by John Downey '23 on March 3, 2022
A&E Co-Editor

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Arts & Entertainment

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Hey Kids, Spelling is Fun!

The “Wordle” Craze

By Abigail Levasseur ’24

 

Every night when the clock strikes twelve, Wordle fanatics hit their devices, eager to play the new daily Wordle puzzle. The original Wordle, found on the New York Times’ games webpage, has been entertaining all generations, young and old, for the past few months. The object of the game is to guess a daily five-letter word in six or fewer attempts. With each attempt, the letters that players enter will turn one of three colors: green, yellow, or gray. Green signifies that letters are in the correct location; yellow signifies that letters are indeed present in the word, but in the wrong location; and gray signifies that letters are not in the word at all. While the game seems simple, users find challenges in uncommon words, double letters, and popular prefixes and suffixes. With Wordle inching toward its 260th daily puzzle, it might be time for Wordle fanatics to add some unfamiliar five-letter words to their vocabulary and further explore the world of spelling fun.

Wordle devotees who find that one daily puzzle is not enough for them are in luck: Wordleunlimited.com offers as many standard five-letter wordle games as one can imagine. In addition to Wordle Unlimited, there are several spin-offs of the hit game. One such spin-off, the daily “Dordle,” is similar to wordle, but contains two five-letter word puzzles instead of one. Players have seven attempts to guess both words. Another spin-off, “Quordle,” contains four five-letter word puzzles. “Quordle” gives players nine attempts to guess all four words. Those who are fans of multiple word puzzles should give “Octordle” and “Sedecordle” a try. The former consists of eight word puzzles with thirteen attempts, and the latter offers sixteen word puzzles with twenty-one attempts. The trick to any and all of these games is to focus on one puzzle at a time—whichever has the most green or yellow letters—and then continue on.

For the math lovers of the world, there exists a game called “Nerdle.” The object of Nerdle is to guess the correct eight-character mathematical equation in six attempts. The characters allowed are numbers zero through nine as well as the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equal signs. After each attempt, the characters will turn either teal, purple, or gray. Teal signifies that characters are in the correct location, purple signifies that the letters are in the equation but in the wrong location, and gray signifies that the characters are not in the equation. The trick is to never duplicate a number or character in the first equation—the game is easier than one might think.

Those who consider not math but geography to be their forte should give “Worldle” a try. The object of Worldle is to guess the correct country from its shape in six guesses. After each incorrect guess, the game will spit back a percentage, an arrow, and a distance in kilometers that tells the player how close their guess is to the correct answer. This game is sure to prove wrong those who think their geography skills were above par.

There are several other—and fairly lousy—Wordle spin-off games popping up across the internet: “Sweardle,” which consists of swear words, “Letterle,” which consists of one letter only, “Taylordle,” which is Taylor Swift-themed, and “Hogwartle,” which is Harry Potter themed, to name a few. For those anxious to discover more Wordle-like games, search the web, be wary of computer viruses, and do not say this reporter didn’t warn you about such viruses—and Wordle’s addictiveness. Happy wordling!

by The Cowl Editor on February 14, 2019

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Campus

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by Kelly Martella ’21

News Staff

Newspapers offer unique perspectives and historical contexts that can only be found in periodicals, and now millions of pages of them are readily available online. At Providence College, this ability has recently been made even easier due to the library’s recent partnerships.

Phillips Memorial Library recently purchased campus-wide licenses to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal websites. Both newspapers have been in publication since the mid-19th century and are currently the 2nd and 3rd largest in U.S. circulation, respectively.

There was a time when reading the newspaper was the only way for people to keep up with current events. Morning and evening papers would be delivered to the front door twice a day, keepng the public informed about breaking news in their communities and from around the world. 

While this was the norm only a few decades ago, it now seems archaic to younger generations, college students in particular.

As the world becomes more digitized, it may seem like there is a lesser need for newspapers. This may be true in the physical sense — people are now more likely to scroll through articles on the Internet than actually flip through the paper. 

But even in the  world of Twitter feeds and Facebook updates, a newspaper can still be one of the most reliable sources of information.

Recognizing this modern dilemma, and in an effort to evolve in the digital world, almost all newspapers are now accessible online. This is not only true of issues that are currently being published, but many sites include past publications with articles spanning throughout history. 

Content from these publications is already available to the PC community via the library’s databases, however, the new partnership will allow direct access to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal websites. 

There are many benefits of this added feature.  Assistant Library Director Sarah Edmonds explained, “Access to their websites allows for browsing and a more immediate, dynamic experience.” 

These are great academic resources, and many students utilize the already existing databases for research purposes. However, the new partnership has a wide range of benefits beyond academics, and the library hopes the community will take the opportunity to explore them. 

“We know that they are great tools for teaching, as well as professional and personal growth and civic engagement,” said Edmonds. “We hope that many members of the PC community will take advantage of these partnerships.”

These services will be available free of charge to everyone in the PC community—students, staff, and faculty. 

To sign up, contact Edmonds, or stop by Phillips Memorial Library to get more information.