The mobile game Wordle has become so popular, it’s hard to believe it was invented less than four years ago.
Josh Wardle, a Welsh-born software engineer based in New York City, created the game as an activity for him and his partner to enjoy during the COVID-19 pandemic. He released it to the public in October 2021, and by January 2022, The New York Times had purchased it.
Today, it’s the newspaper’s most-popular game and boasts a large following, including celebrities like Meghan Markle, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper and more. In fact, Damon and Cooper even have a Wordle league, which also includes actor Jason Bateman.
Erhan Aslan, an expert in applied linguistics who teaches at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, previously shared why the game is so addicting in an interview with Newsweek.
“In today’s digital age, like many other things, many simple games like Wordle can be played online. I think that Wordle gains its popularity not only from its simple rules but also from its virality on social media platforms as a result of people sharing/posting their scores to demonstrate a sense of accomplishment and validation,” Aslan said.
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How to Play Wordle
The viral game is easy to follow, and you don’t need a subscription to the newspaper to play. Users must guess the daily five-letter word within six attempts before the answer will be revealed. If a correct letter is in the right place, the tile will turn green, if it is in the wrong place, it turns yellow, and if it is not in the word at all, the tile turns gray.
In an interview with Newsweek in 2022, Wardle shared his best tips for how to solve Wordle.
“A lot of people tend to think that the game is just about finding those green and gold letters. If you get those, then you theoretically have the information you need, but you don’t want to get too hung up on that,” he said. “Even when you have most of the letters, it’s still worth using a couple of tries to just narrow down the options further. It’s often just as important to learn what letters aren’t in a word. That information can actually be more powerful in a lot of ways, and you don’t necessarily realize it at first.”
Wordle #1,358, Clues for Saturday, March 8
Newsweek‘s clues for today’s Wordle are:
Hint #1: The answer starts with the letter “N.”
Hint #2: It is a noun.
Hint #3: There are no repeating letters.
Hint #4: It has two vowels.
Hint #5: The last letter is an “L.”
Wordle #1,358, Answer for Saturday, March 8
The answer to today’s Wordle is “Navel.”
Merriam-Webster defines the term as “a depression in the middle of the abdomen that marks the point of former attachment of the umbilical cord or yolk stalk” and “the central point: middle.”
Impressive job if you won today’s game! If you didn’t, though, don’t fret. You’ll be pleased to hear that Wordle is released at midnight in your local time zone, which means you will get another chance to play on Sunday.
Can’t wait for the next Wordle to drop? Fill time with these other popular word-based games, like Wordscapes and Words With Friends.