Now that Wordle has officially joined the New York Times Company, the game has to follow the New York Times Magazine’s strict profanity rules. It is being reported that Wordle has now banned certain offensive words from its dictionary.
Polygon discovered that certain gendered slurs like “bitch,” whore,” and “sluts” have been removed from the game’s dictionary. If a player tries to guess using any of those words the game will flash a “not in word list” message. These words are also not accepted in the newspapers’ Spelling Bee game. But Polygon also discovered that other types of profanity are still the game. The strong F-word and the vulgar slang term for female genitalia are still viable guesses in Wordle.
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In a message sent to Polygon by the New York Times, the newspaper company writes that “[o]ffensive words will always be omitted from consideration,” and the company is still in “the process of removing those words from the gameplay.” Based on the message, more words will likely get banned in Wordle in the coming weeks as the game transitions to the New York Times.
It makes sense for a newspaper company like the New York Times to try to avoid profanity at all costs, as most people often read the company’s articles in the public. Either way, banning certain offensive language shouldn’t change Wordle too much in the end.
