Wordle

[TRex]

Seven days played — would expect a more normal distribution with more games played.

[ridethetalk]

I think if you miss a day, as I did, then your streak gets broken... 

[pat]

Funny you should mention that, Jack. I was wondering what would happen if you failed to find the word and didn't share it to the scoreboard so as not to break your winning streak. Obviously the same would apply.

I'm curious though. In your first post you'd played 20 games but that went down to 11 played. How does that happen? And how has your maximum streak gone down from 20 to 8? Most peculiar.

[pat]

Oops. Got confused between the Johns and Jacks! One screenshot from each. All is now clear!

[Ozzyjack]

Disaster struck.

I have broken my streak.

I'll post the stats as a new benchmark to be broken.

[pat]

Bad luck, Jack. I'm currently on 16 out of 16 but even if I continue to win every day I won't be able to reach your record as I'm (hopefully) going on holiday at the end of next week. Even if they have the Internet deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon I doubt I'll have the time to play the game, so my streak will be broken.

[pat]

For anyone who likes Wordle but wishes there was more than one game a day there's this one:

https://octokatherine.github.io/word-master/

It's exactly the same to play but there are unlimited games.

[auntiemo]

Thank you, Pat.

[TRex]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/business/media/new-york-times-wordle.html

Excerpts

The sudden hit Wordle, in which once a day players get six chances to guess a five-letter word, has been acquired by The New York Times Company.

The purchase, announced by The Times on Monday, reflects the growing importance of games, like crosswords and Spelling Bee, in the company’s quest to increase digital subscriptions to 10 million by 2025.

Wordle was acquired from its creator, Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn, for a price “in the low seven figures,” The Times said. The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players.

“The Times remains focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world,” a company statement said. “New York Times Games are a key part of that strategy.”

Since The Times put up a paywall in 2011, its business strategy has revolved around persuading readers and users, the overwhelming majority of whom get Times content digitally, to buy subscriptions. The traditional newspaper business model is centered on advertising.

The Times sells subscriptions to its print newspaper and core digital news app. For lower prices, it also offers subscriptions to a games app (Games), a recipe app (Cooking) and, as of last year, Wirecutter, a product-recommendation site The Times bought in 2016. This month, The Times spent $550 million to buy the sports news website The Athletic, hailing the 1.2 million subscribers the site brings with it.

The business strategy has been vindicated to the tune of millions of new subscribers.

So, free for now, but one can expect it to go behind their paywall.   

[blackrockrose]

Yet another reason to be grateful to Alan for keeping Chihuahua free.

[Alan W]

Well, to be fair, nobody's offered me a price "in the low seven figures".

[TRex]

Well, to be fair, nobody's offered me a price "in the low seven figures".

Were that to happen, I don't think anyone would blame you for taking the dosh!

[Wibbly Bits]

It amazes me that Chi does not have more players. It looks to be around the 400 mark, and not all are registered. My missus and I both agree that for the hours of pleasure ( and pain ) and education we get from Chi, we would be happy to pay to keep playing. I guess 400 is just not enough to lure anyone to pull out their cheque book. We have told all our family and friends about it, but few have continued.

Perhaps one day, Chi will go viral, and Alan will get some offers. Until then, we say a very big and heartfelt thank you. Your knowledge, humour and patience are astounding, and your years of hard work are very much appreciated by all.

[lilys field]

Ditto ditto ditto

But do hold out for more than a few paltry million

[Jacki]

Couldn’t agree more. If you do want to instigate a subscription fee I would be happy to contribute. Part of my enjoyment lies in the camaraderie of others who appreciate words and I fear this is dying out amongst younger people (I feel old saying that!) however the popularity of Wordle is obviously a sign that I’m wrong again!