Happy March, everyone!
In this issue, I’ve gathered up a list of my favorite variants on Wordle, and I’ve also shared my contribution for the first day of a month-long puzzle writing challenge.
I’m about to embark on a 2-week mega-marathon, playing over 40 escape rooms in 5 cities. Tons of new reviews and adventure stories coming soon, so stay posted!
Wordle Roundup
Wordle has seemingly taken over the world. The game has millions of daily users, and the New York Times recently bought it (and no, they haven’t made it harder than the original or changed the word list, though there have been a few tricky words recently.)
While the deluge of 🟨🟩-filled posts on social media has admittedly become a tad annoying to some, I’m overall super delighted by this puzzle surge. This has been a beautiful example of how puzzles can help cultivate community, transcending physical and national boundaries.
If the original Wordle is too easy for you, or you just want more Wordle-esque entertainment, here are some especially puzzly Wordle variants. Let me know which is your favorite!
Obscurdle provides a set of 12 Wordle-rooted puzzles, and they are awesome. In each, you have unlimited guesses to figure out what the yellow and green squares mean. Some of them are pretty tricky!
Dordle & Quordle & Octordle & Sedecordle
These variants all follow standard Wordle rules — except you’re solving 2, 4, 8, or 16 grids at once, and each guess applies to all grids. Quordle is my personal favorite, a fun challenge but not too excessive.
In Squardle, you’re simultaneously solving 6 words that all intersect. The checked letters plus an expanded set of color hints make this a distinctly puzzly level-up from the original Wordle.
Wordle meets crosswords! Solve standard or cryptic crossword clues, using Wordle color rules to help fit the answers into the grid.
Crosswordle prompts you to reverse engineer Wordle. You’re given the final word, and you need to determine what the previous guesses could be to fit a particular yellow/green pattern.
For all you geography nerds out there: guess the country from its silhouette. To help you out, hints indicate how far and in what distance each wrong guess is from the target country.
Seriously, there are an overwhelming number of Wordle variants out there. This is the best list I’ve seen collecting them all. Currently over 600 Wordle variants in over 100 different languages. If your ideal Wordle variant somehow doesn’t exist yet, there’s even a section of tools to help you make your own!
Enigmarch
Enigmarch is a daily puzzle-writing challenge, sort of like NaNoWriMo or Inktober, for the entire month of March. Each day, they'll post a prompt, and anyone and everyone is encouraged to design and share a puzzle that somehow relates.
For the day 1 prompt of INITIAL, I challenged myself to create a puzzle with an "initial" mechanic that is presented only through numbers.
A note for those new to puzzle hunts: the numbers in the end in parentheses are enumerations, meaning they specify the lengths of words.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram or Twitter for a new puzzle every single day this month. And I encourage you to also try writing your own puzzles, even (especially!) if you’re brand new to puzzle writing. I’d love to solve whatever you create!
Happy puzzling 🔑
Matthew