New York Times buys viral word game Wordle

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Now, the simple puzzle that lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries with no hints, has millions of daily players, The Times said. It's also become a viral online phenomenon, spurring copycats like Airportle, where you guess airport abbreviations, and Queertle, with words for the queer community.

To play Wordle now, you have to visit its website. Simply type in a five-letter word. If any letters turn green, you got the right letter in the right place. Yellow letters mean right letter wrong place and gray letters mean they are not in the word of the day.

Wordle's appeal has been in part due to its simplicity, no bells and whistles or ads or asking for your email address to play just a website with 30 blank squares and a keyboard. Some apps have tried to piggyback on its success, confusing people who downloaded or even paid for apps on their phone thinking it's the original Wordle.