Players of the popular game Wordle have moaned the word game has become “harder” since it was purchased by the New York Times last month.
The viral puzzle game generated huge buzz and now boasts millions of players since it launched in October.
The New York Times snapped it up in a seven-figure deal in January that it said would give “millions more people around the world another reason to turn to” its platform.
Josh Wardle, a Welsh software engineer based in Brooklyn, designed the game for his girlfriend to play during the pandemic.
Players are given six attempts to guess a new five-letter word each day.
However, fans have complained the words have become more obscure and harder to guess since it transitioned to the New York Times website.
Among the complaints, one disgruntled fan wrote on Twitter: “If I was being a cynic, I’d say the NYT are making #Wordle a lot more difficult.”
Another said: “I don’t know guys...Wordle just feels different since New York Times took over.
“These words are just so randomly random. Two days in a row of me like, "That word?! Really!?" This win isn’t even joyous.”
ABC journalist John Kapetaneas joked: “NYT: No, we did not make Wordle harder. We promise.
“Also NYT: Today’s Wordle is KHYBX — which everyone knows is a popular 11th century Latin delicacy derived from quicksand extract. Duh.”
It comes days after fans were left outraged after records of their winning streaks were accidentally swiped.
The mistake happened soon after the New York Times moved the word puzzle to its own website.
The American news publisher later said it had identified with the scores had been reset and was working on a solution.
The Standard has approached the New York Times for comment.
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