Now Wordle Has An Editor In Charge of Picking the Next Answer

Wordle will now have its own dedicated editor to help make the hit guessing game word puzzles, The New York Times announced on Monday. The Verge reports: Tracy Bennett will be the editor, and the game will have a word list curated by the NYT and "be programmed and tested" like its crosswords and the Spelling Bee game. The changes appear to mean that the NYT will be lining up some of its own solutions instead of relying on the long list of answers you could find if you knew where to look. However, it sounds like the game itself won't be changing.

"Wordle's gameplay will stay the same, and answers will be drawn from the same basic dictionary of answer words, with some editorial adjustments to ensure that the game stays focused on vocabulary that's fun, accessible, lively and varied," Everdeen Mason, the NYT's editorial director of games, wrote in an article about Bennett's appointment. You might already be seeing a different answer than someone else as a result of the change. If that's the case, Mason suggests refreshing your browser or playing the game on the Crossword app.

No more "fetus" debacle

[djembe2k]

The New York Times drops the word 'fetus' from its Wordle answers [nbcnews.com]. Surprised it took this long.

Re:

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

I wonder if "trump" is in the list...

Re:

[youngone]

I don't see why not. Trump has several meanings.

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[pete6677]

I was about 99% sure it was penis the other day.

"ooh, I'm sorry, the word we were looking for was venus".

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[drinkypoo]

Given the number of midterm races NYT erroneously called for red candidates on no basis whatsoever, absolutely yes, and probably tomorrow :P

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[fibonacci8]

Literally 1984

Sorry

[xcfmx]

I know you're new, but you've been replaced by a script.

I guess

[ukoda]

So I guess this is the Slashdot equivalent of a slow news day?

Re: I guess

[Big Hairy Gorilla]

Hear, hear. Not news for nerds. Not even news.

For gumdrops sake, we aren't even arguing about this.

Also, wtf is a gumdrop?

Re:

[ukoda]

Ah yes, Slashdot, the place to get the answers to the important questions.

The gumdrops I know of are a small chewy confectionery. Similar to what is called gummy bears in the USA my guess is they are of British origin. Here in New Zealand there is currently a public outcry about plans to discontinue the iconic Goody Goody Gum Drops flavored ice cream with stocks selling out on the news. This was not covered by Slashdot despite being extensively cover on prime time TV news here. The Wordle changes did

Re:

[Big Hairy Gorilla]

ha ha ! very funny ! I actually read about GGGD here in Canada. That is real kid stuff though, to each his own, but not something that I would care for anymore. Thanks for the larf.

ps. I actually do know what a gumdrop is, my grandmother used to buy them when she went on her weekly trip "uptown" and would bring candies back for us kids.... good times.

Updated words

[RoccamOccam]

Expect some updated words like "womxn", "amxnd", and "semxn".

An Editor?! In charge?!

[greytree]

Oh, what a good thing that would be for Slashdot.

How much do you make picking a word a day?

[chas.williams]

Sounds like a grueling job. I am not sure eight hours in a day is enough. Maybe you need two editors?

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[tlhIngan]

Sounds like a grueling job. I am not sure eight hours in a day is enough. Maybe you need two editors?

I'm sure it's not their only job, but it probably involves noting down what the word is of the day and making sure it's not a particularly sensitive word at the moment, or if picking a word, maybe following the theme of the day. A word might be completely innocuous one day, then be emotionally charged the next. Or maybe a word is particularly appropriate the day it airs. Like voting day it might be words lik

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[chas.williams]

How can you trust that this single editor won't go rogue? We probably need a team of editors to review the choices. I wonder if we could get the government to cover some of the cost due to the public nature of this contest. And speaking of the government, we probably should get the government's input on the suitability of the word choices.

"Loser"

[indytx]

This is overdue. The word on Father's Day was "Loser."

Robots

[kackle]

Talk about a job that could be automated... It seems like a waste of a human's precious, non-refundable time.

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[jbengt]

My take from TFS is that it is already automated using a list of answers, but now they're going to edit a new list and do a little manual editing of picks from the list.