The New York Times changed a recent Wordle answer from "fetus" amid the recent news of a leaked Supreme Court opinion that might overrule Roe v. Wade on abortion.
The Times acknowledged the "coincidence" of the word being an answer Monday, but said deleting "fetus" for another answer was on purpose.
"Some users may see an outdated answer that seems closely connected to a major recent news event," The New York Times Games Editorial Director Everdeen Mason wrote Monday. "This is entirely unintentional and a coincidence."
Mason said the change came because "we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news," but a critic might note the change came because of the news.
The leaked Supreme Court draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito has triggered Democrats and abortion activists, who have released justices' home addresses and protested outside their residences this weekend.
Not all Wordle users received "fetus" as the answer to the puzzle, according to the Times.
"Because of the current Wordle technology, it can be difficult to change words that have already been loaded into the game," Mason added. "When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible.
"You won't receive the outdated version if you have refreshed your browser window. But we know that some people won't do that and, as a result, will be asked to solve the outdated puzzle.
"We want to emphasize that this is a very unusual circumstance. 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. We are committed to ensuring that tens of millions of people have a gratifying and consistent experience, every day."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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