"Ever since NYTimes bought Wordle, the game got a lil too hard. I ain't playing no more. This embarrassing score. I had to use two different browsers for extra guess and still barely got the word."
Lisaliveson's tweet, above, reflects the sentiments of many Twitter users who are complaining that Wordle is using more difficult words now The New York Times has taken over. I agree that the last few words have been more difficult than usual for me, but I don't mind.
From The Guardian:
Tiger Webb, an editorial adviser and researcher at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who specialises in language, isn't so sure the game's complexity has increased.
"Two things could be going on," he said. People may be seeing "a pattern where there may not be any and maybe in the backend something could be different with the sale to the New York Times … but we don't know".
Webb acknowledged that with the puzzle's transfer to the New York Times, the publication may want to "put their mark on it", adding: "You'd have to imagine there'd be some element of curation there."
"It could be harder, they could have changed something, we don't know. But even if they haven't changed anything … open a dictionary at a random page and you will find a five-letter word in English you don't know," he added.
The New York Times has denied any changes have been made to Wordle since the acquisition. "Nothing has changed about the game play," New York Times communications director Jordan Cohen said in an email.
