Wordle and Connections Craze Comes to the College

For those who play Connections, this screen is a dream come true. Photo by Elizabeth Baumgardner 25’.

Newspaper. Puzzle. Words. Mind. While they appear random, these four words form a connection describing the now-famous New York Times games Wordle and Connections.

In these two online word-based puzzles, players have a limited number of chances to deduce the daily solutions, and they can be played through the newspaper’s website sans subscription.

Across campus, students love to play and challenge themselves, in hopes of finding out whose mind is the sharpest of them all and creating stronger bonds through a shared experience.

“Two of my coworkers and I would have competitions to see who could finish the games the fastest. Whoever did was the winner,” said Ashley Mollicone ’25.

Created by Brooklyn programmer Josh Wardle, Wordle is a game of chance where players are given six tries to guess the chosen five-letter word of the day. So-called Wordlers love to debate how to begin, whether it be starting with the same word every time or selecting one with plenty of vowels. 

If a letter is not in the word, it is colored gray. If a letter is in the word but in the incorrect location, it is colored yellow. If a letter is in the word in the right spot, it is colored green. And by the end of it all, something new is always learned.

“Wordle especially sharpens my mind. I will find myself looking up definitions to words I may not have known and will start using them in real-life conversations,” said Samantha Blauer ‘25.

Rising in popularity in December 2021 due to its presence on social media, the New York Times bought the game from Wardle in 2022, when gameplay reached its peak at 2 million people per day. 

But Connections is still in its infant phase, having launched this past June. And unlike Wordle, it is an original game produced solely by the Times. The goal is to find the connections – either obvious or hidden – within a grid of 16 words. 

“I was introduced to Connections by my professor because she saw me playing Wordle before class one day. She told me how much harder and mind-twisting the game was. I feel empowered when I get a category right,” stated Blauer.

For Hadley Henry ‘24, Connections helps her think critically and utilize strategic skills found in the classroom setting. 

“Connections gets me to think about different topics and how they relate to one another. I use critical thinking in my classes, or even when I’m doing homework,” she said.

The daily dose of challenge is one that even President Kevin C. Weinman cannot refuse. In a recent Instagram post, he shared his own Wordle statistics — including a 300-day long streak and a 99% winning percentage. 

But in the comments of the post, Weinman assured that both Wordle and Connections offer a daily dose of challenge that simply cannot be refused.

“Sometimes when they’re both tough,” said Weinman, “the rest of my day is delayed significantly.”