Abigail Clark ‘26
News Editor
Everyone has their perfect routine, their “right” way to start their day. Some may make a cup of coffee. Others may go for a run or scroll through TikTok. For me, and so many others across the world, the perfect and “right” way to start the day begins with Wordle. For the past couple of years, I constantly had conversations such as, “Wait, don’t say anything! I am still on my fourth guess!” or, “What word do you start with? I always start with S-L-A-T-E.” Each day at work this summer, I and the other servers would sit around the empty dining room, concentrating on our Wordle, trying to be one of the first ones done. In high school, my friends and I would send our stats of the day before the first period, adding to the leaderboard of the best “Wordlers.”
At first, I thought Wordle would be a trend like many others, but it’s not. It is still played every day by so many people. Why? Wordle is the best way to open your mind, work on strategy, and create a fun, competitive environment with friends that spark so many conversations. We should all start our day with Wordle to challenge ourselves and each other.
On March 8th, 2024, the New York Times released its 1000th Wordle puzzle, which shows how far the platform has come since its release in December of 2021. The continuation of the game for almost three years now shows how much the world loves and relies on it.
Starting your day with Wordle creates a mental habit that allows you to expand your mind through learning new vocabulary. Cognitive psychologist Johnathon King said, “Playing Wordle is unlike playing crossword puzzles because you don’t need to know the meanings of words or even have a large vocabulary.” Wordle allows anybody and everybody to play. Many of the times I have played Wordle, I have no idea what the word is or means. However, trying different letters and combinations leads to a great learning experience to start the day. We have the ability to add new words to our vocabulary every day through a fun, connective mind game.
Incorporating Wordle into our daily routine adds a productive, continuous habit that rewards everyone who plays it and opens our minds on a strong note. The day does not feel right if I do not complete the Wordle in the morning; it has become ingrained in my mind as a necessary part of my day. Not only is it quick but also fulfilling. Players can challenge themselves every morning to beat their previous solving time or however many try it took them to guess the last day. Even if I do not guess the word until my sixth try, I still feel successful and look forward to completing it faster the next time. With the growing technology, more of our mind games are online. While my grandfather still begins every day with the crossword puzzle from the newspaper, I sit with him and do the Wordle, along with the other various New York Times games.
I think beginning each day with Wordle, most importantly, builds connections over something as simple as a five-letter word game. Thinking back to 2021, the world was still surviving COVID and many activities were still online or behind masks. Wordle provided an outlet for conversation when that was often a challenge. Now three years later, when the world has returned to normalcy, we are still playing and connecting over Wordle. The low-stakes, competitive atmosphere around the game fosters encouragement between friends and builds relationships between once strangers.
Wordle is truly the world’s game. Millions of people have come together over hundreds of five-letter words and infinite arraignments of letters. Whether you start with C-R-A-N-E or N-I-G-H-T, starting your day with Wordle makes all the difference.
Featured image courtesy of The New York Times
Copy Edited by Annamaria DeCamp ’27
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