The joyful streak created by the original Wordle, the saving grace of many a bored or jaded life, will be taken offline this week. The only official version moving forward will be the one in the New York Times Games section.
The New York Times announced in a tweet that the old site launched by Wordle creator Josh Wardle will no longer be functional as of June 9, 2022.
It can be argued that the simplicity of Wordle the First was what drew many to incorporate the puzzler into their daily rituals. It served a semblance of the early days of the internet, when people created sites without intending to profit from them. Wordle was a gift from Wardle to his wife, an enthusiast of the written word.
Wardle had no idea the game would snowball into a worldwide phenomenon, and the thought of managing the project quickly lost its innocence in his eyes. When the New York Times offered to buy the game for an unspecified seven-digit sum, he took up the offer. As the paper’s crossword helped inspire Wordle, it all seemed like a stroke of fate.
The Times made a few tweaks to the game upon the acquisition, including the replacement of swear words and the addition of advertising trackers. The answer key used to be shown in the source code of the original page, but the new owner could now hide it, considering its more sophisticated digital real estate.
For anyone clinging to the original version who’s worried about losing their streak, the New York Times recommends using the tool created by developer Seth Michael Larson, which allows players to port their Wordle statistics over to the new home.
Hey Wordlers! If you’ve been solving Wordle from https://t.co/Xh2kB4tHE5, the link will expire on 6/9/22. Please use https://t.co/fxDsP7X2SD.
Saved the link to your homescreen and worried about your stats? Check out @sethmlarson‘s tool to carry them over: https://t.co/cnnnkkUiJv pic.twitter.com/Xnb5AI6bit
— New York Times Games (@NYTGames) June 2, 2022
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http://www.designtaxi.com/news/418925/Farewell-Original-Wordle-May-You-Rest-In-Peace/
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