It’s a word that unites the entire world. Every day, whether in fast-paced Mumbai, tranquil Zurich or dreamy San Francisco, millions of people start their day by tapping their phones to guess a word.

Today marks the 1,000-word anniversary of Wordle, the New York Times word game that captivated everyone from Gen X to the next generation.

It’s a simple pleasure. There are six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. If you got a correct letter and it’s in the right position, a green block will tell you this. A yellow block means your letter is correct but in the wrong position. It can be played on the browser or the NYT Games app.

Come to think of it, who doesn’t love word play?

If Scrabble is a favorite among children and we see grandparents glued to newspapers solving The Times crossword puzzle, then Wordle unites generations to share statistics with friends and family WhatsApp groups and discuss words.

There are also many people who post their daily achievements on social media sites like X. Some people revealed how they played Wordle first thing in the morning, bleary-eyed and missed the day’s word.

The joy of hitting the bullseye on your first guess is the heartbreak of not getting the news of the day. fail! Ask any speaker, the pain of a wounded ego will last for a while.

Wordlers and even the Empire State Building are celebrating the 1,000-word anniversary. Well, words are the cornerstone of our society.

“Celebrating the 1,000th Wordle game tonight,” the Empire State username posted on the X with the labels “New York Times Game” and “The New York Times.”

How WORDLE came to this world

Wordle came into our lives in October 2021, when the world was still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Wordlers, founded by software engineer Josh Wardle, has grown from 90 to 300,000 users in just two months.

The New York Times (NYT), looking for ways to boost non-news engagement, paid a seven-figure sum to acquire Wordle in January 2022.

After being acquired by The New York Times, Wordle’s player base grew into the tens of millions.

Sharing with friends and family helps, as does showing off on social media platforms.

If Wordle is pure fun for some, for others it’s a strategy game. People have some tips and strategies to get daily Wordle words.

first word strategy

A common tactic of Wordlers is to exhaust vowels.

“Order the vowels and the rest will fall into place” is the motto of this group of Wordle users.

The New York Times revealed its conclusions after analyzing 500 million Wordle games in a December 2023 article.

The New York Times article stated: “For human Wordle players, the most popular starting word is ADIEU, followed by another four-vowel word AUDIO.”

However, the New York Times analysis shows that starting with ADIEU or AUDIO doesn’t really help.

WORDLE How are words chosen?

People also tend to use opening lines that are relevant to the event or their mood.

According to an analysis by Wordle operator “The New York Times”, words such as “happy”, “gift” and “peace” become the opening words on Christmas Day, while words such as “heart”, “lover” and “Cupid” become the most popular words on Valentine’s Day. Popular opening line.

The New York Times tried topic-based words, but it wasn’t well received by Wordle users. It tried a Thanksgiving feast.

“We got a huge reaction from the audience, and they didn’t like it at all,” Everdeen Mason, the New York Times’ gaming editorial director, told CNN. “I think it was too easy.”

From that point on, it was all about selecting words from a curated list originally created by Josh Wardle.

In November 2022, The New York Times hired Tracy Bennett as Wordle editor.

Tracy Bennett revealed to CNN how the word of the day was decided. She works on week-long batches about a month in advance.

Tracy Bennett told CNN, “Josh Wardle’s original word list makes up the bulk of the word database we’re accessing, although we’re not running it in the order he originally put it them.” She said she had just removed “a handful” of words that felt too obscure or vulgar, or had a derogatory secondary meaning.”

What’s the 1,000th word?

Another thing for Wordlers (especially those from Commonwealth countries) to note is that the game uses North American spelling.

The 1,000-word anniversary is being marked with confetti on Wordle, and so are people on the social media platform.

The game is so popular that an entire industry has sprung up offering Wordle tips and solutions. Several news and non-news portals have given clues to Wordlers who are stuck on their fifth attempt to see the “doomsday scenario”.

“Happy Wordle 1,000 to all my watchers!” posted Wordler on X.

Although Wordle’s popularity has declined over the past few months, it is still a game played all over the world. Now, there are prizes.

“We’re celebrating #Wordle1000 with the New York Times Game!” the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) said on Friday.

“Starting today, NYT Games is offering a series of prizes inspired by past Wordle solutions. Solve today’s 1,000th Wordle and get something special from MoMA,” its post on X reads.

However, for most vocabulary lovers, getting the day’s vocabulary correct day after day is the greatest reward. That’s what keeps Wordle going.

In turn, Wordle also has a word to remember every day.

Happy Thousand Words Day, Wordlers.