I can't believe The New York Times is making Wordle easier

techradar.com:

First, stop whining. Wordle isn't any more difficult than it was a week or so ago, before The New York Times bought it, updated the logo and colors, and put millions of Wordle fans on high alert. If anything, it just got easier.

I know, five-letter words like Cynic are not easy. They repeat letters, use just one vowel (Y is an unofficial member of the vowel family), and we don't use them that often. People complained that maybe the scribes at The New York Times were upping the ante. No, not so, promised the Old Gray Lady. These words were already in the system.

What The Times has done this week, though, is simplified and maybe purified the Wordle system.

A few weeks back, I wrote about the charming Wordle rip-off, Lewdle. It was comprised of nothing but offensive words. A silly and basically harmless effort. In a statement about recent changes to Wordle, a New York Times spokesperson told Fox4News in Dallas, TX:

«We are updating the word list over time to remove obscure words to keep the puzzle accessible to more people, as well as insensitive or offensive words.»

It's hard to imagine a less offensive game than Wordle. In fact, the entire creation, from the design to the simple gameplay (a 5-by-6 grid, with six chances to guess the word based on visual feedback from the game) and lack of in-game competition appears the modicum of gentleness. It's much like I imagine the game's creator, Josh Wardle, who built the game essentially out of love for his partner, and as a way to stay connected during the pandemic.

I get it. No one wants to work for a few minutes or more on a pleasurable word game only to find they're constructing the five letters for, say, a collection of one human body part. I've tried contacting Wardle on Twitter