On Thursday, May 23, while the school was sheltering in place due to the thunderstorm, a cultural phenomenon was taking place in one 1st period class. With all the students done making up work and no new work planned for the day, the teacher proposed an idea for a fun class activity: a Wordle race.
Wordle was conceived by Josh Wardle, a software engineer with an inspiring last name. While the initial prototype was created in 2013, the game was not introduced to the world until October 2021, when Wardle created his own website to house it online.
The premise of the game is simple: you have six tries to guess the five-letter word of the day. After each guess, you are informed of which letters are not in the mystery word, which letters are correct but are in the wrong place, and which letters are correct and are in the correct place. When Wardle brought Wordle to the public, he could not have expected the massive surge that followed.
With millions of users playing the game each day, the New York Times saw a golden opportunity to bring new life to its Games section. In January 2022, the newspaper acquired Wordle from Wardle for a seven-figure amount. Since then, data suggests that NYT Games has become the most popular section of the New York Times, based on time spent by users (ValueAct Capital).
The Wordle craze hit Yorktown High School early on, but even after over two years, it continues to be a hit among students.
“It’s fun to play with other people, and whenever I do it I’ll share my results with my friends,” said junior Karen Yang, a top competitor in the 1st period Wordle race and avid Wordle solver.
Even across languages, Wordle has made a marked impact. At YHS, Wordle has even infiltrated Spanish class. During AP week, when students were in and out of classes and introducing new material would not be effective, one Spanish teacher (and what was left of his class) decided to play Wordle Español together. Employing their knowledge of Spanish vocab, the students came together as a class to deduce the mystery words.
And it’s not just Wordle that builds community. The New York Times further grew the popularity of its Games section when it introduced Connections in June 2023. Another word game with a simple premise, the goal in Connections is to split 16 given words evenly into four specific mystery categories based on their meaning or wordplay. If you make four mistakes, the game ends.
Since Connections was first introduced in the summer, it took longer to reverberate through the Yorktown High School community. However, Connections has since made its stake alongside Wordle as a word game favorite at YHS.
Following the Wordle race, the 1st period class eagerly initiated its next word game competition: a Connections race. Junior Amani Gupta took the crown, impressively determining that “Heyday,” “Hijinks,” “Yogurt,” and “Supper” belonged to the same category.
“It’s fun to look for different unique relationships between a jumble of random words. It’s also very satisfying when you figure it out and get the correct answer!” said Gupta.
Other students echoed the same sentiments.
“I personally like Connections as it forces the gears in your brain to turn, looking for synonyms, grouping certain categories together. Once you piece the puzzle together, it feels euphoric: ‘Omg I did it!’” said junior Ryan Lee, a top competitor in the Connections race.
Lee does the Connections puzzle, along with the Wordle, almost every day. With other addictingly simple word games, such as the long-standing Mini Crossword and NYT’s March 2024 creation, Strands, many other students have also developed a habit of doing NYT Games.
“I like that it’s a quick game that only takes a few minutes every day. I do the Connections first, then the Mini Crossword, the Wordle, Letter Boxed, and finally Strands,” said junior Makayla Winslow.
These word games have not only infiltrated the lives of students but also the interactions between students. During downtime at school, students huddle to complete the word games together. The collaborative spirit that these games nurture is truly special.
“I’ve talked to people about word games who I don’t usually talk to, especially on days when one of them is particularly difficult,” said junior Sonia Eddolls.
Connections (along with other word games) literally builds connections at YHS.
