You probably don't know Josh Wardle. He lives in New York and defines himself as an artist, product manager and engineer. His last name will sound more familiar to you. Wardle. Wordle. The fashion game on the internet. A word. Five letters. Six attempts. Every day there is a new word. It's free. No ads. It works directly in the browser and is very addictive. Can one ask for more?
Wordle has become the nth viral phenomenon in terms of online games. Virtually everyone talks about it on the internet. And even if you don't know it yet, it is very possible that you have seen the trail of this game on social networks in the form of the results of the games that your contacts have played. Green, black and yellow squares.
Like so many things, Wordle was born because of the COVID pandemic. This pun is a gift from its creator, Josh Wardle, to his partner. A way to fight boredom during confinement due to the COVID pandemic. A private game that, little by little, spread among family members, friends, acquaintances and from there to the entire internet.
The key moment is October 2021. That is when Josh Wardle creates the website for his game Wordle. Since then, millions of people play it every day and in several languages, such as Spanish or Catalan.
Source: Canal Sur
Wordle on the internet , Lingo on TV
Now that you know what Wordle is, it's time to find out where it comes from. Those of us who comb gray hair, when we saw this play on words for the first time, we thought of Ramoncín, a singer and television presenter who between 1991 and 1996 presented a contest on La 2 de Televisión Española. His name was Lingo and he had to guess five-letter words in five attempts. Come on, practically the same as Wordle offers.
The contest had some success on Spanish television, although it has fallen into oblivion like other mythical contests such as Cifras y Letras that continue to be broadcast on other countries. In 2002 he resumed his career on television in Castilla La Mancha. And today we can enjoy it on Canal Sur, from Andalusia or from anywhere in the world thanks to satellite or internet. It is presented by Ana Ruiz, whom many will remember for her role as Sofía in Camera Café.
The television contest Lingo as such is not a Spanish invention. Its origin is found in the native United States of Josh Wardle, creator of Wordle. Its first broadcast was at the end of 1987 and since then it has had several stages, in 2002 and 2011. Its original creator is Ralph Andrews, who was responsible for other contests from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Lingo also aired this contest format on Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden or the United Kingdom, among others. The dynamic is clear. Two teams of two people. Words to guess with five letters. Five tries. When one of the letters is in the word, it appears in yellow if it is not in its correct position and in green when the position is correct.
The controversy of its clones
A few days ago we echoed a controversy related to Wordle. Or rather with its success. In a comparison with Flappy Bird, the mobile game that became fashionable a few years ago and inspired dozens of clones that appeared on the App Store and Google Play, to Wordle the same has happened to him. Actually, it happens with any game or application that has some success.
Developing an app or a game is relatively simple. There are tools to do it without programming and you can even hire programmers for it. The fact is that, going back to the topic at hand, Wordle was born as a free game to play from your browser on any device. But given its success, there are those who have seen business in creating copies for iPhone and Android. With advertising and/or payment. Unlike the original game. And without paying anything to its official creator.
The App Store has withdrawn these copies, although at the time you read these lines, perhaps one or another will slip through. For its part, Google Play is more lax and the copies are still there. Just search for “Wordle” and you'll find handfuls of clones. Some don't even hide and use the original name. You are free to play them. But I insist on remembering that they are not official, they contain advertising and, therefore, some have trackers to do business with our data. If you want to play Wordle, it costs nothing to go to the original. And if you prefer in Spanish, here it is.
How to play Wordle
We already know where Wordle comes from, who created it, where Josh Wardle was inspired to create it and where you can play this word game online. But it is possible that what you want is to simply play Wordle and get the words right the first time.
Like any board game, Wordle has its tricks. The rules are clear: one word to guess, five letters, six tries, the word must be in the Wordle dictionary and you have clues. The letters highlighted in yellow are part of the word but are misplaced. In green, the letters you have guessed. The letters in gray are not in the word.
Tricks to win in Wordle
From here, some tips and tricks to hit Wordle's daily word. But without cheating. Some people share the word of the day on social networks. But we want to guess it cleanly.
Help yourself with the vowels. Every word has vowels and there are only five. They will help you find the hidden word. The consonants will come later. Use words with many vowels to start. Help yourself with plurals. It's not always easy to find five-letter words. If you have one of three or four, try the plural. You will only lose one turn. There is no time limit. Do not rush. Unlike the TV game show Lingo, in Wordle there is no time. So think carefully about where to place the letters in yellow. The letters can be repeated. The letters in yellow and green can be repeated. Keep that in mind. More advice, related to the Spanish language. This way you will find more easily the words of the day in Wordle, if you play it online, or in Lingo, if you watch it on TV:
The most frequent letter in the RAE dictionary is E. The most frequent consonants are, from most to least, S, R, N, D , L, C.Most frequent vowels, from most to least, E, A, O, I, U.The less frequent consonants are, Z, J, Ñ, K, W.
