Twitter zaps spoilsport bot that ruined Wordle games

By Trevor Mogg January 24, 2022

An automated Twitter account that posted Wordle spoilers to people who shared their results has been suspended.

The spoilsport bot replied to folks sharing their results, posting the solution to the next day’s puzzle and, for good measure, adding an insulting message along the lines of, “People don’t care about your linguistic escapades,” and, “This doesn’t make you look smart.”

Wordle, an addictive daily word puzzle that recently took the world by storm, challenges players to discover a five-letter word within six tries. One of the features that helped it to go viral is that it lets you share your result with others without giving away the solution.

The daily dose of delight that the game brought to people’s lives, and the fun of sharing the result, prompted some miserable soul to create The Wordlinator, a bot account “sent from the future to terminate Wordle bragging,” according to its bio.

As noted by GameSpot, the bot appeared shortly after media reports about Robert Reichel, a software engineer who found a way to uncover Wordle’s daily solution by deciphering the game’s source code, suggesting the person behind The Wordlinator used Reichel’s shared discovery to create the automated account.

While Twitter has zapped that particular bot, other similar attempts to ruin Wordle’s daily challenge could be incoming, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re sharing your results on the microblogging service.

A happier tale

When Wordle began to take off earlier this month, a number of unscrupulous developers tried to cash in by creating mobile apps that copied the web-only game.

The move was particularly disappointing as Wordle‘s creator, Josh Wardle, was keen not to monetize his game, whether through ads or other means.

Many of the copies have now been taken down, though at least one, called Wordle!, remains. That’s because it was created several years ago by developer Steven Cravotta.

With Wordle’s success, Cravotta’s own app started to generate revenue after years of inactivity, prompting the developer to reach out to Wardle with the idea of donating the proceeds from his app to a charity agreed by both.

Wardle was delighted by the gesture, describing Cravotta as “a class act.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Gaming

Wordle’s wild year: New York Times breaks down the phenomenon’s big 2022

Close-up of Wordle up on a smartphone.

If you logged onto Twitter exactly one year ago, you can probably recall the moment you began to see your feed fill up with gray, yellow, and green boxes. Though it launched in 2021 and gained mainstream popularity in December of that year, Wordle became a sudden cultural phenomenon in early 2022 that was inescapable outside of a muted words list. It was a rare gaming success story, one that could reach a broad audience thanks to its elegant simplicity.

Wordle’s fortune would escalate just as quickly as its user base. In late January 2022, the New York Times announced it had acquired the puzzle game from creator Josh Wardle in an undisclosed, low-seven-figure deal -- a left-field move that almost eclipsed Sony’s announcement that it was acquiring Destiny 2 developer Bungie just hours earlier. The move would spark some worry among fans, who feared that a corporate takeover of the most independent game imaginable could steal its soul.

Gaming

CES 2023: Wordle will take to the skies thanks to Delta Air Lines

Someone playing Wordle on an iphone

The New York Times appeared at CES 2023 alongside Delta to confirm that the publication's game lineup is part of the upcoming Delta Exclusives Hub. Delta Air Lines passengers will soon be able to play Wordle, Spelling Bee, and more during flights via the airline's free Wi-Fi.
Currently, those flying on a Delta flight only get free access to iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. Starting on February 1, though, Delta Air Lines plans to offer free Wi-Fi on its flights to Delta SkyMiles members, and lots of content will be accessible from a new landing page called the Delta Exclusives Hub.
When Delta Exclusives Hub launches sometime in spring 2023, its hub will give passengers access to games like Wordle, Spelling Bee, and The Crossword on domestic U.S. flights free-of-charge, whether they are New York Times subscribers or not.
This announcement comes almost a year after The New York Times acquired Wordle at the height of its status as a social media phenomenon. While it's not as trendy as it was a year ago, Wordle still attracts a lot of players and is a major part of The New York Times Games' offerings. In particular, The New York Times seems keen to expand the places people can play Wordle, as they integrated it into their Crossword app in December 2022.
By including Wordle and its other games in the Delta Exclusives Hub, The New York Times Games will get its offerings in front of even more people while also ensuring that players will always have a chance to check out that day's Wordle, even if they're traveling all day.

Gaming

The best live service games of 2022: 10 ongoing games we couldn’t stop playing

A Sea of Thieves skeleton sits in front of text that says 2022 Best Live Service Games.

Some games are meant to be played once, savored, and then shelved for the next one -- not unlike a book or a movie. But many other games are meant to be played and replayed over a long period of time, offering wildly different experiences each time you sit down and boot them up. There were many ongoing games to pick from in 2022, a lot of which include live service elements like online multiplayer, microtransactions, and regular content updates -- though not all are worth investing your time into.

Even though there are plenty of stinkers out there to avoid, there were also several ongoing games that kept our attention in 2022, ranging across several genres. From globe-trotting online roleplaying games to far simpler games you can play at a café bench, here are 10 games that set the bar for live service in 2022.
Fortnite