Wordle: Is there a game more uniting than this silly little word game that has most of America in its grasp? The New York Times certainly capitalized on this popular venture, having bought the game from Josh Wardle on January 31st of this year. Parents, students, and even professors are addicted. If, by some miraculous chance, anyone is unfamiliar with the game, it can be found on nytimes.com. The rules are simple: You get 6 guesses for the word of the day, and each guess will show you whether you used any of the correct letters. The website shows correct letters in the correct place in green, and correct letters in the wrong place in yellow. 

    Even when the world seems to be falling apart, Wordle is always there for you. The surety of opening your laptop each day to put in your first Wordle guess just makes the world seem right. From strategically picking words with multiple vowels to random guesses, the thrill of a blank slate is unmatched. Personally, starting with a new word every time seems to work for me, and never fails to be amusing. Others have a practically superstitious belief that their first word will be the word of the day. It almost never ends up being “the” word, but the magic is there nonetheless. Days can be ruined by a spoiled Wordle overheard on the way to English class or in the cafeteria. Lots of people play, and most are victorious, but the fun of the game comes more from the chase than the difficulty of the game, with each word being limited to only five letters. Staying up until 3 in the morning to complete a word game may seem silly, but getting a leg up on the competition and knowing my day won’t be ruined by an errant spoiler is worth it. 

   Each day is exciting and new, unlike the current college experience of many students, which seems to be a Groundhog’s Day affair of déjà vu, with endless, repetitive days. In contrast to the hard work it takes to excel at Union College, one can always find a little joy in the simplicity of a Wordle. Don’t get me wrong, the game can be a challenge, a brain teaser if you will, but it makes time stop for a while as you rack your brain for five letter words starting with an s-, ending in -e, with a -u- in the middle (guesses anyone?). Stopping time is a power I’m sure we all wish we had, but with a good Wordle, anything is possible.