Wordle’s most recent effort left many players stumped (Picture: Getty Images)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been only five years since Wordle first arrived on the scene,becoming a cultural phenomenon and bringing a little escapism into our daily routine.
The puzzle,which sees users having six guesses to find a five-letter word,began life in June 2021 as a private game for creator Josh Wardle and his partner,exploding in popularity after it was released to the public in October that year.
These days it’s part of the New York Times portfolio of games,having been acquired by the publication in early 2022,and had over 12 million active daily users as of 2025.
It counts the likes of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon among its celebrity fans,and there’s even a TV show in the works.
But as much as we all like to think of ourselves as Wordle masters,every so often the game will throw out a curveball of a word which leaves us all looking a bit lost and puzzled.
And yesterday’s head-scratching teaser ended so many winning streaks that many users have called it one of the hardest,most challenging they have ever faced.
What was it,and did you get it — or would you have even known it was a word?
It isn’t always as easy as it looks (Picture: Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)
You’re not getting the answer out of us that easily,so let’s give you a few clues instead.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word is ‘used to express irritation,disapproval,contempt or disbelief.
However,the word begins with two consonants which are rarely paired together,followed by yet another consonant,creating a combination which fronts only a handful of English words.
The correct answer was ‘PSHAW’,a word so confounding for many players that the New York Times itself said its game testers (who are paid to solve each puzzle in advance) took an average of six guesses to get it right.
We don’t often see that letter combination (Picture: New York Times / Wordle)
Pretty tricky,in other words,with some players taking to reddit to reveal just how tough they’d found it.
‘I never would have come up with this,I never use this word,and I never hear it used. I know it exists,but I didn’t know it would be a valid word here,’ one user said.
Another added: ‘I am familiar with this word,but it nonetheless took 6 guesses for me to get there,’ while a third player commented: ‘If that’s a word then,Pffff should be a word too…the sound an air hose makes when it springs a leak!’
We are still confused (Picture: New York Times / Wordle)
‘I got it and I’m still upset,’ a fourth user remarked.
While Wordle continues to keep us all playing,its creator has since befuddled us further with his newest creation,Parseword — which aims to simplify cryptic crosswords to make them more accessible.
‘Cryptics are beautiful and rich puzzles but are notoriously hard to learn,’ a description on the game’s website reads. ‘We wanted to make a game that captures the joy of solving cryptics while making them more accessible to everyone.’
In an interview with the New Yorker,Wardle said he hopes to ‘reduce the problem space for new solvers’ with Parseword.
He added: ‘Releasing Parseword is happening more on my own terms,instead of happening to me.’
