The New York Times said today that some users of the popular Wordle game may see a word that has been in the news a lot in the last week.
After a draft ruling by the Supreme Court on abortion rights was published by Politico last week, the New York Times said it decided to switch the word “fetus” out of Monday’s game. The word, however, could appear if the user did not refresh their browser prior to playing Monday’s game.
The New York Times explained this discrepancy by saying that words get loaded into the game well in advance. The Times said “fetus” was loaded into today’s game last year.
“We want to emphasize that this is a very unusual circumstance,” the New York Times said Monday. “When we acquired Wordle in January, it had been built for a relatively small group of users. We’re now busy revamping Wordle’s technology so that everyone always receives the same word. We are committed to ensuring that tens of millions of people have a gratifying and consistent experience, every day.”
The New York Times Games’ division said it works independently from the newspaper’s news department.
“At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news,” the Times said.
The New York Times said adding Wordle has brought tens of millions of users to its website.