Today's Wordle answer changed as New York Times blames 'unintentional coincidence'

The New York Timesissued a statement Monday morning regarding a Wordle answer that some users found inappropriate in light of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

For players that have not updated their Wordle browser, it was a bit shocking to find today's answer was "fetus". This was the original answer creator Josh Wardle coded into the game long before last week's news hit stands.

When the New York Times bought Wordle in January, it changed the original coded answers Wardle had created in order to re-set the game, remove expletives, and change the spelling to American English.

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The game was moved to the Times' website in February, but a glitch in the system revealed that users who did not move their browser from the original host to the New York Times, still received old answers.

The old answer of "fetus" was unknowingly and ironically timed to fit the current climate surrounding abortion rights in the US, something the Times said they try to avoid.

"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 from the New York Times read.

Last week, a leaked document from the Supreme Court revealed the Court's intention to overturn Roe v. Wade the 1973 precedent that made abortion legal in the US. Since then, people have begun protesting and advocating for states to codify the law before the final opinion is released.

Despite the slip-up in poor timing, people on social media found the word choice funny.

In the statement, the Times said it was working to change the technology glitch so all users have the same answer.

"We want to emphasize that this is a very unusual circumstance," the statement said. "When we acquired Wordle in January, it had been built for a relatively small group of users. We’re now busy revamping Wordle’s technology so that everyone always receives the same word"

For users who have updated their browser to match the New York Times,a different word was used as the answer.

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