Wordle puzzle setter: 'This is my bliss, I’m where I want to be'

Five empty squares and six chances to crack the word has proven addictive for the millions of people who play the New York Times’ Wordle every day.

It was created by Josh Wardle, a programmer living in New York in 2021.

Tracy Bennett, Wordle's first and only editor, has been setting the puzzle since NYT bought it in 2022.

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She considers herself to be the curator of the words in Wordle, she told RNZ's Nine to Noon.

“I inherited a word list from Josh Wardle, and I mixed it up as soon as I got it.

“I also set up the words a week at a time, about six weeks ahead, and sometimes I will come upon a word that I don't think should run, either because it's obscure or it has a secondary meaning that's possibly offensive.

“I will eliminate some words, and I've also added some words, there are words that are mysteriously missing, I added SQUID and I added PANDA, I added NIFTY and added EMOJI.”

So, what are the strategies Bennett advises to crack the puzzle in three or four goes?

“I do think it's good in the first two guesses to get a lot of what we call the wheel of fortune letters, so R, S, T, L, N, E, to get those covered in the first two guesses.

“And then you have a lot to work with, and you've eliminated a lot.”

That said, certain words she picks can undo strategy.

"Unfamiliar words, but also words that I would think of like CRYPT, that has only Y as the vowel, and it's not in the usual spot.

“That's the kind of word that really trips people up and is hard to find. Not all of the letters are common, maybe R and T, but the C is not.”

Many Wordlers stick to the same starting word to try and eliminate as many vowels as possible, but Bennett likes to mix it up for fun.

“That idea that you might one day just guess a word, and it will be the word that day, and you'll have that magical experience, that synchronicity, that little jolt of excitement that you got a hole in one just by pulling something out of the air.

“And people tell me they have those experiences, and I think they're like, once in a lifetime kinds of thrills.”

Although if you like to stick to the same starter word, try TRACE, she says.

“Where you're getting that E and that A, those are very common patterns, and actually, people have better luck with that than they do with ADIEU or AUDIO statistically.

“But people do like to do AUDIO first, and I think it is mentally satisfying to take care of a lot of the vowels right off the bat.”

If you’re getting it in four goes, you’re on par with most of the world, she says.

“The average is four, many people get a typical word in four. I think 80 to 90 percent of people will get it in six.”

So, what does the future hold for Wordle when the five-letter words are all used up?

“We will run out of unique words in 2027 I think, and we'll need to discuss whether we want to recycle words, whether we want to add plurals, which we don't currently allow.

“I think the former would be the better option, but it won't be up to me totally. I'll have a say, but it will be a group decision.”

Whichever way Wordle goes in the future, Bennett’s staying put.

“I got this job in 2020, before that I worked at the same place for 30 years and I also loved that. This is my bliss, I’m where I want to be.”