Wordle: The Game That Captivated Millions

Some days Wordle can be extra difficult to solve, so if you need a helping hand, Newsweek is here to help. The word-based game exploded from 90 users on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 on January 2, 2022, according to figures by Statista. In January 2022, The New York Times purchased Wordle for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum, though the game remained free to play.

Years after its debut, the puzzle maintains a loyal fan base committed to guessing each day's five-letter word in as few attempts as possible. Much of Wordle's appeal is its simplicity, with players having six attempts to work out the word of the day. Within these six guesses, a designated color system helps players determine which letters are present in that day's chosen word.

If a user guesses a letter that's in the right place, that tile will turn green. If the letter appears in the word, but not in the place the user has guessed, it will turn yellow. If the letter does not appear in the word at all then the tile will turn gray.

Josh Wardle, the Brooklyn-based software engineer who created the game, never intended for Wordle to take over the internet. He was inspired to develop the game during the COVID-19 pandemic as a gift for his crossword-loving partner, Palek Shah. According to Wardle, the puzzles are tough enough to challenge players but aren't so difficult that users get frustrated and switch off.

"There is a reason that every word is five letters long and that you are allowed six attempts to guess it," Wardle told Newsweek in 2022. "That might seem arbitrary but, with the prototype version, I tested different word lengths and experimented with the number of tries that players were allowed. Through that process of refinement, I figured out that five letters and six tries was the ideal sweet spot. It's just limited enough to feel challenging and to make you think, but most of the time people still manage to solve it. So, you feel a real sense of real accomplishment."

Wordle #1,090 Clues for Thursday, June 13

Hint #1: Today's answer is a noun and a verb.

Hint #2: There are no repeated letters in today's Wordle.

Hint #3: There is only one vowel.

Hint #4: Today's answer ends with a consonant.

Hint #5: Synonyms include "apprehension" and "worry."

Wordle #1,090 Answer for Thursday, June 13

The answer to today's Wordle is "Angst." According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the noun is defined as "a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity." The verb is defined as "to feel or express anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity: to experience or express angst."

If you struggled with today's answer, you might have better luck tomorrow—Wordle resets at midnight in your time zone. In the meantime, why not give Connections a go? NYT's second most popular game after Wordle, Connections challenges players to group words into categories by association—and we’ve got some handy hints to help.