Students at McQuaid Jesuit and around the world have recently become gripped by a new game that is all the craze: Wordle. This game, which emulates the old Mastermind board game, is based around a player guessing five-letter words until they get the correct one. This correct word is different every day, and players get hints of which letters the word does and does not contain as they give more guesses.

Overall, students and teachers, such as Mr. DePippo, at McQuaid seem to play a couple times a week, but not every day. Patrick Murray ‘22 plays Wordle “periodically.” 

Ben Arbello ‘22 says that he plays “a couple times a week. Or, like, whenever I’m bored.”

Rocco Menna ‘23 said that he plays nearly every day. “It was mostly when I remember to, or when I see it. I’d say [I play] probably four out of seven days a week,” Menna said. 

Mr. DePippo also plays “fairly regularly.”

However, the Wordle iceburg goes much deeper than simple word games. Plenty of other variations on this simple concept exist, and McQuaid students play these, too. Blaise Weidmann ‘26 plays Globle and Worldle, Wordle-type games about guessing countries. 

“I’ve played Heardle… and I’ve played Wordle Unlimited,” Menna said, referring to a music guessing game and a less restricted version of Wordle.

Some students don’t seem to use Wordle for good, prefering to play Wordle during less engaging classes of the day.

“I often see some students playing during class, but I mention that since it is a game, albeit somewhat educational, they should refrain from playing the game during class time,” Mr. DePippo said.  

Despite all the fun, it also seems there are some sour apples in the group that want to spoil the challenge for others. This obviously makes those who don’t find these antics humorous quite enraged.

Ben Arbello ‘22 said that, as far as people giving away the answer goes: “I hear it a lot, like very often. And it does make me kind of angry, because whenever I feel like solving the Wordle for the day, I can’t because I already know what it is.”

Meanwhile, Samuel Puddicombe ‘25 said that he hears the answer every day, and that he sometimes even gives it away.

Overall, McQuaid is certainly infatuated with Wordle. It helps students get through the more dull classes, but is also divisive between those who want to play, and those who don’t care about giving away the answer of the day.