US spelling of solution to Wordle puzzle baffles players on this side of the Atlantic 

British puzzle enthusiasts have been left stumped today after an online daily word-guessing game featured an American spelling for a commonly used word. 

English speaking fans of the guessing game Wordle vented their frustration on social media today after they were undone by a word not using the British spelling of a word.

Many players of the quiz that’s taken the world by storm were left confused about the five-letter word as nothing seemed to fit.

Eventually, with all six guesses used up, the real answer was revealed to the quizzers – the word ‘favor’.  

Many players of the quiz that's taken the world by storm were left confused about the five-letter word as nothing seemed to fit

Many players of the quiz that’s taken the world by storm were left confused about the five-letter word as nothing seemed to fit

The American spelling led to many, including celebrity fans of the daily puzzle, to express their annoyance that the US spelling of a six-letter word ‘favour’ had been the answer.

The Thick Of It star Chris Addison was one of the first to highlight what he saw as a ‘lesson for British English speaking players of Wordle’.

Fellow funnyman Dave Gorman thanked him for the spoiler alert claiming he got it in just two attempts after being given the tip off.

Others said they had tried the US spelling out of desperation and felt ‘sullied’ that they had been rewarded with a win.

The American spelling led to many, including celebrity fans of the daily puzzle, to express their annoyance that the US spelling of a six-letter word 'favour' had been the answer

The American spelling led to many, including celebrity fans of the daily puzzle, to express their annoyance that the US spelling of a six-letter word ‘favour’ had been the answer

One fan joked: ‘I was angry about this eight hours ago, It’s otrageos (sic).’

Another simply said: ‘I wish Wordle wouldn’t use American English.’

While one added: ‘Americans we love you, we don’t even hate your spelling. It’s just that we are sore losers.’

Another claimed he had found the U they had lost ‘down the back of the sofa!’

And one Irish fan of the online game claimed it ‘might cause a Transatlantic diplomatic incident’.

Wordle was originally created by software engineer Josh Wardle for his girlfriend Palak Shah who loved word puzzles.   

Wardle, who lives in Brooklyn, graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2006.

Having first played the game with Ms Shah, he shared it with his family on WhatsApp, where it proved so popular that he opened it up to the world.

What is Wordle and how has it taken the world by storm? 

Wordle was originally created by software engineer Josh Wardle for his girlfriend Palak Shah who loved word puzzles.   

Wardle, who lives in Brooklyn, graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2006.

Having first played the game with Ms Shah, he shared it with his family on WhatsApp, where it proved so popular that he opened it up to the world.

At the beginning of last November Wordle had 90 players by New Year, more than 300,000 people were taking part in the daily challenge and the numbers are still rising.

Once a day, the game invites players to guess a five-letter word by visiting the Wordle website. They are given six turns to guess the word.

After each guess, correct letters in the right place turn green, while correct letters in the wrong place turn yellow. Any letters that turn grey can be ignored as they are not in the word.

Players are able to share their attempts on social media in the form of coloured grids.

There is just one Wordle per day.

Wordle’s initial list of all of the five-letter words in the English language – about 12,000 – contained obscure words the couple thought would have been near impossible to guess.

Wardle eventually narrowed the list of Wordle words to about 2,500, which should last for a few years.

At the beginning of last November Wordle had 90 players by New Year, more than 300,000 people were taking part in the daily challenge and the numbers are still rising.

Once a day, the game invites players to guess a five-letter word by visiting the Wordle website. They are given six turns to guess the word.

After each guess, correct letters in the right place turn green, while correct letters in the wrong place turn yellow. Any letters that turn grey can be ignored as they are not in the word.

Players are able to share their attempts on social media in the form of coloured grids.

There is just one Wordle per day.

Wardle, a former software engineer for Reddit, created a similar prototype in 2013 but abandoned it after friends were unimpressed.

But during the pandemic, he revisited the game, after he and his partner ‘got really into’ the New York Times spelling bee and daily crossword.

He said he enjoys ‘building unique products that focus on human interaction’.

Ms Shah says she now wakes up every day to play Wordle. Though it is now shared with the world, she said she appreciated that Mr Wardle originally created it for her.

‘It’s really sweet,’ she said. ‘This is definitely how Josh shows his love.’

Her partner said: ‘I think people kind of appreciate that there’s this thing online that’s just fun. It’s not trying to do anything shady with your data or your eyeballs.’

Wordle’s initial list of all of the five-letter words in the English language – about 12,000 – contained obscure words the couple thought would have been near impossible to guess.

Wardle eventually narrowed the list of Wordle words to about 2,500, which should last for a few years.

However, fans have already complained about some words, saying that the words REBUS and TAPIR were not familiar enough.