
'Wordle' #822, Answer for Tuesday, September 19
The answer to today's Wordle puzzle is "close."
Did you get it? A common word, with two vowels, this may not have been the toughest Wordle we've yet faced, but it was still a fun puzzle. If you did figure it out congratulations, but please don't be put off if not. A new Wordle challenge is released each day and one of the best things about the game is seeing if you can improve over time. Of course Newsweek will be back on Wednesday with a fresh round of Wordle hints and tips.
What Does 'Close' Mean?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines close as "to move so as to bar passage through something" or "to bring to an end or period."
For example to "close the gate" or "close an account."
The word can also be used to mean in proximity to, for example: "I don't know where Tom is, but I think he's close."
