New York Times Changes Wordle Answer After Abortion News, Sparks User Confusion

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT FOR MONDAY’S WORDLE…

On Monday, The New York Times admitted that it changed the answer of Monday’s Wordle Puzzle from “fetus” to “shine” alluding to the ongoing news cycle surrounding the contentious debate over abortion. The change also confused players, who complained of two possible solutions.

The original answer, “fetus,” was flagged as problematic following last week’s report that the Supreme Court might soon overturn 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision. However, according to The Times, the original “fetus” answer couldn’t be completely removed from its system, which resulted in some players working to uncover the first answer, and others working to uncover the second answer.

In a statement, New York Times Games explained that it wants “Wordle to remain distinct from the news,” and that “some users may see an outdated answer that seems closely connected to a major recent news event.”

“This is entirely unintentional and a coincidence — today’s original answer was loaded into Wordle last year,” the statement noted.

Some of you may have a different Wordle answer than the official answer. Please refresh your browser to receive the correct answer word. For more information, please read our editor’s note. https://t.co/3dY5nRu7yu

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 9, 2022

“At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news,” the statement continued. “But because of the current Wordle technology, it can be difficult to change words that have already been loaded into the game. When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible.”

The statement explained that players wouldn’t “receive the outdated version” if they have refreshed browser windows.

“But we know that some people won’t do that and, as a result, will be asked to solve the outdated puzzle,” the statement added.

Politico first reported Justice Samuel Alito’s early draft opinion which indicated Roe vs. Wade could likely be struck down.

“The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision — Planned Parenthood v. Casey — that largely maintained the right,” Politico reported.”

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito reportedly wrote.

Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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