Wordle mania: five letters and one word connecting the world

New Delhi: Adieu or adios, rouse or mouse, or just winging it with a random word? It’s Wordle, the world in five letters as it were in which millions ponder the question daily when a blank grey grid opens up inviting players to put in a word any word that can get them to the right answer in six tries.
Opening strategy is critical, and everyone has their own favourite, some going with words with the most vowels, others with consonants, those who use the same starter each day and then some who just pull out any old word.
The internet game has united the globe with the most disparate in thrall, right from the busy executive and the retired bureaucrat to the harried teacher and the prankster school student, their day incomplete unless they finish with the word of the day.
The fact that Wordle is not about downloading an app but just clicking on a link and can be played only once a day is part of the charm, said Shreya Punj, one of the many who makes sure she doesn’t miss her daily tryst with the puzzle.
“My partner finds it amusing that I have set an alarm for 12 midnight just so I can play the game before I call it a day. I’ve won 95 per cent of my games and have a 38- day streak (number of games she has won on the trot),” said the 29-year-old who leads the audiobooks division in Pocket FM.
A moment after midnight, just as the clock strikes a new day, is when a new word is uploaded. It stays for exactly 24 hours.