What was Wordle's hardest puzzle of the year in Illinois? Search data reveals the biggest stumper.
CHICAGO (CBS) — As we say ADIEU to 2024, a new study has revealed last year's hardest Wordle puzzles in each U.S. state, including Illinois.
Unscramblerer.com analyzed Google Trends to posit the hardest Wordle words of the year by state. The company tracked trends for the search term "Wordle hint" from Jan. to Dec. 31, 2024.
The data indicated that DECAL left Illinois, and Indiana, Wordlers most stumped on May 5, 2024.
Illinois residents were not alone. According to the study, DECAL was also named America's hardest Wordle puzzle of the year. In all, 14 states had issues guessing that Wordle.
Californians struggled most with BEVEL on May 26 and New Yorkers needed assistance on the word JOLLY on April 21. Other words that led to frustration were OUTER, BUGLE, BUDDY, LOWER, and SMITH.
The New York Times acquired Wordle, the addictive puzzle game, in January 2022. The NYT bought Wordle from its creator, Josh Wardle, who created the word puzzle as a gift to his wife.
The game brought people together during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it remains a daily topic of conversation and scores are frequently posted to social media feeds.
In fact, in the first year, Wordle was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about 1.3 million times.
According to the editorial director of the New York Times Games, 5.3 billion Wordle puzzles were played worldwide in 2024.
The 2024 war on "Wordle clones"
In March, the New York Times sent copyright takedown notices to creators of games similar to Wordle puzzle. The NYT said it was an act to "defend its intellectual property rights."
The notices maintain The New York Times' ownership of the game's mechanics and concepts, such as the green graphics for correct letters and the 5X6 grid.
As CBS News reported, some game creators reported getting takedown notices in social media posts. The posts used the words "sad" and "insanity" as a response to the notices. An Australian linguistics lecturer noted in a threatening social media post that Wordle was open-source from the beginning, which means the underlying computer code was available to everyone.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, the newspaper said it "has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times's 'Wordle' trademarks or copyrighted gameplay."