News: Arts and Entertainment
In October 2021, Josh Wardle uploaded his creation to the world—Wordle™. This online game gives players six tries to identify a five-letter word. It offers clues about which letters go where. Wardle had designed Wordle as a gift for his sweetheart. But it turned into a hit game played by millions.
Many people love word games. Wordle follows in the grand tradition of other popular games. These include crossword puzzles, Scrabble®, and word searches. People young and old play word games to build their vocabulary and strengthen their brains. Research shows that word games are excellent ways to exercise the mind. Here's how a few favorites went from new ideas to household words.
Crossword Puzzles
Crossword fans owe the word puzzle to Arthur Wynne. He was a newspaper editor. In 1913, he wanted a new game for the FUN pages of the New York World. He drew rows of numbered squares and matched them with clues. He called it "FUN's Word-Cross Puzzle." A misprint renamed the game "Crossword Puzzle," and the name stuck. Wynne's winning creation quickly became a craze. Newspapers around the country copied his idea.
Scrabble
Alfred Mosher Butts claimed he wasn't good at spelling. But that didn't prevent him from creating a classic board game about words. The Great Depression of the 1930s left him jobless. So he began playing with ideas for a new game. He came up with a crossword-like word game. All of the different letters were given points so players could keep score. He called it "Criss-Cross Words." But game-makers turned him away. Then Butts met James Brunot. Together, they improved the game and came up with the catchier name it bears today: Scrabble.
The game scored big in 1952. That's when Macy's department stores began to stock it. In total, Scrabble has sold 150 million copies in 29 languages. It's found in more than half of the homes in the U.S., according to Hasbro, the game's manufacturer.
Word Search
In 1968, Norman E. Gibat created a word game. He published it in his small newspaper in Norman, Oklahoma. The game hid the names of Oklahoma cities in rows of letters. Readers had to find the names and circle them. Word Search was born. It quickly became popular among area teachers, who spread the word.
Other people started making word searches. They went by names like "Seek and Circle." These word games remain wildly popular. Many teachers use them to help students practice vocabulary.
Time will tell if Wordle becomes as famous. But the game's developer never had fame in mind. As Wardle told the New York Times: "I think people kind of appreciate that there's this thing online that's just fun."
Think about and discuss these questions:
Which word game sounds most interesting to you and why?
What do you think is the secret to making a popular word game?
Question 7
7 / 8
Which of these is an opinion?
"Scrabble" is a catchier name than "Criss-Cross Words."
The first crossword puzzle appeared in a New York paper.
Alfred Butts created a word game that let players keep score.
One word search game was called "Seek and Circle."
1 answer
The statement that represents an opinion is:
"Scrabble" is a catchier name than "Criss-Cross Words."
This is an opinion because it reflects a subjective judgment about the appeal of the names, which can vary from person to person. The other statements are factual and can be verified.
