Every annum, Google publishes a lookback at what mankind’s been rummaging up online in their Year In Search review (thanks BBC). In 2022, Wordle actually came above Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth, and several Indian cricket matches to nab the number one spot in global search. It also took home gold in the UK, leaving the World Cup to slum it in second place. I’m actually mildly impressed with my country for that. In the US, Wordle managed to place above “election results” and the passing of actor Betty White and comedian Bob Saget. Cricket still won out in India, however. The revelation that Josh Wardle’s little-puzzle-game-that-could has essentially stomped every other search term into the ground this year doesn’t come as a big surprise. Like a lot of people, apparently, I’ve been playing it fairly religiously for months now. I’ve even flipped on hard mode, and worked on choosing the best Wordle starting word my meagre intellect could think of. It’s IRATE, if you were wondering. Although Wordle might be part of your daily routine, the New York Times staff union are asking players to break their streaks today in solidarity with striking workers. The union’s contract expired in March 2021 and no new contract has been agreed after 20 months of negotiations, prompting hundreds of staff to walk out today, December 8th. The NYT union Twitter account specifically referenced Wordle yesterday, asking readers “not to engage in any @nytimes platforms” and to instead “Read local news. Listen to public readio. Pull out a cookbook. Break your Wordle streak.”
